Noviodunum was a town of the
Aedui, advantageously situated on the banks of the
Loire .
Caesar had conveyed hither all the hostages of
Gaul, the corn, public money, a great part of his own baggage and that of his army; he had sent hither a great number of horses, which he had purchased in
Italy and
Spain on account of this war. When
Eporedirix and
Viridomarus came to this place, and received information of the disposition of the state, that
Litavicus had been admitted by the
Aedui into
Bibracte , which is a town of the greatest importance among them, that
Convictolitanis the chief magistrate and a great part of the senate had gone to meet him, that embassadors had been publicly sent to
Vercingetorix to negotiate a peace and alliance; they thought that so great an opportunity ought not to be neglected. Therefore, having put to the sword the garrison of
Noviodunum , and those who had assembled there for the purpose of trading or were on their march, they divided the money and horses among themselves; they took care that the hostages of the [different] states should be brought to
Bibracte , to the chief magistrate; they burned the town to prevent its being of any service to the
Romans, as they were of opinion that they could not hold it; they carried away in their vessels whatever corn they could in the hurry, they destroyed the remainder, by [throwing it] into the river or setting it on fire, they themselves began to collect forces from the neighboring country, to place guards and garrisons in different positions along the banks of the
Loire , and to display the cavalry on all sides to strike terror into the
Romans, [to try] if they could cut them off from a supply of provisions. In which expectation they were much aided, from the circumstance that the
Loire had swollen to such a degree from the melting of the snows, that it did not seem capable of being forded at all.
