Julius Caesar Tactics

“All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in our Gauls, the third.” – Caesar. Taking place over a course of almost a decade, the Gallic Wars were fought throughout much of modern day Germany, France and Belgium. From 58 to 51 BC, Julius Caesar, the consul of Cisalpine Gaul, led his army in a series of campaigns demonstrating their formidable training and strategy as they attempted to conquer Gaul. Fighting against the native tribes, primarily the Belgae, the Aquitani and the Gauls, the Roman army was forced to utilize all of their discipline and technological skill as they fought the native tribes of Gaul. Caesar’s Gallic campaigns illustrate
The Gallic Wars showed the discipline, training, strategy and technological skill of the Roman army as demonstrated by the Siege of Alesia. “The soldiers took weeks or even months to build the kind of elaborate defenses and booby traps Caesar employed at Alesia; or to erect gigantic earthen ramps or long underground tunnels to gain access to the two or fortress they were besieging. In almost every Roman siege, therefore, dogged persistence and patience, along with sheer manpower, won the day.” (Nardo, p.72) The many obstacles and defenses that Caesar composed for the Alesians demonstrate the discipline, training, strategy and technological skill of the Roman army. The many weeks and months put into these elaborate technologies alone show their discipline, as well as the sheer amount of physical labor required to undergo such a large and difficult task such as erecting the gigantic earthen ramps or building underground tunnels. Additionally, the planning necessary to conduct campaigns with complex technologies, such as the ones employed by Caesar and his army,
“After the battle, Caesar marched his armies down the Rhine. Near the site of modern Bonn, Caesar decided to cross the Rhine in a display of Roman power and will. When the Ubii offered him boats for the crossing, he refused. Instead, to impress upon the barbarians the Roman ability to cross the river at will, Caesar ordered a long suspension bridge constructed across the river. In 10 days a wooden roadway 40 feet wide hung from a trestle suspension bridge from bank to bank. Caesar crossed the Rhine.” (Gabriel, Online Source) In the Roman army’s building of the Rhine River bridge, they demonstrated their discipline, training, strategy and technological skill. Caesar and his army’s discipline can be especially seen as they deny the help of the Ubii and cross the Rhine with their own ingenuity and technological skill. Again, the sheer amount of physical labor as well as the actual engineering of the bridge demonstrates the incredible amount of discipline and skill they had, to say the least as they built it in just ten days.
“He [Caesar] therefore began to bridge the river, although it was very broad, and at this point in its course especially swollen, rough, and impetuous, and with the trunks and branches of trees which it bore downstream kept smiting and tearing away the supports of his bridge. But Caesar caught up these trunks and