The Helvetii on the Rhône (March 58 BC)

Divico and Caesar on the Rhône, drawing by Karl Jauslin (19th century)

In 58 BC the Helvetii burned their own towns and villages and set out west across Gaul. Caesar came from Rome to the Rhône and ordered the bridge at Geneva torn down. Plutarch gives the number of Helvetii as 300,000, Caesar himself 368,000 with their allies. Historians consider both figures exaggerated. At Bibracte Caesar defeated them and ordered them to return to their homeland; by his count about 110,000 returned (Gallic War 1.29).

Sources

Image: Karl Jauslin, 19th century, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain