Tribes like the Aedui prospered following Caesar's arrival in Gaul. So did many individual leaders. The Roman governor was often called upon to arbitrate disputes between and within the tribes. His backing greatly augmented the power of the druid Diviciacus, making him effective leader of the Aedui for a number of years. In other tribes Caesar appointed men as kings or senior magistrates, giving them honors and wealth, and backing them with military force when necessary. Inevitably, those aristocrats who failed to win his favor were forced to watch rivals being promoted over them, knowing well that this situation was unlikely to change as long as Caesar and his army remained in Gaul.

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Diviciacus had a brother, Dumnorix, who had long vied with him for power within the tribe and had actively encouraged the Helvetii to migrate, since these allies would have greatly increased his own power. Caesar treated him with suspicion. Eventually Dumnorix was killed while "resisting arrest," after fleeing from the Roman camp rather than accompany the expedition to Britain.

Men excluded from Caesar's patronage were likely to resort to desperate measures to secure power within their own tribe. During the winter of 54-53 b.c., several chieftains of this sort inspired a large-scale rebellion among the Belgic tribes, even seeking support from German war bands from beyond the Rhine.

The rebels enjoyed a stunning success when one of the lesser tribes lured a Roman garrison into an ambush and completely wiped out Legion XIV, plus five other cohorts. It was the first serious defeat Caesar's army suffered, and he took an oath not to shave or cut his hair until the massacre had been avenged. This was an especially power­ful gesture from the fastidious Caesar.

Roman vengeance proved both swift and brutal, and he spent much of the next year laying waste to the lands of the tribes involved in the rising. Caesar's description did not attempt to hide the horror of these campaigns:

Caesar created three new legions, so that thirty cohorts replaced the fifteen that had been destroyed, in an effort to convince the Gauls that Roman manpower was endless. At the end of the year, he summoned the leaders of Gaul to the usual council, this time held at Reims. A dispute had broken out between two allied tribes, and Caesar decided that the chieftain Acco was responsible. He had Acco publicly flogged and then beheaded.

Caesar then left Gaul and traveled to the Cisalpine province to be nearer to Rome. This was his usual practice after each campaigning season, but the seriousness of the rebellion had kept him in Gaul the previous winter. These were extremely disturbed times at Rome, with electoral bribery rampant and organized political gangs violently clashing in and around the city.

While Caesar was away, leaders from throughout Gaul met in secret and spoke of rebellion. Most were men who had done well out of Caesar's favor but now felt that his presence restricted them from further success. Chieftains were judged by the number of warriors in their household, but it was hard to maintain these retinues in peacetime. Caesar had ruled that the tribes could no longer raid each other, and he refused to tolerate any leader who seized power within his own tribe by force.

Loyalty to Caesar and Rome, which had served them well in the past, now looked less attractive. Many also came to realize that the Romans were in Gaul to stay, even after the reasons for their intervention had gone.

Most of the tribes of southern and central Gaul had never opposed Caesar. Tribes such as the Aedui, Sequani, and Arverni were the wealthiest and most politically united of all the Gallic peoples. Situated along the main trade routes from Italy, they had grown rich on the profits, and they had access to Mediterranean luxury goods. Although Caesar had "protected" them against the Helvetii and Ariovistus, these allies now had come to resent his presence. On the other hand, the arbitrary killing of Dumnorix and the brutal execution of Acco showed them the fate of anyone who lost the Roman governor's favor.

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