    62

    Gaul

    s.  Leading the Gallic "tribes" in many of the battles against the

    Romans was Caesar's arch opponent, Vercingetorix.

    The Gauls were not tiny clusters of primitives in fur loincloths.

    Their leaders often read and wrote Greek186 and argued the philosophy

    of the cosmos.187  The Gallic populace was divided into substantial

    nations, each of which had hundreds of thousands of citizens and was

    led by its own politicians.  But the Gallic realms seldom saw eye to eye.

    How did Vercingetorix pull these states together into an alliance

    that could face the Roman might?  He used the magic word "freedom."

    Vercingetorix proclaimed passionately that the Gauls must unite to

    fight for liberty from Roman oppression.

    What Vercingetorix failed to explain was his precise idea of how

    that liberation would work.  Freedom, as he saw it, would consist of

    unifying all the Gallic nations so they could operate with one mind.

    Whose mind?  Vercingetorix's, of course.  To ensure solidarity,

    Vercingetorix tortured and killed those who disagreed with him.  On

    occasion, he was more humane.  He cut off the ears and put out the

    eyes of those who didn't share his views, then sent the mutilated souls

    back home as a warning to anyone else who might be tempted to

    entertain independent ideas.188  The freedom Vercingetorix offered the

    Gauls, in short, was the exchange of one tyranny for another.

    Peace is another word abused by those with hidden

    pecking-order goals.  It usually means, "Since I'm on top, let's keep the

    status quo;" or  "Now that I've managed to climb on your back, would

    you please be kind enough to sit still."

    "Justice" is the term used by those on the bottom of the heap who

    are itching to move up.  When these folks refer to "the struggle for

    justice," they generally mean, "Let's keep fighting until I come out on

    top."  Once the devotees of justice have seated themselves on the

    uppermost rung of the ladder, they too almost invariably become

    staunch defenders of "peace."

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