THE GALLIC WARS
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes, lasting from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul. In 58 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar ended his consulship in Rome, and was heavily indebted. However, being a member of the First Triumvirate, he had secured for himself the governorship of three provinces, Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul and Illyricum. Under his direct command Caesar had initially four veteran legions: Legio VII, Legio VIII, Legio IX Hispana, and Legio X. Caesar also had the legal authority to levy additional legions and auxiliary units as he saw fit.
His ambition was clearly to conquer and to plunder some territories but it is likely that Gaul was not his initial target. It is very likely that he was planning a campaign against the kingdom of Dacia.
The numerous Gaulish tribes, already influenced by the Roman culture, were totally divided at this time. Some of them, e.g. the Aedui, had allied with Rome. In 109 BC, only fifty years before, Italy had been invaded, and saved only after several bloody and costly battles by Gaius Marius.
Battle of Bibracte
The Helvetii were forced to abandon their homelands in modern day Switzerland due to the expansion of the Suebi, a Germanic tribe lead by Ariovistus. He was invited across the Rhine by the Sequani, and won a major battle against the Aedui at Admagetobriga in 61 B.C.. Eventually, Ariovistus an his 120,000 men were defeated by Caesar at the battle of Vesontio, after which they fled across the Rhine. The Helvetii planned to settle in Gaul and wanted to cross the Roman province Gallia Narbonensis in order to reach it. Caesar, hoping to incite a conflict, denied their request and build a wall between the Jura Mountains and Lake Geneva. Subsequently, the Helvetii averted aggravating Caesar and avoided Roman territory. Nonetheless, Caesar levied two additional legions and pursued them, eventually leading to the Battle of Bibracte.
The battle was fought between the Helvetii and six roman legions including auxiliaries, June 58 BC. The Helvetii and their allies (Boii, Tulingi and Rauraci) were lead by Divico who commanded approximately 90,000 warriors. Caeser and his six legions (VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII) numbered around 30,000. On June 20th, the Helvetii turned and attacked Caesar who formed his legions in a defensive position near Montmort, 22km south of Bibracte. Caesar formed his veteran legions (VII, VIII, IX, X) in t
hree rows in order to repel the oncoming attack. Legions XI and XII, as well as the auxiliaries, acted as reserve. First the roman cavalry attacked, but was driven back since the Helvetii had formed a shield wall and now advanced towards the roman lines. Once they closed in at about 10 to 15 yards, the legionaries threw their pila, breaking the enemy shield wall and driving the Helvetii back about 1.5km. Finally the Boii and Tulingi reached the battlefield and flanked the roman army with some 15,000 men. Seeing this, the Helvetii counterattacked the roman main line from which Caesar had to remove the 3rd row in order to form a new defensive position against the Boii and Tulingi. Eventually the Helvetii and their allies broke and had to retreat.
Siege of Avaricum
The year is 52 BC. Caesar had already won many great victories over the Gauls. Now he set his eyes on Avaricum, the biggest and best fortified town of the Biturges. Vercingetorix, son of Celtillus, who started the Great Gallic Revolt, was confident he could protect the town from the romans. Avaricum was easy to defend as it was protected by a river and a sizeable marsh, allowing only a narrow approach towards the town. Caesar ordered the construction of siege towers and ramps.
Vercingetorix, who had 50,000 warriors in his camp outside of the town, continuously harassed the romans and tried to sabotage work on their siege equipment. The Romans eventually ran low on supplies due to vercingetorix's raids and also because allied tribes, e.g. the Aeudi, were reluctant to supply them. The Gauls had become much more skilled at defending their towns against Roman siege engines, and many of the inhabitants of Avaricum were experienced iron miners, which gave them the skills needed to counter the Roman mound. When the Romans tried to use grappling hooks to pull stones off the walls the Gauls trapped them and used their own machines to drag the grappling hooks inside the city. When the Romans attempted to dig tunnels under the walls the Gallic miners dug their own countermines.
On the next day, under the cover of a storm, the Romans successfully reached the top of the town walls. The fall of the Avaricum was followed by a massacre of the inhabitants, woman and children included. Caesar described this as having been caused by a combination of anger at the massacre of the Romans at Cenabum and frustration after the long difficult siege, but his brief description gives no indication of his attitude to this massacre. Merely 800 Gauls survived the slaughter. The siege lasted for twenty seven days.
The fall of Avaricum didn't have the effect Caesar had hoped. Vercingetorix managed to restore the morale of his army with a rousing speech, and he was soon able to replace the troops lost during the siege. More importantly the Aedui finally abandoned their long attachment to the Roman cause and joined the revolt. Caesar lost one of his best sources of cavalry, and faced an ever more powerful coalition of Gallic tribes. His next move, an attack on Gergovia, ended with his only major defeat at the hands of the Gauls, but Vercingetorix then attempted to defend Alesia, a move that gave Caesar a chance to defeat the Gallic army in a single location.
Battle of Gergovia
The fall of Avaricum came at the end of the winter of 53-52 B.C. and the improving weather convinced Caesar that he could risk a wider campaign. He split his army of ten legions in half. Four, under his most able lieutenant Labienus, were sent north into the lands of the Senones and Parisii, who at that point were the most northerly tribes to have rebelled. Caesar himself led the remaining six legions south to attack Gergovia, in the lands of the Arverni, Vercingetorix's own tribe.
Gergovia itself was built in a strong position on a steep hill. On his arrival Caesar realised that he wouldn't be able to storm the city, and decided to prepare for a regular siege. Initially all six legions camped together, but after a few days Caesar decided to capture a small hill that he hoped would limit the defender's access to fresh water. Two legions were posted in a small camp on this hill, with the remaining four legions in the main camp on the plains. He ordered a double trench, 12 feet wide, to be constructed between a captured hill and his main camp. Intending to completely encircle Gergovia and starve the Gauls inside, Caesar was interrupted by betrayal from his Gallic allies the Aedui, led by Litaviccus whom he fought and defeated after a desperate struggle.
Caesar then went back to Gergovia and realised that his siege would fail. His only chance now of victory was to get Vercingetorix off the high ground. He used a legion as a decoy and moved onto better ground, capturing three Gallic camps in the process. He then ordered a general retreat to fool Vercingetorix and pull him off the high ground. However, the retreat was not heard by most of Caesar's force. Instead, spurred on by the ease with which they captured the camps, they pressed on toward the town and mounted a direct assault on it. The noise of the assault drew Vercingetorix back into the town. 46 centurions and 700 legionaries died in the resulting engagement, and over 6,000 were wounded on the Roman side, compared to the several hundred Gauls killed and wounded. In the wake of the battle, Caesar lifted his siege and advanced instead into Aedui territory.
Battle of Alesia
Alesia was a hill-top fort surrounded by river valleys, with strong defensive features. As a frontal assault would have been suicidal, Caesar decided upon a siege, hoping to force surrender by starvation. Considering that about 80,000 men were garrisoned in Alesia, together with the local civilian population, this would not take long. To guarantee a perfect blockade, Caesar ordered the construction of an encircling set of fortifications, called a circumvallation, around Alesia. The details of this engineering work are known from Caesar's
Commentaries and archaeological excavations on the site. About 18 kilometres of 4 metre high fortifications were constructed in a record time of about three weeks. This line was followed inwards by two, four and a half metres wide ditches, about one and a half metres deep. The one nearest to the fortification was filled with water from the surrounding rivers. These fortifications were supplemented with mantraps and deep holes in front of the ditches, and regularly spaced watch towers equipped with Roman artillery.
Vercingetorix's cavalry often raided the construction works attempting to prevent full enclosure. The Germanic auxiliary cavalry proved once more its value and kept the raiders at bay. After about two weeks of work, a detachment of Gallic cavalry managed to escape through an unfinished section. Anticipating that a relief force would now be sent, Caesar ordered the construction of a second line of fortifications, the contravallation, facing outward and encircling his army between it and the first set of walls. The second line was identical to the first in design and extended for 21 kilometres, including four cavalry camps. This set of fortifications would protect the Roman army when the relief Gallic forces arrived. At this time, the living conditions in Alesia were becoming increasingly worse. With 80,000 soldiers and the local population, too many people were crowded inside the plateau competing for too little food. The Mandubii decided to expel the women and children from the citadel, hoping to save food for the fighters and hoping that Caesar would open a breach to let them go. This would also be an opportunity for breaching the Roman lines. But Caesar issued orders that nothing should be done for these civilians and the women and children were left to starve in the no man's land between the city walls and the circumvallation. The cruel fate of their kin added to the general loss of morale inside the walls. Vercingetorix was fighting to keep spirits high, but faced the threat of surrender by some of his men. However, the relief force arrived in this desperate hour, strengthening the resolve of the besieged to resist and fight another day.
At the end of September the Gauls, commanded by Commius, attacked Caesar's contravallation wall. Vercingetorix ordered a simultaneous attack from the inside. None of the attempts were successful and by sunset the fighting had ended. On the next day, the Gallic attack was under the cover of night. This time they met more success and Caesar was forced to abandon some sections of his fortification lines. Only the swift response of the cavalry commanded by Antony and Gaius Trebonius saved the situation. The inner wall was also attacked, but the presence of trenches, which Vercingetorix's men had to fill, delayed them enough to prevent surprise. By this time, the condition of the Roman army was also poor. Themselves besieged, food had started to be rationed and men were near physical exhaustion.
On the next day, October 2, Vercassivellaunus, a cousin of Vercengetorix, launched a massive attack with 60,000 men, focussing on a weakness in the Roman fortifications. which Caesar had tried to hide, but had been discovered by the Gauls. The area in question was a zone with natural obstructions where a continuous wall could not be constructed. The attack was made in combination with Vercingetorix's forces who pressed from every angle of the inner fortification. Caesar trusted the discipline and courage of his men and sent out orders to simply hold the lines. He personally rode throughout the perimeter cheering his legionaries. Labienus' cavalry was sent to support the defense of the area where the fortification breach was located. With pressure increasing, Caesar was forced to counter-attack the inner offensive and managed to push back Vercingetorix's men. By this time the section held by Labienus was on the verge of collapse. Caesar decided on a desperate measure and took 13 cavalry cohorts (about 6,000 men) to attack the relief army of 60,000 from the rear. This action surprised both attackers and defenders. Seeing their leader undergoing such risk, Labienus' men redoubled their efforts and the Gauls soon panicked and tried to retreat. As in other examples of ancient warfare, the disarrayed retreating army was easy prey for the disciplined Roman pursuit. The retreating Gauls were slaughtered, and Caesar in his
Commentaries remarks that only the pure exhaustion of his men saved the Gauls from complete annihilation.
In Alesia, Vercingetorix witnessed the defeat of his relief force. Facing both starvation and low morale, he was forced to surrender without a final fight. On the next day, the Gallic leader proudly presented his arms to Julius Caesar, putting an end to the siege of Alesia.
sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.historyofwar.org/index.html 
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