But there was a certain Tasgetius, a descendant of the old royal house
of the Carnutes. As a reward for his services to the Romans Cæsar
restored him to his hereditary throne. The theocracy felt itself
attacked; the Druids roused the republican spirit of the people. The
doubtful success of Cæsar’s second expedition to Britain seemed to offer
a good opportunity for successful revolt. The people rose and
assassinated their King, who was also the Roman nominee. Cæsar
immediately ordered a legion under Lucius Plancus to advance upon
Chartres, punish the conspirators, and take up its winter quarters
there.
When the railway was being constructed in 1846, it was necessary to
remove a vast mound which lay to the west of the town between the Portes
des Épars and Porte Chastelet. Many Roman, Gallic and Carlovingian
coins[6] were found in it, and it is supposed that this mound
represented in part the material dug out when the foundations of the
crypt and of the Cathedral were sunk, and in part the remains of the
camp of Plancus.
The threatening aspect of affairs in Gaul called for prompt action on
the part of Cæsar. Before the end of the winter (53 B.C.) he made a dash
into the country of the Nervii, and then in the early spring held his
usual Council of Gaul, probably at Amiens. The Carnutes, Senones and
Treveri, omitted to send their representatives. Cæsar took this as a
declaration of war. He immediately broke up the Council and ordered it
to meet again at Paris, which was a convenient point for operating
against the Senones at Sens, and thereafter against their neighbours the
Carnutes at Chartres. The brilliant rapidity of his movements terrified
these tribes. Acco, the leader of the conspiracy, summoned his
supporters to the towns. But whilst they were endeavouring to obey the
summons, news came that the Romans were already in their midst. Through
the Ædui and Remi, who acted as mediators, the Carnutes and Senones sent
to make submission and beg for pardon. Cæsar granted it for the time,
and then devoted his energies to the destruction of Ambiorix, and the
chastisement of the Treveri and the tribes on the Rhine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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