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Battle of Alesia

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Pre 1900 Military

   Battle of Alesia
   Part of Gallic Wars
   A reconstructed section of the Alesia fortifications

     Date   September 52 BC
   Location Alesia, Chaux-des-Crotenay in French Jura or near modern
            Alise-Sainte-Reine (France)
    Result  Decisive Roman victory
   Combatants
   Roman Republic Gallic Tribes
   Commanders
   Julius Caesar Vercingetorix
   Commius
   Strength
   ~30,000-60,000,
   12 Roman legions and auxiliaries ~330,000
   some 80,000 besieged
   ~250,000 relief forces
   Casualties
   12,800 40,000-250,000
                           Gallic Wars
   Arar - Bibracte - Vosges - Axona – Sabis – Gergovia – Alesia

   The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September 52 BC
   around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort
   of the Mandubii tribe, situated probably at Chaux-des-Crotenay (in Jura
   in modern France). Earlier research located Alesia atop Mont Auxois,
   above modern Alise-Sainte-Reine in France, but this location—it is
   said—does not fit Caesar's description of the battle.
   Alise-Sainte-Reine is still the official location of Alesia. This
   battle was fought by the army of the Roman Republic commanded by Julius
   Caesar, aided by cavalry commanders Mark Antony, Titus Labienus and
   Gaius Trebonius, against a confederation of Gallic tribes united under
   the leadership of Vercingetorix of the Averni. Alesia was the last
   major engagement between Gauls and Romans and marked the turning point
   of the Gallic Wars in favour of Rome. The siege of Alesia is considered
   one of Caesar's greatest military achievements and is still one of the
   classic examples of siege warfare and circumvallation. The event is
   described by several contemporary authors, including Caesar himself in
   his Commentarii de Bello Gallico. After the Roman victory, Gaul (very
   roughly modern France) was subdued and became a Roman province. The
   refusal of the Roman senate to allow Caesar the honour of a triumph for
   his victory in the Gallic Wars eventually led, in part, to the Roman
   civil war of 50–45 BC.

Prelude

   Julius Caesar had been in Gaul since 58 BC. It was customary for
   consuls, Rome's highest elected officials, at the end of their consular
   year, to be appointed governor of one of Rome's provinces by the Roman
   Senate, and following his first consulship in 59 BC, Caesar was
   appointed governor of Cisalpine Gaul (the region between the Alps, the
   Apennines and the Adriatic), and Transalpine Gaul ("Gaul beyond the
   Alps"). With a proconsular imperium, he had absolute authority within
   these provinces.

   One by one Caesar defeated the Gallic tribes such as the Helvetii, the
   Belgae, and the Nervii, and secured a pledge of alliance of many
   others. The ongoing success of the Gallic Wars brought an enormous
   amount of wealth to the Republic in spoils of war and in new lands to
   tax. Caesar himself became very rich since, as general, he benefited
   from the sale of war prisoners. But success and fame also brought
   enemies. The First Triumvirate, a political (although informal)
   alliance with Pompey and Crassus, came to an end in 54 BC, with the
   deaths of Julia (Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife) and Crassus in
   the battle of Carrhae. Without this political connection with Pompey,
   men like Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger started to campaign against
   Caesar, arousing suspicion and accusing him of wanting to overthrow the
   Republic and become King of Rome.
   Julius Caesar
   Enlarge
   Julius Caesar

   In the winter of 54–53 BC, the previously pacified Eburones, commanded
   by Ambiorix, rebelled against the Roman invasion and destroyed the
   Fourteenth legion in a carefully planned ambush. This was a major blow
   to Caesar's strategy for Gaul, since he had now lost about a quarter of
   his troops, and the evolution of the political situation in Rome
   deprived him from receiving reinforcements. The Eburones rebellion was
   the first clear Roman defeat in Gaul and inspired widespread national
   sentiments and revolution. It took almost a year, but Caesar managed to
   regain control of Gaul and pacify the tribes. However, the unrest in
   Gaul was not over. The Gallic tribes were now realising that only
   united could they achieve independence from Rome. A general council was
   summoned at Bibracte by initiative of the Aedui, once Caesar's loyal
   supporters. Only the Remi and the Lingones preferred to keep their
   alliance with Rome. The council declared Vercingetorix, of the Averni,
   commander of the united Gallic armies.

   Caesar was then camped for the winter in Cisalpine Gaul, unaware of the
   alliance made against him. The first sign of trouble came from the
   Carnutes who killed all Roman settlers in the city of Cenabum (modern
   Orléans). This outbreak of violence was followed by the slaughtering of
   all Roman citizens, merchants and settlers in the major Gallic cities.
   On hearing this news, Caesar rallied his men in haste and crossed the
   Alps, still buried in snow, into central Gaul. This was accomplished in
   record time and Caesar was able to surprise the Gallic tribes. He split
   his forces, sending four legions with Titus Labienus to fight the
   Senones and the Parisii in the North. Caesar himself set on the pursuit
   of Vercingetorix with six legions and his allied Germanic cavalry. The
   two armies met at the hill fort of Gergovia, where Vercingetorix held a
   strongly defensive position. Caesar was forced to retreat to avoid
   utter defeat, after suffering heavy losses. In the summer of 52 BC,
   several engagements were fought between cavalries, with Caesar
   succeeding in scattering the Gallic army. Vercingetorix decided that
   the timing was not right to engage in a major pitched battle and
   regrouped in the Mandubii fort of Alesia.

Siege and battle

   The Fortifications built by Caesar in Alesia according to the
   hypothesis of the location in Alise-sainte-Reine Inbox: cross shows
   location of Alesia in Gaul (modern France). The open circle shows the
   weakness in the contravallation line
   Enlarge
   The Fortifications built by Caesar in Alesia according to the
   hypothesis of the location in Alise-sainte-Reine
   Inbox: cross shows location of Alesia in Gaul (modern France). The open
   circle shows the weakness in the contravallation line

   Alesia was a hill-top fort surrounded by river valleys, with strong
   defensive features. As a frontal assault would have been suicidal,
   Caesar decided upon a siege, hoping to force surrender by starvation.
   Considering that about 80,000 men were garrisoned in Alesia, together
   with the local civilian population, this would not take long. To
   guarantee a perfect blockade, Caesar ordered the construction of an
   encircling set of fortifications, called a circumvallation, around
   Alesia. The details of this engineering work are known from Caesar's
   Commentaries and archaeological excavations on the site. About 18
   kilometres of 4 metre high fortifications were constructed in a record
   time of about three weeks. This line was followed inwards by two
   four-and-a-half metres wide ditches, about one and a half metres deep.
   The one nearest to the fortification was filled with water from the
   surrounding rivers. This was a considerable engineering feat, but
   nothing new to the man who, as curule aedile, an elected official of
   the city of Rome, had once diverted the Tiber into the Circus Maximus
   for a mock sea battle, as a form of public entertainment. These
   fortifications were supplemented with mantraps and deep holes in front
   of the ditches, and regularly spaced watch towers equipped with Roman
   artillery.

   Vercingetorix's cavalry often raided the construction works attempting
   to prevent full enclosure. The Germanic auxiliary cavalry proved once
   more its value and kept the raiders at bay. After about two weeks of
   work, a detachment of Gallic cavalry managed to escape through an
   unfinished section. Anticipating that a relief force would now be sent,
   Caesar ordered the construction of a second line of fortifications, the
   contravallation, facing outward and encircling his army between it and
   the first set of walls. The second line was identical to the first in
   design and extended for 21 kilometres, including four cavalry camps.
   This set of fortifications would protect the Roman army when the relief
   Gallic forces arrived: they were now besiegers and preparing to be
   besieged.

   At this time, the living conditions in Alesia were becoming
   increasingly worse. With 80,000 soldiers and the local population, too
   many people were crowded inside the plateau competing for too little
   food. The Mandubii decided to expel the women and children from the
   citadel, hoping to save food for the fighters and hoping that Caesar
   would open a breach to let them go. This would also be an opportunity
   for breaching the Roman lines. But Caesar issued orders that nothing
   should be done for these civilians and the women and children were left
   to starve in the no man's land between the city walls and the
   circumvallation. The cruel fate of their kin added to the general loss
   of morale inside the walls. Vercingetorix was fighting to keep spirits
   high, but faced the threat of surrender by some of his men. However,
   the relief force arrived in this desperate hour, strengthening the
   resolve of the besieged to resist and fight another day.

   At the end of September the Gauls, commanded by Commius, attacked
   Caesar's contravallation wall. Vercingetorix ordered a simultaneous
   attack from the inside. None of the attempts were successful and by
   sunset the fighting had ended. On the next day, the Gallic attack was
   under the cover of night. This time they met more success and Caesar
   was forced to abandon some sections of his fortification lines. Only
   the swift response of the cavalry commanded by Antony and Gaius
   Trebonius saved the situation. The inner wall was also attacked, but
   the presence of trenches, which Vercingetorix's men had to fill,
   delayed them enough to prevent surprise. By this time, the condition of
   the Roman army was also poor. Themselves besieged, food had started to
   be rationed and men were near physical exhaustion.

   On the next day, October 2, Vercassivellaunus, a cousin of
   Vercingetorix, launched a massive attack with 60,000 men, focussing on
   a weakness in the Roman fortifications (the open circle in the figure)
   which Caesar had tried to hide, but had been discovered by the Gauls.
   The area in question was a zone with natural obstructions where a
   continuous wall could not be constructed. The attack was made in
   combination with Vercingetorix's forces who pressed from every angle of
   the inner fortification. Caesar trusted the discipline and courage of
   his men and sent out orders to simply hold the lines. He personally
   rode throughout the perimeter cheering his legionaries. Labienus'
   cavalry was sent to support the defense of the area where the
   fortification breach was located. With pressure increasing, Caesar was
   forced to counter-attack the inner offensive and managed to push back
   Vercingetorix's men. By this time the section held by Labienus was on
   the verge of collapse. Caesar decided on a desperate measure and took
   13 cavalry cohorts (about 6,000 men) to attack the relief army of
   60,000 from the rear. This action surprised both attackers and
   defenders. Seeing their leader undergoing such risk, Labienus' men
   redoubled their efforts and the Gauls soon panicked and tried to
   retreat. As in other examples of ancient warfare, the disarrayed
   retreating army was easy prey for the disciplined Roman pursuit. The
   retreating Gauls were slaughtered, and Caesar in his Commentaries
   remarks that only the pure exhaustion of his men saved the Gauls from
   complete annihilation.

   In Alesia, Vercingetorix witnessed the defeat of his relief force.
   Facing both starvation and low morale, he was forced to surrender
   without a final fight. On the next day, the Gallic leader presented his
   arms to Julius Caesar, putting an end to the siege of Alesia.

Aftermath

   Alesia proved to be the end of generalized and organized resistance to
   the Roman invasion of Gaul. The country was then subdued, becoming a
   Roman province and was eventually subdivided into several smaller
   administrative divisions. Not until the third century would another
   independence movement occur (see Gallic Empire). The garrison of Alesia
   was taken prisoner as well as the survivors of the relief army. They
   were either sold into slavery or given as booty to Caesar's
   legionaries, except for the members of the Aedui and Averni tribes,
   which were released and pardoned to secure the alliance of these
   important tribes to Rome.

   For Caesar, Alesia was an enormous personal success, both militarily
   and politically. The senate, manipulated by Cato and Pompey, declared
   20 days of thanksgiving for this victory, but refused Caesar the honour
   of celebrating a triumphal parade, the peak of any general's career.
   Political tension increased, and two years later, in 50 BC, Caesar
   crossed the Rubicon, which precipitated the Roman civil war of 49–45
   BC, which he won. After having been elected consul, for each of the
   years of the war, and appointed to several temporary dictatorships, he
   was finally made dictator perpetuus (dictator for life), by the Roman
   Senate in 44 BC. His ever increasing personal power and honours
   undermined the tradition bound republican foundations of Rome, and led
   to the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.

   Caesar's cavalry commanders followed different paths. Labienus sided
   with the Optimates ("the good men"), the conservative aristocratic
   faction in the civil war, and was killed at the Battle of Munda in 45
   BC. Trebonius, one of Caesar's most trusted lieutenants, was appointed
   consul, by Caesar, in 45 BC, and was one of the senators involved in
   Caesar's assassination on the Ides of March ( March 15) 44 BC. He was
   himself murdered a year later. Antony continued to be a faithful
   supporter of Caesar. He was made Caesar's second in command, as Master
   of the Horse, and was left in charge in Italy during much of the civil
   war. In 44 BC he was elected as Caesar's consular colleague. After
   Caesar's murder, Antony pursued Caesar's assassins and vied for supreme
   power with Octavian (later to become Caesar Augustus), first forming an
   alliance with Octavian (and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus) in the Second
   Triumvirate, then being defeated by him at the Battle of Actium in 31
   BC. Along with his ally and lover queen Cleopatra, he fled to Egypt,
   where they committed suicide, the following year.

   Vercingetorix was taken prisoner and treated with royal honours for the
   next five years, while awaiting to be exhibited at Caesar's triumph. As
   was traditional for such captured and paraded enemy leaders, at the end
   of the triumphal procession, he was taken to the Tullianum (also known
   as the Mamertine Prison) and strangled.

Issues in historical reconstruction of the events

   For many years, the actual location of the battle was unknown.
   Competing theories focused first on two towns, Alaise in the
   Franche-Comté and Alise-Sainte-Reine in the Côte-d'Or. Emperor Napoleon
   III of France supported the latter candidate and during the 1860s
   funded archaeological research that uncovered the evidence to support
   the existence of Roman camps in the area. He then dedicated a statue to
   Vercingetorix in the recently discovered ruins.

   Uncertainty has nevertheless persisted, with questions being raised
   about the validity of Alise-Sainte-Reine's claim. For example, the
   topography of the area—it is allegedly said—does not fit with Caesar's
   description. The site is also too small to accommodate even revised
   estimates of 80,000 men with the Gallic infantry, along with cavalry
   and additional personnel.

   Another theory supports the location of the battle at
   Chaux-des-Crotenay at the gate of the Jura mountains. Preliminary
   researches in Chaux-de-Crotenay unveiled a complete system of Roman
   fortifications in good fit with Caesar's description of the site.
   However, further archaeological research is needed to definitively
   confirm the location of Alesia.

   In the Asterix comics ( Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield), this
   uncertainty about Alesia's location is humorously characterized as a
   reflection of Gallic pride. The album portrays Asterix and Obelix
   encountering other Gauls familiar with the campaign, who readily recall
   Vercingetorix's victory at the Battle of Gergovia, but refuse to talk
   about Alesia and insist that nobody knows where it is.

   Precise figures for the size of the armies involved, and the number of
   casualties suffered, are difficult to know. Such figures have always
   been a powerful propaganda weapon, and are thus suspect. Caesar, in his
   De Bello Gallico, refers to a Gallic relief force of a quarter of a
   million, probably an exaggeration to enhance his victory.
   Unfortunately, the only records of the events are Roman and therefore
   presumably biased. Modern historians usually believe that a number
   between 80,000–100,000 men is more credible. The only known fact is
   that each man in Caesar's legions received a Gaul as a slave, which
   means at least 40,000 prisoners, mostly from the besieged garrison. The
   relief force probably suffered heavy losses, like many other armies who
   lost battle order and retreated under the weapons of the Roman cavalry.
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