P. Sextius Baculus

Family: Roman · Role: chief centurion · First appears: The Gallic War, Book II, 21–27

Life events

P. Sextius Baculus was so exhausted by severe wounds that he could no longer support himself.(The Gallic War, Book II, 21–27)
- “P. Sextius Baculus, a very valiant man, who was so exhausted by many and severe wounds, that he was already unable to support himself;”
P. Sextius Baculus and C. Volusenus urged Galba to make a sally as the only hope of safety.(The Gallic War, Book III, 1–7)
- With: Servius Galba Caius Volusenus Quadratus
- “P. Sextius Baculus, a centurion of the first rank, whom we have related to have been disabled by severe wounds in the engagement with the Nervii, and also C. Volusenus, a tribune of the soldiers, a man of great skill and valour, hasten to Galba, and assure him that the only hope of safety lay in making a sally, and trying the last resource.”
P. Sextius Baculus defended the camp gate, was wounded, and was rescued by the soldiers.(The Gallic War, Book VI, 37–44)
- “Sextius faints, after receiving many wounds; he is with difficulty saved, drawn away by the hands of the soldiers.”

commander: Caesar “Caesar proceeded, after encouraging the tenth legion, to the right wing; where he perceived that his men were hard pressed, and that in consequence of the standards of the twelfth legion being collected together in one place, the crowded soldiers were a hindrance to themselves in the fight; that all the centurions of the fourth cohort were slain, and the standard-bearer killed, the standard itself lost, almost all the centurions of the other cohorts either wounded or slain, and among them the chief centurion of the legion, P. Sextius Baculus, a very valiant man, who was so exhausted by many and severe wounds, that he was already unable to support himself;”

commander: Servius Galba (Baculus serves as a centurion in Galba’s force.) “P. Sextius Baculus, a centurion of the first rank, whom we have related to have been disabled by severe wounds in the engagement with the Nervii, and also C. Volusenus, a tribune of the soldiers, a man of great skill and valour, hasten to Galba, and assure him that the only hope of safety lay in making a sally, and trying the last resource.”

commander: Caesar “P. Sextius Baculus, who had led a principal century under Caesar (of whom we have made mention in previous engagements), had been left an invalid in the garrison, and had now been five days without food.”

Extracted from the original text of Caesar's Commentaries — The Gallic War and The Civil War. Made with Rho MD.