Cæsar's Commentaries consist of seven books of the Gallic, and three of the civil wars. Some critics, however, particularly Floridus Sabinus(196), deny that he was the author of the books on the latter war, while Carrio and Ludovicus Caduceus doubt of his being the author even of the Gallic war,--the last of these critics attributing the work to Suetonius. Hardouin, who believed that most of the works now termed classical, were forgeries of the monks in the thirteenth century, also tried to persuade the world, that the whole account of the Gallic campaigns was a fiction, and that Cæsar had never drawn a sword in Gaul in his life. The testimony, however, of Cicero and Hirtius, who were contemporary with Cæsar,--of many authentic writers, who lived after him, as Suetonius, Strabo, and Plutarch,--and of all the old grammarians, must be considered as settling the question; for if such evidence is not implicitly trusted, there seems to be an end of all reliance on ancient authority.
Though these Commentaries comprehend but a small extent of time, and are not the general history of a nation, they embrace events of the highest importance, and they detail, perhaps, the greatest military operations to be found in ancient story. We see in them all that is great and consummate in the art of war. The ablest commander of the most martial people on the globe records the history of his own campaigns. Placed at the head of the finest army ever formed in the world, and one devoted to his fortunes, but opposed by military skill and prowess only second to its own, he, and the soldiers he commanded, may be almost extolled in the words in which Nestor praised the heroes who had gone before him:--
"{ ~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, { ~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}," ----