Seige of Alesia
Emma Bernatz and Alicia Chen
September 52 BCE
Julius Caesar commanded a troop of Roman solders to seige the hill-top fort of Alesia in Gaul.
Alesia
Alesia was the capital of Mandubii. It was a hill-top that was surrounded by river valleys.
Why It Started
One of Julius Caesar's goals was to expand the Roman territory, so that lead to him wanting to conquer Gaul. The main reason why he wanted to take over Gaul was due to perceived threats towards Italy coming from them. Caesar was able to travel all the way down toward the Middle Meuse and the Ocean, but the only problem they ran into was that the Gauls started to gain more power. They started to revolt and started a rebellion. These events took Caesar a whole year to help restore the order within the country. The Gauls tried to cut off Caesar's twelve legions, they destroyed their towns and took their supplies. Which made the Romans mad so they had to start to defend themselves.
Circumvallation
Caesar ordered the Roman troops to build a circular wall around the city, because he knew the only way he would defeat the Gallic people was to seige the city by starving them. On the inside of the wall there were ditches and large holes to prevent people from escaping. He also built watch towers which held roman artillery and allowed the Romans to look upon the city with more ease. The Romans fearing they would bring back reinforcements created a second circular wall around the first one.
Recreation of what the wall might have looked like.
Commander Julius Caesar.
A diagram of the wall surrounding Alesia.
The Battle
The Gauls were being lead by Vercingetorix, who was a young nobleman.He was able to pin down the Romans during the war. The Romans were running out of food. So the Romans had to create a better defense and protect themselves better. The Gallic's food became scarce and so they needed to get past the Romans or they would all die. Vercingetorix started to push to the west from Alesia, the other relief team would go behind the hills in the northwest. Caesar started to bring in backup with 39 new cohorts. Which lead to the Gallic's attack failing and they became part of the Roman world.
Surrender
September 52, the Gallic leaders decided it was time for them to surrender. Caesar made them hand over all their weapons. Soon the leaders handed over Vercingetorix, which lead to all the Gallic's feeling like they needed to leave their leader.
Citation
"Alesia (52 BCE)." - Livius. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
"Caesar on the Siege of Alesia." - Livius. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
"Gallic Wars: Battle of Alesia." About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
"Siege of Alesia." Siege of Alesia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
"Battle of Alesia." Battle of Alesia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
"Julius Caesar & the Battle of Alesia | Study.com." Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.