Vercingetorix (82-46 BC) was a Gallic tribal chief who was King of the Arverni and the leader of a Gallic revolt against Roman forces during the last phases of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Vercingetorix was a skilled commander who inflicted a rare defeat on Caesar at the Battle of Gergovia, only to himself be defeated and forced to surrender at the Siege of Alesia in 52 BC. He was strangled to death after Caesar celebrated his triumph in Rome in 46 BC.
Biography[]
Vercingetorix as a villager
Vercingetorix was born in Gergovia in 82 BC, the son of Celtillos. The Arverni, a powerful tribe in what is now France's Auvergne region, initially ooperated with Roman general Julius Caesar in his various campaigns in Gaul. Vercingetorix, a junior member of the Arverni elite, may have fought as an ally of the Romans against Germanic warriors in 58 BC. But over succeeding years Vercingetorix came to be alienated by the massacres and enslavement imposed by Caesar on the tribes of Gaul. His strident agitation for resistance to Rome brought him into conflict with the cautious Arverni tribal leaders, who expelled him from their key town, Gergovia, to avoid angering the Romans. Vercingetorix amassed a band of followers, returned to Gergovia, and seized control.
Vercingetorix at Alesia
During the winter of 53-52 BC, Vercingetorix's call for rebellion was heeded by most tribes across central and western Gaul, and by a mixture of force and persuasion he wont he command of an intertribal rebel army. Vercingetorix called for guerrilla warfare, denying the Romans supplies by harassing foragers and destroying crops and food stores. Although this strategy was broadly accepted, the Gauls felt they could not leave their key towns. Against his advice, Avaricum, the main city of the Bituriges, was defended; the Romans captured it after a siege and massacred its inhabitants. Vercingetorix himself felt bound to stand and fight when the Romans threatened Gergovia, and here Caesar suffered a rare defeat. Vercingetorix showed unusual control over his forces, preventing them from pursuing the fleeing legionaries and exposing themselves to a counterattack.
After this success, Vercingetorix made a serious error of judgment. Thinking Caesar was leaving, he led his army out to harass the Romans. Caesar then threatened Vercingetorix, who was forced to take up a defensive position on another hilltop, at Alesia. Defeated after an epic siege, Vercingetorix surrendered. He was held prisoner in Rome and exhibited in chains in Caesar's triumph of 46 BC, after which he was strangled.
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