52 BCE - Rebellion of Vercingetorix in Gaul

by Iain Mac an tSaoir

The expeditions into, and eventual conquest of, Gaul had not been an easy thing. There were constant rebellions by the conquered tribes. Each of these had been put down with little to no threat to Roman rule. Very early in this year, some of the factions that wished to put off Roman rule elected Vercingetorix of the Arnerni as their leader.

Vercingetorix implemented a scorched earth policy, whereby whole towns, and the resources of those towns, including food stuffs, were destroyed. This denied the Romans the use of indigenous supplies. By late spring the Roman troops were becoming ever the more demoralized by the circumstances arising out of this rebellion. This emboldened other Celtic tribes to declare their freedom and join with the forces of Vercingetorix.

The Celtic rebels thought themselves invincible after the defeat of Roman Legionaires at Gergovian. Because of this belief, when spies reported that the Romans were retreating to Gallia Narbonensis, many rebel leaders wanted to win a decisive victory over the Romans by ambushing them. Being a superb tactician, Vercingetorix realized the speed in which Roman troops could form up and turn a defensive position into a counter-offensive. He therefore persuaded the various commanders under him to attack the Roman baggage trains, to demoralize the Romans even further. Unfortunately, when this attack was effected, the Celtic warriors forgot their lessons in disciplined warfare and reverted to all out charges without any sort of order. Caesar allowed the enraged Celts to advance as far as his legionaires' wall of shields, then commenced a pincer movement with deadly efficiency. The attack being broken, the Celts fell back before the legionaires. Vercingetorix and his troops withdrew to Alesia. Once there, the Romans laid seige. Caesar had the seige walls built in such a way as to not only harrass the defenders of Alesia, but with ramparts facing out to defend against attack by Celtic forces outside the seige. These were sure to come as Vercingetorix had sent out his horsemen while the seige walls were being built. Relief did finally arrive, but they were useless against the Roman defenses, and even found themselves under attack by Roman horse. Five days after the arrival of Celtic forces out beyond the seige walls, the defenders of Alesia ran out of resources. Vercingetorix, by his own will, donned his best regalia and rode out to the Roman camp where he gave himself over to Caesar. Though there were a great many fugitives that were hunted down after the surrender of Vercingetorix, most of the defenders were spared. Those tribes which had been allies before the uprising were accepted by Caesar again as allies. It all ended with one short sentence written by Caesar in his journal, "Vercingetorix was handed over."

With this last great uprising, Gaul firmly became Roman.

Sources:

The Battle For Gaul, Julius Caesar, David R. Godine Pub, (c)1980, ISBN 0-87923-306-0

The Celtic Empire, Peter Berresford Ellis, Carolina Acedemic Press, (c)1994,ISBN 0-89089-457-4

The World of the Celts, Simon James, Thames and Hudson Ltd., (c)1993, ISBN 0-500-0567-8

The Celts, Gerhard Herm, St. Martin's Press, (c)1977, ISBN 312-1205-7

The Celts, Jean Markale, Inner Traditions Intl, (c)1978, ISBN 0-89281-413-6

The Celtic World, Amanda Green, Routledge, (c)1995, ISBN 0-415-05764-7

Encyclopedia Brittanica15th Edition, Vol. 2, ISBN 0-85229-591X

History of the World, J.M. Roberts,Oxford Press, 1993, ISBN 0-19-521043-3

prepared by Iain Mac an tSaoir

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