After a crushing defeat, Ambiorix deserted his tribe, with 4 of his bodyguards, escaped by the Rhine, into Germany, and disappeared.
The Gaelic chiefs, now understood the need for one leader over the combined forces, to prevent chaos and build a srength to better protect their land and culture.
With thorough contemplation, they appointed a new Supreme War Chief –
known only to us and history as :
Vercingetorix
His name means “Victor of a Hundred Battles“, but was not his birth name, just a title – a nom de guerre.
The Gauls kept their birth name a secret, known only to themselves and close relatives, becsuse they believed knowledge of a person’s true name gave others power over them. In some sense, they are probably right.
Apparently, Vercingetorix was tall in stature.
The expression of his face was noble and imposing, but very terrible in anger.
He had the great gift of eloquence, and a voice to persuade as well as to command.
The genius of war had been grafted in him at his birth, and he was a dominant type, which could impose its will upon lesser natures.
He was a stern, even a severe disciplinarian ; but it must be remembered, to combat against the Romans – strict discipline was essential.
In only a few months this man would rise to become the leader of a united Gaelic army.
The selection was for obvious reasons, yet contained a bit of irony.
The obvious:
Prior to 53 BCE, Vercingetorix was employed by the great Roman general Julius Caesar, himself.
Vercingetorix was a mercenary cavalry commander. As a result, he gained quite a bit of insight into the might of Roman military tactics, weapons, and warfare in general.
The ironic:
He was, in fact, the son of Celtillus, a chief of the Arverni, the leading spirit of the national party in Gaul, and who, was elected year after year to be the chief magistrate of his tribe, and caused their capital, Gergovla ( modern Clermont), to be regarded as the head-quarters of Gaelic politics.
Unfortunately, by his own brother who was pro Roman, Celtillus was tried, condemned to death, and burned alive.
The death of Celtillus had been the death likewise of the national party.
Vercingetorix was then 20 yrs old.
In the councils of the Arverni, his uncle, a supporter of the Roman alliance, was now supreme.
Vercingetorix had not shared the disgrace of his father, nor had that disgrace affected either his position or his claim on his father’s death-to the family estates.
These he had inherited, and on these he lived quietly and undisturbed during the 2 years immediately following the event which made him an orphan.
Possessing a nature thoroughly self-contained, a patriotism above and beyond all selfish considerations, and the prudence which proceeds ordinarily from experience, he endeavored, in these early days, to make himself as much as possible – effaced, while observing everything connected with the Romans with a critical and anxious eye.
The discipline of their troops, their armament, their battle formation, and drawing his own conclusions as to the possibilities of the future, he kept his own counsel, and, in the debates of the assembly, sided neither with the party led by his uncle, which advocated an intimate alliance with Rome, nor with that led by the old friends of his father, who were for war at all cost.
He was not at all moved, then, from the line he had marked out for himself, when he saw the consequences of Cesar’s atrocities in Gaul.
On and on, terrible results which followed them, confirmed patriotism, while it steeled against the conquer and the heart of Vercingetorix.
With consuming rage in his heart he saw, the year following, the powerful tribe of the Nervii, deemed by the Gauls invincible, almost exterminated ; the Aduatici – slaughtered under circumstances of the most revolting kind and other tribes of the Belgae subdued. Their chiefs fell one by one. Where and how, he asked himself, will it end ?
‘The chiefs take a sacred oath:
Independence or Death – Nothing Else
Julius Caesar proceeded to conquer the Gaelic tribes in next few years, maintaining control through a careful divide strategy.
He made use of the factionalism among the Gallic elites, favoring certain noblemen over others with political support and Roman luxuries such as wine.
Attempts at revolt, like those of Ambiorix , had secured only local support.
Vercingetorix, had to now accomplish the hardest task among the political elite and unite what Caesar had divided.
He had to struggle, without, against the enemy ; within, against the anti-national opposition of egotists and cowards, the invariable product of a decaying civilization, whose repose is always troubled by the convulsions of combat.
By degrees his eloquence, his earnest appeals, his strong and ardent character, subdued them. He assumed upmost authority over them, enacting laws of the most stringent severity, giving evidence, he intends to carry out those laws, to use them as a punishment for the false, and as a warning for the slack-hearted. Finally, at length he collects a large army.
He conspired, at first secretly, among all the tribes of Gaul then, emissaries to the several tribes of the west : the Senoncs, the Pictones, the Turoni, the Aulerci, the Lemovfces, and the Andecavi ; to prepare them for the coming struggle.
The people of Gaul were likewise incited to hold themselves in readiness. The Belgae, and the tribes on both banks of the Sequana (Seine), hastened to offer their co-operation.
Then, when the understanding is complete, Vercingetorix sends messengers to each tribal capital to bid the chiefs to hold themselves in readiness for the signal he will give.
Then, having failed to rally to the national cause the leading men of his own capital, Gergovla— the same who killed his father -he proceeds with his adherents to a large oak forest near the modern Chartres; and meets deputies from many of the confederate tribes; delivers an impassioned harangue, and reminds them of their ancient liberties, and announces that he is ready to lead them to recover them.
It was the cruelest part of December 53 ; the ground is covered with snow ; the Druids, giving to the occasion the sanctity of religion, wave aloft the national standard as all take the oath of fidelity, all promise secrecy.
This meeting is followed by others of a similar character, held in different parts of the country, and in this way the Gauls become familiarized with the hero whom they already began to regard as their savior.
Suddenly the Carnutes make a dash on Gen Sbum (Orleans), in which the Romans are the dominating party, they gain the city, and communicate their success the same day to Vercingetorix.
For Vercingetorix, it is the passage of the Rubicon.
At the head of his country he marches on Gergovia, expels thence the Roman party, dispatches Lucterius into Narbonensis, and demands from the Gaulish cities several contingents.
A short period was then devoted to better organisation, especially the disciplining of the cavalry. This accomplished, Vercingetorix marches with the design to cut the route which Caesar must follow.
History will accord to Vercingetorix a glorious place, not only for his great deeds in war, but specially because he knew how to constitute in his own person in a center of resistance for a nation falling into ruin, dislocated by particularism.
The Chiefs‘ feeling of bitter resentment burned and then raged.
For them death on the battle-field was infinitely preferable to the lingering torture of living under the authority of Rome, subjected to the reports of spies in her pay.
More eagerly than ever were they awaiting the opportunity which always comes to those who wait, when information from Rome seemed to indicate that it was upon them.
The death in Rome of Caesar’s trusted agent, Claudius, and the increased and increasing jealousy of Caesar displayed by the senate, presaged a large diminution of the power and influence of the great proconsul.
If the hour to strike had not arrived, then the time had come to conspire for it.
As Caesar returned, there was already trouble looming in Gaul and in his personal life.
Caesar received word that his daughter Julia, wife of Pompey had died in childbirth. This event was assuredly difficult for Caesar on a personal level, but it carried monumental political ramifications as well.
While Julia lived Pompey remained at least partially allied to Caesar, but with her death, he drifted ever closer to Caesar’s enemies, the Boni.
Caesar attempted to confirm the alliance by offering his grand-niece Octavia as a new bride to Pompey, while also offering to divorce his own wife and marry Pompey’s daughter.
Pompey’s refusal, though an indication of his own personal grief, was also a clear signal that the triumvirate was slowly breaking apart. With the death of Crassus 2 years later, the coming civil war seemed inevitable.
Shortly after word of Julia’s death, Caesar also received the news of the death of his mother Aurelia. With the Gaelic revolt on the horizon, and the recent tragic news, 54 BC was shaping into a terrible year for Caesar.
For now though, despite his personal and political losses, Caesar had to deal with revolts in Gaul and renewed trouble with Germanic tribes.
Legions were scattered throughout Gaul for the winter camps, to not only quell trouble, but to spread the burden of supply throughout the province.
One camp in particular, that of Cotta and Sabinus were sent to cover the Rhine area, in the territory of the Eburones.
A surprise ambush dealt Caesar’s legions its first major defeat and opened the door for widespread revolution.
The battle, conducted by Ambiorix, was a prolonged affair in which the Romans fought valiantly to nearly the last man.
15 cohorts were slaughtered, (totaling nearly 7,200 men) of Caesar’s total force. Only a few scattered remains of the army were able to escape to the camp of Labienus some distance away, and if not for these men, the story of the lost cohorts would have been a complete mystery. The double retreat of Caesar and Labienus proved conclusively that all Gaul had risen.
Caesar still seeking vengeance even invaded Germany himself, looking for Ambiorix who had vanished and was never heard from again after, Caesar’sLieutenantBasilus, misses the prey by a hair’s breadth.
That miss was the last chance.
Caesar then crosses once more the Rhine, partly to punish the Germans for having sent aid to the Nervii, partly to intimidate them from sheltering Ambiorix – should he be found.
By this time however, word had arrived of Crassus‘ great defeat to the Parthians at Carrhae, and coupled with the death of Julia, it was obvious that the political situation would begin to unravel.
Immeasurable bribery was taking place in Rome along with lawsuits and trials of all sorts. The mob violence continued and elections for 53 had been delayed until summer; just about the time that Caesar made his crossing of the Rhine.
In an emergency, Pompey wanted the dictatorship. A law was passed to prevent the great amount of electoral bribery that was running rampant, and in it, magistrates were once again forced to run for office only if they were present in Rome.
Pompey had previously told Caesar that an exception would be made for him to protect him from his enemies and allow him to regain command through public office at the end of his Gaelic term.
As the Boni were anxiously awaiting his term to run out which would force him to return to Rome without the protection of his legions, this clause was of paramount importance to Caesar.
However, the exception was ‘accidentally‘ left out of the final draft and it was becoming painfully clear that the Boni intended to cut down Caesar’s career at any cost.
Caesar doubled down on the Gauls and attacked any tribal leader that didn’t show him blind loyalty, indiscriminately killed, and enslaved Gaelic civilians, as a brutal show of force.
Ambiorix‘s brother-king, Cativoleus, poisons himself; the homesteads and the fields of the Eburones are burned and laid waste.
It became clear to the Gaelic war chiefs – the ubiquitous Caesar was clearly laying the groundwork for full annexation.
Vercingetorix had little need, indeed, of these examples to convince him of the necessity of caution.
Things start to happen, Vercingetorix attacked the Roman settlement of Cenabum in 52 BC and killed everyone he could get his hands on.
This was a massive propaganda coup for Vercingetorix, as it persuaded the Gallic tribes to unite under his leadership to fight off the RomanEmpire. “Coincidentally” a bunch of small Gaelic tribes with ties to Caesar suddenly came under attack simultaneously.
Caesar’s right-hand man was in charge of the legions while Caesar was in the south of the winter.
When reports of these attacks started coming in. Caesar was watching the reports come in with growing concern, it was still winter, but just to be on the safe side he decided to head back north early.
At this time the Alps had a reputation for being impassable during the winter. As he was preparing to leave, he learned the Gaelic army was marching toward Narbo.
This was a big deal because Narbo was the largest Roman city in Transalpine Gaul.
If Caesar couldn’t prevent attacks like this – the entire rationale behind his intervention into Gaul was thrown into question.
Caesar was not to be embarrassed by this.
Still in the depth of winter with slopes of the mountains covered with snow, the passes were blocked up ; to an ordinary man – the way was impassable, but Caesar did not hesitate.
Sheltered by its peaks and passes, by its glaciers and its avalanches, the Arverni had deemed themselves safe, on that side, from attack.
But they are not safe from Caesar.
Neither the falling snow, the continuous frost, nor the buried paths, stop his progress.
At length the summit is reached, and, flanked on the right by the Roman army, the legions descend, at the rapid rate of 5 leagues a day, into the valley.
In 5 days they can reach Gergovia. The apparition of the Roman legions descending the mountain barriers which had promised protection against an invader roused all the apprehensions of the Arverni.
Vercingetorix is recalled from the vicinity of Avaricum, to defend the capital of his tribe.
The Gauls miscalculated the man’s military genius and the Roman Empire‘s power.
By the time the Gauls reached the city of Avaricum, things had changed a bit.
The other Gauls didn’t want to destroy a great city like that: they wanted to defend it.
Vercingetorix thought this was a mistake, but compromised, and the let the Gauls prepare the city for a siege.
However, he himself decided to camp about 20 miles away, which would allow him to escape if the city was taken. The Gauls erected massive defenses around the city and used some ingenious techniques to try and fight off the Romans.
But despite their best efforts, the Romans kept coming at them.
There was no way Caesar was going to give up.
The Roman reserve legions in Gaul were too far away, so Caesar grabbed some untrained raw recruits and others from a local militia to march through mountains to confront Vercingetorix. As Caesar pressed to catch him, Vercingetorix retreated.
To reiterate the things which just happened
Gauls were threatening Roman territory
Gauls destroyed major cities of Rome
Roman merchants in Gaul were being rounded up and massacred
Rome’s Gaelic allies were under attack
Caesar was stuck hundreds of kilometers from his legions, so he left Narbo behind and headed north. Caesar rode through enemy territory accompanied by only a small group of bodyguards disguised as a Gauls. After several tense and exhausting days, Caesar reunited with his legions.
He mobilized all 10 legions and ordered, but left 2 experienced ones to guard their food stockpile. Remember, it was still winter and the Gauls who usually supplied the Romans were under attack. This meant, the food the Romans had set aside for the winter might have to last them all year. It HAD to be protected at all costs.
Caesar took the remaining 8 legions and marched.
All of the internal conflict within the Gallic alliance had been resolved and Vercingetorix emerged as the unrivaled leader of a United Gaelic army.
They were lucky to have him. He was a brilliant guy and a student of Roman warfare. He knew how to defeat the Romans.
His first move was basically the Fabian strategy, which is all about attrition.
The goal is for one army to deprive the other of food supplies and reinforcements until they become beatable on the battlefield.
In short Vercingetorix’s goal was to make Caesar’s life as miserable as possible. So when Caesar marched into central Gaul. Vercingetorix ordered over 20 nearby towns evacuated, people were allowed to take whatever they could carry but anything left behind was burned – Full Scorched Earth.
Destroying towns and fields to ensure the Roman supply lines would be stretched as thin and prevent Roman back up into the area. Refugees ran to settlement in the region which was fortified. After some hard work, Caesars men were able to clear a path.
He then took supreme command and tried to ally the Biturgies, but they resisted and sent ambassadors to the Aedui for help against Vercingetorix.
The Biturgies were dependents of the Aedui who were allies of Rome (“Brothers and Kinsmen of the Roman People” 1.33). The Aedui started to help but then turned back perhaps because, as they said, they suspected the Biturgies of complicity with the Arverni.
Perhaps because they lacked the support of the Aedui, the Biturgies gave in to Vercingetorix. It is possible the Aedui already planned to revolt against Rome.
When Caesar heard about the alliance, he realized it was a threat, so he left Italy and set out for TransalpineGaul, a Roman province since 121 B.C., but he didn’t have his regular army, although he did have some German cavalry and troops he had in CisalpineGaul.
He had to figure out how to reach the main forces without putting them in danger. Meanwhile, Vercingetorix‘ ambassador, Lucterius, continued to gain allies. Caesar changed his direction and advanced to the borders of the Arverni (Vercingetorix’s camp)
Vercingetorix marched his troops there in order to defend his people. Caesar, no longer able to do without the rest of his forces, left Brutus ( yes that Brutus) in command while he went to Vienna where his cavalry was stationed.
Next stop was the Aedui, one of Rome’s main allies in Gaul, and where two of Caesar’s legions were wintering. Caesar’s troops surrounded Vellaunodunum, the town sent out their ambassadors.
Caesar ordered them to surrender their weapons and to bring out their cattle and 600 hostages.
With arrangements made and Trebonius left in charge, Caesar set out for Genabum, a Carnute town which had been preparing to send troops to help Vellaunodum fight, Caesar.
From there, Caesar sent word to the other legions of the danger presented by Vercingetorix, ordering them to come to his assistance ASAP.
Refugees still flocked to the largest settlement in the region the fort. Caesar and his legions advanced toward the city and the united Gaelic army shadowed over him.
The city was protected by strong high walls said to be impenetrable with marshes on 3 sides – a nightmare for any besieging army.
This made it virtually impossible to stop people from sneaking through the marshes
whenever they pleased.
Even under siege, Vercingetorix could remain supplied indefinitely. The city had to be taken by force. The Romans built their camp on the only side of the city with dry land and settled in.This is known to history, as the siege of Avaricum and it was miserable.
The whole thing lasted 27 days and it rained the entire time. Caesar ordered his men to begin building siege towers and a gigantic wooden frame, so the Romans could build a rampart out of dirt and mud.
This rampart would allow the Romans to charge up and over the walls of Avaricum, but because of the torrential rain construction ran into difficulties, During this process, the Romans officially ran out of food.
I don’t mean they were forced to cut rations.
I mean they ate their last meal and then were literally out of food.
Vercingetorix hit the nail on the head when he prevented Caesar from looting those towns.
Now, the Romans were beginning the slow process of starving to death and the nearest food was inside the walls of the Gaelic fort.
This was a bad place to be.
Caesar sent foraging parties out in the rain and the mud to try and find something edible to take the edge off.
When Vercingetorix noticed this he moved his army nice and close to the Romans and sent out guard patrols all over the countryside which denied the Romans an ability to forage.
Vercingetorix’s goal of making Caesar’s life as miserable as possible was going great, so far. Understandably, this made the Romans desperate.
They tried to provoke the Gaelic army into attacking them, but Vercingetorix didn’t take the bait. All he had to do was sit back and wait for the Romans to make a mistake.
Now you may be asking yourself, if Caesar’s legions were starving why didn’t he send for the food he was keeping under guard back East?
If Caesar sent for it now, Vercingetorix would expand his power to intercept the shipment- that food had to last the Romans all year – if they lost it now they would be forced to pull out of Gaul entirely, so I think it’s reasonable to second-guess Caesars decision to leave the food behind.
If Caesar regretted this, he had plenty of time to sit around and beat himself up over it. Despite their hunger and the relentless rain, the Romans were almost finished construction.
Vercingetorix could see this, so he turned to his army and asked for 10,000
volunteers to surround the Romans.
They went through the marsh into the city with the help of Vercingetorix.
As the defenders of Avaricum began to improve their defenses, the Roman rampart approached the height of the wall. The Gauls inside of Avaricum began to use wooden planks to extend their wall even higher – now it was race to the finish.
The Roman army built faster which extended the siege for several days. Then in the middle of the night, the Romans on guard duty saw a strange sight.
It was their rampart smoldering and sinking to their dismay.
The Gauls were getting creative – they dug a tunnel under their walls , and started a fire from underneath it.
The wooden frame slowly started to cave in on itself – very clever.
Then without warning, the Gauls burst from the gates carrying torches and buckets of tar to set all of the Roman siege equipment on fire.
The Romans on guard duty quickly pulled the siege towers back further to safety and rushed forward to defend the rampart. The rest of the army awakened and scrambled to help the 2 sides.
They spent the rest of the night fighting the fires in utter chaos.
The next day when the sun arose, the Romans viewed the singed and sagging structures they built and spent all day patching it up. By the time the sun, set they were finally ready to begin the assault.
The next day the rain was horrendous -the ground formed one giant puddle.
Every soldier had to fight against the thick nasty mud with every step.
No sane person would take an army out in this, but Caesar decided to go ahead with the assault anyway.
Remember the Romans were starving to death.
They couldn’t give the Gauls another opportunity to destroy their equipment. They had to go – NOW. The Romans fought their way up the rampart and onto the walls of Avaricum.
Apparently, the Gauls were not expecting an attack in this kind of weather, nevertheless they rallied and fell back to their 2nd defensive line on top of the walls to spread out firing, while the 1st were down below surrounding the Romans.
The Romans finally had success with a sudden attack, which frightened many of the Gauls into flight.
So, the Romans entered the town and massacred the inhabitants. The Romans were over the walls, and raining down to crush the remaining resistance,
Then the Romans patrolled the streets and indiscriminately slaughtered civilians. Every Roman legionary carried two javelins and this was a pretty good time to use them. The Gauls down on the streets could see that escape was no longer an option.
After enduring an onslaught of projectiles from the Romans, they started to lose hope many ran off to hide in heir homes.
About 800 in Caesar’s reckoning escaped to reach Vercingetorix.
Caesar’s troops found ample provisions, and by this time winter was almost over.
Virtually all of the city’s inhabitants were killed.
Vercingetorix was able to calm the other leaders despite all the recent disasters-especially in the case of Avaricum.
He could say the Romans didn’t defeat them by valor, but by a new technique the Gauls hadn’t seen before, and besides, he had wanted to torch Avaricum, but had only left it standing because of the pleas of the Biturgies.
The allies were appeased and supplied Vercingetorix with replacement troops to replace those he lost, even added allies to his roster, including Teutomarus, the son of Ollovicon, the king of the Nitiobriges, who was a friend of Rome on the basis of a formal treaty (amicitia).
Vercingetorix now had to play the long game and the Romans paid a heavy price.
Caesar made his next move, it was now officially spring and he sent for the 2 legions back east guarding their food.
They took a gamble and sent a message to Rome’s strongest Gaelic ally asking if they could spare any food.
Except, he probably didn’t phrase it like that because all Romans back then, were patronizing jerks.
This tribe was unreliable, remember this was the same tribe that had refused to take up arms against their fellow Gauls earlier in the year.
Nevertheless they told Caesar that they would see what they could do.
When the legions arrived from the East, Caesar divided his army and left one portion and took the remaining 6 and marching South.
Caesars main target was the Gaelic city of Jirga – Vercingetorix’s – hometown and capital city of his tribe.
If the Gauls lost here, it would be a huge symbolic defeat.
As Caesar marched south, Vercingetorix’s began shadowing his army harassing it whenever he could.
When Caesar reached the town, he slowly started to realize it wasn’t going to be dominated as easily because this city had stronger wall and located on a giant raised plateau surrounded by a hill on the slope leading up to where Vercingetorix was with 30,000 of his closest friends.
Remember, Caesar’s food situation was still a problem.
They had their supplies from the East, but if that was going to last, it had to be supplemented by looting and foraging.
They couldn’t afford to just sit around for the whole summer.
They food shipment was on its way from their Gaelic allies, but these guys were unreliable, so who knew when they would show up.
All things considered, they would probably have to storm the city like last time which was risky, but they didn’t.
After doing some reconnaissance and fighting up hill battles, Caesar realized there was a Gaelic garrison on top of a small hill nearby.
Caesar launched a night raid to capture it and was successful.
Once the Romans figured out the garrison was protecting a small stream which served as Vercingetorix’s only source of water, the Romans cut off the stream and dug a long defensive trench from the hill all the way back to the Roman camp.
Now the Gauls would have to act and the Romans were ready for them, but a messenger arrived from the Northeast.
He told Caesar there had been a problem with the food shipment.
The Gaelic tribe that was going to deliver it, Rome’s last Gaelic Ally, had turned on them without warning. They were massacring any Romans they could find.
This was a bigger deal than you might think.
The food shipment was protected by thousands of Gaelic cavalry and now they were threatening the Roman rear.
This was bad
After some consideration, Caesar marched off with 4 legions leaving 2 behind to continue the siege. By nightfall, he tracked down his rogue Gaelic allies.
When the Gauls saw Caesar coming they sent a representative forward claiming it was all a misunderstanding. They had received some bad information which made them believe Caesar was slaughtering members of their own tribe.
Caesar didn’t buy it, and neither do I. This was the same tribe that had refused to march on their allies, denied food to Roman’s and now have suffered from “bad information“.
Caesar had no way of knowing if he was being lied to, but frankly he didn’t really have time to figure it out.
Between arguments and bribes made to the allies of Vercingetorix, they were convinced. One of those in on the discussion was Litavicus, who was put in charge of the infantry being sent to Caesar. He headed towards Gergovia, providing protection for some Roman citizens on the way.
When they were near, Litavicus riled up his troops against the Romans. He falsely claimed the Romans killed some of their favorite leaders. His men then tortured and killed the Romans under their protection. Some rode off to the other towns to convince them to resist and avenge themselves on the Romans, as well.
Not all of them agreed. One in the company of Caesar learned of Litavicus‘ actions and told Caesar. Caesar then took some of his men with him and rode back to that army and presented to them, those very men they “thought” the Romans had killed.
The army lay down its arms and submitted themselves. Caesar spared them and marched back towards Gergovia. He told the Gauls, “if they wanted to prove their loyalty they could come with him and join the siege”, so the next morning Caesars 4 legions returned with several thousand semi treacherous Gauls. However, the 2 legions he had left behind had been under constant attack from the moment he left.
They’ve managed to hold their ground, but it’s been a rough 24 hours. There were also new developments on the slope leading up to the city – a brand-new stone wall 6ft high.
Also, half of the Pro Roman Gauls dispersed. The Gauls had been systematically fortifying all of the surrounding hills, preparing to flank the Roman position.
While the Gauls completed a major piece of construction and occupied all the high ground, Caesar sent his cavalry into the hills to ride back and forth, making as much noise as possible.
He wanted to distract the Gauls attention – it worked. The Gauls went out attack and intercept them. While the Gauls were distracted, Caesars legions were moving silently forward to attack at half strength.
The Gauls on the plateau didn’t even realize the Romans were attacking, until they were right on top of them.
The Romans were able to help each other over the stone wall without much difficulty. Before the Gauls were able to mount a defense, the Romans were running amok in their camp.
The Gauls on the hills quickly figured out what was happening. They immediately
turned away from the decoy cavalry and started flooding down the hills to meet the Romans on the plateau. When Caesar saw the Gauls coming down the hills, he sounded the signal to retreat, but half of his men didn’t hear the signal and continued moving forward.
The Gauls from the hills crashed into oblivious Romans, who took heavy losses. They eventually realized they were out there on there own with no support and pulled back to rejoin the rest of the Roman army.
Caesar says in his commentaries, 700 Roman soldiers died because of this mistake. Later historians have argued it was probably several thousand. Caesar tries his best to deflect blame, calling his soldiers over eager and overconfident, but obviously this was Caesars fault.
It would have been clever if it worked, but the Gauls were too quick. When news spread of Caesars defeat, Rome’s last Gaelic ally finally flipped and went over to their brethren -any Romans that were found in the tribes territory were rounded up and killed. Gaul was now unified.
Caesar went up north to regroup. Somewhere near the Seine river, all 10 legions marched south. Around this time, reports came that the Gaelic army was marching toward Transalpine Gaul – which was a bad sign.
Caesar decided to ignore these reports and focus his attention on Vercingetorix and his army, as he was marching south, so Caesar sent ambassadors to a bunch of German tribes, politely asking if they would loan him some cavalry- kinda hypocritical on his part, since whenever the Gauls did the same, he treated it like a war crime.
Some of these tribes were still interested in staying on Caesars good side, so a couple thousand horsemen crossed the Rhine to join Caesar’s army. While this was going on, Vercingetorix leveraged his recent victory to squeeze an additional 15,000 cavalry from the tribes under him.
He wanted to use some of his new cavalry to overwhelm Caesar’s column as it was marching south.
He selected his cavalry and made them swear an oath that they would not return home until they had ridden twice through the Roman column.
The Gauls found Caesars column before the Romans even knew what was happening.
They charged and attacked in 3 large groups. The Romans responded by frantically getting into 3 impromptu squares. To their credit, the Roman infantry held their ground against this wave of cavalry.
Caesar’s
The Gauls suffered more losses than they had expected, so they pulled back.
Vercingetorix decided to re group at a city called Alesia.
Caesar arrived in Alesia and quickly realized the army inside the walls outnumbered the Romans. He constructed an elaborate series of walls which encircled the entire hillside.
This was impressive, but before construction was complete Vercingetorix sent messengers all over Gaul asking for assistance. Caesar didn’t want to be attacked by a 2nd army, so he built a second series of walls facing outward.
This was even more impressive.
Now, Caesar had the starving Gaelic Army trapped with in the wall, easily killed by the Roman Army, the civilians of the town were already primarily killed because of lack of food and water.With the second wall he trapped fresh reinforcements of the Gaelic Army out, and idle.
Eventually a giant Gaelic relief army showed up and Caesar was outnumbered at least 3 to 1.
On the first day both armies attacked, but the Romans repulsed them then the relief army tried to attack at night, but that also didn’t work.
The next day both armies attacked for a 3rd and final time and they broke through the outer wall.
It got really bad but in desperation Caesar led a cavalry charge around the outer wall and hit the Gauls in the rear which threw them into chaos.
The Gaelic relief army fled and the next day Vercingetorix surrendered.
When Vercingetorix surrendered he put on some beautiful ceremonial armor, rode out of the city, circled the Roman camp on horseback and then dismounted. He stripped off his armor and sat silently on the ground. The Romans came forward and took him into custody.
Vercingetorix became a showpiece and was paraded around various Roman cities for almost 6 years, in between stays at the prison in Rome.
Vercingetorix was strangled and beheaded at the end of one of Caesar’s parade in Rome.
The Dying Gaul
His tribes never fought again in present day France and were absorbed into the Roman Empire.
With this incident concludes the career of Vercingetorix. Sent, after a brief space, to Rome, he was cast into a miser able dungeon in the Mamertine prison.
There, deprived of light and air, the last national hero of Gaul passed upwards of five years. To him those years must have been a living death, a perpetual torture. During that time Caesar completed the conquest of Gaul, and, subduing the supporters of the old order at home, became at last master of the State.
Vercingetorix depiction on Roman Coin
Then, killed in the year 46, fresh from his victory over the last remnants of the Pompeian army at Thapsus, and appointed dictator for 10 years, he thought the moment opportune to celebrate, in 4 magnificent triumphs, the victories he had gained over the Gauls and over his own countrymen.
The first day was devoted to the celebration of the conquest of Gaul.
Standing up in his triumphal car, bearing a laurel crown, and clothed in purple, the first of the Caesars was drawn by four white horses along the Via Sacra.
In front of the car, his hands loaded with irons, was a prisoner no longer recognizable ;and had loved his country better than himself.’
A great writer has said that, terribly cruel though Caesar was, yet from bloodthirstiness he slaughtered none ; all was done from policy.
But surely, after Gaul was completely subdued, when Caesar was absolute master at home, there was no policy in slaying an unarmed prisoner, bowed down and broken by nearly 6 years of solitary confinement.
No ; for the cause of the killing of Vercingetorix we must look to something entirely distinct from policy; we must look to the pride which could not forget, and would not forgive, the fact that this man had forced Caesar to retreat!
It is this fact, however, and the reflection that of all the Celtic chieftains Vercingetorix was the first to dream of a Gaul which should be entirely national and absolutely united, which have endeared his memory to the great, free, and united people who inhabit the country which he strove, with such noble ardour -to enfranchise!
They believe, to quote again from M. Monnicr, ‘ that with the progress of the human intellect, the reputation of the conquerored will decrease in proportion
The conquest of Gaul had been an exploit of extraordinary military difficulty. The intricacy of the problem had been enhanced by the venom of a domestic faction, to which the victories of a democratic general were more unwelcome than national disgrace.
The discomfiture of Crassus had been more pleasant news to the senate than the defeat of Ariovistus, and the passionate hope of the aristocracy had been for some opportunity which would enable them to check Caesar in his career of conquest and bring him home to dishonor and perhaps impeachment. They had failed.
Vercingetorix hit the nail on the head when he prevented Caesar from looting those towns.
