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barricaded, fenced. gloss, explain away; conceal.
claymore, broad-sword. hostages, persons given up as pledges.
desolated, laid waste. legions, great divisions of infantry.
disbanding, breaking up. rampart, wall.
expeditions, undertakings; invasions. retirement, withdrawing.
foraging, in search of food. stockade, a place surrounded with stakes.
fragments, broken pieces. surprises, taking persons unawares.
1. The Britons never met Caesar in regular battle array. They knew that in a pitched battle they could not cope with trained soldiers. Their only hope of victory lay in wearing out the patience of the foe by surprises—a thing which their knowledge of every hill and valley, bush and cliff, made easy to them. Yet we would be doing injustice to those gallant men, if we forgot that their tactics and their knowledge of camp-making drew praise even from Caesar, whose laurels they somewhat dimmed.
2. The British army had mustered south of the Thames, under the command of Cassibelan,
during the ten days spent by Caesar in repairing his fleet.
At first, moving bands appeared on the hills around the Roman camp; but no attack was made, until a foraging party, consisting of three Roman legions and all the cavalry, moved out into the open country.
3. Then on rushed the Britons; but in their haste they overshot the mark, and dashed on the solid legions. To try to break the brazen wall was a hopeless task. Back they fell in huddled groups, shivered by the force of their own attack; and a Roman charge swept the fragments of their lines from the field.So severe was the check, that it led to the disbanding of the native army, and the retirement of Cassibelan across the Thames.
4. To this river Caesar then forced a way, bent on following the active foe into the heart of his own country. The passage is thought to have been made at a place called Cowey Stakes, near Chertsey,
where, so far back as the time of Bede,
tradition showed the spot. And no easy task it was to wade neck-deep through a great stream, the bed of which bristled with thick stakes of oakwood,while its opposite bank was lined with a fierce and angry foe
5. Roman valour made light of the danger. Following the horse, the legions plunged in; and though for a time nothing but a swarm of helmeted heads appeared above the water, they struggled safely through, while the Britons retired in dismay at their daring.
6. Caesar then moved on the town of Cassibelan, which was a stockade in the Hertford woods surrounded by a rampart of clay, and barricaded by felled trees wherever woods or marshes left a weak point. The Roman town of Verulamium, not far from where St. Albans
now stands, is thought to have been built on the site of Cassibelan's encampment; but this is very doubtful.
7. Wherever it may have stood, Caesar, guided to the stronghold by the envoys of certain friendly tribes, broke through the out-works, drove the defenders from their post, slaying many, and took possession of the great herds of cattle collected there, —a most welcome prize for his half-starved soldiers, who had been marching for days through a desolated land.
8. His town thus lost, the last hope of Cassibelan lay in the four kings of Kent, to whom he sent an urgent message, directing them to make a sudden attack on the Roman camp. It was made, but it failed; and nothing then remained but to sue for peace. Caesar was very ready to grant the petition. He knew that he was spending his strength to little purpose, and that to hold even the slight footing he had so hardly won would cost endless watching and toil. He went through the form of asking hostages, and of settling the amount of yearly tribute; and then he crossed to Gaul, leaving nothing but the earthworks of his deserted camps to mark his so-called conquest of the island.
9. No history of his two expeditions has reached us except that from his own pen, and it must be received with caution. Writing from his own point of view, he knew as well how to gloss a failure as to cover a retreat. In fact, he admits that in this instance their usual good fortune deserted the eagles. No doubt, wherever there was a standup fight, the Roman swor-knife prevailed over the British claymore; but on the ever-shifting masses of a British army, dashing to the charge, and then melting into little groups of skirmishers, the legions could infl ict no lasting defeat. It has been well said, that “a few hostages, a girdle of British pearls for Venus, and a splendid triumph, were the only fruits which Caesar reaped from his victory.”
中文阅读
1. 不列颠人从未在正面战场上与恺撒的大军交锋，因为他们知道，面对这样训练有素的虎狼之师，直接对垒的话他们根本就不堪一击。他们的胜算全都冀望于打游击战，以此消耗敌人的耐性。他们对这里的一丘一壑、一草一木都了如指掌，不时搞些出其不意的突然袭击就成了他们的拿手好戏。不过这样说也许对这些英勇的先民们有些不公平，我们别忘了连恺撒本人，也对他们的作战策略与野外生存能力表示赞赏，这让恺撒的神圣光环多少有些黯淡失色。
2. 公元前54年，不列颠的军队向南集结到泰晤士河，由卡瑟白兰
执掌帅印。大军按兵不动已经十天，原因是恺撒正忙着整修他的舰船
。起初，罗马军营周围的山丘上已经出现了不列颠人的移动部队，但并未展开攻击。没过多久，由三个罗马步兵团和所有骑兵组成的粮草部队行进到了一片旷野地带，战斗便打响了。
3. 不列颠人一冲而上，不过似乎在慌乱中玩过了头，居然冲到了披坚执锐的罗马军团的面前，与他们短兵相接。要想击溃如此铜墙铁壁般的罗马军团根本不可能，于是不列颠军队立刻乱作一团，他们的鲁莽攻击现在让他们自己开始颤抖了。罗马军中一道令下，他们立刻就溃不成军，被风卷残云般扫荡得干干净净。如此惨败，直接使得本土军队彻底解散，卡瑟白兰也就从泰晤士河卷铺盖回家了。
4. 恺撒于是准备跨江而过，下定决心要跟随他的这些顽强敌人直至这片国土的腹地中央。这条通路后来被认为开辟在一个叫考维斯德克斯的地方，离切尔西
不远。直到比德
时代，这一地点在传统史学中一直被人道及。不过面对滔滔大江，要想摸着石头过河可没那么简单，何况河底到处是硕大的橡树桩，残忍而愤怒的敌人正在对岸严阵以待。
5. 罗马勇士们想出一个办法降低了过河的危险，他们让马匹先走，然后跟在马匹后面走入水中。一时间，整个部队在河面上构成了一大片钢盔，这样的英勇行为让对岸的不列颠人目瞪口呆。他们还没回过神来，这边的大军已经奋力挣扎着安全通过了泰晤士河。
6. 恺撒大军继续前行，到达卡瑟白兰的领地。这是一片用篱笆桩围起来的土地，位于赫特福德郡的树林中，并且被一圈土墙包围，林地和沼泽地上只要留有可以让敌人通过的漏洞，就全都用砍倒的树木堵上了。后来罗马人的城镇维鲁拉米姆，就在现在距圣奥尔本斯
不远地方，据说就是建在当年卡瑟白兰营地驻扎的地方。不过，这个说法很值得怀疑。
7. 不管这城在何处，恺撒所到之处，都会有一些友好部落的使节把他指引到一些要塞。他进而可以突破防御工事，将守卫人员从哨岗上驱散，并且杀了不少，还顺手牵羊把那里的财产和大群牲畜带走，回来再以极受欢迎的价格卖给他那些总吃不饱饭的士兵，他们可是跟着他在这片到处是断壁残垣的土地上跋涉很多天了。
8. 卡瑟白兰的领地自然也沦陷了。他最后的希望曾寄托在肯特部落的四位首领身上，他向他们送去了一封紧急求救信，要他们立即对罗马军营发动攻击。他们的确是发动了，但是却失败了，于是再也没有什么资本可以乞求和平。不过要说乞求和平，恺撒可是早就做好准备接受。但他也知道这样逞强其实也没什么意义，即使要想守住少许这些辛苦抢夺而来的土地，也得花费没完没了的精力。于是他开始改变策略，转而要求保有人质以及当地每年的进贡。然后他班师回朝，凯旋高卢，而他在这片被征服的土地上别的什么也没留下，只有一些废弃的营房，依然标志着这个岛屿曾是他的战利品。
9. 他的两次远征对我们来说，似乎已经湮没在历史的深处，只是偶尔通过他笔下的文字
，我们能隐隐感受一下这已远去的历史脉搏，而这对今天的我们依然不无警示。从他著作中的观点来看，他知道如何去掩饰战事的失利以及撤退。事实上他也承认，在当时背景下，正是他们一贯的好运气让他们自己失去斗志，偃旗息鼓了。也不用怀疑，每一次短兵相接，罗马战刀总是能压倒性地制伏不列颠长剑，但面对此起彼伏的不列颠军队，还有他们不屈不挠的迎战斗志和分散灵活的作战阵列，罗马军团是耗不起持久战的。因此我们常说：“少量的不列颠人质，一串维纳斯腰上的不列颠珍珠，一次光荣的凯旋，这就是恺撒所获取的全部战利品。”