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Vercingetorix | |
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King of the Arverni | |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 80 BC[2] Unknown |
Died | 46 BC (aged 36–37) Rome, Italy, Roman Republic |
Cause of death | Execution by strangling |
Vercingetorix (Latin: [wɛrkɪŋˈɡɛtɔriːks]; Greek: Οὐερκιγγετόριξ [u.erkiŋɡeˈtoriks]; c. 80 – 46 BC) was a Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. After surrendering to Caesar and spending almost six years in prison, he was executed in Rome.
Vercingetorix was the son of Celtillus the Arvernian, leader of the Gallic tribes. Vercingetorix came to power after his formal designation as chieftain of the Arverni at the oppidum Gergovia in 52 BC. He immediately established an alliance with other Gallic tribes, took command, combined all forces and led them in the Celts' most significant revolt against Roman power. He won the Battle of Gergovia against Julius Caesar in which several thousand Romans and their allies were killed and the Roman legions withdrew.
Caesar had been able to exploit Gaulish internal divisions to easily subjugate the country, since Vercingetorix's attempt to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion came too late.[3][4] At the Battle of Alesia, also in 52 BC, the Romans besieged and defeated his forces. To spare as many of his men as possible, he gave himself to the Romans. He was held prisoner for five years. In 46 BC, as part of Caesar's triumph, he was paraded through the streets of Rome and then executed by garroting. Vercingetorix is primarily known through Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War). He is considered a folk hero in France, and especially in Auvergne, his native region.
Because of chronic internal rivalries, Gallic resistance was easily broken, though Vercingetorix's Great Rebellion of 52 BC had notable successes.
Indeed, the Gallic cavalry was probably superior to the Roman, horseman for horseman. Rome's military superiority lay in its mastery of strategy, tactics, discipline, and military engineering. In Gaul, Rome also had the advantage of being able to deal separately with dozens of relatively small, independent, and uncooperative states. Caesar conquered these piecemeal, and the concerted attempt made by a number of them in 52 BC to shake off the Roman yoke came too late.