Labienus employed those wise tactics to which the Romans owed their greatest successes. Invincible in their fortified camps, they could, as the Emperor Napoleon I. has so well remarked, either combat or wait for the opportune moment. The Gauls, on the contrary, warlike peoples, carried away by a fiery courage, not understanding the patience and wiliness of their adversaries, fell always into the snare which was laid for them. It was enough to feign terror, and inspire them with contempt for the enemy’s forces, to make them engage instantly in disorderly attacks, which the Romans, by sudden sorties, easily defeated. This was the system followed by Sabinus when attacked by the Unelli, by Cæsar on his way to the relief of Cicero, and by Labienus himself in the previous year. A few days afterwards the country submitted; for, on the news of the defeat of the Treviri, the Germans returned home, followed by the relatives of Indutiomarus, the author of the revolt. Cingetorix, constant in his fidelity to the Romans, was replaced at the head of the nation. The double object proposed by Cæsar was thus attained; for, on one hand, since the submission of the Menapii, Ambiorix could no longer dream of finding a refuge among them; and, on the other, the victory of Labienus, followed by the retreat of the Germans, placed it out of his power to league with these latter. Nevertheless, to assure this double result, punish the Germans for their readiness to succour the Treviri, and cut off Ambiorix from all retreat, Cæsar, after having effected his junction with Labienus, resolved to pass the Rhine a second time.[451] [Sidenote: Second Passage of the Rhine.] V. He had passed from the country of the Menapii into that of the Treviri, and had arrived near the locality where now stands the town of Bonn. He there caused a bridge to be built a little above the spot where his army had crossed two years before. In consequence of the experience gained by the processes employed on the former occasion, and of the extreme zeal of the soldiers, the work was finished in a few days. Having left for the protection of the bridge a strong detachment on the bank belonging to the Treviri, for fear of some movement on their part, Cæsar crossed the river with the legions and the cavalry. The Ubii, who had long before made their submission, assured him that they had neither sent assistance to the Treviri or violated their oath; that the Suevi alone had furnished auxiliaries; and that thus he ought not to confound them with the latter in his anger against the Germans. He accepted their excuses, and obtained information on the roads and passes which led to the country of the Suevi.