Caesar or the Cross

In 58 BC, the Helvetii, a Celtic tribe living in what is now Switzerland, attempted to migrate westward to a more fertile area in Gaul. Their route would take them through Roman territory, and so they sought safe passage from the governor of the province. Unfortunately for them, the governor was a highly ambitious, deeply indebted man—Julius Caesar. Seeing an opportunity for personal gain and glory, Caesar granted permission for the Helvetii to pass through, only to secretly gather 30,000 soldiers, chase the tribe down, and attack. In his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Caesar boasted that of the 368,000 men, women, and children who sought to migrate, only 110,000 survived.

Under the pretext of regional instability, Caesar launched a full-scale invasion of Gaul. Over the next six years, he waged relentless warfare on the Celtic tribes. By the time of the final battle in 52 BC, over one million Gauls had been killed, another million enslaved, and entire populations wiped out. As a result, Rome’s borders stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Rhine in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the south to the English Channel in the north. 

Caesar was rewarded for his conquests with a triumph, a grand parade through the streets of Rome. Ever the showman, Caesar rode in a gleaming chariot, dressed in a purple and gold toga, a laurel crown on his head, a scepter in hand. In imitation of Jupiter, he painted his face red. Alongside him his soldiers sang bawdy songs of praise (“men, keep your wives close, the bald adulterer is back and triumphant!”), carried captured treasure and loot, and held up flags and banners depicting victorious battles. Forty elephants and other exotic animals were paraded to delight the crowd. Behind Caesar's chariot walked captured prisoners and slaves, including Vercingetorix, the Gallic chieftain, who was publicly executed by strangulation. 

Caesar’s adopted son and successor, Octavian, expanded his father’s territorial gains and transformed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. With the absence of major wars, Octavian’s reign initiated what became known as the Pax Romana—the Roman Peace. The term pax derives from the concept of a treaty, but in Roman military contexts, it meant “to pacify,” “subdue,” or “subjugate” rebellious territories. Pax was something achieved through conquest and maintained through overwhelming domination—order imposed through violence. As the first-century historian Tacitus wryly noted, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant—“They make a desert and call it peace.”