On thing stands out in this account, namely, the speech in direct discourse, the only one given to a legatus (BG 6.8.4). Its purpose is clear: the soldiers willingly display their greatest bravery for Caesar but must be reminded to maintain that standard for his officers. Labienus, however skilled, was merely a dux, while Caesar was imperator. Caesar’s close relationship with the legionaries too deeply pervades the commentaries and secondary tradition to be a literary device. He must have kept before the legatus, as he does the reader, that he fought with Caesar’s soldiers.[40] Crassus’ success in Aquitania in 56 was due in part to the troops’ eagerness to show what they could accomplish in Caesar’s absence with an adulescentulus (youth) in command (3.21.1). Brutus defeated the Veneti, despite his own perplexity and lack of foresight, because of the valor and ingenuity of the men fighting before Caesar (3.14.3, 8–9).[41] The possibility that Labienus delivered such an harangue cannot be dismissed, but when he makes a similar speech, against before a successful battle (7.62.2), suspicions are justified. Labienus crushed the powerful Terveri, robbing Caesar of the opportunity. He was victorious over the Parisii; Caesar failed at Gergovia. But lest the reader forget, Labienus accomplished what he accomplished with the imperator Caesar’s men.
Later in the summer Labienus was sent with a third of the army into the territory of the Eburnes (BG 6.33.1). His orders were to return after an interval of seven days (6.33.4–5). Since the mission was part of Caesar’s revenge for the cohorts lost at Agedincum, Labienus probably ravaged their fields and sought information about Ambiorix. But Caesar is silent concerning the results of this assignment.