Late Roman Republic, Julius Caesar (=Caesar; fl.85-44 BC), First Gallic Revolt (56 BC): Veneti [2], Menapii and the Morini, Aquitania

Veneti [2]: Quiberon Bay (northwest Gaul)

Of the tribes in Brittany the Veneti were the strongest: they owned all the important harbours on the coast, possessed a large number of ships, traded with Britain and Spain and had considerable wealth. 

In the winter ¹⁶Licinius Crassus ran short of supplies and he sent officers to the tribes to negotiate for a supply of corn. The Veneti and some other tribes took them prisoner and sent a message to Crassus demanding an exchange of hostages.

Caesar, then in Illyricum, was informed of this by Crassus, but unable to take action during the winter he sent orders to build ships on the Loire, where his legions were quartered, and the ships were floated down to the Atlantic. He got rowers from the Narbonensis and went into Gaul.

He sent Labienus to the country of the Treveri to keep the Belgae quiet and to stop the Germans from crossing the Rhine; Crassus was sent twelve cohorts and a large body of cavalry into Aquitania to prevent Celts from receiving any aid from there; and to keep the Curiosolitae (Brittany), Venelli and Lexovii (Normandy) in Titurius Sabinus was sent into those parts with three legions. Decimus ¹²Junius Brutus (c.40; fl.56-43 BC) commanded Caesar’s fleet, while Caesar himself led an army against the chief offenders.

Hearing the news of Caesar’s fleet, the Veneti began to make their own preparations. More allies were recruited, including the Venelli of Normandy, the Morini and Menapii tribes along the Belgic coast, and some fighters across the sea in Britain. The Veneti fortresses were all located on precipitous peninsulas that could only with great difficulty be attacked from land. The force of the Atlantic tides against the walls made an attack by the Romans also unlikely. 

The first part of the ensuing campaign consisted of the Romans laying siege to the fortresses and the Celts escaping by sea to another fortress because the Roman ships were either confined to port by heavy weather or being pushed aside by the stouter enemy ships, designed as the were for the heavy seas of the Atlantic.

At last sufficient ships had been built and others had made the long voyage around Hispania from the Mediterranean. In late summer 56 BC the two fleets sailed out to do battle at Quiberon Bay, off the south coast of Brittany. The allied fleet numbered two hundred and twenty sail, while the Romans had fewer than half of this number including some borrowed from the Pictones, Santones and other tribes south of Loire.

The Veneti ships were too strongly built to be rammed and too high-sided for missile weapons to be effective. The Romans therefore devised and supplied their ships with a new weapon – sharp hooks on long poles used to cut the rigging of the enemy ships. Celtic ships had no oars, so when they lost their sails they lost all power of manoeuvre and were easily captured. By the end of the day the Veneti fleet had been destroyed, and the tribe was forced to surrender. Caesar, apparently angry by their failure to respect the rights of his envoys, had their leaders executed and the rest sold into slavery.

Menapii and the Morini: Belgica

Caesar decided to mount an autumn campaign against two tribes that had refused to surrender to him, the Menapii and the Morini. These were coastal peoples occupying the marshlands and forests of Belgium and southern Netherlands. When they were attacked they retreated into their most inaccessible regions and Caesar was unable to pursue them.

Aquitania: southwest Celtica

With just one legion and a cavalry attachment, ¹⁶Licinius Crassus had a tougher task in Aquitania. He raised additional infantry and cavalry in the province and marched south of the Garonne towards the Pyrenees. He repulsed an attack by the Sotiates, but the Vocates and Tarusates refused to do battle and directed their efforts to cutting Crassus off from his supplies. To force a conclusion Crassus attacked the enemy encampment. Learning that the camp was only properly fortified in the front, he ordered reinforcements to circle round and attack the rear of the camp. The army of about fifty thousand, taken completely by surprise and completely surrounded, attempted to break out and flee, pursued by Crassus’ cavalry. Only about twelve thousand escaped slaughter and most the tribes in this huge area of southwest Gaul surrendered.