52.
On the next day, Caesar, having called a meeting,
censured the rashness and avarice of his soldiers, "In that they had judged for
themselves how far they ought to proceed, or what they ought to do, and could
not be kept back by the tribunes of the soldiers and the lieutenants;" and
stated, "what the disadvantage of the ground could effect, what opinion he
himself had entertained at Avaricum , when having surprised the enemy without either general or
cavalry, he had given up a certain victory, lest even a trifling loss should
occur in the contest owing to the disadvantage of position. That as much as he
admired the greatness of their courage, since neither the fortifications of the
camp, nor the height of the mountain, nor the wall of the town could retard
them; in the same degree he censured their licentiousness and arrogance, because
they thought that they knew more than their general concerning victory, and the
issue of actions: and that he required in his soldiers forbearance and
self-command, not less than valor and magnanimity."
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