17:50
On 27 September 52 BC, the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix looked out from the walls of the hilltop town of Alesia in northeastern France. The surrounding countryside was strewn with the bodies of tens of thousands of dead warriors, mostly his fellow Gauls. They were all that remained of the Gallic coalition army that he envisaged striking the final blow against the besieging Roman forces under Gaius Julius Caesar, who had been leading the Roman conquest of what is today France and Belgium for the previous six years. A few weeks earlier, after leading an effective guerilla war
to starve Caesar's men of supplies, Vercingetorix had successfully defended his capital of Gergovia from a Roman siege and forced Caesar to withdraw with heavy losses. Aiming to eliminate the Romans for good, Vercingetorix encouraged Caesar to lay siege to the impregnable hillfort at Alesia. With limited supplies, Vercingetorix counted on executing a simultaneous attack against the Roman camps with a large relieving army he summoned from his allies. However, the Romans had demonstrated their prowess as military engineers by building wooden ramparts to keep the Gallic armies at
bay on both sides. As Vercingetorix witnessed the relieving army disintegrate in the face of Caesar's auxiliary cavalry, he knew that his rebellion was over. Although his hopes that his countrymen would retain their independence after his surrender to Caesar went unfulfilled, Vercingetorix was subsequently reinvented as a French national hero and a noble warrior who fought to preserve the independence of his people. This is the story of Vercingetorix, the Gallic prince who defied Rome. The man known to history as Vercingetorix was born in Gaul, modern-day France in the 1st century BC. He was a member of the Arverni tribe,
who gave their name to the Auvergne region, and he was likely born in the Arverni capital of Gergovia to the south of the present-day city of Clermont-Ferrand. His year of birth is unknown, but Caesar describes him as a young man in 52 BC, suggesting that Vercingetorix may have been born around 80 BC. Vercingetorix's father Celtillus was a powerful Arveni nobleman whom Caesar described as the "foremost man in Gaul." He was murdered in the 70s BC after he aspired to become king of all the Gauls. The name and identity of Vercingetorix's mother is unknown.
Relatively little is known about Vercingetorix's life, and most of it is condensed within the period from January to September 52 BC when he led his rebellion against Rome. The main source for Vercingetorix's biography is Julius Caesar's Commentary on the Gallic Wars, the Roman general's own account of his campaigns during the Gallic Wars between 58 and 52 BC. Later writers such as Cassius Dio and Plutarch provide additional information about the Gallic chieftain which is likely based on eyewitness traditions. Accordingly, any biography of Vercingetorix's
life relies primarily on texts written by his Roman enemies. Nevertheless, the archaeologist Jean-Louis Brunaux cites archaeological evidence that offers further insights into Gallic society, customs, and political institutions in Vercingetorix's time. The Gauls were a branch of the Celtic people who originated in central France and came to occupy a vast swathe of territory in western Europe encompassing the present-day nations of France, Germany, and northern Italy by the 4th century BC. Gallic warbands invaded Italy and the Balkans with mixed success,
sacking Rome in 387 BC and settling in the region of central Anatolia known as Galatia. The Romans initially used the term Gaul or Gallia to describe the Celtic population in northern Italy. After the Second Punic War, when Hannibal crossed the Alps with the support of Gallic allies, the term Gaul began to incorporate the Celts who lived beyond the Alps in Transalpine Gaul, in contrast to the region within Italy known as Cisalpine Gaul. At the beginning of the 2nd century BC, the Roman Republic took control of Cisalpine Gaul, and in the 120s BC the Romans expanded their authority
beyond the Alps by coming to the aid of the Greek colony of Massilia, present-day Marseilles. The Roman province in southeastern France was called Transalpine Gaul and later renamed Gallia Narbonensis after Narbo, present-day Narbonne, the capital of the Roman province. The Greek philosopher Posidonius, who travelled to southern Gaul in around 100 BC, described Gaul as a country with natural boundaries on all sides: the Alps and the Pyrenees in the south, the English Channel in the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Rhine to the east.
Posidonius also described the tripartite division of Gaul which Caesar observed in his memorable opening lines to his history of the Gallic Wars. The area of Gaul to the north of the River Seine was home to the Belgae, who would give their name to Belgium. The southwest was home to the Aquitani, who shared cultural and linguistic ties with their neighbours in the Iberian peninsula. The central part of Gaul was home to the Celts, whom the Romans called Gauls. While there remained a significant degree of cultural and political diversity within Gaul, with the exception of the
Aquitani they spoke similar dialects and shared a common druidic religion, while their tribal elites formed political and economic links across and beyond the region, often as a result of trade or service in mercenary armies. Posidonius left a vivid description of the banquets hosted by Gallic chieftains in their halls, which signified their proud warrior tradition. Each chieftain was accompanied by a retinue of warriors both on and off the battlefield. According to Posidonius, the seating hierarchy was determined by a combination of factors including military ability,
birth, and wealth. Posidonius claims that the banquets often involved organised duels between participants which could turn deadly if their comrades did not intervene. The first cut of meat was reserved for the man identified by the host as the bravest warrior, and anyone who wanted to dispute the claim would have to challenge them to a duel. As a young Gallic nobleman, Vercingetorix is likely to have participated in these gatherings, which enabled him to build relationships with fellow Gallic leaders. Vercingetorix was born into the Arverni
aristocracy, and members of his family were often elected chief magistrate of the community. Nothing is known about his education, but as a young nobleman he would have learned how to fight and ride at a young age. Together with their eastern neighbours, the Aedui, the Arverni were among the most powerful of the Gallic tribes and interacted with peoples in Germany and the Iberian peninsula, as well as the Romans in Transalpine Gaul. They adopted Roman customs and traditions and altered their traditional appearance by shaving off their drooping moustaches and cutting their hair short.
Gallic leaders were aware of political developments in Rome, where the generals Marius and Sulla violated constitutional norms in a power struggle that weakened the republican government. The French historian Yann Le Bohec suggests that familiarity with Roman politics encouraged Gallic leaders to centralise power. Vercingetorix's father Celtillus was killed for his royal ambitions and the leadership of the Arverni passed to Vercingetorix's uncle Gobannitio, who was friendlier towards Rome. The family's royal pretensions are also evident in Vercingetorix's
name. Historians are in broad agreement that the 'rix' at the end of the name means king, and the German historian Matthias Gelzer suggests that the full name translates to "Great King of Heroes." Caesar would also refer to Vercingetorix as 'rex' or king, but also used the terms dux or leader, and imperator, the title awarded to a triumphant military commander during the Roman Republic. Familiarity with Roman coinage encouraged the Gauls to mint their own coins. Vercingetorix minted his own coins in the 50s BC featuring the face of a young man who has been variously interpreted as a portrait of Vercingetorix himself,
or a local deity such as Apollo or Mercury. While Jean-Louis Brunaux suggests that there was a sense of Gallic unity based on an institution known as the Council of All Gaul mentioned by Caesar, Yann Le Bohec argues that continued migration into the region proves that a common Gallic identity did not yet exist and that the various tribes were often in conflict with each other. In 58 BC, the Helvetii in Switzerland began migrating west into modern-day France in response to attacks by Germanic peoples to their north. The movements of the Helvetii troubled the Aedui,
who appealed for Roman assistance. The Roman general and politician Gaius Julius Caesar had obtained an appointment as proconsul or governor of the provinces of Illyria, Cisalpine Gaul, and Transalpine Gaul for five years. The 41-year-old Caesar had been slow to rise up the political ranks owing to his family ties with Gaius Marius, the statesman and military reformer whose rivalry with Lucius Cornelius Sulla defined the early decades of the 1st century BC. After Sulla purged his political enemies during his dictatorship in 82 BC, Caesar political
prospects were poor. As a young man, he had proven to be a competent military officer in Asia Minor, but his exploits paled in comparison to his contemporary Gnaeus Pompeius, better known as Pompey, a brilliant general who conquered Asia Minor and defeated King Mithridates VI of Pontus, one of Rome's most tenacious enemies. In 63 BC, after the consul Marcus Tullius Cicero exposed a plot by Lucius Sergius Catalina to overthrow the Roman Republic, Caesar spoke against Cicero's proposal to execute the conspirators in the Senate but was unable to prevent the executions from
going ahead. Nevertheless, his intervention made him an influential leader of the populist faction. Amid the backlash against Cicero's draconian measures, in 60 BC Caesar formed a political alliance with Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome. The arrangement enabled Caesar's election to the consulship in 59 BC, during which he enacted a series of populist reforms that outraged his conservative opponents. Caesar lobbied for a five-year appointment in Gaul to escape his enemies in Rome and to give himself an opportunity to achieve military glory.
As the governor of three provinces which traced a wide arc from southern France to the eastern Adriatic, Caesar was given four legions to maintain order. Caesar had more aggressive intentions in mind, and the migration of the Helvetii offered him the pretext he needed to launch a campaign of conquest in Gaul. When the Helvetii sought to pass through Transalpine Gaul, Caesar refused permission and forced them to turn north. They soon came up against the lands of the Aedui in present-day Burgundy. Caesar had recruited two additional legions, bringing his
force up to 30,000 legionaries in addition to his non-Roman auxiliaries. Caesar defeated the Helvetii near Bibracte, the capital of the Aedui, and soon forced them to surrender and return to Switzerland. Caesar soon had to confront King Ariovistus of the Suebi, a Germanic tribe moving into northeastern France. Although Ariovistus had been recognised as a king and a friend of Rome by the Roman Senate, Caesar responded to the appeals of friendly Gallic tribes and marched against the Suebi. After negotiations between Caesar and Ariovistus broke down, the Romans defeated the
Germanic forces near Mulhouse in Alsace and forced the survivors to retreat across the Rhine. Caesar took up winter camp in northern Gaul near the lands of the Belgae, whom he considered the most formidable of the Gauls. According to Caesar, the Belgae mustered a coalition army of almost 350,000 men against him in 57 BC. After an inconclusive engagement at the river Aisne, Caesar proceeded to target individual tribes among the Belgae. The Belgic coalition collapsed as several tribes surrendered, while the remainder of the coalition army, led by the Nervii tribe, engaged Caesar at
the Battle of the Sabis River, traditionally identified with the River Sambre. The Nervii were able to push the Romans from their camp, but Caesar's reserves surrounded them and won a crushing victory. After his conquest of northern Gaul, Caesar moved west in 56 BC. In southern Brittany, the Romans came up against the Veneti, skilful seafarers who became wealthy through maritime trade with Britain and the Iberian peninsula. Although the Veneti had offered logistical support to the Romans during their campaign against the Belgae the previous year, they refused a further request for supplies from Caesar and imprisoned the Roman envoys. When
Caesar personally arrived to besiege the Veneti, they evaded him by taking to their ships and finding refuge in other ports along the coast. Caesar responded by building a fleet and entrusted command to his subordinate Decimus Junius Brutus, who defeated the Veneti at sea near Quiberon Bay. While the Veneti submitted to Rome, their Belgic allies the Menapii and Morini continued to resist and launched guerilla attacks from the forests and swamps of northwestern France. The Romans countered the insurgency by cutting down the forests and burning the settlements
of their foes. While poor weather prevented Caesar from obtaining complete victory, his tactics significantly weakened the Belgic tribes. By 55 BC, Caesar was in effective control of most of Gaul. The Arverni did not play a prominent role during the early stages of the Gallic Wars. While they do not appear to have actively supported Caesar's campaign, they also did nothing to impede him. However, Caesar implies in his history of the Gallic Wars that Vercingetorix had served with the Roman army. The nature of Vercingetorix's service with Caesar is unclear, but the Italian
historian Giuseppe Zecchini suggests that following the murder of his father Celtillus, Vercingetorix recognised that his prospects at the Arverni court were limited and chose to join the Romans to make a name for himself. While there are no further details of Vercingetorix's service in Caesar's army, his status as an Arverni prince likely ensured that he was personally acquainted with Caesar. This would have enabled him to study Caesar's strategy and tactics and identify strengths and weaknesses in the Roman army. In the meantime, Caesar turned his attention
beyond Gaul. Germanic armies had crossed the Rhine to take advantage of the weakened Belgae. In order to secure the eastern frontier, he ordered the construction of a wooden bridge over the river which was completed in 10 days. The Romans crossed over and raided the eastern bank of the Rhine for a few days before returning to Gaul and breaking the bridge. Caesar had no intention of extending his conquests into Germany but intended to make a statement of Roman power. Caesar was more interested in establishing a foothold in Britain, a remote island then at
the edge of the known world. He led two campaigns in 55 and 54 BC, landing in southern Britain and securing the submission of the local tribes before returning to Gaul. Shortly after Caesar's second British campaign, King Ambiorix of the Eburones in northern Gaul rebelled against Roman rule in autumn 54 BC and massacred a garrison of 7,000 Roman legionaries at Atuatuca in eastern Belgium. Ambiorix then joined the Nervii in besieging the camp of Quintus Tullius Cicero, younger brother of the famous orator. Quintus led an effective defence against the Belgic attackers
and was relieved by Caesar's army. Caesar proceeded to avenge the Roman defeat at Atuatuca by pursuing a war of annihilation against the Eburones which continued until 51 BC. Meanwhile, several other Belgic tribes joined the rebellion against Rome but were defeated by Caesar and his lieutenants. With his five-year term approaching its end in 54 BC, Caesar received an extension of his governorships in Gaul with the support of Pompey and Crassus. The events of 54 and 53 BC proved to Caesar that most of the Gauls had submitted to Rome unwillingly and that he could
only rely on a small number of Gallic allies. These included the Aedui, the Remi near Reims, and the Lingones in eastern France. It is in this context that Vercingetorix launched his uprising against Rome in January 52 BC. Submission to Caesar had entailed the requirement to pay tribute, the imposition of Roman law, and conscription into Roman armies. While many Gallic peoples were seeking an opportunity to regain their independence from Roman oppression, Caesar's attention was diverted to political matters in Rome. In 53 BC, Crassus had been defeated and killed in battle against the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae. Meanwhile,
the factional struggle in Rome had reached such intensity that no new consuls were elected for the year 52BC. Moreover, on 18 January 52 BC the populist standard-bearer Publius Clodius Pulcher was murdered by a gang led by Titus Annius Milo, a friend and ally of the conservative Cicero. Caesar had already crossed the Alps into Cisalpine Gaul to collect taxes when the Gallic uprising began. Caesar attributes the uprising to a council of Gallic chieftains in his history of the war, while Cassius Dio claims that Vercingetorix alone was responsible for the rebellion. The
Carnutes from the city of Cenabum at present-day Orleans had been the first to rise against Rome by massacring the Roman citizens in their territory. At Gergovia, Vercingetorix proposed joining the rebellion but was initially prevented from doing so by his uncle Gobannitio and the leaders of the oligarchic party. Vercingetorix mobilised the support of the peasants and farmers in the countryside and seized power in Gergovia. He was acclaimed as king by the people and sidelined the oligarchic faction at court. After consolidating his position among the Arverni, he sent messages
to the leaders of other Gallic tribes urging them to join a general uprising and take advantage of Caesar's absence. Around 20 tribes rallied to Vercingetorix at this stage, including the Cadurci to the southwest of the Arvenii, the Aulerci in the region around Le Mans, and the maritime peoples of the western coast. Vercingetorix was given the powers of supreme command over the coalition army but he was obliged to consult with his fellow Gallic leaders on political matters. This would sometimes limit his ability to pursue his preferred strategy during the war.
Unlike the Romans, the Gallic tribes did not have professional armies, and Vercingetorix had to rely on conscript soldiers raised by local chiefs. The core of Gallic armies consisted of heavy infantrymen who were deployed in large masses and supported by ranged skirmishers. While some Gallic tribes could not afford to equip a cavalry arm, the larger tribes such as the Arverni employed some of the most effective cavalry units in the ancient world. In contrast to the popular image of the bare-chested Gallic warrior, Vercingetorix's men usually wore long tunics with their trousers.
Most soldiers wore a simple iron helmet and were equipped with a shield made from iron and leather, while cavalrymen were usually protected by chainmail or leather armour. The Gallic warrior's primary weapon was a slashing sword, but ranged weapons such as javelins could also be effective in battle. Gallic warriors were powerful men who acquired combat skills through hunting and their bravery was undeniable. While they lacked formal military organisation, Gallic armies used the carnyx, a long horn topped with a boar's head, which served as a signalling device and
a battle standard. The size of Gallic armies is uncertain, and while claims by Roman authors that Vercingetorix could field hundreds of thousands of men are met with scepticism with modern scholars, it is likely that the Gauls outnumbered the Romans but had poorer quality troops. It was essential to keep morale high and Vercingetorix was a charismatic general who frequently demonstrated his ability to restore confidence in his men even after they suffered defeat. After assuming power in Gergovia, Vercingetorix followed the example of the Carnutes by ordering a massacre of the Roman population in Arverni lands. He ordered part of his
army under Lucterius, a leader of the Cadurci, to march against the Ruteni, who lived on the frontier of the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul. Meanwhile, Vercingetorix himself led his main army to force the Bituriges in central Gaul to break their relations with the Aedui and join the rebellion. By the time news of the rebellion reached Caesar, he decided to return to Transalpine Gaul since he was aware that Pompey had been appointed sole consul and was successfully restoring political order in Rome. With a large army at his disposal, Vercingetorix hoped to engage the Roman legions and their Gallic allies before Caesar could rejoin
them. While the Gauls traditionally preferred to fight in the open field, Vercingetorix understood that his men were outmatched by the Roman legionaries in pitched battle. During his service under Caesar's command, Vercingetorix would have recognised Caesar's awareness to the importance of logistics and supply lines in sustaining his army on the field. According to Caesar's account, Vercingetorix favoured cavalry and light infantry while raising his army among his allies. This emphasis on mobility would enable Vercingetorix to launch hit-and-run attacks to deny supplies
to the Romans. Fighting on home territory, Vercingetorix's men were better informed about the terrain and the extensive road network in Gaul that could be used to transport men and supplies. Although such an army would have been vulnerable to enemy attacks, Vercingetorix recognised that he could keep his men secure within the formidable walls of Gallic hillforts. The so-called 'murus gallicus' consisted of a framework of wooden beams faced with stone around a core of rubble and was praised by Caesar for their resistance to Roman battering rams. Gallic archers and slingers could
fire projectiles against besieging Roman armies, and even women and children could hurl bricks and stones from the ramparts. Vercingetorix could also use his mobile cavalry to attack weak spots in Roman siege lines. However, his main objective during the initial stages of the rebellion was to prevent Caesar from rejoining his legions. By now Caesar had 10 legions in Gaul, each around 5,000 men strong, but more than half were stationed in permanent camps that the proconsul could only reach by passing through rebel territory. Caesar was afraid that if he
summoned his legions to join him, they would be attacked on the march by the Gallic army. Caesar's main preoccupation was the strategic threat posed by the Cadurcan warrior Lucterius, who had successfully compelled the Ruteni to submit to the Arverni and join the coalition. Lucterius was marching on Narbo, the centre of Roman power in Transalpine Gaul. Caesar hurried to Narbo and reinforced his garrisons on the provincial frontier with the assistance of the Helvii, one of the few peoples of southern Gaul in whom he had complete faith. Caesar's defensive
measures prompted Lucterius to withdraw and secure the frontiers of the province. In a bold stroke, Caesar led a small entourage across the Cevennes mountains that separated the lands of the friendly Helvii from the Arverni. Vercingetorix had never imagined that anybody could traverse the mountain range in the depths of winter while the passes were under six feet of snow. As Caesar's cavalry rampaged through Arverni territory, the king of the Arverni was compelled to return to defend his homeland. Meanwhile, the proconsul organised his cavalry to form a wide screen and marched rapidly
to Vienne, some 20 miles south of the present-day city of Lyon. Caesar continued his rapid progress across the lands of the Aedui until he reached two legions encamped in the territory of the Lingones. After Caesar left Arverni territory, Vercingetorix led his army to besiege the hillfort of Gorgobina. The fortress belonged to the Boii, a people whom Caesar had placed under the control of the Aedui after defeating the Helvetii in 58 BC. Vercingetorix may have hoped that victory at Gorgobina would encourage the Aedui to join the Gallic coalition against Rome.
Caesar was also compelled to resort to siege warfare as part of his counterinsurgency operations. Only by surrounding enemy forts could he prevent his enemies from receiving support from the countryside. One of his earliest targets were the Carnutes in Cenabum who had been the first to raise the banner of rebellion. The city's inhabitants knew that they could not expect mercy from the Roman proconsul and sought to slip away in the middle of the night, but they were intercepted by the legionaries and put to the sword. As punishment for killing Roman citizens,
Caesar's men looted the city before consigning it to the flames. Caesar then marched against the Bituriges, who had recently been persuaded by Vercingetorix to change sides. As Caesar besieged the fort of Noviodunum, the city's leaders were in the process of submitting to the Romans when Vercingetorix arrived with a relief army. The Gallic army initially gained the upper hand during the ensuing battle, but Caesar launched 400 Germanic cavalry in a ferocious charge that drove the enemy from the field and caused Noviodunum to submit to the Romans again. Following this
series of sieges, Vercingetorix recognised that the Gallic forts were not as defensible as he had anticipated and proposed a scorched earth strategy to deny supplies to the Romans. The leaders of the Bituriges agreed to destroy several of their smaller forts but refused to abandon their capital, the large fortress of Avaricum. Vercingetorix gave in and stationed his army some 15 miles from Avaricum and led raids against Roman foragers. Vercingetorix led his cavalry and light infantry and offered battle on high ground to the northeast of Avaricum. Caesar avoided battle and
resumed his preparations to storm the fortress. The Romans built a large ramp to approach the enemy walls and overcame the garrison's attempts to destroy their siege equipment. After some 25 days, the Romans successfully stormed Avaricum despite fierce resistance. The Romans plundered the grain stores and killed 40,000 men, women, and children in the city. The disaster at Avaricum prompted some of the Gallic chiefs to question Vercingetorix's leadership. He was even accused of treason on account of his decision to move his camp closer
to the Romans. Vercingetorix prevailed upon his critics by reminding them that he had urged the Bituriges to abandon Avaricum in the first place. His speech strengthened his position among the Gallic chiefs and he led the army to Gergovia to fight another day. Despite the setback, Vercingetorix continued to expand his coalition by conducting diplomacy with Gallic chiefs who remained neutral. He called for new recruits to replace his losses, placing special emphasis on light infantry. To bolster morale in his camp, he issued new weapons to the few hundred survivors
among the Bituriges to send a signal that he did not blame them for the defeat at Avaricum. Between April and August 52 BC, Vercingetorix adopted a "push-and-pull" strategy to effectively contain Caesar's legions. The push aspect entailed a more systematic approach to scorched earth. Vercingetorix organized cavalry detachments to attack enemy foragers and supply trains and continued to order the destruction of food stores across Gaul, even those belonging to his allies. As Vercingetorix waged his guerrilla war, he was assisted by sympathisers among
the Aedui who sabotaged Roman supply depots within their territory. Since the Aedui were among the most powerful of the Gallic nations, the prospect of them joining Vercingetorix posed a major threat to Roman authority. Vercingetorix complemented his strategy of pushing the Romans out of central Gaul with a simultaneous effort to pull Caesar into the province of Transalpine Gaul by deploying allied detachments into the frontier region, hoping to incite rebellion among the Gauls under Roman authority. While the tribes within the Roman province remained loyal,
Caesar detached more than two legions to bolster the defences of the provincial frontier, weakening his main army in the process. In response to Vercingetorix's hit-and-run tactics, Caesar led six legions towards the heart of the rebellion at Gergovia. The Arverni capital was situated on a raised plateau some 360 metres above the plain below with only a single access path. The town itself was encircled by a strong wall but Vercingetorix preferred to keep his army mobile. He destroyed the bridges over the River Allier and marched up and down the bank to prevent
Caesar from crossing. After being frustrated by his enemy's manoeuvring, Caesar divided his force into two and sent the larger part along the river, prompting Vercingetorix to shadow them. Caesar's remaining troops rebuilt one of the destroyed bridges overnight, enabling the whole army to cross. Vercingetorix fell back towards Gergovia and stationed his army on the southern slopes of the Gergovia plateau behind a six-foot high defensive wall. Caesar set up camp to the southeast of Gergovia while Vercingetorix launched small-scale attacks on a daily basis. Caesar
identified a hill overlooking the approaches of Gergovia where he established a forward camp. He had summoned an allied force of 10,000 Aedui to protect his supply lines but was unaware an anti-Roman faction had taken control of the Aedui court and dispatched an officer named Litaviccus with the 10,000 men. On the way to the Roman camp, Litaviccus encouraged the men to revolt against Rome by claiming that Caesar had killed the Aeduan chiefs serving under his command. Litaviccus proceeded to plunder the Roman supplies and marched his column towards Vercingetorix's camp.
A furious Caesar took four legions and caught up with the renegade Aedui column and presented them with the Aeduan chiefs, alive and well. The Aedui rejoined Caesar, while Litaviccus and his small retinue successfully escaped to Gergovia. In Caesar's absence, Vercingetorix attacked the two legions in the main camp with his ranged troops but was unwilling to engage the legionaries at close quarters and fell back to camp. Although Caesar had temporarily subdued the revolt of the Aedui, he was determined to do battle with Vercingetorix as soon as possible.
According to Caesar's account, he planned to send a legion towards Gergovia as a decoy to draw the Arverni garrison onto open ground. They overcame the six-foot wall with little difficulty and captured three Gallic camps but did not hear the signal to retreat. Since much of the Arverni garrison was busy repairing the northern wall, when the Romans approached the inner wall from the south, they encountered the city's womenfolk who were prepared to submit to them. Vercingetorix soon realised what was happening and ordered his army to launch a counterattack,
driving back the Roman legionaries with heavy losses. While Caesar claimed to have lost 46 centurions and some 700 legionaries during the battle, modern scholars believe he understated the scale of the defeat and are more willing to accept the figure of 4,000 casualties provided by the historian and biographer Suetonius. Caesar also attempted to explain the defeat by suggesting that the troops assaulting Gergovia noticed a body of Aedui cavalry at their flank and had mistaken them for a hostile force. In any case, Caesar abandoned the siege,
leaving Vercingetorix victorious. Victory at the Battle of Gergovia marked the high watermark of the Gallic revolt and prompted the Aedui to definitively break off their ties with Rome and join Vercingetorix's coalition. Even the Aeduan officers who had informed Caesar of Litaviccus's deception abandoned him to join the revolt. While Caesar was defeated at Gergovia, events further north proved more favourable to the Romans. Caesar's principal subordinate Titus Labienus led four legions and defeated a Gallic coalition army at the Battle of Lutetia near
present-day Paris. Labienus returned to the Roman camp at Agedincum, present-day Sens, where Caesar joined him with the army that had been defeated at Gergovia. Yann Le Bohec argues that even though Caesar marched deeper into Gaul, he was gathering his forces to retreat to Transalpine Gaul via the lands of the friendly Lingones in eastern France. Fresh from his victory at Gergovia and with the support of the overwhelming majority of Gallic tribes, Vercingetorix sensed the opportunity to destroy Caesar's army and eliminate the Roman threat for good. He discarded his push-and-pull
strategy in favour of a new strategy of the hammer and anvil. This involved taking up a position at a heavily fortified hillfort and enticing the Romans to besiege him. He then anticipated a larger reinforcing army to strike at the rear of the legionaries, crushing them against the anvil of the Gallic garrison within the fort. In order to bring Caesar to battle, Vercingetorix sent a cavalry force to engage the Roman cavalry at the river Vingeanne. Although the Gallic cavalry was defeated, Vercingetorix achieved his strategic objective by encouraging Caesar to pursue him
towards the hilltop town of Alesia, the capital of the Mandubii, who were tributaries of the Aedui. The scene was set for one of the most decisive encounters of the ancient world. The fortress of Alesia was located on Mont-Auxois overlooking the present-day town of Alise-Sainte-Reine in Burgundy, where archaeologists have excavated Gallic coins minted by Vercingetorix. The position appeared unassailable, and Vercingetorix brought a large infantry army within its walls. While Caesar's figure of 80,000 is likely an exaggeration,
the army was sufficiently sizeable that Vercingetorix expelled the city's inhabitants to ration his limited grain supplies. While Caesar condemned this inhumane decision in his writings, he refused the Mandubii civilians passage through Roman lines. Meanwhile, Vercingetorix sent his cavalry throughout Gaul to urge his coalition allies to raise a relief force that would serve as the hammer to Alesia's anvil. While Caesar was building a defensive wall to prevent the Gauls from breaking out of Alesia, the Gallic garrison sallied out to disrupt the works but
were pushed back by Caesar's cavalry. After these early reverses, Vercingetorix was glad to see the arrival of the Gallic relief army, which camped to the west of Alesia. They may not have been as numerous as the 246,000 men claimed by Caesar, but they certainly outnumbered Caesar's army. To protect themselves from this external force, the legionaries built a second wall within a matter of days, setting up hidden traps with iron spikes and wooden stakes in front of the walls. The relief army and Vercingetorix's garrison launched two major assaults against Caesar's
lines but both walls held out against the Gauls and they were forced to retreat. With supplies in Alesia running out rapidly, the Gauls identified a Roman camp outside Caesar's walls and sent a force of elite troops under the command of Vercingetorix's kinsman Vercassivellaunos to attack the camp. The rest of the Gallic relief army, together with Vercingetorix's garrison, attacked the Roman walls at several points. During the intense fighting, Caesar had to continually reinforce the isolated camp. At the decisive moment, Caesar's Germanic cavalry appeared on the
flank of the Gauls attacking the camp and forced them into headlong retreat. As the relieving Gallic army melted away, Vercingetorix recognised that all was lost. Vercingetorix convened a political council and admitted his responsibility for the defeat. He rode to Caesar and laid down his arms before the Roman conqueror and was taken prisoner alongside the other allied chiefs. Caesar freed the contingents of the Arverni and the Aedui, 10,000 men each, and presented the rest of the defeated Gauls to his legionaries as
slaves. Vercingetorix was sent to Rome, where he languished in prison for the next six years. While Caesar completed mopping up operations in Gaul, his political alliance with Pompey broke down, resulting in the civil war of 49 BC. Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC but it was only in 46 BC that Caesar returned to Rome to stage his triumph to celebrate his conquest of Gaul. Vercingetorix was led through the streets of Rome in chains and was executed shortly thereafter. At the time of his death, Vercingetorix was still a young man,
likely in his mid-30s. Although his uprising had ultimately been defeated, the Arverni chieftain etched his name into history as one of Caesar's most formidable opponents, an effective guerrilla leader whom Caesar struggled to defeat. His success in briefly uniting much of Gaul under the banner of independence from Rome saw him hailed as a forerunner of French nationhood in the 19th century. During the 1860s, Emperor Napoleon III financed archaeological excavations of Gallic war battlefields and commissioned the statue of Vercingetorix that stands on the site of
Alesia at Mont-Auxois. The statue bears a French inscription loosely translated from a passage in Caesar's Gallic Wars: "Gaul united,/Forming a single nation/Animated by a common spirit, Can defy the Universe." A few years later, Napoleon III's defeat and overthrow in the Franco-Prussian War seemed to echo Vercingetorix's overconfidence at Alesia. What do you think of Vercingetorix? Was he a gifted military leader who came close to liberating Gaul and defeating one of history's greatest generals, or was his rebellion always doomed to fail against Caesar's formidable legions? Please
let us know in the comment section and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.
