The Brass Bell; or, The Chariot of DeathSue, Eugène
History
The Brass Bell; or, The Chariot of Death
Sue, Eugène
Gaul -- History -- 58 B.C.-511 A.D. -- Fiction
[10] Here are Caesar's own words on this extraordinary event, taken from
his _Ephemerides_, or diary, wherein with his own hand he was accustomed
to enter day by day what of interest had occurred to him. These words
are transmitted to us by Servius:
"Caius Julius Caesar, cum dimicaret in Gallia, et ab hoste raptus, equo
ejus portaretur armatus, occurrit quidam ex hostibus qui cum nosset et
insultans ait: Ceco Caesar! quod in lingua Gallorum dimitte significat.
Et ita factum est ut dimitteretur.
"Hoc autem dicit ipse Caesar in Ephemeride sua ubi propriam commemorat
felicitatem."--Ex Servio LXI. Aeneid, edit. Amstelod, type Elsevir,
1650, ex antiquo Vatic. Extemp. cap. VIII.
"One can see by this passage," adds d'Auvergne, "that Caesar, having
been released by the Gaul who had made him prisoner and who was carrying
him off on his horse fully armed from the field of battle, believed the
saving of his life to be due to the very word which was intended to be
his death sentence: to the word _sko_, which Caesar wrote _ceco_, and
which he falsely interpreted to mean _release_ when the word in Gallic
in reality means _kill_, _strike_, _beat down_. Everything points to the
conclusion that fear or stupefaction having seized the Gauls, in whose
power Caesar completely was, at the mere mention of his name, he owed
his safety to the sheer astonishment of his captor."
[11] "During the fight, which lasted from the seventh hour until the
evening, not a Gaul was seen turning his back (aversum hostem nemo
videre potuit)."--Caesar, _De Bello Gallico_, ch. XXXVII.
[12] "When the Romans drew near the chariots they came face to face with
a new enemy, the war dogs. These were with difficulty exterminated by
the archers."--Pliny, book LXXII, chap. C.
[13] The total destruction of the Gallic fleet was the result of an
extremely dangerous invention by the Romans, who, by means of scythes
fastened to long poles, cut the stays which held the masts. These fell,
and the Gallic vessels, deprived of sails and motion, were reduced to
impotence. See Caesar, _De Bello Gallico_, book III, ch. XIV, XV.
[14] See Pliny, Quintilian, Seneca, etc. Cited by Wallon in his _History
of Slavery in Antiquity_, vol. II, p. 329.
[15] About $100 or $120 in modern money. This was at the time the market
price of a slave. (Wallon, _History of Slavery in Antiquity_, vol. II,
p. 329.)
[16] Slaves had no name of their own. They were given indiscriminately
all sorts of soubriquets, even to the names of animals. (Givin, p. 339.)
[17] It was the custom to throw in "for good measure," upon the purchase
of a lot of slaves for labor or for pleasure, a few old men who were
nothing but skin and bones. See Plautus, _Bachid._ IV, _Prospera_ IV;
and _Terence_, _Eun._ Cited by Wallon, _History of Slavery in
Antiquity_, vol. II. p. 56.
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