 Julius Caesar's greatest military achievement was the brutal conquest of Gaul between 58 and 50 BC, a territory which included lost parts of present day France, Belgium, Switzerland and parts of western Germany among stillers. To some, Caesar's conquest of Gaul was a holocaust, with sources from the time estimating that one million Celts were slaughtered. If this is true, around a third of the Gaulic population was slaughtered, with another third, around another one million Celts potentially sold into slavery. Caesar symbolised his blood shed with his blood red cloak. Many scholars today believe that this body count is a bit of an exaggeration, although the exact number is unknown. Regardless of the body count, the conquest of Gaul gave Caesar the military prowess and the political capital to become dictator of Rome shortly after the Gaulic Wars ended. If Caesar hadn't prevailed in the conquest of Gaul, Caesar himself may have just been a minor footnote in the history books, as so much that happened in Caesar's later life, both good and bad, stems from this conquest. Another motivation for Caesar's conquest of Gaul was to find loot to pay off his debts. Prior to the conquest, Caesar was vastly in debt and he needed to find ways to pay off his debts, and Gaul served as purpose and made Caesar incredibly wealthy. One way Caesar obtained wealth from the Gaulic campaign was selling slaves, and the Gauls provided an ample supply of slaves to sell. During a campaign in 57 BC against Celtic tribes in the Belgique territory, Caesar reportedly sold an astonishing 53,000 prisoners from their campaign into slavery after defeating these tribes in battle, and this is just one example. The exact numbers of the amount of Celts that were sold into slavery by Caesar is unknown, but the true number would be shocking. Estimates from the time from the likes of Plotarch put the number of Celts sold into slavery at over one million, although this may not be completely accurate. One of the fascinating aspects of Caesar's conquest of Gaul is he wrote about large parts of it in his commentaries that he can buy as a book today. This was written as propaganda for the Roman public, and it had written in the third person, with Caesar referring to Caesar throughout the book, which is a little odd at first. It is quite astonishing though that we have a written document from one of the most famous figures in history for his most famous and successful military campaign. Incidentally, I'll put links in the description below to Amazon, so if you do want to buy the book, I'd explore what Julius Caesar said in his own words. Like I say, it is propaganda, but fascinating all the same. I'll put links in the description below. If you use my Amazon links, you'll help support this channel, so like I say, all links will be in the description below. If you're interested, I'll also put some links to the equipment I use, such as camera lenses etc, so again, everything in the description below. In Caesar's commentaries, it goes through numerous aspects in relation to Gaul, the organisation of Gaul and the Celtic tribes in general, and obviously numerous episodes of battles and famous instances. From Caesar's perspective, Gaul was split into three territories, inhabited by the Belgi, the Aquitanni, and a people who called themselves Celts, although the Romans called them Gauls. According to Caesar, all of these areas had different customs, laws and languages, and numerous smaller tribes lived within these broader areas, which makes things quite confusing. During the Gaulic Wars, Caesar also tried to conquer Britain on a few occasions, although he made limited progress at best. Although he did seem to build some relationships with some tribes in Britain. At times as well, Caesar moved into Germania, and there was a tension between some of the Gaulic tribes and Germanic tribes in general, and the links in general can be a bit blurry between Gaulic and Germanic tribes, with their crossover migration and invasions, but Caesar did move deeper into Germanian territory at certain points during the conquest. In 59 BC, Caesar was given command of a few Roman provinces to the north, including Cis Alpingaul, a part of Italy that was inhabited by Celts, and Trans Alpingaul, an area to the west. The Gaulic Wars began with conflict against the Helvetii, which Caesar writes about in Book 1, which he gives the Hollywood title, The Expulsion of Intruders. Caesar himself always framed the conflict as Rome defending itself against the Northern Barbarians, and although Gaulic tribes had attacked Rome on different occasions, Caesar's conquest of Gaul was purely for his own ends, to pay off his debts and to increase his political capital back in Rome. That is one reason why he wrote the commentaries as political propaganda for a Roman audience. The Gaulic Wars began when the Helvetii tribe, a tribal confederation that originally occupied an area around the Swiss Plateau, migrated south into Trans Alpingaul, where Caesar was governor. Caesar initially entertained these tribes, but ultimately turned them away. As it turns out, Caesar's initial entertainment, potentially allowing them to settle or at least come through Roman lands, was a ploy to buy more time, as Caesar at the same time was raising legions back in Italy. Shortly after, when Helvetii were moving further north once again after being turned back by Caesar, Caesar marched his army north to catch up with the Helvetii and slaughtered or mass the Helvetii tribe, an unprovoked attack with little to no justification. This would set the tone for an entire campaign that would last around eight years, and Caesar went on to conquer large parts of western Europe. One of the major problems that the Gaulic tribes had against the Roman army is that the Gaulic Celtic tribes were divided small tribes that never unified until it was too late, under versing Ghetarics late into the conflict. Gaul at that point seemed to be a loose organization of various tribes and various sects, and they were resistant to combine, meaning that the Romans managed to pick off each tribe individually, allowing them to pursue conquest much easier. The final major conflict in the Gaulic wars was at the Battle of Elysia in 52 BC, after versing Ghetarics had managed to unify numerous Celtic tribes into one and had some success. He was held up however at Elysia along with his forces. Caesar in pursuit had surrendered the area and then ordered his Roman legions, who were part-time soldiers and part-time engineers, to build a wall around Elysia, hemming in versing Ghetarics and his forces. When Caesar and the Romans got word that versing Ghetarics' cousin was marching with a massive Gaulic relief force to Elysia, Caesar remarkably took the next step of building another wall around the Roman position. When some Romans were ordered to gather further provisions, others were building this massive wall around the Roman position, a defence against the Gaulic relief force that was on its way. After various exchanges with the Romans held their ground, versing Ghetarics was ultimately given to Caesar by the Gaulic leaders after a discussion the previous evening. When defeat was a certainty for the Gauls and versing Ghetarics was taken to Rome in chains. During Caesar's triumph, a celebration of the conquest, versing Ghetarics was praded through the streets of Rome and then executed. The battle of Elysia was the final major conflict in the Gaulic wars and over the next few years any minor rebellions were put down by Roman legions. Gaul was conquered but it did not become an official Roman province until 27 BC. Another interesting source that is well worth listening to is Dan Carlin's Hardcore History episode on the Celtic Holocaust, a nearly six-hour podcast where he goes through Caesar's conquest of Gaul. It's highly worth listening to, although it may take you about seven months to get through. Although Rome made many advances in leaps when it came to sanitation and various other elements, we cannot forget the Roman military power was brutally enforced on target populations and for those who did not want to accept Roman power, they often met the wrath of the Roman eagle. Caesar, a historical figure that I'm personally fascinated with, would go on to become dictator of Rome shortly after and the rest they say is history. Thanks for watching. If you would like to support this work through Patreon, Paypal, buymeacoffee.com or by using the Amazon links, please find them all in the description below. Please subscribe, hit the bell and like this video. Please also tell your friends and family about this channel. Thanks again for watching and I'll speak to you next time.