During the nine years of his command this is in substance what he did. All that part of Gaul which is bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Cervennes, and by the Rhine and Rhone rivers, a circuit of some 3,200 miles, with the exception of some allied states which had rendered him good service, he reduced to the form of a province; and imposed upon it a yearly tribute of 40,000,000 sesterces.1
Gessit autem novem annis, quibus in imperio fuit, haec fere. Omnem Galliam, quae saltu Pyrenaeo Alpibusque et monte Cebenna, fluminibus Rheno ac Rhodano continetur patetque circuitu ad bis et tricies centum milia passuum, praeter socias ac bene meritas civitates, in provinciae formam redegit, eique ccccThe number is preserved only in V; Eutropius, 6.17, has quadringenties.in singulos annos stipendii nomine inposuit.
1Roman measure; about 3106 English miles, taking the Roman foot (296 mm.) as 0.97 English. · For this and similar sums see Index, s.v. sestertius.
He was the first Roman to build a bridge and attack the Germans beyond the Rhine, inflicting heavy losses upon them. He invaded the Britons too, a people unknown before, vanquished them, and exacted moneys and hostages. Amid all these successes he met with adverse fortune but three times in all: in Britain, where his fleet narrowly escaped destruction in a violent storm; in Gaul, when one of his legions was routed at Gergovia; and in the land of Germany, when his lieutenants Titurius and Aurunculeius were ambushed and slain.
Germanos, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, primus Romanorum ponte fabricato adgressus maximis adfecit cladibus; adgressus est et Britannos ignotos antea superatisque pecunias et obsides imperavit; per tot successus ter nec amplius adversum casum expertus; in Britannia classe vi tempestatis prope absumpta et in Gallia ad Gergoviam legione fusa et in Germanorum finibus Titurio et Aurunculeio legatis per insidias caesis.