The Battle of the Axona was fought in 57 BC during Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Caesar's legions defeated a Belgae confederation led by the Suessiones, inflicting heavy losses and forcing the confederation to break up. He then overwhelmed the individual tribes one-by-one, with the Suessiones and Bellovaci surrendering without a fight; he also occupied the lands of his newfound Remi allies.
Background[]
In 57 BC, suspicious of the Roman general Julius Caesar's intentions in Gaul, the Belgic tribes of northern Gaul formed a confederation led by King Galba of the Suessiones. Caesar's deputy Titus Labienus informed him of the Belgae alliance, so Caesar immediately took action and raised a further two legions in Cisalpine Gaul before moving to the Belgae border with his eight legions (44,000 Roman troops and auxiliaries). Caesar made no efforts to gain a casus belli for his war with the Belgae, as, by then, most Romans had accepted that Caesar's actions were out of their control, and that his wars were in his own interests, not Rome's. Nevertheless, Caesar marched his army quickly into the lands of the Belgic Remi, who surrendered instantly and provided Caesar with all of the information they had on the alliance, including the names of the conspiring tribes and how many soldiers they had. Caesar convinced the Aedui to invade the Belgic Bellovaci tribe to open a second front as he advanced on the Belgic alliance's main army. Caesar crossed the Axona River and encamped on a hill on the other side, using the river to guard the rear and using the marshy land in his front to deter a Belgic frontal assault. The Belgae laid siege to the Remi town of Bilbrax, eight miles from Caesar's camp, and Caesar estimated that the Belgae had 300,000 warriors. In the face of such a large force, the Remi asked Caesar for help with holding their town. Caesar was reluctant to give up his defensive position, believing that the attack on Bilbrax was a trap. He kept his legions in camp, but sent Cretan archers and Balearic slingers to sneak into the town to help the Remi. Galba then marched his army to attack the Romans, encamping two miles away.
Battle[]
Caesar tested the strength of the Belgae with cavalry skirmishes as he constructed defensive towers and trenches to fortify his positions. Rather than suicidally attack the Roman army, Galba sent 20,000 men to ford the river and attack the six cohorts on the other side to draw Caesar's army down the hill and cut his supply line. Caesar gathered his light infantry and cavalry to oppose the crossing, and the cavalry fell upon the few Belgae who had made it to the other bank, massacring them and forcing them back into the river. At the same time, the Roman missile troops peppered the Belgae with stones, missiles, and arrows, inflicting heavy losses. Galba had no choice but to withdraw his men, and he soon discovered that the Aedui were threatening his flank. Galba decided to withdraw, and his tribes were to disperse to their respective homelands and only reassemble if the Romans continued their invasion of Belgium. Caesar then sent his cavalry and three legions under Labienus to harass the Belgae, and the confederation lost several more men during their retreat. The battle cost the Belgae 10,000 men and divided the confederation, and the Bellovaci and Suessiones quickly surrendered in the face of the Roman legions.