Ariovistus briefly replied to the demands of
Caesar; but expatiated largely on his own virtues, "that he had crossed the
not of his own accord, but on being invited and sent for by the
Gauls; that he had not left home and kindred without great expectations and great rewards; that he had settlements in
Gaul, granted by the
Gauls themselves; that the hostages had been given by their good-will; that he took by right of war the tribute which conquerors are accustomed to impose on the conquered; that he had not made war upon the
Gauls, but the
Gauls upon him; that all the states of
Gaul came to attack him, and had encamped against him; that all their forces had been routed and beaten by him in a single battle; that if they chose to make a second trial, he was ready to encounter them again; but if they chose to enjoy peace, it was unfair to refuse the tribute, which of their own free-will they had paid up to that time. That the friendship of the
Roman people ought to prove to him an ornament and a safeguard, not a detriment; and that he sought it with that expectation. But if through the
Roman people the tribute was to be discontinued, and those who surrendered to be seduced from him, he would renounce the friendship of the
Roman people no less heartily than he had sought it. As to his leading over a host of
Germans into
Gaul, that he was doing this with a view of securing himself, not of assaulting
Gaul: that there was evidence of this, in that he did not come without being invited, and in that he did not make war, but merely warded it off. That he had come into
Gaul before the
Roman people. That never before this time did a
Roman army go beyond the frontiers of the province of
Gaul. What [said he] does [
Caesar] desire?- why come into his [
Ariovistus] domains?-that this was his province of
Gaul, just as that is ours. As it ought not to be pardoned in him, if he were to make an attack upon our territories; so, likewise, that we were unjust, to obstruct him in his prerogative. As for
Caesar's saying that the
Aedui had been styled 'brethren' by the senate, he was not so uncivilized nor so ignorant of affairs, as not to know that the
Aedui in the very last war with the
Allobroges had neither rendered assistance to the
Romans, nor received any from the
Roman people in the struggles which the
Aedui had been maintaining with him and with the
Sequani. He must feel suspicious, that
Caesar, though feigning friendship as the reason for his keeping an army in
Gaul, was keeping it with the view of crushing him. And that unless he depart and withdraw his army from these parts, he shall regard him not as a friend, but as a foe; and that, even if he should put him to death, he should do what would please many of the nobles and leading men of the
Roman people; he had assurance of that from themselves through their messengers, and could purchase the favor and the friendship of them all by his
[Caesar's] death. But if he would depart and resign to him the free possession of
Gaul, he would recompense him with a great reward, and would bring to a close whatever wars he wished to be carried on, without any trouble or risk to him."
