THE BATTLE OF ALESIA
______Caeser conquered Gaul... twice! This was because of a revolt in 52 B.C. amongst the people who lived in what it is now France. Not being satisfied with being conquered once by Julius Caeser they elected to fight round two against the Roman Empire.
______The newly-elected leader of the Gauls was a chieftan named Vercingetorix. He motivated the disparate Gaulish tribes to gather together and fight the Romans on the field. Unfortunately for them, the Romans won and Vercingetorix retreated to a fortress named Alesia.
______This would normally have been a brilliant strategy. Alesia was unassailable by the standards of the time. Vercingetorix was confident that he could withstand Roman assaults until outside help came along or until the Romans lost interest.
______They did not count on Caeser's tactical skill. He had his legions construct a ring of fortifications around Alesia, cutting the Gauls off from any additional food supplies. When efforts to break up the fortifications failed Veringetorix sent out horsemen to break out and gather a second levy of Gauls to attack the Romans from behind.
______Learning of this plam, Caeser had his soldiers build a second ring of fortifications facing OUTWARD. When the new Gaulish Army (supposedly 250,000 men strong) arrived the Romans were occupying an unassailable ring around Alesia. The Gauls in the fort could not get out and the Gauls on the plain could not get in. The battle ended with the defeat of the Gauls and the Romans victorious.
______But WHERE, exactly did this battle take place?.
______Several sites have been put forward as the location of Alesia, but none of them match exactly the description given by Caeser in his De Bello Gallico. The geographic description of the scene of the battle is very specific and, after all, Julius Caeser was a general and was there so it is assumed he would know what he was talking about.
______Napoleon III popularized the idea that the battle took place at a town called Alise-Sainte-Reine, but he did this on spurious evidence and for political reasons. However, the hilltop upon which the fortress was supposed to be placed was too small for the number of Gauls who would have been besieged there and two nearby streams do not correspond to the locations described by Caeser.
______One historian took the physical description of Alesia and match it to map details of France. He came up with a location called Syam-Cornu which fit the description, but it shows no archeological evidence of there ever having been a siege or battle there. So, the search continues. Maybe Caeser was mistaken or took literary license with his memoirs...
WHO WAS A PETARDIER?
