Caesar in Gaul - Roman History DOCUMENTARY

the goals were one of Rome's oldest and most bitter enemies they had sacked Rome and throughout the centuries fought alongside the Republic's most dangerous adversaries including Paris and Hannibal by the end of the second century BC southern Gaul was largely subdued however there was still tension in northern Gaul particularly along the Rhine these tensions would ultimately climax in the Gallic Wars the conflicts that would shape the future of Western Europe for centuries to come giving rise to the Holy Roman Empire and modern-day France the conflicts that would forever etch the name Gaius Julius Caesar in the annals of history Rome had been rocked by almost half a century of civil wars and the Republic was in decline both Marius and sulla had marched on Rome highlighting the ineffectiveness of the system for maintaining a large empire and the fact that the Legionaries were more loyal to their generals than to the state following this chaotic period three men had established an unofficial alliance to effectively control the Republic this was the first triumvirate consisting of the famous general Pompey the great the richest man in Rome Crassus and Julius Caesar Caesar had been consul the year before in 59 BC but his political campaigning has left him in debt and made him many enemies in Rome he needed to make money fast and gain enough military success to keep his political adversaries at bay when the time came for distributing provinces for Caesar to govern as proconsul he was able to use his political allies to secure SAS Alpine goal Illyricum and transalpine call for an unprecedented five years this put Caesar in control of four veteran legions the 7th 8th 9th and 10th all of whom had fought with Caesar before in Hispania and were loyal to him they had a total of roughly 22,000 legionaries plus auxiliaries Caesar now had the men he needed all he needed was an excuse for war fortunately for Caesar a celtic tribe the helvetii was planning a migration into Gaul in 58 BC their leader or reg Tareq's had formed a confederation with a number of neighboring tribes the telinga Latta breeki rocky and bowie and now they numbered 368 thousand men women and children erect Erik's had even convinced them all to burn their homes in order to leave no option of failure however soon he was accused of being a tyrant and was forced to commit suicide command passed to devika difficult to stick to the plan and began amassing supplies in order to start pouring into Gaul to do this they would either have to pass through the land of the Roman ally a dewy and the province of transalpine Gaul or take the longer route through the mountain passes in the north the Romans had built up a healthy fear of migrating tribes following the Cimbri and war in 113 to 101 BC and so Caesar hearing of this was only too willing to come to the rescue of the air doing he took the only available Legion in the area and forced marched them up to Geneva destroying the bridge on the Rhone that provided access into transalpine Gaul the Helvetii II appealed to Caesar asking for military access through Roman lands and promising they would not attack Caesar played for time pretending to consider this offer for almost fifteen days using this time his Legion was able to construct a fortified embankment almost 5 metres high stretching 20 miles along the riverbank with the Legion Manning the embankment and now in a stronger position Caesar denied the Helvetii access and refused to allow them to cross some of the haveta ignored this and attempted to cross nonetheless in small boats but were prevented from doing so by the Legionaries throwing javelins and shooting arrows into them with the southern route thus blocked the helvetii II decided to take the longer northern route through the mountains into Gaul leaving his top lieutenant labienus in command Cesar returns to Italy to levy a further two legions and to pull the other three veteran legions out of their winter quarters in aquileia bringing his total to approximately 33,000 legionaries plus auxiliaries despite labienus being in a strong position to easily block the mountain pass the Helvetii II managed to push into Gallic territories and began ravaging the land the Gauls pleaded with Caesar to intervene and chase the Helvetii out and Caesar yet again was only too willing to help marching his legions into the Gallic territories the decision of labienus to not hold the Helvetii he in the mountains was likely an order received from Caesar the Celts were now in open terrain which better suited the Roman legions and their pillaging of Gaul gave Caesar an excuse to intervene word reached Caesar that the Alva te were currently attempting a crossing as the era River they had been crossing in for large groups using many rafts and boats but due to the size of the Horde and their lack of organization the crossing had already taken them days and one group was still yet to cross Caesar took his legions and swiftly marched to the river quickly forming his legions into battle formation Caesar fell upon the Celts waiting to cross caught unaware unprepared and encumbered by their baggage the helvetii did not even have enough time to form a proper battle line the fighting was over quickly with the whole stranded group being killed or fleeing into the nearby woods whilst the other three groups could do nothing but watch helplessly from the other side of the river the main helfet e-force began to move on and not wanting to lose the initiative Caesar quickly built a bridge across the river and moved all of his six legions across the crossing that had taken the kelps twenty days has taken the Romans just one Caesar began tailing the Helvetii waiting for the right time to strike there were a few minor cavalry skirmishes but nothing decisive Caesar did once managed to find a battlefield that was advantageous and even had labienus in position behind the enemy however due to poor communication from his Scouts Caesar was forced to pull back from the battlefield this caused a delay in Caesars plan and he was beginning to run low on rations he decided to head for the nearby town of refractor to resupply his army before continuing in pursuit as he began to march off however difficult chase harassing the rear of the Roman army Caesar sent his cavalry and light infantry to fight a delaying action in order to buy time to deploy his main force on a nearby hill the four veteran legions formed three lines at the front with the two newly levied legions along with the auxiliaries positioned further up the hill these men were not tested in battle and so were not expected to do any of the fighting instead they were to guard for baggage and were spread thin across the hill to seemingly increase the size of caesar's army the Helvetii numbering somewhere between sixty to ninety thousand warriors had successfully fought off the Roman cavalry and light infantry forcing them to retreat now they had formed their infantry into a tightly packed shield wall and advanced on the Romans the front two lines of legionaries opened the battle with a volley of javelins these hampered the Helvetii by becoming stuck in their shields forcing them to drop them and break into a looser formation with the shield wall in disarray the Roman frontlines charged into melee the fighting was intense and tough but the Romans discipline and experience gave them the edge slowly they began to get the upper hand with the helvetii being forced back to a nearby mountain however as the Romans pressed up the mountain a portion of the Helvetii allies composed of bowie and telling ghee roughly fifteen thousand warriors entered the battle these men had been acting as a rearguard protecting the camp and now they fell on the roman flank threatening to encircle them the helvetii bolstered by the arrival of their allies began pushing back with renewed vigor with the two front lines of legionaries already engaging the helvetii on the mountain Caesar committed his final line of veterans which had been acting as a reserve after hours of hard fighting the Helvetii on the mountain were eventually broken and forced from the battle however the bowie and telling G fell back to the camp to make a last stand using their baggage wagons they formed a makeshift Ramblers and continued the fight hurling missiles down into the Roman ranks this is where the fighting was the most difficult as the bowie were famed warriors and fought desperately finally after fighting long into the night the third line was able to break into the camp ending the battle the battle had lasted almost 12 hours Caesar had lost perhaps five thousand men whilst the Helvetii had lost around forty to sixty thousand of the 368 thousand people who began the migration only 130,000 who are now left Caesar with no cavalry to speak of was not able to give chase immediately and gave his men three days in order to recover from the battle before starting the pursuit the Helvetii seeing the Romans chasing them once more surrendered completely and were forced to return to their homeland and made a vassal of Rome acting as a buffer between Roman and Germanic lands Caesar had achieved his aim of gaining a swift military victory and for now he would be able to hold off his political enemies in Rome furthermore the Romans had now shown themselves to be a powerful force in the galaxy etre after his victory Caesar rested in the bracket a for a short time before moving on rumor had already reached him of a Germanic tribe that had crossed the Rhine and was terrorizing gold thus way be led by their king Ariovistus had first arrived in Gaul in 63 BC as mercenaries for the sequani and Arverni in their war against the a Dewey a Roman ally the fifteen thousand warriors that Ariovistus initially brought proved decisive helping to secure a crucial victory over the a Dewey at the Battle of Megiddo Brieger which forced the adhuri to become a tributary to the sequani in response to this the ax Dewey sent an envoy de vikke aqus to ask Rome for help but the Republic was still recovering from the political shock of the kattiline conspiracy and was distracted by an allobroges revolt the governor of transalpine Gaul was ordered to help Rome's Gallic allies when possible and in 59 BC the Senate named Ariovistus a friend of the people of Rome to pacify him and keep him in check Ariovistus used that time to consolidate his position after helping the sequani he demanded a third of their lands as payment the sequani gave in and Ariovistus began moving more of his people across the rhine to settle in this new land by 58 BC as many as 120,000 swabby has now crossed the Rhine and made their home in Gaul furthermore Ariovistus was demanding more sequani territory in order to settle an extra twenty four thousand Germans and had been taking hostages in order to keep the sequani and a Dewey obedient something had to be done following his victory over the Helvetii Caesar had taken some time to rest in the practi whilst encamped there he was visited by a Council of Gallic leaders and diplomats led by divitiacus they complimented Caesar on his victory and implored him to intervene in the situation pointing out that if the Germans continued their conquests soon the swabby would be directly bordering Roman territory Caesar again was happy to oblige as Ariovistus was a friend of Rome however Caesar could not immediately go to war instead Caesar first invited Ariovistus to meet him which was declined then he sent a diplomat to ariovistus asking him to return the Gallic hostages he had taken and to stop any hostilities Caesar reminded him that if he were to comply the Romans would still consider him a friend of Rome and not take any action against him this was a good deal for Ariovistus he'd be allowed to keep the lands he had already taken from the sequani without a fight instead of accepting the terms Ariovistus doubled down and sent a message back to caesar saying that if the romans could conquer where and how they liked so could he at the same time the 24,000 new germans who had crossed the rhine were allowed to raise and pillage the Gallic lands as they pleased with more Germans preparing to cross the river to join Ariovistus Caesar now had his justification as he had a legal decree from the Senate to protect Rome's Gallic allies he could justify that to the sway be worth threatening Rome's borders and Ariovistus had forfeited his status as a friend of Rome by continuing to pillage the land of Rome's allies yet again Caesar had the chance to market himself as the savior of Gaul gathering his six legions roughly 30,000 men Caesar set out on the warpath both Ariovistus and Caesar recognized the importance of Vasant EO the largest town in the sequani territories well fortified and well supplied it would be crucial to the war effort both forces began marching to the town however the Romans marching day and night were able to get there first Caesar rested there briefly while supplying the legions but as they rested rumors began reaching the men of the strength and ferocity of the Germans even some of Caesars officers began having their doubts and it almost seemed as if Caesar would have a mutiny on his hands Caesar was however able to restore order by insisting that he would face Ariovistus with just his most trusted 10th Legion if none others would follow this inspired a fanatical loyalty in the 10th Legion whilst the others motivated by shame at being thought of as cowards rallied and the legions began to march out to meet the Swabian Ariovistus impressed with the speed at which the Romans had been able to move and take force antio sent messages to Caesar asking for a meeting with only some cavalry allowed as bodyguards at the place called Voss keys in modern-day Alsace Caesar agreed but the meeting did not go well with both generals reiterating their positions Ariovistus even went so far as to say that if he were to kill Caesar there would be many in Rome that would be grateful showing that he knew what the political situation in Rome was negotiations broke down after this and the cavalry on both sides had a minor skirmish before retreating back to their respective camps a few days later Ariovistus asked for another meeting Caesar sensing a trap sent his translators this was just as well as Ariovistus promptly captured the two and even considered burning them alive with his plan to capture Caesar having failed re vistas instead moved to battle his army was composed of 6,000 cavalry 16,000 light infantry and the rest heavier infantry for a total of around thirty to forty thousand men taking Caesar by surprise Ariovistus marched his force quickly behind Caesars position and set up camp cutting off the Romans from their supply lines for five days Caesar drew out his army in battle formation willing to give battle but Ariovistus was content to wait and strangle Caesars supply line only engaging in cavalry skirmishes the sway B cavalry fought in a unique fashion for every Horseman there was an infantryman mixed into their formation these men were lightly armed in order to keep up with the cavalry and together provided a flexible and difficult force to handle and the roman cavalry the worse of the fighting Cesar knowing that he would have to do something to break the stalemate or else risk being starved out formed his legions into three lines he marched this force past the sway B position and ordered the third line to begin construction of a second camp whilst the first two lines formed up to defend them Ariovistus sent all of his light infantry and cavalry to harass the Legionaries but seemed reluctant to commit his entire force and so they were easily held off by the Romans with the second camp complete cease the left two legions and part of his auxiliaries to defend it whilst his other four legions returned to the main camp realizing that Caesar would now be able to use this second camp to reconnect with his supply line Ariovistus sent part of his army to attack this second camp the fighting was tough lasting from midday into the evening but eventually the Romans were able to repel the attack and even took some prisoners upon questioning these sway be Caesar learnt that Ariovistus had apparently been told by his priests not to commit his army until after the new moon which was why he had not used his whole army to prevent the legions constructing their second camp having learnt this Caesar decided to go on the offensive leaving a small garrison in each camp Caesar formed his six legions into a triple axis formation with his cavalry in reserve and marched on the sway be cannon the Germans came out to meet him forming their wagons and baggage train into a semicircle behind them their women standing on them urging the men on noticing that the German left flank was slightly weaker Caesar positioned himself opposite on the Roman right and gave the order for his men to charge but as he did the sway be also charged their assault was so fast and surprising that the Romans had to drop their peeler before they could even throw them drawing their swords and fighting in hand-to-hand combat the Germans managed to form a shield wall and neither side seemed able to gain an upper hand having been unable to throw their javelins before charging the Romans struggled to break the shield wall as easily as they had at the Battle of be bracketing after some hard fighting the roman rite led by caesar started to push back the german left however the sway beyond the right outnumbered their roman opponents and was starting to get the upper hand the roman cavalry led by the son of triumvir marcus lakenya's Crassus Publius had not yet engaged in the battle and from his position he could see the Roman left starting to crumble using his own initiative Crassus led the third line which had been kept in reserve to support the flank arriving just in time to avoid a disaster with their left flank broken and their right now under severe pressure the Suevi army broke and ran it is not known how people died in this battle but the Germans attempting to retreat through their wagons were said to have been packed so tightly that the dead could not even fall over the entire Suevi force including Ariovistus fled back across the rhine pursued by the roman cavalry Caesar had won two important campaigns in one season for now he left labienus to winter with the legions in sequani territory whilst he attended to his governing duties incest Albine goal but by wintering his legions in Gallic territory Caesar was making a point this was beginning to look less like intervention and more like occupation with the Germanic threat dealt with Caesar would be able to turn his attention to call proper the Belgae were a loose collection of various tribes and had fought constant wars with the Germanic tribes across the Rhine which had fostered a strong and experienced warrior culture they knew of how successful Caesar had been in Gaul already and were justifiably suspicious of his intentions to counter the rising Roman threat the Belgae formed a confederation led by King Galba of the Swazi Oh knees labienus sent word of this coalition to Caesar incest alpine Gaul who immediately took action Caesar raised a further two legions and moved straight to the Belgae border it is worth noting that Caesar now had eight legions under his command approximately 44,000 men including auxiliaries double the amount he had initially been allocated by the Senate furthermore while the Belgae raising an army could certainly be seen as a potential threat Caesar made no efforts to get the cassis Bell as he had when fighting the helvetii and sway be the Republic had less and less control over Caesar and many in Rome were beginning to talk about these conquests not being in Rome's best interest but in Caesars nevertheless Cesar marched his legions quickly into the territory of the nearest Belgic tribe the Remi who were completely taken aback by the speed at which the Romans had been able to mobilize and surrendered instantly swearing to Caesar that they had never been a part of the Confederation the ramie even provided caesar with all the information they had on the Alliance including which tribes were involved how many men each tribe was contributing and that they were currently marching towards the Raimi's territory with this information Caesar convinced his Gallic allies Thea Dewey led now by divitiacus to invade the lands of the Bella Valley a powerful Belgae tribe to open a second front while he mush towards the Belgic alliance his main army Caesar crossed a bridge over the ex-owner River and encamped in a strong position on a hill on the other side the river provided protection from the rear and marshy land at his front made a frontal assault difficult furthermore Caesar had learned his lesson from fighting Ariovistus and left six cohorts in a well fortified position on the other side of the bridge securing his supply line with no chance of being starved out from his position Caesar waited for the Belgae to make their move meanwhile the Belgae had marched to the Remy town of big Brax just 8 miles from where Caesar was encamped and besieged it Caesar gives the total number of the Confederation as 300,000 however it is unclear how much this number is exaggerated and how many of these men work currently in the army a more realistic estimation would be somewhere around 80,000 men still a force to be reckoned with almost double that of Caesars in the face of such a large force the Ramey sent messages to Caesar saying that they would be unable to hold the town without his help Caesar however was reluctant to give up his defensive position as he thought that the attack on barracks was a trap designed to force him to do that instead he kept his legions in camp but sent a substantial contingent of auxiliaries composed mainly of Cretan arches and Balearic slingers to sneak into barracks to help the Ramey whitby Bronx thus reinforced and Caesar not taking the bait Galba instead marched his army to meet the Romans in camping just two miles from the Roman camp Caesar was reluctant to engage galva straightaway and instead focused on cavalry skirmishes to test the strength of the Belgae while this was going on he further reinforced his position digging long trenches and constructing defensive towers on the flanks of his position realizing that attacking such a strong position would be suicidal Galba instead sent roughly fifteen to twenty thousand men to forge the river and attack the six cohorts on the other side hoping either to draw caesar from the hill or to cut off his supply line and starve him out seeing this Caesar gathered all his light infantry and cavalry and marched quickly to oppose the crossing leaving his legions in their defensive position the Roman cavalry arrived just in time and fell upon the few Belgae who had made it to the other Bank killing many and forcing them back into the river at the same time the Roman Missal troops peppered the Belgae still in the water with stones javelins and arrows they doggedly tried to continue their crossing despite taking heavy casualties but galva had no choice but to pull his men back to make matters worse word had now reached him that the ado we were rampaging through the bell of a key lands with the Romans to his front so heavily dug in and with another army now threatening his flank Galba decided to withdraw the tribes would all dispersed to their respective homelands but all agrees to reassemble if the Romans marched further into Belgae lands as the Confederations army dispersed Caesar cautiously pursued with his cavalry and three legions under labienus harassing the Belgae due to their lack of coordination the belgae suffered heavy casualties in this retreat the battle had cost the confederation approximately ten thousand men and had forced the tribes to divide making them easier for Caesar to conquer many tribes simply surrendered in the face of the Roman legions including the bell of a key and Galvez swear CE o knees however deeper in Belgae territory the Nervii did have the time to organize and were not going to give up so easily they were outraged by Caesars foray into Belgae territory and alongside their neighbors the Veeru man Dewey antibodies and aduatuci were able to gather an army of approximately 50,000 men led by the Nervii King Bodog natus Caeser hearing that this force was gathering against him marched for the river sabes on the edge of Novi territory boudic natus had learned the lesson from Galba and knew that he could not allow the Romans the chance to fortify their position and so he positioned his men in ambush on a hill on the other side of the river he also had his troops construct hedge like obstructions which were placed on the other side of the river to disrupt the Roman formations and cavalry Caesar marched his army in two groups his veterans six legions who marched in the front were the first to reach the river and began constructing a camp on the hill with the river in front while the two new allegience marched behind with the baggage-train Caesar sent his cavalry and light infantry across the river which was only three feet deep in order to scout the opposite bank they were met by Sumner ve cavalry and a brief skirmish broke out however the Belgae cavalry fell Bank drawing in the Romans until the entire nervy force broke cover and fell upon them the Roman cavalry and light infantry broke and ran back across the river to the Roman camp the Nervii army in hot pursuit thus started the battle of the sabes River the Belgae moved from the woods and across the river so fast that the legions had almost no time to prepare however their experience and discipline kicked in rallying to the nearest cohort and legionary standards they were able to put together a coherent battle line but as the legionary engineers did not have time to clear the campsite as they usually would the legions were divided by the hedge like obstructions lays down by Bodog natus which prevented them from forming a cohesive formation as a result the legions were almost fighting three separate battles and the ninth on the left against the anti batty the eleventh and eighth in the center against the veeram and Dewey and the 12th and seventh on the right against the largest group be nervy with two remaining legions still with the vanished rain yet to join the battle the fighting was brutal with Caesar himself going from group to group encouraging his men eventually the Roman left was able to push their enemy back enough to hold their javelins into their ranks and charge they were able to force the a tree batty bat across the river even making it into the Belgae camp the Roman center was also finding success pushing the veeram and Dewey down to the banks of the river however the Roman Rite was having a hard time with the center pushing forwards the Nervii II poured into the gap almost surrounding the 12th and 7th legions and falling upon the auxiliaries who had retreated to the camp the remaining auxiliaries including most of the Roman cavalry who had been marching in front of the baggage-train sorbus and fled assuming the roman rite had been completely destroyed and the battle lost they were not without reason the twelve had lost their standard their chief centurion most of the other Centurions and the Romans were beginning to break seeing this disaster Caesar knew he would have to do something or risk losing the whole campaign snatching up a shield he pushed himself to the front line of the Legion bolstering the morale of the men with the seventh Legion under heavy pressure as well Caesar ordered them to form a defensive square with the 12th and hold fairground at this point the battle began to swing in the Romans favor labienus in charge of the tenth and ninth legions saw what was happening from the other side of the river and sent the tenth to relieve the Roman right while the remaining two legions had finally joined the battle and were attacking the Nervii in the Roman camp the Roman auxiliary cavalry also returned to the battle seeing this change in fortune and now it was the Nervii who faced disaster the veeram and URI had flared upon seeing the Roman reinforcements and the Nervii were now surrounded they fought bravely and even Caesar commended them later but their defeat was now inevitable the belgae casualties were devastating Caesar saying that just five hundred survived the battle the Roman losses had also been high with perhaps as many as 5,000 Romans dead without Caesars personal leadership and the timely interventions of the legions it is likely that the battle would have been lost Caesar killed and the campaign ended but the battle was over and Caesar was once again victorious the Nervii II surrendered becoming a vassal of Rome and the at Rabat II were conquered soon after Rome was now in control of most of Gore by 56 BC Caesar had subjugated the majority of Gaul either through conquest or political alliances and was beginning to look for new opportunities to expand Rome's influence but not all the Gallic tribes were taking kindly to Roman rule one such tribe was the vanetti located in modern brittany despite signing a peace treaty with caesar the year before they reneged on this promise and captured a few roman officers as a largely seafaring nation the vanetti were confident that they would be able to put their faith in their Navy and force Caesar to make concessions however caesar spent no time trying to negotiate instead seeing the act as a direct declaration of war and marched on the tribe initially he found little success due to their large Navy the vanetti were able to effectively hop from town to town moving entire populace and their belongings denying the Romans a pitched battle or siege standard Roman tactics proved ineffective therefore and it was clear that in order to win Caesar had to defeat the Navy with no Navy on hand he ordered that a fleet be built in order to take on the vanetti Navy but compared to the Roman ships which were designed for the Mediterranean fever nettie ships designed for the Atlantic were much stronger and taller and the Romans found them impossible to ram or board it was only through the ingenuity of one of his legate's deca Merce Junius Brutus Albinus who suggested that they use bill hooks to cut down the sails and the vanetti boats that Caesar was able to defeat their Navy with this issue sorted it now seemed that Caesar would be able to move on to new conquests once again though his plans were put on hold in 55 BC when yet another Roman German horde composed of loosely Petty's and tense theory began threatening the Rhine border these tribes previously rivaled the zwei be but were now fleeing in huge numbers Caesar giving their total number including civilians as 430,000 they had already slaughtered the manape and stolen their ships in order to cross the river and were now pouring into Gaul upon hearing about this Caesar was once again compelled to act as he was worried that the Gauls might join the Germans in an attempt to oust the Romans some Gallic tribes in the Rhine Valley had indeed sent emissaries to the Germans providing them with food and intelligence encouraging them to move deeper into Gaul Caesar gathered a Council of Gallic Chiefs and convinced them to provide more cavalry for him to confront the Germans they served two purposes firstly Rome's cavalry had always been lacking and the Gauls were renowned horsemen and so filled a crucial role in the army and secondly because cavalry was composed largely of nobles or wealthy persons they would act as hostages ensuring good behavior he then gathered five of his legions and headed to the Rhine the Germans had sent a portion of their cavalry ahead of their main force in order to carry out raiding missions but hearing that Caesar was getting close they sent emissaries in order to delay him they asked Caesar to negotiate claiming that they were only in Gaul because they had been forced to flee from the sway be and promised to ally with Rome if Caesar could provide them with land in Gaul however Caesar suspected that the Germans were delaying and continued his advance the envoys continued back and forth as Caesar continued to progress towards the German camp sending forward his 5,000 cavalry as an advanced force but with orders not to provoke them into attack however upon seeing the Roman cavalry separated from the main force the Germans fell upon them the Romans initially tried to hold their ground but were eventually overwhelmed and retreated to the safety of Caesars camp Caesar likely underplays the amount of casualties taken giving the number as 74 but he does mention that two brothers of the famous and influential piso family had died in the fighting something that Caesar could not let go unpunished refusing to hold back any longer Caesar gathered his force to attack the Germans but before he moved off the Germans sent a party of diplomats including high-ranking nobility to treat with Caesar once again asking for peace and apologizing for the attack as the Germans had already attacked apparently without provocation Caesar refused and took the delegates as prisoners he then drew up his army in three lines and moved swiftly to the German camp the Germans assuming that Caesar still would have been delayed by their envoys were caught completely unaware the legions fell upon their camp Caesar brushes over the details but it seems to have been somewhat of a massacre the fleeing Germans were pursued by the Roman cavalry some made it across the river in their boats but many tried to swim across and drowned hearing of the defeat the German cavalry which had been pillaging returned to cross the Rhine Caesar's army had taken minimal casualties it is important to note that while Caesar portrayed this as a great victory against a marauding Germanic horde this is not how others saw it two Caesars political rivals in Rome Caesar had broken the armistice with the Germans by antagonizing them with his cavalry imprisoned diplomats which was effectively a declaration of war and then carried out a massacre including civilians Caesar needed something to distract the Senate and to win the minds of the people so he decided to boost his popularity by doing what no Roman general had ever done before crossing the Rhine the Germanic tribe ubi II offered its ships hoping that the Romans would assist in their war against the zwei be Caesar however deemed this unworthy of the Roman people and instead decided to build a bridge across the Rhine between modern and doneck and no vide it was an engineering marvel the legions engineers used winches to act as pile drivers driving stakes deep into the river and constructed the 140 to 400 meter by 7 to 9 meter bridge in just 10 days Caesar found the lands beyond the Rhine almost deserted taken aback by the Romans speed and their feat of Engineering the Germanic tribes in the area had retreated deep into the Germanic forests where they had amassed a significant army however Caesar has no desire to be caught in a prolonged campaign in foreign territory against a notoriously dangerous enemy he spent just 18 days on the German side of the Rhine burning villages and crop fields before returning and dismantling the bridge the campaign was a proof not only to the Germans but also to Caesars rivals in Rome that he could overcome anything and do as he pleased Caesars next ambition Britain was once again a perfect propaganda target the island was on the edge of the known world and rumored to be a land of monsters and vast riches it had remained effectively untouched and bringing it into Rome sphere of influence would be a significant achievement according to Caesar the Britons had provided some of the Gallic tribes with the resources needed to make war while this was a weak casus belli Caesar was by now effectively doing what he wanted with little oversight he began gathering Intel from the Gallic merchants and sent a small reconnaissance force to the island whilst he mustered the ships he used against the vanetti and prepared to cross with the 7th and 10th Legion he set sail from modern Calais and safely made it across with most of his army but his cavalry had been delayed by bad weather the Romans saw the Britons had amassed along the White Cliffs of Dover in huge numbers with infantry cavalry and chariots and with every warrior painted in fierce blue war paint Caesar moved further down the coast in order to find a better place to land but was shadowed by the Britons cavalry and chariots who were easily able to keep pace with the fleet when the Romans finally found a suitable Beach Caesar arranged his transport vessels into a long line with his warships on his flanks and ordered his men to disembark as the transport vessels had deep keels however they were still some way from the shore and the legions were forced to wade in waist-deep in water to try and reach the beach the Brittain saw their opportunity and attacked firing missiles into the ranks of the Legionnaires as they struggled through the water weighed down by their armor the Briton cavalry charged in and out of the Romans the height advantage of being on horseback allowing them to fight much more effectively than the Romans stuck in the water the Legionaries were taking significant casualties and seeing this Caesar moved his shallower killed warships up the flanks so that his missile troops and ballista could fire into the Britons sides still the legions were wavering with some men not even being willing to get off their transports it was not until an eagle bear of the tenth Legion napped into the water and weighed it towards the Britons that's the legions rallied and rejoined the battle in earnest the fighting was fierce and contested with the Romans gathering to their nearest standards to try and maintain some form of cohesion while Caesar used rowing boats to vary men from the transports to areas where the Roman frontline looks to be in danger finally the Romans were able to push through the shallows onto the beach where their organization and heavy armor could come into play at which point the Britons broke off and retreated Caesar without any cavalry had no choice but to let them escape we don't know the numbers of dead on either side but being a contested landing it's likely that the Roman losses were greater following the battle the Romans established a camp on the beach and the Britons sent delegates to sue for peace probably to assess the Romans purpose in the area they were on home ground and could afford to waste to see what Caesars next move would be whereas Caesar with no supply line would be pressured to make the first move Caesar accepted the peace and the Briton sent a small number of hostages promising more later the cavalry that had been waylaid did try and cross once again to meet Caesar but were caught in a storm and forced to turn back this same storm damaged the ships that Caesar had anchored off the beach demoralizing the Romans who could no longer escape the island salvaging what materials he could from the most damaged ships Caesar began repairs he sent one Legion at a time to forage for food whilst the others defended the camp on the beach however whilst one of the legions was out foraging the camp watch reported seeing dust on the horizon moving their way this combined with the lack of the promised extra hostages was enough to alert Caesar to what was happening he gathered two cohorts and marched quickly to the legions location whilst foraging the légion had been ambushed scattered and focused on collecting food the Britons had been able to kill a substantial number of them in the initial attack the legion had managed to regain some level of discipline snatching up their weapons but they were surrounded by the British cavalry and chariots British charioteers were trained to throw missiles from their chariots and then dismount to fight on foot before hopping back on the chariot when the fighting got too hard in order to regroup this gave them the staying power of infantry and mobility of cavalry a tactic Caesar admired but was now taking a heavy toll on the surrounded legion upon Caesars arrival with his cohorts in formation the cavalry and chariots retreated the Britons had no desire to fight heavy infantry in formation in a pitched battle without their own infantry support and allowed the Legion to withdraw to camp with Caesar however bolstered by this success the Britons amassed their full force of infantry cavalry and chariots and marched on the camp Caesar drew out his legions to meet them so far he had been fighting in difficult circumstances in water in ambushes against a highly mobile enemy but this was an ideal situation for the Romans where their formations and discipline could truly make a difference the Britons charged but in these conditions the Romans had a significant advantage whilst the chariots and cavalry had proved highly effective against small groups of Roman infantry with the legions in a cohesive line they now had little effect the Britons quickly caught on to this fact and disengaged their chariots and cavalry leaving the battlefield the Roman infantry was now able to surge forward and catch a portion of the Britain infantry routing it completely the Britons were excellent at hit-and-run tactics and ambushes but in set-piece battles the Romans were far superior once again the britons sent a peace delegation and Caesar knowing that his options were limited and that he did not have enough resources to carry out a full campaign accepted and then hastily withdrew from the island during the night however on his way back to ball two ships were blown off-course in a storm 300 Romans were stranded and surrounded by a belgae tribe the Marini who Caesar had only recently subjugated and were key from spoils and revenge the Romans were assailed from all sides with missiles in hit-and-run attacks against their small group seized a caught wind of this and gathered as much cavalry as he could to personally lead them to the men's rescue managing to write down the goals and save the Romans with only minimal casualties Debee Ennis would later be sent into the Belgae territory to winter there and reinforce Roman rule in the area neither the invasion of Britain nor this foray into Belgae territory were significant military achievements however they show why Caesar was so loved by his men he was brave achieving things no Roman had ever done before he was calm under pressure and most importantly he would lead from the front and showed that he cared for his soldiers and was prepared to risk his life to save them the Britain campaign had not achieved much for the Romans but it did provide Caesar with crucial knowledge about the Britain's military the climate and the level of preparation that he would need to succeed lessons he would learn from for next year moreover the Roman public and Senate were amazed by his feat of crossing the channel into unknown territories and a full twenty days of Thanksgiving were declared to recognize his achievement after dealing with some administrative matters in 54 BC Caesar began planning a second campaign in Britain almost six hundred transports and 28 warships were built implementing vanetti shipbuilding techniques better suited to the rough seas Caesar called on his Gallic allies and vassals and amassed 4,000 cavalry including tribal leaders once again bolstering his army and minimizing the risk of revolts in Gaul he left half of his cavalry and three legions in Gaul and crossed with five legions and 2,000 cavalry more than double his previous numbers this was going to be a full invasion Caesar landed at the same place as before but this time he was unopposed he quickly established a camp in the area and sent out scouts who promptly brought back some local prisoners they informed Caesar that a large army had actually gathered to oppose the landing but had retreated upon seeing the size of Caesars force leaving a Legion at the camp he immediately set out in search of the bridge an army the Romans marched through the night and were able to catch up to the Britons in a hill fort on the other side of a river although the Romans were tired Caesar was determined to confront the Britons and began crossing the Britons cavalry and chariots rushed down from the high ground to harass the Romans as they crossed Caesars allied Gallic cavalry were experienced in fighting in such scenarios and proved their value chasing off the British who quickly retreated to the woods surrounding the fort as the legions began their advance up the hill they were harassed from the woods by the Britons preventing them from making significant progress until the twelfth Legion formdata stood oh and were able to make a rudimentary rampart in order to move over the walls the Romans were now inside the fortifications but the Britons were quick to escape the fort and retreated deeper into the woods considering the men had carried out a night march and battle and that he did not know the terrain and weather any more Britons would be waiting for him Caesar made camp for the night the next day word reached him that a storm in the night and again damaged his ships without the ships Caesar would be at the mercy of the Britons so he decided to prioritize overseeing their repairs he commanded his army to reassemble and march back to the beach upon arriving he discovered that forty ships were beyond repair but the rest were salvageable Caesar ordered that the ships be brought onto the beach and a large wall was constructed encompassing the camp and four ships he also sent word to labienus to build more ships in Gaul he then set off once again to find the Britons they were in the same Hill fort but it was a larger force than before under the command of casa vilanis a tribal leader beyond the Thames who was appointed the leader of a United coalition against the Romans Caesar had marched past this fort possibly not wanting to attack such a large and fortified enemy instead attacking exposed villages to try and draw passive Ilana's out at the same time his troops were constantly harassed by the Britons cavalry and chariots fighting skirmishes with the Roman cavalry on the flanks luring them into the forests before turning back to inflict significant casualties the Britons seemingly allowed the Roman advance party time to begin making a fort for the night however as construction began the Britons attacked again the Romans who were on guard were able to form a line to defend the site but the fighting was brutal with the Briton chariots darting in and out of the Roman formation Caesar was forced to send a further two cohorts from the vanguard to quickly reinforce this line the Romans were not used to the Britain style of fighting particularly chariot hit-and-run tactics drawing out the Roman infantry from formation who were too slow to catch them at one point the Britons were able to draw out a Manipal far enough to create a gap which they were able to exploit punching through the Roman line and inflicting many casualties it was not until the rest of the Roman army caught up that the Britons disengaged and retreated the cacif Ilana's was proving himself a conic enemy Caesar marched to the Thames towards casa villainous his own territories in an attempt to draw them out though he was able to find a position on the river where he could cross the legions were once again harassed by Britain's amassed on the other bank who quickly retreated once the Romans were on dry land kasa villainous then made the decision to dismiss the vast majority of his army except for four thousand chariots likely realising that fighting a pitched battle against the Roman heavy infantry would be futile a smaller force would serve him much better in a guerrilla war it would be easier to hide faster to move and need fewer supplies to maintain given the fact that he knew the terrain and Caesar did not this was a smart and calculated move however cacif Alanis is previous wars with other Britons had made him many enemies and his new guerrilla tactics were not popular with the trainer ban T's whose leader casa villainous had previously killed they sent envoys to Caesar surrendering and promising hostages the trainer ban T's were second in power only to Casa villainous himself and without their support numerous tribes followed suit surrendering to Caesar they also provided critical Intel to Caesar including the location of Casa vilanis's capital Caesar marched there another hill fort burning all villages and fields on the way and besieged it from both sides once again hoping to draw the Briton leader into a direct confrontation Casa valannus however did not take the bait although his guerrilla tactics were effective they were taking a toll on the Britons and the defenders within the capital quickly fled Casa felon has realized he needed to gain a victory not wanting to fight Caesar directly though he instead sent envoys to four allied Kings in Kent who launched an attack on the Roman camp on the beach in order to try and draw Caesar away from Casa villainesses land however the Roman fortifications were strong and the force Caesar had left on the beach was easily able to repel the attack Casa Phil honest was forced to sue for peace Caesar readily accepted in exchange for hostages and tribute winter was closing in and he had no desire to spend it in unknown hostile lands the Romans returned to the beach and sailed back to Gaul overall it is hard to see the invasion as an immense military victory Casa villainess had not been decisively defeated in battle nor captured and the Romans maintained no presence in Britain from the Briton standpoint it was a strategic victory having successfully pushed the Romans out of their lands still his campaigns in Britain had taken two years and without Caesars presence Gaul was beginning to Stern in 54 BC a Gallic tribe via Barone's under their leader ambiorix successfully revolted in Belgica ambushing and destroying the 7,000 to 9,000 strong Roman detachment that had been sent to winter in their territory at at a wet ago following this success Ambiorix began to besiege the Roman garrison in the Nervii territory and a general revolt in the area broke out in duty Oh Maris and the treviri also rising in rebellion and being supported by the Germanic tribes across the Rhine this was a dangerous position Caesar had spread his legions across Gaul in order to not put too much strain on the resources of one area and thus divided they were vulnerable targets however he reacted quickly marching directly to the besieged Legion in nervy territory while labienus fought off the in duty of Maris upon seeing Caesar approaching and the Oryx gave up the siege to face this new threat and was quickly defeated while almost simultaneously labienus was able to successfully repel his opponents Roman retribution for this revolt was Swift and devastating the a Barone's were effectively wiped out while Ambiorix according to some sources left call for Germania to help stabilize the situation Pompey mobilized two more legions and Caesar himself raised another he now had almost 50,000 men in Gaul under his command however this was only the prelude to something much bigger in 52 BC sees it returns to Italy in order to defuse another political problem and in the same year another large-scale revolt started an hour Bernie leader Vercingetorix who probably knew about the political problems in Rome had organized an alliance of powerful Gallic tribes that inspired by Ambiorix were now seeking independence and had begun attacking Roman outposts and Roman allies in court upon hearing this Caesar quickly returned to Gaul to handle the situation going on one of his famous forced marches he swiftly quelled the sono knees and Coyotes by taking their capitals his next target was one of the largest towns of the bitter Iggy's novia Dunham vercingetorix attempted to stop Caesars advance near the city but the Roman heavy infantry was too much for the Gauls and they were forced to retreat losing many which allowed Caesar to take the city to finish off the Vitara Keys he needed to take their capital avaricum at this point Vercingetorix started employing scorched-earth tactics and the battery Keys joined him by burning down 20 of their towns everyone but avaricum the Romans moved against this settlement and besieged it and although avaricum was very defensible and vercingetorix attempted to help its defenders it fell in less than a month Caesar slaughtered 40,000 locals and replenished his supplies it was clear for vercingetorix that he couldn't beat the Romans in the field meanwhile Caesar was eager to end the rebellion before it could spread to other Gallic tribes so he decided to strike the decisive blow by taking the capital of the arverni gergovia leaving some troops in the area Caesar marched with 25,000 towards this settlement while Vercingetorix shadowed him giga via was in a very solid defensive position located on top of a high plateau and Vercingetorix managed to overtake caesar and positioned his army on the hills in front of the city as he had done in previous battles Caesar hopes to cut his enemy's supply lines in order to force them out of their defensive position whilst he would be receiving supplies from the a Dewey his Gallic allies however the Gauls had occupied a hill overlooking the supply line from where they could ensure water and grain could be transported into the city taking it would therefore be crucial to caesar's plan in a quick night attack he was able to dislodge the Gallic garrison there and stationed two legions on the hill linking this position with the main Roman camp by a trench so far all was going according to plan Caesars allies would supply him from the rear and Vercingetorix would now be forced to either sacrifice his defensive position in order to re-establish his supply line or be starved out however vercingetorix had his own plans he bribed the a Dewey who then also joined the revolt attacking the Roman supplies and threatening to cut off season surround him once again Vercingetorix seemed to have studied Rome's tactics deeply as this strategy was one of Caesars own favorite strategies Caesar was forced to leave two legions to guard the Roman position at Segovia and took the other four to deal with the eight Dewey quickly subdue them and forcing them to send 10,000 cavalry back to the siege with him this revolt had Caesar worried that he might face even more revolts and could soon be encircled by the rebels he needed to extract his legions from gergovia and consolidate his troops however the situation at the city was not looking good the two legions left to guard the Roman camp had been hard pressed the entire time Caesar had been gone furthermore vercingetorix had divided his forces leaving half to defend and fortify the main Gallic camp in front of the city and half led by himself two fortified positions on the surrounding hills on the Gallic right flank with a six-foot wall now in front of the main Gallic camp and the Gallic fortifications on the hills vercingetorix had removed any opportunity for Caesar to encircle him and the city seeing the Gallic forces divided Caesar saw an opportunity to attack their main camp in order to deal a heavy enough blow to allow his army to retreat unmolested he sent a diversionary force of one Legion and some cavalry to the surrounding hills making a huge amount of noise in order to distract the force commanded by vercingetorix then he quickly and quietly moved his remaining legions up to the Gallic camp leaving a few cohorts in the smaller camp on the occupied Hill while the a dewy cavalry were sent to flank around the Gallic left by another route the Romans quickly clambered over the wall and fell upon the Gallic camp the Romans initially had significant success pushing the goals right up to the walls of the city but Caesar ordered a withdrawal before the rest of the Gallic force under vercingetorix could reinforce them however only one legion the tenth heard this order and retreated the others continuing to press on and assaulting the city itself some Romans managed to climb on top of the city walls but were quickly cut down and thrown back off missiles from the city walls fell into the Roman ranks as they fought around the base of the walls vercingetorix realizing what was happening from his position on the surrounding hills sent the rest of his force headed by his cavalry to reinforce the camp the Roman position was now truly desperate the initial Gallic force and the city walls were in front of them there was no way of cutting a way out by pushing forward and with first in gatoring crashing into their flank the Legionaries were under serious pressure and were almost surrounded the officers did their best to maintain Roman discipline and form a defensive formation according to Caesar himself 46th Centurions died in this struggle roughly a quarter of all the Centurions present and so maintaining any solid formation was almost impossible the ado II finally appeared on a hill to the Roman right flank but the Romans unable to tell if they were allied or not broke completely thinking that they were about to be fully surrounded Caesar was able to use the tenth Legion and the cohort that had been stationed in the small camp to cover the retreat and prevented the goals from chasing them down avoiding the total destruction of his army and withdrew from the field in his commentaries Caesar says that only 700 men were lost in this battle but this is likely vastly underplaying the situation caesar being forced to assemble a rearguard and retreating shows how disastrous the battle was and it is likely that the romans lost thousands modern estimates suggesting as many as 6,000 while Caesar was fighting a losing battle against vercingetorix antic ago via his best legged Titus labienus were sent to deal with rebellions in northern Gaul local goals emboldened by Vercingetorix and led by camilla genis were consolidating around modern Paris which was called Lutetia at that time and was the capital of the parousia labienus had left a Legion near Agra dinkum in order to have a supply line to Caesar and marched with four more legions towards Lutetia his troops took met lucidum along the way but their attempts to cross the river sen were blocked by camilla jenis labienus was forced to retreat back to met lucidum luckily for him his Scouts had found another crossing near mez lucidum he crossed there and moved against the Gauls however camel aganist used Vercingetorix is scorched-earth tactic burning Lutetia and retreating to the swamps beyond at the same time labienus learned about Caesars defeat at Koga via which provoked a big Gallic tribe called the lavake led by couriers to rebel so he knew that he had to retreat beyond the sin and unite with his legion in Agra dinkum labienus decision to divide his forces into three provoked camila Kenna's into attacking him to the south of Lutetia without waiting for the bell of a key and in the ensuing battle the Romans used the fact that they're divided forces were closer to each other each group supported the other and allegiance managed to defeat the goals with ease Camilla genna's was killed in the process which slowed down the consolidation of the anti-roman rebellion in northern Gaul Caeser aunt labienus both retreated towards agra dinkum where the united their forces meanwhile more and more goals were joining the rebellion and after the rest of the ado we joined it even the Roman province of New Bern NC was attacked by them Caesar and his 10 legions moved through the sequani and lincolnís territory to the east in order to gain a line of retreat to the Roman province of Gallia transalpina at the same time sees his own voice secured a group of germanic mercenaries who joined the roman cavalry Vercingetorix and his 80,000 tried to attack Caesar when the latter was trying to cross the even gyani River but the Romans were able to stop the attack with ease it is not clear why but this minor defeat either disheartened vercingetorix or showed him that he couldn't win against the Romans in an open battle so he probably tried to recreate the factors that led to the victory at gergovia when he retreated to the mando B capital of Alesia Caesar followed him to the settlement Alicia was a well-defended city on a hill and Vercingetorix sent messages to his nearby Allah is to come to his aid Vercingetorix was in a strong position he outnumbered Caesar commanding a force of up to 80,000 men and was surrounded by allies who would be able to quickly send men to reinforce him from his position it should be a simple rerun of gergovia he would wait on the high ground for his allies to arrive so they could either disrupt the Roman supply lines or attack them in the rear Caesar had learned his lesson though despite his smaller numbers he immediately began the work of fully surrounding and besieging Alesia something which vercingetorix had been able to prevent him doing at kogo via the Romans began constructing a sixteen kilometer war fully encircling the entire city complete with Palisades trenches and towers hoping to cut off any escape vercingetorix sent his cavalry out to try and disrupt these works but for the legions were able to form a defensive line to hold them while the German auxiliaries flanked around the side the Germans proved to be vital to the Roman cause and their superior horsemanship forced the Gallic cavalry to retreat back into the city killing many as they were funneled into the narrow gates realizing that he would soon be completely surrounded vercingetorix decided to send out what was left of his cavalry at night to sneak past the Roman line and head to the nearby tribes to request reinforcements as soon as possible upon completing the first war Caesar learned from some Gallic deserters that these messengers had been sent and so constructed a second wall this one almost 21 kilometers long and complete with two trenches and a moat facing outwards to protect against any Gallic reinforcements creating a donor's like structure with Alesia in the center he next sent out huge foraging parties to collect enough food to sustain his troops for the next 30 days in doing this Caesar had effectively robbed Vercingetorix of his advantages with the Romans thus defended and supplied it was the Gauls who now faced a well dug in enemy and it was now Vercingetorix whose time was running out with an army of 80,000 men inside the city plus the civilian population and no way of resupplying it was only a matter of time before he was starved out this was caesar's magnum opus faced with a desperate situation vercingetorix made the difficult decision to expel anyone who wasn't going to be fighting the old the sick women and children he had hoped that Caesar would allow these people through the Roman defenses and to safety but Caesar was not in a merciful mood he refused to let them pass and the civilians were left between the walls of Alesia and the Romans imploring both sides for food and water neither side relenting over the next few days many died of starvation and thirst the space between the armies becoming full of the dying and dead the Gallic allies finally arrived to try and relieve the siege under the command of Vercingetorix his cousin the Casa vilanis it is hard to say precisely how many there were Caesar claims that the number was as high as 250 thousand with modern estimates suggesting somewhere between 70 and a hundred thousand whatever the true number was all agree that the Romans were now significantly outnumbered at least two to one on the first day of their arrival they quickly filled in the first room and trench and sent across a combined force of light infantry and cavalry to probe the defenses whilst the rest of the army set up camp Caesar countered by sending out his own Germanic cavalry and a fierce skirmish ensued from their elevated position inside the city the besieged scorers saw that their allies had arrived and simultaneously began massing for a Sally against the inner fortifications however the Germans once again proved their skill at maneuvering and flanking their Gallic counterparts forcing them back across the trench and into the Gallic camp seeing his allies defeated vercingetorix decided to bide his time and held off his attack the reinforcements spent the next day constructing siege ladders and then at midnight launched another attack taking the Romans by surprise they found some initial success but Mark Antony in his first battle was commanding this section of the wall and proved himself to be a composed and skillful lieutenant pulling troops from other sections of the walls to reinforce his position again Vercingetorix began to sally out to try and help his allies but was delayed by having to fill the roman trench by the time he had crossed it Antony had successfully fought off the assault and vercingetorix again withdrew into the city following these two failed assaults Vikas Avalon has conducted more thorough reconnaissance of the room and position and discovered that a steep hill overlooked the roman wall in the northern section hoping to use this high ground to his advantage the next day the course used their overwhelming numbers to attack the entire length of the outside wall but concentrated a larger force under four Casa valannus on this portion at the same time vercingetorix against a lead out this time attacking the length of the interior Roman fortifications hitting were ever looked weakest this was the toughest the fighting had been so far Caesar as he had done at the Battle of sabes dashed from cohorts to cohort urging his men on leading reserve cohorts personally to points where the defense's looks like they were faltering Vica sevillanas began making headway piling earthworks up against the walls in order to mount them and using books and siege engines to tear down the Roman defenses Caesar committed every man he has left of his reserves pulling every man who could be spared and sending them into the action it was a desperate battle for the Romans between the two walls there would be no escape and if the line faltered the entire army would surely be wiped out the Roman line was holding the Gallic Army but it seemed like it wouldn't last for long but then Caesar appeared at the top of the hill leading the Germanic auxiliaries he crashed into the rear of the Gallic reinforcements surrounded now on all sides the Gauls who had pushed through the breach were decimated and the tide of battle changed seeing their largest contingent broken the morale of the rest of the Gallic reinforcements shattered as they quickly fled with this threat thus neutralized the Romans turned to deal with Vercingetorix who was attacking the interior wall and they were able to force him back into the city with the city still besieged and his reinforcements spent vercingetorix surrendered it is unknown how many Romans died but the casualties must have been fairly significant given the intensity of the fighting particularly at the point where the fortifications had been breached the Gallic relief force suffered heavy casualties the entirety of the besieged Army in Alesia was either killed or enslaved and both for kasev Ilana's and Vercingetorix were taken alive although most of the rebel leaders were either dead or captured the resistance against Rome was far from over as the Patera Keys Carney T's Belliveau key at Roberta's and a cavi and others were still in open rebellion in January of 51 BC Caesar moved against the battery G's this winter campaign surprised that the Cherokees who were probably unprepared for it and soon they sued for peace which allowed Caesar to return to his winter quarters however soon the Patera tees were attacked by the karna tees for yielding to the Romans once again Caesar marched swiftly and took his enemies by surprise forcing the Coyotes to submit the Romans made new winter quarters at scannable and stayed there until the spring leaving six legions in the area Caesar took four and moved against the bell of a Kiev chorus and the Acrobat ease of Kamiya's this campaign proves difficult as both tribes abandoned their lands and Forte guerilla war against the Romans fortunately for the legions coria's was killed in one of the ambushes which proved to be the final straw for the bell of a key they were convinced to seek peace while Kamiya's retreated to the east to continue his resistance to the south the antique Aviat act lemon 'm and were defeated by caesar's lieutenants the remainder of the Gallic forces in the area attempted to defend that oxalic Dunham but were defeated by Caesar soon after the last engagement of the Warsaw commie is defeated in the north and the rebellion was over Gaul was pacified and Caesar won over the remaining Gallic leaders with gifts and the promise of lower tribute he knew that the battle for Rome was about to start the civil war that would end the centuries-long Republic was just around the corner thus ends the first season of our series on Gaius Julius Caesar but he will be back for the second season so make sure you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 3,467,880

Rating: 4.8503985 out of 5

Keywords: roman empire, ancient rome, full documentary, history documentary, roman republic, julius caesar, ancient history, documentary history, history channel, documentary movies - topic, kings and generals, history lesson, animated documentary, decisive battles, documentary film, military history, animated historical documentary, gergovia, ambiorix, vercingetorix, alesia, caesar's first defeat, gallic wars, Cassivellaunus, crassus, carrhae, Indutiomarus, roman history, king and generals

Id: LRV185XaMIM

Length: 84min 12sec (5052 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 09 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Tiny_Pay]

Wow 1M . you deserve that and more. Keep up the good work