Editing Vercingetorix (section)

==War with Rome==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2022}}
Vercingetorix made alliances with other tribes, and in doing so he united Gaul under the pretense of escaping Roman rule. After having been unanimously given supreme command of their armies, he imposed his authority through harsh discipline and the taking of hostages. Leadership and unification on this level was unprecedented in Gaul and would not happen again for decades.

He adopted a policy of retreating to natural [[fortification]]s, and undertook an early example of a [[scorched earth]] strategy by burning towns to prevent the [[Roman legion]]s from living off the land.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vercingetorix |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/miscellanea/vercingetorix.html |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>
Vercingetorix scorched much of the land marching north with his army from Gergovia in an attempt to deprive Caesar of the resources and safe haven of the towns and villages along Caesar's march south.

===Siege of Avaricum===
However, the capital of the [[Bituriges Cubi|Bituriges]], [[Avaricum]] (near modern-day [[Bourges]]), a Gallic settlement directly in Caesar's path, was spared. Due to the town's strong protests, naturally defensible terrain, and apparently strong man-made reinforcing defenses, Vercingetorix decided against razing and burning it. Leaving the town to its fate, Vercingetorix camped well outside of Avaricum and focused on conducting harassing engagements of the advancing Roman units led by Caesar and his chief lieutenant [[Titus Labienus]]. Upon reaching Avaricum, however, the Romans laid siege and eventually captured the capital.

Afterwards, in a reprisal for 25 days of hunger and of laboring over the siegeworks required to breach Avaricum's defenses, the Romans slaughtered nearly the entire population, some 40,000 people, leaving only about 800 alive.<ref>Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War vii.</ref>

===Battle of Gergovia===
The next major battle was at [[Battle of Gergovia|Gergovia]], capital city of the [[Arverni]]. During the battle, Vercingetorix and his warriors crushed Caesar's legions and allies, inflicting heavy losses. Vercingetorix then decided to follow Caesar but suffered heavy losses (as did the Romans and their allies<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Internet Classics Archive {{!}} Caesar by Plutarch |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html |access-date=2021-03-31 |website=classics.mit.edu}}</ref>) during a cavalry battle and he retreated and moved to another stronghold, [[Alesia (city)|Alesia]].

=== Battle of Alesia ===
In the [[Battle of Alesia]] in September 52&nbsp;BC, Caesar built a fortification around the city to [[investment (military)|besiege]] it. However, Vercingetorix had summoned his Gallic allies to attack the besieging Romans. These forces included an army of Arverni led by Vercingetorix's cousin [[Vercassivellaunos]] and an army of 10,000 [[Lemovices]] led by [[Sedullos]].

With the Roman circumvallation surrounded by the rest of Gaul, Caesar built another outward-facing fortification (a contravallation) against the expected relief armies, resulting in a doughnut-shaped fortification. The Gallic relief came in insufficient numbers: estimates range from 80,000 to 250,000 soldiers. Vercingetorix, the [[Military tactics|tactic]]al leader, was cut off from those on the inside, and without his guidance the attacks were initially unsuccessful. However, the attacks did reveal a weak point in the fortifications and the combined forces on the inside and the outside almost made a breakthrough. Only when Caesar personally led the last reserves into battle did he finally manage to prevail. This was a decisive battle in the creation of the [[Roman Empire]].

[[File:Siege-alesia-vercingetorix-jules-cesar.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.36|''Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of [[Julius Caesar]]'' (1899) by [[Lionel Royer]]]]
According to [[Plutarch]], ''Caes''. 27.8-10, Vercingetorix surrendered in a dramatic fashion, riding his beautifully adorned horse out of Alesia and around Caesar's camp before dismounting in front of Caesar, stripping himself of his armor and sitting down at his opponent's feet, where he remained motionless until he was taken away.<ref>''Plutarch's Lives''; ''Caes''. 27.8-10; Flor. 1.45.26; Dio 40.41.3.  Medieval [[French historians#Middle Ages|French historians]] are also partly responsible for romanticising Vercingetorix's surrender. ''Romancing the Past: The Rise of Vernacular Prose Historiography in Thirteenth-Century France'', by Gabrielle M. Spiegel, page 143, Berkeley: 1993.</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Plutarch |title=The Life of Julius Caesar |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#27 |website=The Parallel Lives |publisher=Loeb Classical Library Edition |access-date=15 July 2015 |ref=27}}</ref> Caesar provides a first-hand contradiction of this account, ''De Bell. Gal''. 7.89, describing Vercingetorix's surrender much more modestly.<ref>''Commentaries on the Gallic Wars'', Everyman's Edition, 1953 (Trans: John Warrington); Book VII, sect. 89.</ref>

===Imprisonment and death===
[[File:Campitelli - Mamertinum - giustiziati laici 1040075.JPG|thumb|A plaque in the museum at the [[Mamertine Prison]] indicates Vercingetorix was beheaded there in 49&nbsp;BC.]]
Vercingetorix was imprisoned in the [[Tullianum]] in Rome for almost six years before being publicly displayed in the first of Caesar's four [[Roman triumph|triumphs]] in 46&nbsp;BC. He was ceremonially strangled at the [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus]] after the triumph.<ref>Dio 40.41.3, 43.19.4</ref>