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THE ROMAN WAY

23

WRITING HOME

The other Roman commander to integrate intelligence matters within an

overall military strategy was Julius Caesar, whose conquest of Gaul (58–50 bce)

relied heavily on prior knowledge of the barbarian tribes he would encounter.

A pioneer in the art of coded messages, Caesar also found the close

interrogation of enemy prisoners a valuable information tool. While on

campaign, Caesar regularly corresponded with his allies back in Rome.

To prevent his letters being read by third parties, he used several coding

systems, including a substitution cipher that still bears his name. The

Caesar cipher replaced each letter of the alphabet with another letter at

an agreed number of places from the original. Thus, if the key said to

move each alphabet letter four letters forward, the word “CAESAR“

would become “GEIWEV.“ Such a code would not have

troubled a professional cryptographer, but it was sufficient

to defeat untrained prying eyes.

“NEVER WAS THERE A SLAUGHTER MORE

CRUEL THAN TOOK PLACE IN THE MARSHES

AND WOODS. THEY PUT OUT THE EYES OF

SOME AND CUT OFF THE HANDS OF OTHERS.”

Roman account of the slaughter following the Battle of Teutoburg Forest

Above: The Battle of Teutoburg Forest

involved fierce hand-to-hand fighting.

CATASTROPHIC INTELLIGENCE FAILURE

Scipio and Caesar were exceptions to the Roman tendency to ignore

intelligence gathering. This became apparent after Rome’s transition

from republic to empire. In 9

ce, a Roman army of three legions marched

into territory held by Germanic tribes. The complacent Romans discounted

information that the tribes were preparing a rebellion, and Varus, the Roman

commander, even failed to conduct the most basic battlefield reconnaissance. Deep

in the Teutoburg Forest, the Germanic tribes, led by Arminius, launched their ambush,

and the Romans were annihilated in a savage

battle that lasted for three days. Facing

catastrophic defeat, Varus committed suicide.

Despite this warning, the Romans continued

to show little interest in affairs outside the

empire, concentrating their intelligence efforts

on internal security. Roman leaders directed

their energies towards personal protection,

but despite a profusion of security

measures—forming special guards,

and spying on rivals—increasing

numbers of emperors ended up

being assassinated.