War against the Suebi

The War against the Suebi (58 BCE), also known as the Battle of Vesontio and the Battle of Vosges, was conducted by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars (58-51 BCE).

Ariovistus was the King of the Suebi, a Germanic Tribe from the area between the Rhine and the Elbe.
They had already crossed the Rhine and invaded and conquered a large part of Belgica, during the preceding years. In doing so, they had occupied the territory of the Sequani and were oppressing the Aedui.
Consequently, Caesar had accepted Ariovistus and the Suebi as a Roman Client Kingdom.
However, Ariovistus considered the presence of Caesar’s Legions to be in violation of their treaty and was not prepared to accept them on his territory.
War appeared inevitable.

In September 58 BCE Caesar estimated Ariovistus to have 120,000 soldiers, with more reinforcements expected to cross the Rhine and besiege the Sequani town of Vesontio (Besancon).
Caesar quickly reinforced the Roman Garrison before the Suebi arrived, preventing Vesontio from falling to the Suebi.

Seeing this, Ariovistus then opened Diplomatic negotiations with Caesar.
Ariovistus’ argument was that just as Julius Caesar had the right to invade Gaul from the south in order to prevent conflict, he had the same right to do so from the north.
Caesar countered his argument by pointing out that Ariovistus had failed to assist him against the Helvetii, therefore he had no right to invade at all.

The Roman Legionaries were intimidated by the German Army and reluctant to go into battle, as their morale was low.
Julius Caesar was obliged to make a rallying speech to his troops. He suggested that if they were afraid to go into battle against the Germans, then they could stand down and he would take just one Legion, his favourite Legio X Equestris and they engage the enemy alone. This speech galvanised the troops into supporting him and they joined in the battle.

Caesar arranged his Legions in front of the German Camp and attacked, with himself commanding the right wing.
The two armies were well matched, and initially the Battle was a stalemate.
After a while the Left wing was able to rout the Suebi army, but on the right wing, their sheer numbers started to prevail.
The situation was saved by the son of Crassus, Publius Licinius Crassus, who commanded a cavalry attack that broke the Suebi attack, and put them to flight.
As the Suebi fled they were cut down, with 25,000 being killed. The rest escaped across the Rhine including Ariovistus.

As the Suebi returned home, they were attacked by the Ubii, another Roman Client Kingdom, further weakening them.
In 55 BCE the Suebi attacked the Ubii, and Caesar was forced to defend the Ubii by building a bridge across the Rhine, and sending his Legions to disperse the Suebi from their towns. The Legions then recrossed the bridge and dismantled it.
Meanwhile Julius Caesar put his legions into Winter quarters in Sequani territory under Labienus, and returned to Gallia Cisalpina.

Vesontio, Besancon