Book VII Section IV: Alesia and the End
Conflict:
This final chapter detailed the infamous Battle of Alesia and the climax of the Gallic struggle for independence. Caesar built his legendary double-walled battlements: one to starve out the town of Alesia (where Vercingetorix was camping out) and another to defend against the second Gallic army coming to save their countrymen. It was a bloody, intense and sad affair that ended in the subjugation of Gaul and the extinguishment of Gallic culture as the ancient world knew it. The Romans conquered based on their engineering might and the overarching influence of Julius Caesar, soon-to-be Dictator for Life.
Characters:
- Gaius Julius Caesar — commander in chief of the Roman forces and conqueror of Gaul
- Commius the Atrebatian — the political bellboy of Caesar turned military chieftain of the Gallic resistance
- Viridomarus and Eporedorix — the Aeduan chieftains who led contingents of the Gallic resistance army
- Vercassivellaunus — cousin of Vercingetorix, military leader
- Critognatus — the Arvernian “man of noble extraction and wide influence,” delivered a rousing and cannibalistic speech to fellow Gauls inside Alesia
- M. Antonius and C. Trebonius — Roman commanders whose lines were continually assaulted by the Gauls
Quotes:
“Their summary ejection from the post of leadership was a crushing blow to the ambitions of the Aedui; and deeply bewailing their change of fortunes, they sadly missed the friendly hand so often extended to them by Caesar.” (page 212)
“‘I [Vercingetorix] purposely omit all reference to their [Roman] horse, because you will, I’m sure, agree with me that that force has not the courage to show itself a yard outside the column.’” (page 215)
“‘The Roman invader, on the other hand, has no such object. That which brought him here was petty jealousy of another nation’s greatness, a nation of whose strength and chivalry in war he had heard the praises; and he will never rest till he has firmly entrenched himself upon its towns and villages, and fixed his accursed yoke, that nothing can shake off, upon its freeborn sons and daughters.” (page 225)
“Not the least of the many disconcerting circumstances to which the legionaries were now exposed, was the hoarse shout of battle in their rear; they were continually conscious that their own position was dependent upon the steadfast perseverance of others; and of all tests by which human nature can be tried, the most severe is that of some peril that obstinately remains unseen.” (page 230)
“The sight of this unresisting slaughter of their comrades crushed the last spark of hope from the spirits of the [Gallic] garrison, and a general retreat from the inner face of the lines now took place.” (page 232)
“The remaining Gauls, with the exception of the Aedui and Arverni, who were retained in the hope of bringing pressure to bear upon their governments, were then distributed as booty, one to every Roman soldier.” (page 232)
Words:
- provender — animal fodder, food
- sortie — an attack made by troops coming out from a position of defense
- denudation — the wearing away of the land surface by the sum of such processes as weathering and erosion
- declivity — a downward slope
- crenellate — provide (a wall of a building) with battlements
- enceinte — an enclosure or the enclosing wall of a fortified place
- lop — cut off (a branch, limb, or other protrusion) from the main body of a tree
- quincunx — an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle
- contravallation — a series of works confronting the walls of an invested place to isolate the defenders and safeguard the besiegers against sallie
- circumvallation — surrounded by or as if by a rampart
- pusillanimous — showing a lack of courage or determination; timid
- hecatomb — (in ancient Greece or Rome) a great public sacrifice, originally of a hundred oxen
- immure — enclose or confine (someone) against their will
Summary:
Both the Gauls and Romans were aware the final conflict was upon them. The chapter opened with Gallic political intrigues and the Aeduan disappointment at not spearheading the Gallic campaign against the Romans — Vercingetorix was still the undisputed leader. Vercingetorix ramped up his army and ordered more hostages, cavalry, infantry and stores from the desperate tribes. Another scorched earth campaign was carried out on Gallic lands and Vercingetorix coerced nearly all available tribes in Gaul to follow his cause, with the exception of the Treveri, who were busy fighting German raids in the north.
Caesar, on his end, raised 22 more battalions from the Roman Province and geared up for total warfare. The Gauls were staking their military fortunes on their renowned cavalry, and Caesar knew the Roman cavalry was no match. So he enlisted as mercenaries a few German cavalry units from tribes beyond the Rhine he had already beaten into submission.
The opening battle was pitched in the territory of the Lingones; Vercingetorix, seizing the opportunity, attacked the marching Roman column with all his furious strength. Even Vercingetorix knew the Romans lacked in horsepower, saying,
“I purposely omit all reference to their horse, because you will, I’m sure, agree with me that that force has not the courage to show itself a yard outside the column.” (page 215)
Splitting his forces into three separate divisions, Vercingetorix stormed the Roman column. Unfortunately for the Gauls, the Romans and their German mercenaries were more than a match and according to Caesar, “an indiscriminate massacre followed.” Vercingetorix’s cavalry forces were wiped out, so he retreated to the heavily fortified town of Alesia, the “principal stronghold of the Mandubii [tribe].”
And readers, we have the reached the feverish climax, the superhuman story of willpower, engineering and despair that has gripped historians and Roman meme groups for thousands of years.
The Battle of Alesia
“The town of Alesia, at which the two rival armies had now met for the final conflict, was perched on the summit of a high plateau, so steep that its capture otherwise than by investment was practically impossible; while on two sides it was washed at its base by streams.” (page 216)
Caesar was busy building siege lines 11 miles in circumference when a fierce cavalry skirmish ensued. The Romans were losing when the wild German mercenaries were employed and the Roman infantry was ordered to support them from the rear. The Germans went bananas and “in many cases they even sprang down from off their horses, and strove to force their way across the ditch and to scale the wall.” The Gauls were terrified and portions of the Gallic forces ran back inside the town of Alesia instead of fighting.
Exhausted and seeing the writing on the wall, Vercingetorix made a last ditch effort at victory. He snuck out the Gallic cavalry force with instructions that they should ride to their respective tribes and beg for reinforcements:
“The horsemen were charged to deliver his final message to his people, which was not to desert their adopted leader, nor abandon to the will of a merciless foe one who had earned some right to be called the Liberator of Gaul…any failure here would cost the lives, not only of himself, but of eighty thousand chosen men besides.” (page 219)
Caesar heard about this desperate plea for help and immediately reacted: he built a second wall facing outward to meet the Gallic reinforcements that would surely come in full and brutal force. Caesar describes these battlements at length, including the depth of ditches, the sharpness of whittled tree trunk stakes, the mounds and palisades and the “stout wooden towers.” The traps and handmade land mines were shocking and also effective. Meanwhile…
“Whilst the Romans were thus toiling at Alesia, the Gallic nation was preparing for its great counterstroke.” Reinforcements were raised from the Aedui, Eleuteti, Sequani, Parisii, Senones, Helvetii, Nervii, Veneti and countless others (Caesar lists them all individually). In all, 8,000 cavalry and 240,000 infantry were raised and were ready to march on Alesia. This massive force was led by Commius the Atrebatian, Viridomarus and Eporedorix (the Aeduan leaders from Section II) and Vercassivellaunus, a cousin of Vercingetorix.
The troops inside Alesia were frantic because their Gallic reinforcements were supposed to have arrived, but they hadn’t received communications from the outside yet. Passionate, inflamed speeches followed, proclaiming the Gauls would resort to cannibalism to survive:
“…they [the Cimbri and the Teutones] kept themselves alive by devouring the bodies of all whose age unfitted them for war, and by so doing staved off surrender.” (page 225)
Alesia became desperate. The Gauls forced all the women, children and elderly out of the city to conserve food and space solely for the fighting soldiers. These helpless refugees begged for the Romans to take them in as slaves, if only they would feed them — but Caesar ordered that none should be admitted.
At this point, fortunes of the besieged Gauls turned. Their compatriots from across the country finally arrived at Alesia and were ready to kick some Roman butt and free their brethren. As soon as the Gallic comrades splashed onto the battlefield, they attacked the Roman battlements with their archers, light-armed skirmishers and cavalry. The Romans were suffering heavy losses when, once again, their German mercenary army saved the day. Romans 1, Gauls 0.
All hell broke loose on the second day of fighting — the Gauls on the outside assaulted the Roman lines with arrows, sling bolts and stones and dug their scaling hooks into the thick walls. At the same time, the Gauls inside Alesia, led by Vercingetorix, put immense pressure and strain on the inner walls. The Romans were trapped in a sweaty Gallic sandwich. However, the Gauls were quickly “spitted upon the lily heads” (Roman jargon for sharp stakes in the ground) and impaled by siege pikes. Again, the Gauls failed to breach the Roman defenses on the second day. Romans 2, Gaul 0.
Undeterred, the Gauls attempted attacking the Romans again, both from without and within, but they failed miserably. To get a sense of this final, desperate conflict, you have to read the narrative as taken from Caesar’s mouth. The Romans slaughtered the Gauls, who had vainly tried to ambush them on multiple fronts. And when those Roman soldiers saw Caesar and his ruby uniform galloping amongst them, fighting alongside their sweating brows, they gave it their all. After the battle, Vercingetorix and the other leading chiefs formally surrendered to Caesar.
“Taking his seat at a point well within the fortified lines, a little distance from his own camp, the Roman governor then formally received their submission; the Gallic chiefs were brought out under escort, Vercingetorix was handed over as a prisoner, and all arms were thrown to the ground.” (page 232)
The remaining Gauls, soldiers and civilians were then distributed to the Roman soldiers as free slaves. And of course, Caesar mentioned that after the monumental defeat, a general thanksgiving of twenty days was held in his honor at Rome.
Macc Reacc:
Well, that’s all she wrote folks. Although this summary was detailed and long-winded, nothing can compare to reading the words of Caesar for yourself. The way he described warfare was detached yet vividly brilliant and descriptive. He got down to the specifics, including the colloquial names that Roman soldiers gave to their spiked death traps (“lilies”) and the manic speeches about cannibalism given by Gallic citizens. Alesia was the end for the Gauls, literally — Vercingetorix surrendered, was brought to Rome and paraded around the city until he was executed.
Just imagine that scenario for a moment — leading an entire nation’s uprising and desperate quest for freedom and losing at the eleventh hour. The Gauls really did have a fighting chance; Dan Carlin in his “Celtic Holocaust” episode goes into extreme detail on this point. If luck had been on their side, they could’ve stopped the Romans. After all, the Gauls had superior numbers and that intrinsic fighting spirit and wildness the Romans lacked. The Romans won through a combination of luck, cunning and relying on their German cavalry — it was the epitome of being in the right place at the right time, and Caesar was the man for the job.
Overall, this tale was depressing and one that happens often throughout history, although not usually with so much fanfare and fame as Caesar lent it. This massive conflict began with the wandering migration of Helvetian refugees and ended in a pan-Gallic slaughter. It’s amazing the lengths to which people will go to reclaim their freedom, even if their efforts lead to genocide.
