Caesar Gallic Wars Book 1 English. University of Arkansas. Spring,
2007.
Daniel B. Levine.
Notes for discussion
1. Who was Orgetorix, what was his ambition, and why did he commit suicide
(2-4)?
2. What does Caesar assert about his own speed (7: He hurried his departure
from Rome, and by the longest forced marches possible he made for Transalpine
Gaul) ?
3. What use of technology does Caesar make (8)? How does this contrast
with a similar feat of the Helvetii (12)? What is the effect of his technological
expertise on the morale of the enemy (13)?
4. What motivates Gallic leaders like Dumnorix (9)? Ariovistus (31)?
5. What problem with his food supply did Caesar have, and how did he
deal with it (16)?
6. How did Caesar get information about Gauls, Germans, and his own Roman
troops? (18 Dumnorix’ motivations; 31 Ariovistus’ threat; 37 envoys; 50
prisoners; 52 legates and quaestors)?
7. What do we learn about the language barrier between Romans and Gauls
(19 on interpreters, 47 on Procillus’ and Ariovistus’ knowledge of Gallic
language)?
8. How does Caesar show sensitivity to Gallic sensibilities in his dealings
with Diviciacus and Dumnorix (19)?
9. What physical actions do Gallic chiefs take to show their inferiority
to Romans (20 Diviciacus; 31 and 32 Gallic leaders-including silence; 51
German women)?
10. How did the emotion of fear interfere with Romans’ effectiveness
(22 Considius; 39 Roman army)?
11. What kinds of documents were left behind in the Helvetii’s camp,
and what kind of insight does it give to Helvetian society (29)?
12. How does Caesar express his motivations for his actions (33, etc.)
13. What is Ariovistus’ argument in favor of telling the Romans to mind
their own business (36)?
14. How does Caesar describe a well-fortified Gallic town (38)?
15. How effective is Caesar as an orator (40-41)?
16. What legionary joke does Caesar preserve (42)?
17. How did the Germans demonstrate bad faith during Caesar’s parley
with Ariovistus (46)?
18. Was Ariovistus justified in imprisoning M. Mettius and C. Valerius
Procillus as spies (47)? How did Caesar show his own personal feelings about
these men (53)?
19. How did knowledge of German customs help Caesar to prevail against
Ariovistus’ forces (50)?
20. How important was it that Caesar’s soldiers be watched by their superiors
in battle (52)?
Caesar Gallic Wars Book 2 English. University of Arkansas. Spring,
2007.
Daniel B. Levine.
Notes for discussion. Belgian Campaign of 57 BCE.
1 How did Caesar use two sources of information to discover the plotting
of the Belgae (1)?
2 How does Caesar emphasize the speed of his reactions (3; 5; 12; 19-20;
3 What other sources of information do Caesar and the Romans use in the
Belgian campaign (4 envoys/the Remi; 5, 11 scouts; 8 autopsy; 11 spies;
16 prisoners; 26 fleeing cavalry and orderlies;
4 How do the siege methods of the Gauls contrast with those of the Romans
in this book (7 Gauls; 12, 30 Romans)?
5 How does Caesar describe fortified Gallic towns (12; 29)?
6 How does Roman technology intimidate the Gauls (12; 30-31)?
7 What does Caesar say about the character and customs of the Nervii
(15)?
8 What use of technology do the Nervii make? How effective is it? How
does it compare to Roman technology? (17;
9 What advantages did the Romans have even when outnumbered (20)?
10 What false information circulated about the battle at the Sambre (24),
and what was the origin of this false information?
11 How did Caesar manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at
the battle on the Sambre (25)? What personal traits were important?
12 What motivates the cavalry to fight harder in the battle at the Sambre
(27)?
13 How does Caesar compliment Gauls who deserve it (4; 27; 33)?
14 How did the Gauls insult the size of the Romans (30)?
15 What is unusual about the ‘voice’ of the narrator at the beginning
of section 24?
16 What example of Gallic deceit does Caesar document in section 33,
and how is it repaid?
17. What is the unusual reaction in Rome to Caesar’s campaigns of 57
BCE (35)?
18. What characteristic of Caesar do the Gauls appeal to in section 14?
19. What excuse does Caesar have to invade Britain (14)?
Caesar Gallic Wars Book 3 English. University of Arkansas.
Spring, 2007.
Daniel B. Levine.
Notes for discussion. Campaigns in Western Gaul (Aquitania): 56 BCE.
1. How did Gallic treachery take Galba by surprise (3)?
2. In what did Galba put all hope of safety (5)? What is the Latin word?
3. What technological advantage did the Veneti have over the Romans (8;
9; 13)? How did the Romans overcome this inferiority (14)?
4. What generalizations does Caesar make about Gallic character in book
3 (8; 10; 19)?
5. In what contexts does Caesar introduce the slavery/liberty dichotomy
(8; 10)? What are the Latin words?
6. How did Gallic peoples use their terrain as defense against the Romans
(9; 28)?
7. What further excuse does Caesar have in this book for his later invasion
of Britain (9)?
8. How does Caesar explain how he made his decision to undertake the
naval war (10)?
9. How does Caesar explain the layout of the seaside towns? How are they
protected (12)?
10. Why does Caesar depart from his usual clemency in the case of the
Veneti (16)?
11. How does Sabinus use misinformation to lure the Gauls into a trap,
and why does his ruse succeed (18-19)?
12. How does Sabinus use technology in the siege of the town of the Sontiates,
and what expert technology do the Gauls use in reply (21)?
13. Crassus’ and his soldiers’ successes in Gaul are put on a par with
those of Caesar in this year (19). What does Caesar show in his narration
about his willingness to credit others besides himself with success?
14. How does Caesar remind his readers that he acts quickly (29)?
Caesar Gallic Wars Book 4 English. University of Arkansas.
Spring, 2007.
Daniel B. Levine.
Notes for discussion. Short Invasions of Germany and Britain: 55 BCE.
1. What peculiar details about German civilization does Caesar provide
(1-3)? Which of these are most contrary to Roman practice?
2. What trait of the Gauls troubles Caesar before the German invasion
(5)?
3. What evidence of his own rapidity of movement does Caesar provide
(5; 14)?
4. How do the German envoys justify their presence on the ‘wrong’ side
of the Rhine (7)?
5. What is the diet of the ‘fierce barbarian peoples’ at the mouth of
the Rhine (10)?
6. What is the substance of the vignette Caesar gives of the brave Aquitanian
cavalryman (12)?
7. What examples of German treachery does Caesar provide (12-13)? What
Latin words does he use for ‘snares and treachery,’ ‘treacherous hypocrisy,’
and ‘deceit’ (13)? How does this treachery justify Roman brutality against
German women and children (14)? What Latin word for treachery does Caesar
use in section 14?
8. How does Caesar demonstrate his famous clementia in 15?
9. What reasons does Caesar give for his invasion of Germany in sections
16 and 19? How high were his ambitions?
10. Why does Caesar not cross the Rhine in boats (17)?
11. How did the Romans prevent Germans from crashing their Rhine bridge
by floating logs down the river (17)?
12. How does Caesar find out what the Suebi were doing (19)?
13. What were Caesar’s stated reasons for going to Britain (20)? How
high were his ambitions?
14. How did the Romans get close to being annihilated in Britain?
15. What is unusual about the narrative voice in 27 (demonstraveram)?
16. How did the Ocean tide bring panic upon the Romans in Britain (29)?
17. How did Caesar repair his damaged ships, and why was it vital that
he do so (31)?
18. What is the effect of Caesar’s appearance in section 34? What kind
of picture of himself does Caesar give here?
19. What is the reaction in Rome to Caesar’s dispatch at the end of the
campaign year (37)?
Caesar Gallic War Book 5. Questions for Discussion.
54 BCE: Second British Expedition.
Deaths of Cotta and Sabinus: Quintus Cicero Against Ambiorix:
Labienus against the Treveri.
1. How does Caesar try to improve naval technology in preparation for
invading Britain (5.1)?
2. What are ‘assizes,’ and when do they occur (5.1; 5.2)?
3. How does Caesar give his men positive reinforcement and praise them
to his readers (5.2; 5.8; 5.11; 5.52)?
4. How does Caesar justify his actions against the Treveri (5.3)?
5. Why does Caesar’s policy call for him to increase the authority of
Cingetorix among his own Gallic people (5.4)?
6. How does Caesar justify the killing of Dumnorix the Aeduan, his nominal
ally (5.6-7)?
7. How does Caesar receive information in this book (5.6; 5.8; 5.9; 5.37;
5.45; 5.47; 5.49 [twice]; 5.52)?
8. How do the Romans inspire fear in the Britons (5.11)?
9. What kinds of geographical facts does Caesar give about Britain and
its peoples (5.12-14)?
10. How does over-eagerness redound badly on the over-zealous soldiers
who engage in it (5.15)?
11. Why were Caesar’s men ‘ill equipped’ for their British adversaries
(5.16)?
12. What kind of technology did the British forces use against the Romans
at the river Thames, and how did the Romans overcome them (5.18)?
13. What kind of defenses did the British Cassivellaunus’s stronghold
make use of, and how did the Romans overcome them (5.21)? I find it a bit
odd that his men were so totally victorious here, when their position was
so perilous; do you?
14. Why did Caesar have to allocate winter quarters differently this
year (5.24)?
15. What does Carolyn Hammond say about how Caesar’s narrative emphasizes
Sabinus’s bad decisions (5.30 note)?
16. What general observations about human behavior does Caesar offer
in this book (5.33)?
17. What word for ‘courage’ and ‘bravery’ does Caesar use in this book
(5.34; 5.44; 5.48; 5.52 [three times])?
18. How does Ambiorix change tactics to a better strategy against the
Romans, and how doe his men react to his commands (5.35)?
19. What total disaster do Sabinus and Cotta’s men suffer (5.35-37)?
20. How did Quintus Cicero’s men show ‘astonishing speed’ when attacked
by the Gauls? What did they do (5.40)?
21. How did the Nervii improve their military technology to match Roman
methods? Who taught them? What does their speed say about their numbers
(5.42)?
22. What vignette of Roman bravery does Caesar record in the battle at
Cicero’s camp (5.44), and what Latin word does he use for ‘braver’ in the
last sentence of 5.44?
23. Why did Caesar send a dispatch to Cicero written in Greek (5.48)?
What does Carolyn Hammond say about this fact?
24. What makes Caesar have to use extreme speed (5.48)?
25. What word for courage does Caesar use when ‘he urged Quintus Cicero
to keep up his former courage’ (5.48)?
26. What kinds of people does the Indutiomarus the Treverian get to join
him against the Romans, and what motivation does he use to lure them to
his cause (5.55)?
27. What intelligent stratagem does Labienus use which results in the
defeat of Indutiomarus (5.58)?
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