Vercingétorix

Gallic chief, he comes from one of the most powerful peoples of Gaul at the time, the Arverni, occupying the Massif Central, east of the Rhone, the north-east of Gaul. In 52 BC saw Vercingetorix takes the head of an uprising began in the central regions of France, lying Armorica and fueled by the Druids. Overcoming the divisions endemic, many tribes, momentarily submitted by Caesar (campaigns of 58-53 BC), proclaimed a war of liberation.

Arverni Carnutes Lemor Cadurci, Bituriges, etc.. cluster around Vercingetorix and entrust the command of armies. Far from the biased portrait that made him his opponent, Julius Caesar, the young chef of twenty years is not a rider impulsive. Selfless, animated by a sincere love of liberty is a warrior bold, quick action, but cautious, a clever tactician, a born organizer.

To rally his troops to the doubters, he does not hesitate to take hostages in the cities, imposing an iron discipline. Sporadic local rebellions against the Roman occupiers, he managed to raise a general insurrection, and for the first time in Gaul, to bring about a real movement for national unity. Thanks to Vercingetorix, the war will get a facelift. Taking advantage of the absence of Caesar, restrained by domestic political concerns in Italy, knowing weak against the wall of the Roman legions, he encourages the Gauls in a company of guerrillas.

He immediately imposes a policy, the scorched earth around the Roman army to starve. Moreover, he refuses to fight. Cesar reacts quickly. It crosses the Cevennes snowy, manages to take the capital of Bituriges which was not destroyed (Bourges), then walk on Gergovia, the capital of Arverni. The failure suffered by Caesar in June 52 BC AD further strengthens the role of Vercingetorix and his authority, since the most ancient allies of Rome, Eduens align themselves with him.

Caesar responded immediately and, after having crushed the Gallic cavalry near Dijon, he Vercingetorix forced to retreat into the citadel of Alesia. The Romans surrounding stations distributed so that neither the army called in as reinforcements Vercingetorix or release tempted by the besieged are some 80,000, are unable to force the Roman lines. After forty days of siege, starving his troops, went to Caesar Vercingetorix. He was taken by it to appear in the triumph that Rome made to the winner. It’s six years later that Vercingetorix was strangled in his prison.