Much trouble was being experienced from Germanic invaders farther north, who were crossing the Rhine and were in great numbers occupying the fertile lands to the east of them. The Gauls themselves had no cohesive power of resistance; they were constantly quarreling among themselves, and it seemed only a question of time when the Germans, uniting with the Gauls, who were certain to become subject to their rule, would overwhelm the peaceful and civilized inhabitants of the Roman province. The situation required immediate attention, for the Ædui who lived between the Loire and the Saône were calling on the Romans as allies for help and protection against their neighbors, other Gaulish tribes, who with the aid of the German king, Ariovistus, were threatening to take their land. Besides, it was reported that the Helvetic and the German peoples were contemplating a migration on a large scale, induced to leave south Germany by the prospect of finding better lands farther west. The country as a whole was in a state of unrest; the unconquered mass of the free tribes, extending from the fringe of Roman occupation in the south to the North Sea, might easily become dangerous to the countries under Roman occupation on the other side of the Pyrenees and the Alps. Up to the time of Cæsar’s advent, the government at Rome had shown singular apathy; a few resolutions had been passed, directing that the allied tribes should be aided, but no additions were made to the army in the province. The emotional temperament of the Gauls made them subject to quick changes in their point of view; unless something were done quickly, even the allies of Rome would have to be counted on the other side. It was easy for them to drop their present allegiance, for they were as a mass a servile population, guided by an aristocracy of nobles or knights, and by a widely extended and mysterious guild, the Druids, who each year held a solemn assembly in a sacred place in the center of the land. The general difficulties of coping with the situation were great when Cæsar took command, but the special details of the position as it confronted him increased the obstacles in the way of prompt action. There was but one legion beyond the Alps; the other three were far away in Aquileia at the top of the Adriatic. It was fortunate for him that he could draw on the reserves of Cisalpine Gaul, the richest part of Italy, the province which extended over the plains of Lombardy to Tuscany. This province was filled with a hardy race of yeomen cultivators, a mixed population, having its origin in the conquered Celtic tribes and in genuine Roman colonists.