§6.29.1Caesar, postquam per Vbios exploratores comperit Suebos sese in silvas recepisse, inopiam frumenti veritus, quod, ut supra demonstravimus, minime omnes Germani agriculturae student, constituit non progredi longius; sed, §6.29.2ne omnino metum reditus sui barbaris tolleret atque ut eorum auxilia tardaret, reducto exercitu partem ultimam pontis, §6.29.3quae ripas Vbiorum contingebat, in longitudinem pedum ducentorum rescindit atque in extremo ponte turrim tabulatorum quattuor constituit praesidiumque cohortium duodecim pontis tuendi causa ponit magnisque eum locum munitionibus firmat.
Caesar, after he learned through scouts of the Ubii that the Suebi had retreated into the forests, fearing a scarcity of corn, because, as we have shown above, the Germans by no means attend to agriculture, resolved not to proceed any further; but, that he might not altogether relieve the barbarians from the fear of his return, and that he might delay their auxiliaries, having led back his army, the furthest part of the bridge, which touched the banks of the Ubii, he broke down to the length of two hundred feet, and at the end of the bridge he built a tower of four stories, and placed a garrison of twelve cohorts for the purpose of defending the bridge, and strengthened that place with strong fortifications.
Ei loco praesidioque Gaium Volcatium Tullum adulescentem praefecit.
Over this place and garrison he appointed Gaius Volcatius Tullus, a young man.
§6.29.4Ipse, cum maturescere frumenta inciperent, ad bellum Ambiorigis profectus per Arduennam silvam, quae est totius Galliae maxima atque ab ripis Rheni finibusque Treverorum ad Nervios pertinet milibusque amplius quingentis in longitudinem patet, Lucium Minucium Basilum cum omni equitatu praemittit, si quid celeritate itineris atque opportunitate temporis proficere possit; §6.29.5monet, ut ignes in castris fieri prohibeat, ne qua eius adventus procul significatio fiat: sese confestim subsequi dicit.
He himself, when the corn was beginning to ripen, having set out for the war of Ambiorix through the Ardennes forest, which is the largest of all Gaul, and extends from the banks of the Rhine and the borders of the Treveri to the Nervii, and lies open for more than five hundred miles in length, sent forward Lucius Minucius Basilus with all the cavalry, to see if he could perform any service by the speed of his march and the opportuneness of the time; he admonished him to forbid fires being made in the camp, lest any indication of his approach should be made from a distance: he said that he would follow immediately.