A Visit to Alesia

The MuséoParc Alésia

The MuséoParc Alésia opened in 2012. As the name suggests, the museum does not want to be a typical museum but also includes a park. A highly-renowned architect was commissioned for this purpose, and he created a building that ambitiously dominates the landscape. Of course, there is a theoretical foundation to every detail of it. “Its circular form evokes the siege of Alesia, the netting that clads the building provides a nod to the wooden fortifications used by the Romans, whilst the oblique columns of its atrium recall the chaos of the battle itself”, as the museum’s website explains. And the small booklet sold as a museum guide in the souvenir shop goes on to state that the asymmetric structure of the ground floor is supposed to evoke the chaos of the siege, from which the stability of a new Gallo-Roman culture was to emerge.

Well, I am always a little sceptical when it comes to such prestigious museums. And yet, the MuséoParc managed to truly amaze me within a few minutes – for the first time ever, I really understood what happened during the battle of Alesia.

Denarius by Caesar from 48 BC. It depicts the portrait of a Gaul, who is erroneously described as Vercingetorix in many auction catalogues. In fact, it is merely a symbolic figure for some Gallic warrior. Caesar wanted to show his peers what threatening warriors he had to face in the Gallic War. From Künker auction 257 (2014), lot No. 8829.

Caesar, the Gallic War and Alesia

But let us get back to Caesar and his Gallic War. Let us remember: after his controversial consulship in 59 BC, Caesar became proconsul with the firm intention of launching a major war, so that he could match the achievements of his rival Pompey in terms of propaganda. For this purpose, he had himself assigned to the provinces of Illyria, Gallia Cisalpina and Gallia Transalpina, which offered plenty of potential for conflicts and came with the command over an impressive army.

Caesar had actually looked for a reason to start a war in Illyria, but the Helvetii did him the favour of leaving their territory in search of a new home. On their way, they wanted to pass the territories of the Haedui, who had an alliance with Rome. Caesar managed to use this people to his advantage: the Haedui asked Caesar for support, and the latter pretended that there was a danger to Rome and waged a short war. What happened next could be compared to one of those complex situations where touching one little domino leads to the fall of hundreds of thousands of other dominoes. Caesar defeated one Celtic tribe after the other. Their chiefs had to swear allegiance to the Romans one by one. 

Only Vercingetorix of the Averni people was able to unite Celtic tribes in an alliance against Rome. This was the first time for Caesar to face an army that outnumbered his own, and that actually defeated him at Gergovia. But this loose alliance did not stand a chance against Rome’s military machinery. In the summer of 52 BC, a defeat forced Vercingetorix to flee with his warriors to Alesia. The oppidum of the Mandubians, one of the countless Celtic tribes that inhabited Gaul at the time, was located there.

Building Roman Fortifications

Vercingetorix had 80,000 soldiers, if Caesar is to be believed. The latter had twelve legions himself, i.e., between 50,000 and 60,000 men including auxiliary cavalry troops. It was mainly the latter that prevented the success of a first attempt of Gallic horsemen to break through the Roman lines. Caesar then built siege fortifications around the city to starve Vercingetorix and his allies. To thwart any Gallic attempt of breaking the siege, Caesar ordered his legionaries to set up two lines of fortifications and secured them with more than twenty camps.

What I translated rather thoughtlessly as a schoolgirl, filled me with deep admiration when I visited the MuséoParc. The exhibition includes two reconstructed parts of this embankment structure, which were built in their original height.

So, I stood in front of two about 3-4-meter-high earth embankments that were crowned with pales and towers. Explanatory signs told me that this embankment was just the tip of the iceberg. The legionaries had dug deep trenches in front of them – one was filled with water of a nearby river, the other remained dry. But this was not enough for Caesar: in front of and between the trenches, mantraps, chevals de frise and deep pits with sharpened wooden spears awaited the attackers.

I obviously wondered how Caesar’s legionaries managed to build the embankments and dig hundreds of holes at record speed in addition to their guard duties. Although the reconstruction is just about one hundred meters long, the original fortifications surrounded the entire mountain. That means that the inner embankments, which were supposed to prevent the Gallic troops from escaping, covered a distance of 15 kilometres, while the outer rampart, which defended the Romans against a potential relief army, was 21 kilometres long.

I am certainly not a fan of Caesar, but this logistical masterpiece commanded my respect!

The Battle of Alesia

While the legionaries were busy digging holes and chopping down trees, Vercingetorix sent his messengers to allied tribes in order to mobilise a relief army. He took advantage of the short time in which the Roman defence was not yet able to prevent individual horsemen from breaking through the fortifications. 

After about two months, an impressive army of 240,000 infantrymen and 8,000 horsemen came to the aid of Vercingetorix – although we have to bear in mind that we have these numbers from Caesar, and he obviously wanted to impress his fellow Roman citizens. So, it is safe to assume that he exaggerated enormously. Fake news is not an invention of our age.

The infantry of the relief army attacked the Romans, but the legionaries were able to defend their position. On the next day, the relief army and the besieged attacked the Romans at the same time under Vercingetorix’ command. The Roman legionaries had to defend themselves against an army that outnumbered them and was attacking from two sides. A nightmare!

This third attack was the decisive battle: for hours, the Romans fought on both fronts until the relief army had to retreat. Vercingetorix, too, ended the battle at this point. On the next day, he sent a messenger to Caesar to offer him the surrender of Alesia. The latter accepted – Vercingetorix was to become an impressive part of Caesar’s triumphal procession. In exchange, he was willing to spare the oppidum.