§1.33.1His rebus cognitis Caesar Gallorum animos verbis confirmavit pollicitusque est sibi eam rem curae futuram; magnam se habere spem et beneficio suo et auctoritate adductum Ariovistum finem iniuriis facturum.
Having learned these things, Caesar encouraged the minds of the Gauls with his words and promised that he would take care of this matter; he said that he had great hope that Ariovistus, induced both by his favor and by his authority, would make an end to his wrongs.
Hac oratione habita, concilium dimisit. §1.33.2Et secundum ea multae res eum hortabantur quare sibi eam rem cogitandam et suscipiendam putaret, in primis quod Haeduos, fratres consanguineosque saepe numero a senatu appellatos, in servitute atque [in] dicione videbat Germanorum teneri eorumque obsides esse apud Ariovistum ac Sequanos intellegebat; quod in tanto imperio populi Romani turpissimum sibi et rei publicae esse arbitrabatur. §1.33.3Paulatim autem Germanos consuescere Rhenum transire et in Galliam magnam eorum multitudinem venire populo Romano periculosum videbat, neque sibi homines feros ac barbaros temperaturos existimabat quin, cum omnem Galliam occupavissent, ut ante Cimbri Teutonique fecissent, in provinciam exirent atque inde in Italiam contenderent [, praesertim cum Sequanos a provincia nostra Rhodanus divideret]; quibus rebus quam maturrime occurrendum putabat. §1.33.4Ipse autem Ariovistus tantos sibi spiritus, tantam arrogantiam sumpserat, ut ferendus non videretur.
Having delivered this speech, he dismissed the council. And in addition to these things, many reasons urged him why he should think that this matter ought to be considered and undertaken by him; especially because he saw that the Haedui, who had repeatedly been styled "brothers" and "kinsmen" by the senate, were held in slavery and under the dominion of the Germans, and he understood that their hostages were in the possession of Ariovistus and the Sequani; which, in so great an empire of the Roman people, he turned over in his mind as most disgraceful to himself and to the republic. Moreover, he saw that it was dangerous for the Roman people that the Germans should gradually become accustomed to cross the Rhine, and that a great multitude of them should come into Gaul; nor did he think that fierce and savage men would restrain themselves from passing into the Province and thence hastening into Italy, after they had seized all Gaul, as the Cimbri and Teutones had done before [, especially since the Rhone divided the Sequani from our Province]; against which events he thought he must close as speedily as possible. Furthermore, Ariovistus himself had assumed such great insolence and such great arrogance that he did not seem to be endured.