Caesar Goes to War - The Gallic Wars - The Defeat of the Helvetii

To understand the providence better, I will illustrate the inhabitants of Gaul. Gaul is composed of three areas. The people who inhabit Gaul are the Belgae, Aquitani, and people who call themselves Celts. However, we refer to the Celts simply as "Gauls." All of the people of Gaul have separate languages, laws, and customs. The Aquintani are across the river Garonne, which separates them from the Celts, and they are separated from the Belgae by the Marne and Seine rivers in Gaul. The bravest of the three people of Gaul are the Belgae. The Belgae are the farthest removed from the highly developed Roman civilization in the Roman Providence of Gaul. The Helvetii are the bravest of the Celts who are constantly at war with the Germans across the Rhine River.
The wealthiest and highest ranked Helvetii is a man named Orgetorix. He convinced his people to emigrate and conquer the rest of Gaul. The Helvetii territory is surrounded by natural barriers: the Rhine, the Jura mountain range, and by the Lake of Geneva and the Rhone. These borders separate the Helvetii and Roman Providence. Orgetorix explained to his people that these borders restricted them from obtaining their destiny of their conquest of Gaul. The Helvetii people agreed that their territory was small and restrictive. The Helvetii were impelled by the words of Orgetorix, and they prepared for emigration. They bought cattle and wagons. They harvested all their crops and established peace with their neighbors for safe travel. The Helvetii planned for the third year after their decision to emigrate to start their journey. The Helvetii eventually summoned Orgetorix, and he stood trial in chains. He was condemned by his people, which meant that he would die at the stake. Orgetorix collected all his slaves, ten thousand people, and he brought them to his trail. By means of his slaves, he escaped trial. The Helvetii people were angry with him, and they called upon many men to seek justice. In the process, Orgetorix died, and the Helvetii people believed he had committed suicide. The Helvetii continued their migration. They burned all twelve towns and four hundred of their villages in their territory to the ground. The Helvetii took three months supply of flour with them. However, they decided to settle in the wrong location near the Rhone. I was informed of the situation that the Helvetii were attempting to pass through my providence. I hastily travelled through the providence raising troops, and I had the bridge at Geneva burned. The Helvetii heard of my arrival, and they sent out an embassy to meet me with their most illustrious people. Their intentions were to march through the providence because they had no other route to migrate out of their old territory. They asked for my consent, but I could not give it. The consul Lucius Cassius and his Roman army had been killed by the Helvetii many years before. The people were hostile to Rome, and they could not be granted to pass. They could damage local property, and I could not have that on my consulship. However, I could not tell the people a "no" right away because I had to wait for the troops to be assembled. I told the embassy of Helvetii to come back for their request on April 13th. My legions were assembled, and they fortified a distance of eighteen miles between Lake Geneva and the Jura mountains. I had effective means by fortifying the area the troops had garrisoned with sixteen feet high ramparts with trenches running parallel. Redoubts were placed at intervals along the ramparts with pickets. When the embassy returned to meet me, I told them their wishes were contrary to Roman demands. The Helvetii tried to pass, but my troops stopped them. They resulted in passing through other Gaul territory. The result was the building of the bridge over the Saone to pursue the Helvetti. Later, the Battle of Bibracte was fought between the Helvetii and my legions. After hours of hard fighting, we obtained a victory. I accepted their surrender, but six thousand of their tribesmen fled. However, other tribes returned these fugitives back to me. I ordered those who surrendered to go back to their homeland to rebuild.

Sources Used:
Caesar, Julius, S. A. Handford, and Jane F. Gardner. The Conquest of Gaul. London: Penguin, 1982. Print.