ROMAN GAUL. 299 



of the Romans, who not only made war on the hostile 

 tribes, but on the peaceful tribes as well. Thus com- 

 menced the conquest of Gaul. It was completed by- 

 Caesar, who used tbat country as an exercise ground 

 for his soldiers, and prepared them, by a hundred 

 battles, for the mighty combat in which Pompey was 

 overthrown. 



Military roads were made across the Alps : Roman 

 colonies were despatched into the newly conquered 

 land : Italian farmers took up their abode in the 

 native towns, and the chiefs were required to send 

 their sons to school. Thus the Romans obtained 

 hostages, and the Celts were pleased to see their boys 

 neatly dressed in white garments edged with purple, 

 displaying their proficiency on the waxen tablets and 

 the counting board. In a few generations the Celts 

 had disappeared. On the banks of the Rhone and 

 the Seine magnificent cities arose, watered by aqueducts, 

 surrounded by gardens, adorned with libraries, temples, 

 and public schools. The inhabitants called themselves 

 Romans, and spoke with patriotic fervour of the glorious 

 days of the Republic. 



Meanwhile the barbarians beyond the Rhine re- 

 mained in the savage state. They often crossed the 

 river to invade the land which had ripened into wealth 

 before their eyes : but the frontier was guarded by a 

 chain of camps ; and the Germans, armed only with 

 clumsy spears, and wooden shields, could not break 

 the line of Roman soldiers, who were dressed in steel, 

 who were splendidly disciplined, and who had military 

 engines. The Gauls had once been a warlike people ; 

 they now abandoned the use of arms. The Empire 

 insured them against invasion in return for the taxes 

 which they paid. 



