Monday, March 30, 2009

51 BC – Mopping Up

The siege of Limonum, early 51 B.C., was an unsuccessful attempt by the Andes, one of the last rebellious tribes in Gaul, to capture the chief town of the Pictones tribe.

The battle on the Loire of early 51 B.C. was a Roman victory that effectively ended the Great Gallic revolt on the west coast of Gaul.

The siege of Uxellodunum (spring 51 B.C.) was the last attempt by the Gauls to defend a fortified town against a Roman attack during Caesar's Gallic War.

The defeat of Comius the Atrebatian, late in 51 B.C., was a minor cavalry skirmish noteworthy only for being the last recorded battle of Caesar's Gallic War.

52 BC – The Great Gallic Revolt

The siege of Gorgobina (early 52 B.C.) saw Vercingetorix make an unsuccessful attack on a town that was under the protection of Julius Caesar. The Gauls were forced to lift the siege when Caesar approached from the north with his main army and besieged Novidunum, but the attack had forced the Romans to leave their winter quarters much earlier than they would have liked.

The siege of Vellaunodunum (early 52 B.C.) was the first of three Roman attacks on Gallic towns that forced Vercingetorix to abandon his siege of Gorgobina early in the Great Gallic Revolt of 52 B.C.

The siege of Cenabum (early 52 B.C.) was the second of three Roman attacks on Gallic towns that forced Vercingetorix to abandon his siege of Gorgobina, and that saw the Romans capture the town where the great Gallic revolt had begun.

The siege of Noviodunum (probably March 52 B.C.) was the third of three Roman attacks on Gallic towns that forced Vercingetorix to abandon his siege of Gorgobina. It also saw the first direct clash between the main armies of Caesar and Vercingetorix, a minor cavalry action fought outside the town

The battle of Lutetia (May 52 B.C.) was a victory won by Labienus, Caesar's most able lieutenant during the Gallic Wars, over the Senones and Parisii on the left bank of the Seine close to the centre of modern Paris.

The siege of Avaricum (c.March-April 52 B.C.) was the first major clash between Julius Caesar and Vercingetorix during the Great Gallic Revolt, and ended with a Roman victory and the sack of the town.

The unsuccessful siege of Gergovia (May 52 B.C.) was the only major setback suffered by an army led in person by Julius Caesar during the entire Gallic Wars.

The battle of the Vingeanne (July 52 B.C.) was a cavalry battle that saw the Romans and their German auxiliaries defeat a Gallic attack on their column, a defeat that may have been the main reason that Vercingetorix chose to defend the nearby town of Alesia.

Vercingetorix, Cativolcus and Ambiorix

Vercingetorix was the best known, and perhaps the most able, leader of the Gallic opposition to Caesar during the Gallic War of 58-51 B.C.

Cativolcus (d.53 B.C.) was one of two kings of the Eburones tribe during the Gallic War.

Ambiorix (fl.54-53 B.C.) was one of the more successful leaders of the resistance to Caesar during the Gallic Wars, winning one of the few clear cut Gallic victories of the war when he destroyed a Roman legion at Aduataca.

The Gallic War, 58-52 BC

The Gallic War (58-51 B.C.) was the conflict in which Julius Caesar first emerged as a great military leader, after an earlier career as an impoverished populist politician. A conflict that began with an attempt to preserve stability on the borders of the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul soon turned into a war of conquest which only ended after Caesar had put down three major Gallic revolts.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Gallic War, 58 B.C.

The battle of the Arar (June 58 BC) was the first significant victory won by Julius Caesar, and marked the unusually late start of his military career

The battle of Vesontio (September 58 B.C.) was the second major victory of Julius Caesar's military career and saw him defeat a large army of Germans led by Ariovistus, a Suebian chief who had crossed the Rhine some years earlier to intervene in a war between Rome's ally's the Aedui and the Sequani.

The battle of Bibracte (June/July 58 B.C.) was the second and decisive battle in Julius Caesar's first military campaign, and saw him force the Helvetii tribe to abandon their planned migration from Switzerland to the west coast of France

Gallic War: The conquest of the Belgae, 57 B.C.

The battle of the Aisne (57 B.C.) was Julius Caesar's first victory in his campaign against the Belgic tribes of modern Belgium.

The battle of the Sambre (July 57 B.C.) was the most important battle of Caesar's campaign against the Belgae in 57 B.C. and saw his army recover after being ambushed to inflict a crushing defeat on three Belgic tribes led by the Nervii.

The siege of the Atuatuci (September 57 B.C.) was the final major victory during Julius Caesar's conquest of the Belgae.

The battle of Octodurus (winter 57/56 B.C.) was a battle in the upper Rhone valley described by Julius Caesar as a Roman victory, but that effectively ended an attempt to open the Great St. Bernard Pass.

Gallic War: The First Revolt, 56 B.C.

The battle of the Morbihan Gulf (June 56 B.C.) was the first naval battle in recorded history to definitely took place in the North Atlantic, and saw a Roman fleet raised by Julius Caesar destroy the naval power of the Veneti tribe of modern Brittany.

The defeat of the Sotiates (56 B.C.) was the first of two major battles in unknown locations in which Publius Crassus, the son of the Triumvir and one of Caesar's most able lieutenants, defeated the Aquitani tribes of south-west Gaul.

The defeat of the Vocates and Tarusates (56 B.C.) was the second of two major battles in unknown locations in which Publius Crassus, the son of the Triumvir and one of Caesar's most able lieutenants, defeated the Aquitani tribes of south-west Gaul.

Gallic War: Second Gallic Revolt, 54-53 B.C.

The disaster at Atuatuca (October 54 B.C.) was one of the most serious setbacks suffered by Julius Caesar during his conquest of Gaul, and saw the Eburones destroy an entire Roman legion that had just entered winter quarters.

The siege of Q. Cicero's camp, early in the winter of 54-53 B.C. was the highpoint of the second Gallic revolt during Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, and its failure handed the initiative back to the Romans.

Gallic Wars: Dumnorix, Divitiacus and Ariovistus

Dumnorix (d.54 B.C.) was a leader of the anti-Roman faction in the Aedui tribe, and the brother of the pro-Roman leader Divitiacus.


Divitiacus (fl.58-57 B.C.) was a leader of the pro-Roman faction in the Aedui, and the brother of the anti-Roman leader Dumnorix.

Ariovistus (fl.61-58 B.C.) was a Suebian chief who led a large force of Germans across the Rhine in the years just before the outbreak of Caesar's Gallic War. He carved out a sizable kingdom in Alsace before being defeated by Caesar and forced to retreat back across the Rhine and into obscurity.