Battles and Sieges
of the Gallic War
(58-51 B.C)
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This battle completed Caesar's conquest of Gaul during the Gallic War of 58-51 BC. Caesar surrounded the Gaulish hill fort on Mont Auxois near modern day Djion in France with 11 miles of his own fortifications and an outer ring of defense works 14 miles long, aiding both his attack on the Gaul stronghold and protecting his forces from any Gaul relief force. The Gaul leader Vercingetorix managed to get cavalry out to ask for help from the other tribes but when this relief force was defeated by the Romans, and repeated attempts to break out had failed he was forced to surrender when the food supplies ran out. Numbers are far from exact but the Romans were supposed to have had 70,000 men under Julius Caesar, facing 80,000 men within the fortress and a relief army of 250,000.
The Complete Roman Army, Adrian Goldsworthy. A very good history of the Roman army from the early Republic to the end of the Empire.
The Gallic War , Julius Caesar. One of the great works of western civilisation. Caesar was an almost unique example of a great general who was also a great writer. The Gallic War is a first hand account of Caesar's conquest of Gaul, written at the time to explain and justify his actions.
