Battle of Alesia (September, 52 BC)

Scene from the movie Vercingétorix (2001)

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.

It 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, and was the last major engagement between Gauls and Romans, marking 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.

It was situated probably atop Mont Auxois, above modern Alise-Sainte-Reine in France, but this location—some have argued—does not fit Caesar's description of the battle.

A number of alternatives have been proposed over time, among which only Chaux-des-Crotenay (in Jura in modern France) remains a challenger today.

At one point in the battle the Romans were outnumbered by the Gauls by five to one.

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 which start in 49 and finished in 45 BC.

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[TalonMercenary]

the Julius Caesar portrayed in the Rome tv series is the best, not this guy

[DestroyerOfSense000]

0:37 .... One of the "soldiers" is wearing jeans O.o... what kind of abomination is this?

[PureBl00d101]

there can be only one...............

[ColdRicki]

fuck sake gauls and barbarians going around topless, they had clothes idiots, a good number also had the best swords and sheilds and chainmail, better steel than the romans (smith swords)

[connorleclerc]

"Do not be afriad, Brutis..."

Brutis's thoughts: "Dude, these friggin Gaul are all over the place, brah... I'm poopin the pants dude."

[seans10]

I found the portrayal of Vercingetorix in this particular scene quite poignant.

[seans10]

@webmasterforumviet Eat shit, gook!

[poussecafe3]

They all look a bit asleep one Gaul looked like he a wristwatch. it was only a quick glimpse

[DestroyerOfSense000]

The "Gauls" here have horned helmets. That particularly annoys me, because even Vikings didn't wear those helmets. There is no justification for that. Also, they portray the Gauls as nobly charging to their deaths with swords and horses. That is an obvious appeal to the still somewhat prevalent medieval idea of honor, in which cavalry charges were seen as the most honorable form of warfare. Although the Gauls did have great cavalry in their later years, the vast majority were infantry.

[DestroyerOfSense000]

Caesar had no justifiable reason to conquer them, and in fact the Roman Senate was opposed to Caesar's conquest, as he conquered allies and enemies alike. While Vercingetorix was a freedom fighter, he wasn't going to found a Garden of Eden in Gaul or anything like that. They would still raid and fight as they wanted. Gaul was far from unified at the time, and some tribes allied with the Romans. Also, the way Alesia is portrayed is very inaccurate. *continued*

[DestroyerOfSense000]

I hate everything about this movie. From a military perspective the Gauls never won a great victory against Julius Caesar, and if the Roman rout portrayed in this movie at Gergovia really happened Caesar would have taken a break from campaigning. This movie is very low quality, as I have pointed out in my comment about the "warrior with jeans". And the Gauls were far from noble savages. They were raiders who took what they wanted if they could get it. *continued*

[DestroyerOfSense000]

@sharomanet Yeah I'm pretty sure that's the funniest mistake I've seen in any movie...