Caesar in the consulship of Marcellinus and Philippus made an expedition against the Veneti, who live near the ocean.
They had seized some Roman soldiers sent out for grain and afterward detained the envoys who came in their behalf, in order that in exchange for these they might get back their own hostages. Caesar, instead of giving these back, sent out different bodies of troops in various directions, some to waste the possessions of those who had joined the revolt and thus to prevent the two bands from aiding each other, and others to guard the possessions of those who were under treaty, for fear they too might cause some disturbance; he himself proceeded against the Veneti. He constructed in the interior the kind of boats which he heard were of advantage for the tides of the ocean, and conveyed them down the river Liger, but in so doing used up almost the entire summer to no purpose. For their cities, established in strong positions, were inaccessible, and the ocean surging around practically all of them rendered an infantry attack out of the question, and a naval attack equally so in the midst of the ebb and flow of the tide.
Consequently Caesar was in despair until Decimus Brutus came to him with swift ships from the Mediterranean. And he was inclined to believe he would be unable to accomplish anything with those either, but the barbarians through their contempt for the small size and frailty of the boats incurred defeat. For these boats had been built rather light in the interest of speed, after the manner of our naval construction, whereas those of the barbarians surpassed them very greatly both in size and stoutness, since amid the ever-shifting tides of the ocean they often needed to rest on dry ground and to hold out against the succession of ebb and flow. Accordingly, the barbarians, who had never had any experience of such a fleet, despised the ships as useless in view of their appearance; and as soon as they were lying in the harbour they set sail against them, thinking to sink them speedily by means of their boat-hooks. They were swept on by a great and violent wind, for their sails were of leather and so carried easily the full force of the wind. Now Brutus, as long as the wind raged, dared not sail out against them because of the number and size of the ships, the force with which they were driven by the wind, and their own attack, but he prepared to repel their attack near the land and to abandon the boats altogether.
When, however, the wind suddenly fell, the waves were stilled, and the boats could no longer be propelled as they had been with the oars but because of their great bulk stopped motionless, as it were, then he took courage and sailed out to meet them. And falling upon them, he caused them many serious injuries with impunity, delivering both broadside and rear attacks, now ramming one of them, now backing water, in whatever way and as often as he liked, sometimes with many vessels against one and again with equal numbers opposed, occasionally even approaching safely with a few against my. At whatever point he was superior to them in … he stuck to them closely; he sank some by ripping them open, and boarding others from all sides, he engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with the crews and slew many. If he found himself inferior anywhere, he very easily retired, so that the advantage rested with him in any case. For the barbarians did not use archery and had not provided themselves beforehand with stones, not expecting to have any need of them; hence, if any one came into close quarters with them, they fought him off after a fashion, but with those who stood at a little distance from them they knew not how to cope. So the men were being wounded and killed, even those who were unable to repel any one, while the boats were unable to repel any one, while the boats were in some cases rammed and ripped open, in other cases were set on fire and burned; still others were towed away, as if empty of men.
When the remaining crews saw this, some killed themselves to avoid being captured alive and others leapt into the sea with the idea that they would thus either board the hostile ships or in any event not perish at the hands of the Romans. For in zeal and daring they were not at all behind their opponents, but they were terribly angry at finding themselves betrayed by the sluggishness of their vessels. The Romans, to make sure that the wind when it sprang up again should not move the ships, employed from a distance long poles fitted with knives, by means of which they cut the ropes and split the sails. And since the barbarians were compelled to fight in their boats as if on land, while the foes could used his ships as at sea, great numbers perished then and there, and all the remainder were captured. Of these Caesar slew the most prominent and sold the rest.