Among the Helvetii, Orgetorix was by far the most distinguished and wealthy. Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilization and refinement of Province, and merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind and they are the nearest to the Germans, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually waging war for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either repel them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called “Celts,” in our language “Gauls,” the third. The following is an adaptation of Caesar’s Gallic War, trans. As Rankin has observed, “Caesar was not a historian: he was a political war-lord in need of good public relations material to confuse both friends and enemies in Rome about the true nature of his activities in Gaul.” He was not interested in Celtic ethnography per se, but rather on the political and social matters of the élite which were relevant for Roman imperial interests. Although he clearly had much first-hand contact with Celts, some scholars believe that he also drew upon Posidonius. His book Commentarii de Bello Gallico ( Commentaries on the Gallic War, often called The Conquest of Gaul), was a propaganda piece (written in 53 BCE) justifying his military and political actions during a nine year campaign in Gaul (and a short jaunt into Britain). Julius Cæsar (100 BCE – 44 BCE), the famous Roman politician and soldier, rose to fame and power in his conquest of the Celts of western Europe.
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