Editing Gallic Wars (section)

=== 55&nbsp;BC: Crossing the Rhine and the English Channel ===
{{See also|Caesar's invasions of Britain|Caesar's Rhine bridges}}
[[File:Il_ponte_di_Cesare_sul_Reno.jpg|right|thumb|alt=A painting of Caesar's Rhine river Bridge| Caesar's Rhine Bridge, by [[John Soane]] (1814)]]
A need for prestige more than tactical concerns likely determined Caesar's campaigns in 55&nbsp;BC, due to Pompey and Crassus' consulship. On the one hand, they were Caesar's political allies, and Crassus's son had fought under him the year before. But they were also his rivals, and had formidable reputations (Pompey was a great general, and Crassus was fabulously wealthy). Since the consuls could easily sway and buy public opinion, Caesar needed to stay in the public eye. His solution was to cross two water bodies no Roman army had attempted before: the Rhine and the [[English Channel]]. Crossing the Rhine was a consequence of Germanic/Celtic unrest. The Suebi had recently forced the Celtic [[Usipetes]] and [[Tencteri]] from their lands, who resultingly had crossed the Rhine in search of a new home. Caesar, however, had denied their earlier request to settle in Gaul, and the issue turned to war. The Celtic tribes sent out a cavalry force of 800 against a Roman auxiliary force of 5,000 made up of Gauls, and won a surprising victory. Caesar retaliated by attacking the defenseless Celtic camp, and slaughtering the men, women, and children. Caesar claims he killed 430,000 people in the camp. Modern historians find this number impossibly high (see [[#Historiography|historiography]] below), but it is apparent that Caesar killed a great many Celts.{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|pp=43–49|p=}} So cruel were his actions, his enemies in the Senate wished to prosecute him for war crimes once his tenure as governor was up and he was no longer immune from prosecution.{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|p=46}} After the massacre, Caesar led the first Roman army across the Rhine in a lightning campaign that lasted just 18 days.{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|pp=43–49}}
[[File:Gallia Cesare 55 aC.png|alt=Map of Europe, centered on France. Compared to the last map, northwest France has been captured. Note that south-central France remains uncaptured.|left|thumb|Campaign map of 55 BC. Note Caesar's crossing of the Rhine, with Germanic counter movements in orange. Aside from the crossing of the Channel, few other actions were carried out that year.]]
Historian Kate Gilliver considers all of Caesar's actions in 55&nbsp;BC to be a "publicity stunt" and suggests that the basis for continuing the Celtic/Germanic campaign was a desire to gain prestige. This also explains the campaign's brief time span. Caesar wanted to impress the Romans and scare the Germanic tribesmen, and he did this by crossing the Rhine in style. Instead of using boats or pontoons as he had in earlier campaigns, he built a timber bridge in a mere ten days. He walked across, raided the Suebic countryside, and retreated across the bridge before the Suebic army could mobilize. He then burned the bridge and turned his attentions to another feat no Roman army had accomplished before—landing in Britain. The nominal reason to attack Britain was the Britonic tribes had been assisting the Gauls, but like most of Caesar's ''casus belli'' it was just an excuse to gain stature in the eyes of the Roman people.{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|pp=43–49}}
[[File:A Chronicle of England - Page 005 - The Standard Bearer of the Tenth Legion.jpg|thumb|alt=A drawing showing some Romans landing in Britain | Illustration of the Romans landing in Britain, featuring the standard bearer of the X&nbsp;legion]]

Caesar's first trip into Britain was less of a full scale invasion than an expedition. He took only two legions from his army; however, his cavalry auxiliaries were unable to make the crossing despite several attempts. Caesar crossed late in the season, and in great haste, leaving well after midnight on 23&nbsp;August.<ref name="gF4VT" />{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|pp=43–49}} Initially, he planned to land somewhere in [[Kent]], but the Britons were waiting for him. He moved up the coast and landed—modern archeological finds suggest at [[Pegwell Bay]]<ref name="le.ac.uk" />—but the Britons had kept pace and fielded an impressive force, including cavalry and chariots. The legions were hesitant to go ashore. Eventually, the X&nbsp;legion's standard bearer jumped into the sea and waded to shore. To have the legion's standard fall in combat was the greatest humiliation, and the men disembarked to protect the standard bearer. After some delay, a battle line was finally formed, and the Britons withdrew. Because the Roman cavalry had not made the crossing, Caesar could not chase down the Britons. The Romans' luck did not improve, and a Roman foraging party was ambushed. The Britons took this as a sign of Roman weakness and amassed a large force to assault them. A short battle ensued, though Caesar provides no details beyond indicating the Romans prevailed. Again, the lack of cavalry to chase down the fleeing Britons prevented a decisive victory. The campaigning season was now nearly over, and the legions were in no condition to winter on the coast of Kent. Caesar withdrew back across the Channel.{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|pp=43–49}}

Gilliver notes that Caesar once again narrowly escaped disaster. Taking an understrength army with few provisions to a far-off land was a poor tactical decision, which easily could have led to Caesar's defeat—yet he survived. While he had achieved no significant gains in Britain, he had accomplished a monumental feat simply by landing there. It was a fabulous propaganda victory as well, which was chronicled in Caesar's ongoing ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]''. The writings in the ''Commentarii'' fed Rome a steady update of Caesar's exploits (with his own personal spin on events). Caesar's goal of prestige and publicity succeeded enormously: upon his return to Rome, he was hailed as a hero and given an unprecedented 20-day thanksgiving. He now began planning for a proper invasion of Britain.{{Sfn|Gilliver|2003|pp=43–49}}