15.
This opinion having been approved of by unanimous consent, more than twenty towns
of the Bituriges are burned in one day. Conflagrations
are beheld in every quarter; and although all bore this with great regret, yet
they laid before themselves this consolation, that, as the victory was certain,
they could quickly recover their losses. There is a debate concerning Avaricum in the general council, whether they should decide, that
it should be burned or defended. The Bituriges threw themselves at
the feet of all the Gauls, and entreat that they
should not be compelled to set fire with their own hands to the fairest city of
almost the whole of Gaul, which was both a
protection and ornament to the state; they say that "they could easily defend
it, owing to the nature of the ground, for, being inclosed almost on every side
by a river and a marsh, it had only one entrance, and that very narrow."
Permission being granted to them at their earnest request,
Vercingetorix at first dissuades them from it, but afterward
concedes the point, owing to their entreaties and the compassion of the
soldiers. A proper garrison is selected for the town.
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