XIII.--This battle ended, that he might be able to come up with the
remaining forces of the Helvetii, he procures a bridge to be made across
the Saone, and thus leads his army over. The Helvetii, confused by his
sudden arrival, when they found that he had effected in one day what
they themselves had with the utmost difficulty accomplished in twenty,
namely, the crossing of the river, send ambassadors to him; at the head
of which embassy was Divico, who had been commander of the Helvetii in
the war against Cassius. He thus treats with Caesar:--that, "if the
Roman people would make peace with the Helvetii they would go to that
part and there remain, where Caesar might appoint and desire them to be;
but if he should persist in persecuting them with war, that he ought to
remember both the ancient disgrace of the Roman people and the
characteristic valour of the Helvetii. As to his having attacked one
canton by surprise, [at a time] when those who had crossed the river
could not bring assistance to their friends, that he ought not on that
account to ascribe very much to his own valour, or despise them; that
they had so learned from their sires and ancestors, as to rely more on
valour than on artifice or stratagem. Wherefore let him not bring it to
pass that the place, where they were standing, should acquire a name,
from the disaster of the Roman people and the destruction of their army
or transmit the remembrance [of such an event to posterity]."

XIV.--To these words Caesar thus replied:--that "on that very account he
felt less hesitation, because he kept in remembrance those circumstances
which the Helvetian ambassadors had mentioned, and that he felt the more
indignant at them, in proportion as they had happened undeservedly to
the Roman people: for if they had been conscious of having done any
wrong it would not have been difficult to be on their guard, but for
that very reason had they been deceived, because neither were they aware