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Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix was a Gallic leader that led a rebellion against Julius Caesar in 54 B. C. For several years, the Celtic tribesmen that constituted his army kept Caesar at bay, defeating the famous Roman general in battle several times.

Finally surrounded by Caesar's army while holed up in the hilltop fortress of Alesia in Gaul, Vercingetorix' army slowly starved as they watched Caesar build first one palisade of stakes around his refuge, then another around both himself and the Gallic army as a defense against other gauls who came to reinforce Vercingetorix and raise the siege. Grim and singleminded of purpose, Caesar's dour Romans kept up the siege for over a year. With himself and his men facing starvation, Vercingetorix eventually surrendered. The brave old warrior was led captive back to rome where he rotted in a dungein for several years. Vercingetorix was allowed to leave his dark prison to stand in the sunshine one more time, but only to walk in disgrace and chains as a foreign captive king in Caesar's triumph. After this ostentatious display of captured booty and enslaved humanity put on for the entertainment of the Roman people, Vercingetorix was ritually strangled. He is remembered today as a symbol of national freedom by the French people.


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