1 00:00:02,570 --> 00:00:04,230 It's a bloody rebellion. 2 00:00:05,090 --> 00:00:06,590 Thousands butchered. 3 00:00:07,430 --> 00:00:08,730 Countrysides torched. 4 00:00:08,990 --> 00:00:10,550 It's hell on earth. 5 00:00:15,570 --> 00:00:19,450 The rebels, an ethnically mixed tribal people known as Gaul. 6 00:00:22,410 --> 00:00:27,790 Their champion is the first general to unite the tribes, Vercingetorix. 7 00:00:33,580 --> 00:00:38,360 His nemesis is one of the most famous and ruthless generals in ancient 8 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:39,700 Julius Caesar. 9 00:00:47,180 --> 00:00:51,080 For a hundred years, the Romans have brutally oppressed the Gauls. 10 00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:53,520 Now it's payback time. 11 00:00:54,380 --> 00:00:59,280 The stage is set for one of the greatest military confrontations in history. 12 00:01:00,970 --> 00:01:06,770 A battle of technological wonder that tests the cunning and resourcefulness of 13 00:01:06,770 --> 00:01:12,130 the two generals, shapes the face of Europe for centuries to come, 14 00:01:12,210 --> 00:01:17,110 and guarantees the future of an empire. 15 00:01:36,910 --> 00:01:42,110 In 52 BC, for six years, Julius Caesar has been conducting a brutal campaign. 16 00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:49,990 His goal is to conquer the land called Gaul and turn it into a Roman province. 17 00:01:55,890 --> 00:02:01,690 By the time Caesar is given command in Gaul in 58 BC, the Roman Republic had 18 00:02:01,690 --> 00:02:06,090 already expanded into North Africa, Greece, Sicily. 19 00:02:07,549 --> 00:02:09,610 Corsica, Cydonia, and Spain. 20 00:02:11,210 --> 00:02:15,950 But Rome could never entirely subdue its neighbor to the north, Gaul. 21 00:02:17,430 --> 00:02:23,830 It had always been a little tentative about northward expansion because the 22 00:02:23,830 --> 00:02:28,090 Gauls and the Romans had a long history, 300 -year history, of mutual slaughter 23 00:02:28,090 --> 00:02:32,430 and antagonism. I mean, these people in the north, when they went on invasions, 24 00:02:32,430 --> 00:02:33,430 were... 25 00:02:33,590 --> 00:02:35,670 you know, pretty brutal people. 26 00:02:35,890 --> 00:02:41,390 And they sacked Rome in the 3rd century BC as well. So a lot of bad blood. 27 00:02:42,630 --> 00:02:45,630 But the Roman Republic grows stronger every day. 28 00:02:49,550 --> 00:02:54,750 Now, leading more than 50 ,000 Roman soldiers, Julius Caesar fights his way 29 00:02:54,750 --> 00:02:56,530 across Gaul with stunning cruelty. 30 00:02:58,210 --> 00:03:02,550 Caesar was sent to Gaul by the Roman Senate as a proconsul, that is to say, 31 00:03:02,550 --> 00:03:05,190 conquer the area and turn it into a province of Rome. 32 00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:08,630 The interesting thing about this great general is he had never been in the 33 00:03:08,630 --> 00:03:13,050 military and had absolutely no experience in combat or command at all. 34 00:03:13,550 --> 00:03:18,130 So why then do we regard him as a great general is a fair question to ask. And 35 00:03:18,130 --> 00:03:22,150 the answer is he was the first Roman general to leave not only his memoirs, 36 00:03:22,150 --> 00:03:26,010 a detailed account of all his campaigns, which of course point to his brilliance 37 00:03:26,010 --> 00:03:27,390 and nothing else. 38 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,100 These are rights enough about the six -year Gallic War to fill seven books. 39 00:03:33,140 --> 00:03:37,860 While he regards himself as the military genius, his successes may be explained 40 00:03:37,860 --> 00:03:42,760 by the quality of his army. By the time of the campaigns in Gaul, the Roman army 41 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:44,940 was almost thoroughly professionalized. 42 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:51,000 Prior to 100 BC, it had always been a militia army, so you had to raise new 43 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,000 troops every year, train them, and then put them in control of political 44 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,060 generals, and that created problems. 45 00:03:57,070 --> 00:04:03,030 But military reform, instituted 50 years before Caesar comes to power, creates a 46 00:04:03,030 --> 00:04:05,130 disciplined army of professional soldiers. 47 00:04:06,350 --> 00:04:09,990 You might have had a, quote, amateur in charge of this thing, but there were 10 48 00:04:09,990 --> 00:04:11,570 legions of professional soldiers. 49 00:04:11,970 --> 00:04:15,530 That's one point which accounts for Caesar's success. 50 00:04:15,810 --> 00:04:19,850 The other point, I think, is that you can always be a great general if you're 51 00:04:19,850 --> 00:04:20,850 not fighting against anyone. 52 00:04:21,269 --> 00:04:26,270 And in the case of the armies of Gaul, they really weren't significant armies. 53 00:04:27,510 --> 00:04:32,470 Gaul is not a unified nation with a national army. It's a conglomeration of 54 00:04:32,470 --> 00:04:35,790 individual tribal armies who lack discipline and cohesion. 55 00:04:36,450 --> 00:04:40,990 The fundamental problem with Gaul is that it was essentially an area of 15 to 56 00:04:40,990 --> 00:04:41,849 million people. 57 00:04:41,850 --> 00:04:43,490 Lots of different ethnic groups. 58 00:04:43,710 --> 00:04:48,130 They fought with one another for generations, and they never developed a 59 00:04:48,130 --> 00:04:49,870 sophisticated military capability. 60 00:04:53,420 --> 00:04:57,300 Still, conquering Gaul is more difficult than Caesar anticipates. 61 00:04:58,260 --> 00:05:04,480 You couldn't just defeat one army, win a battle, and Gaul was yours. You had to 62 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,060 defeat hundreds of little arms. 63 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,060 Caesar faces each new Gallic army with growing ruthlessness. 64 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:18,360 Caesar carried out some horrendous orders. 65 00:05:19,530 --> 00:05:24,190 That's a typical Roman brutality of making the case that, you know, it's 66 00:05:24,190 --> 00:05:25,830 Roman friendship or Roman terror. 67 00:05:31,390 --> 00:05:33,570 Caesar's really was a reign of terror. 68 00:05:34,770 --> 00:05:39,670 He destroyed entire villages, killed everyone in them, and then he went on to 69 00:05:39,670 --> 00:05:41,390 the next one. Absolutely brutal. 70 00:05:41,950 --> 00:05:46,510 And inevitably, over a period of six years, what happened was basically Roman 71 00:05:46,510 --> 00:05:50,110 control in Gaul was pretty much established. 72 00:05:50,590 --> 00:05:57,370 But underneath it all was a simmering spirit of hatred for the Romans and 73 00:05:57,370 --> 00:06:02,110 of revolt, just looking for a leader to spark it. 74 00:06:03,630 --> 00:06:07,310 Enter Vercingetorix, a charismatic Gallic general. 75 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,860 Like Caesar, he's also on a mission to finally unite the hundreds of tribes of 76 00:06:12,860 --> 00:06:14,480 his homeland against Caesar. 77 00:06:23,580 --> 00:06:28,280 Vercingetorix is a worthy adversary to Caesar. As a younger man, he trained 78 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,400 and fought alongside the Roman legion. 79 00:06:31,980 --> 00:06:36,320 Vercingetorix was actually a cavalryman in Caesar's army early in the Gallic 80 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:37,319 Wars. 81 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,800 So he knows how the Roman army worked. He knows its strengths. 82 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:42,560 He knows its weaknesses. 83 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,540 He is the right guy at the right time to take on Caesar. 84 00:06:49,730 --> 00:06:53,450 took it into his head that perhaps this was the right time, that the Gauls had 85 00:06:53,450 --> 00:06:58,630 probably finally had it, not this tribe or that tribe, but everyone, and that if 86 00:06:58,630 --> 00:07:03,750 he could provoke a spark with an attack on the Romans that was successful, what 87 00:07:03,750 --> 00:07:09,790 might happen is for the first time all of the main tribes of Gaul would 88 00:07:09,790 --> 00:07:15,430 together and resist Roman rule, defeat Caesar, and drive the Romans out. That's 89 00:07:15,430 --> 00:07:16,430 what he had in mind. 90 00:07:17,610 --> 00:07:19,870 His plan to provoke Caesar succeeds. 91 00:07:21,130 --> 00:07:25,230 Vercingetorix marches more than 70 ,000 soldiers into the Roman town of Orleans 92 00:07:25,230 --> 00:07:28,450 and gives Caesar a taste of his own medicine. 93 00:07:29,130 --> 00:07:35,050 And he fell upon it like a lion upon a rabbit and burnt the town and massacred 94 00:07:35,050 --> 00:07:36,050 and murdered everybody. 95 00:07:37,810 --> 00:07:41,810 The Gauls slaughter more than 5 ,000 men, women, and children. 96 00:07:46,169 --> 00:07:48,390 Vercingetorix delivers a clear message to Caesar. 97 00:07:48,830 --> 00:07:52,330 The Gauls will no longer stand for the Roman general's brutality. 98 00:07:55,010 --> 00:07:56,750 This was the spark of revolt. 99 00:07:57,030 --> 00:08:01,490 There was some signal event that would galvanize all of Gaul against the Rome, 100 00:08:01,570 --> 00:08:04,590 and that's what he tried to do. He was a fairly good strategic thinker, and it 101 00:08:04,590 --> 00:08:05,590 worked. 102 00:08:08,430 --> 00:08:11,170 There is no turning back for Vercingetorix now. 103 00:08:21,230 --> 00:08:26,110 The revolution has begun, and he and Caesar are on a collision course. 104 00:08:27,570 --> 00:08:29,810 But Vercingetorix has the momentum. 105 00:08:40,289 --> 00:08:47,070 Vercingetorix is scoring more victories. He has a massive army 106 00:08:47,070 --> 00:08:48,610 behind him, and he's using it well. 107 00:08:49,070 --> 00:08:50,490 Suddenly this guy is unstoppable. 108 00:08:51,930 --> 00:08:56,750 Despite outnumbering the Romans, Vercingetorix knows that his large but 109 00:08:56,750 --> 00:09:01,630 disorganized force will lose a direct, all -out battle against Caesar's highly 110 00:09:01,630 --> 00:09:03,090 trained professional army. 111 00:09:04,450 --> 00:09:09,350 So his strategy is to strike at Caesar's forces in small bursts of guerrilla 112 00:09:09,350 --> 00:09:14,130 -style combat until he inflicts so much damage the Romans are forced to retreat 113 00:09:14,130 --> 00:09:15,130 to Italy. 114 00:09:18,089 --> 00:09:21,590 Vercingetorix has a policy just to keep harassing the Romans, keeping them away 115 00:09:21,590 --> 00:09:24,050 from food, generally giving Caesar a headache. 116 00:09:25,250 --> 00:09:29,670 To further keep the Roman troops off the balance, Vercingetorix does something 117 00:09:29,670 --> 00:09:32,410 that will reverberate through all of military history. 118 00:09:32,770 --> 00:09:37,650 He convinces the Gauls to torch their own towns, crops, and countryside. 119 00:09:38,370 --> 00:09:41,430 It's a strategy now known as scorched earth. 120 00:09:42,450 --> 00:09:43,450 Burn everything. 121 00:09:43,490 --> 00:09:46,430 Burn the towns, burn the hamlets, burn the fields. 122 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:52,540 Everything. In other words, leave nothing upon which the Roman army can 123 00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:59,500 In August of 52 BC, after implementing his scorched earth policy, Vercingetorix 124 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:03,740 leads a small Gallic ambush force against the Romans near modern -day 125 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,380 The Gauls' favorite weapon is the broadsword. 126 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,300 Made of iron, these heavy blades are designed to smash down with brute force. 127 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:22,940 The Roman soldier wields the gladius, 26 inches long, 2 1⁄2 inches wide. 128 00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:28,020 The gladius is made of razor -sharp steel and is used as a stabbing weapon. 129 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,300 After fighting for several hours at Dijon, Vercingetorix, in true hit -and 130 00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:40,960 style, retreats and pulls his force back. 131 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,660 The Gaul's strategy appears to be successful. 132 00:10:45,290 --> 00:10:48,290 From Dijon, Caesar begins moving toward the Italian border. 133 00:10:49,110 --> 00:10:53,310 Vercingetorix chases with his army, trying to prevent Caesar from reaching 134 00:10:53,310 --> 00:10:54,790 and replenishing his forces. 135 00:10:55,810 --> 00:11:01,070 He moves his army down to block Caesar's goal of going to Italy. 136 00:11:01,420 --> 00:11:06,420 OK, he really arrives too late. Caesar is already south of where he comes. 137 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:08,420 So he's behind Caesar. 138 00:11:08,620 --> 00:11:13,120 He's not in front of him. And he tries to go into the attack. The Romans turn 139 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,380 around. There's a skirmish there. There's a skirmish there and the Romans 140 00:11:16,380 --> 00:11:17,099 it off. 141 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:22,000 And at that point, what Vercingetorix does is he says, you know, it's getting 142 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,960 tough to feed the army out here. I'm going to withdraw back into my main 143 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,960 base. All right. And hopefully, you know, Caesar. 144 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:34,500 We're done for the season. Caesar will go south and we'll finish this next 145 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,580 This proves to be a colossal mistake. 146 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,840 Calculating that Caesar will retreat to Rome, Vercingetorix begins to march his 147 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,660 army back to its base at Alesia, a fortified hilltop city. 148 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,040 But Caesar isn't going home. 149 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,440 He's going after Vercingetorix. 150 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,100 And what Caesar does is instead of running faithfully, he whirls around on 151 00:11:58,410 --> 00:12:01,570 Kills his rear guard and begins to chase him back to Alesia. 152 00:12:04,230 --> 00:12:09,130 As Caesar attacks the Gallic rear guard, Vercingetorix and the rest of the Gauls 153 00:12:09,130 --> 00:12:11,390 escape to their small -walled city of Alesia. 154 00:12:15,070 --> 00:12:19,870 Within days, all of Caesar's 50 ,000 reinforcements surround the city. 155 00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:23,250 I mean, they just kept coming and coming. 156 00:12:23,550 --> 00:12:27,630 A total of 10 Roman legions suddenly surrounded Vercingetorix. 157 00:12:28,300 --> 00:12:31,900 He must have said to himself, what the hell have I gotten myself into here? 158 00:12:33,580 --> 00:12:37,620 Vercingetorix had great success leading his guerrilla war against Caesar, but 159 00:12:37,620 --> 00:12:38,620 now he's trapped. 160 00:12:39,860 --> 00:12:44,020 And the small advantage the Gauls held has completely evaporated. 161 00:12:46,100 --> 00:12:50,720 This is Caesar's kind of battle, and he's about to conduct one of the most 162 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,560 fantastic siege operations the ancient world has ever seen. 163 00:13:00,970 --> 00:13:04,190 52 BC, the city of Alesia. 164 00:13:04,550 --> 00:13:10,110 The Roman military commander Julius Caesar and more than 50 ,000 Roman 165 00:13:10,110 --> 00:13:16,450 have trapped 70 ,000 Gauls and their revolutionary leader Vercingetorix 166 00:13:16,450 --> 00:13:17,450 the city. 167 00:13:18,250 --> 00:13:24,010 Alesia is so important because it's a big final cataclysm. It's the last shot 168 00:13:24,010 --> 00:13:28,510 militarily at stopping the Roman control of all of Gaul. 169 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,700 Elysia is the modern -day city of Elyse St. Reign, located in what is now 170 00:13:34,700 --> 00:13:35,700 France. 171 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:41,560 The city is about five miles in circumference, likely surrounded by a 172 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:42,660 about six feet high. 173 00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:46,640 Home to about 10 ,000 men, women, and children, 174 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:51,420 Elysia sits on a small hill some 1 ,500 feet above a valley. 175 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:54,780 Through the valley run two small rivers. 176 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:57,820 A ring of hills surround the city. 177 00:13:58,730 --> 00:14:03,550 It's well protected, giving the Gauls a strong defensive position. 178 00:14:04,750 --> 00:14:11,510 Nonetheless, Caesar decides to lay siege to Alesia, a military campaign unlike 179 00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:12,690 any other in history. 180 00:14:13,130 --> 00:14:19,410 The siege works created by Caesar are just ingenious. And 181 00:14:19,410 --> 00:14:26,070 I can't find anyone or any source to say that his siege techniques that he used 182 00:14:26,070 --> 00:14:27,630 there had been used before. 183 00:14:29,220 --> 00:14:33,800 Caesar's army possesses the most sophisticated siege technology of the 184 00:14:34,020 --> 00:14:39,100 They are equipped with a catapult called an onager, known as the wild ass for 185 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:43,700 its kick. It's capable of launching a 100 -pound projectile 400 yards. 186 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,260 The Romans also used the ballista. 187 00:14:49,340 --> 00:14:54,160 Latin for stone thrower, the ballista fires lead shot nearly 100 yards. 188 00:14:55,300 --> 00:14:58,280 Each Roman legion is equipped with 30 of these. 189 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:03,780 But siege means more than just attacking with powerful, high -tech weapons. 190 00:15:04,020 --> 00:15:08,300 And Caesar knows that the right tactical move at Alesia isn't an all -out 191 00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:13,260 barrage. Instead, Caesar believes that to win this battle, he shouldn't try to 192 00:15:13,260 --> 00:15:15,860 drive the Gauls out. He should starve them in. 193 00:15:18,580 --> 00:15:23,000 Caesar decides to build a ten -mile -long wall around Alesia to imprison the 194 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:24,380 Gauls within their own city. 195 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:32,020 What Vercingetorix thought would be a safe haven turns out to be a death trap. 196 00:15:33,220 --> 00:15:37,520 First, Caesar's soldiers dig a trench 20 feet deep and 20 feet wide. 197 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,940 Next, they dig another trench, 15 feet wide, 8 feet deep, that can be flooded 198 00:15:45,940 --> 00:15:46,940 with water. 199 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:50,140 Then, another dry pit. 200 00:15:51,340 --> 00:15:54,500 And finally, work begins on a wall 12 feet high. 201 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,920 complete with watchtowers every 80 yards. 202 00:16:01,020 --> 00:16:06,160 They call it circumvallation. You put up a wall around the city. It's 203 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,420 essentially putting tens of thousands of people in prison. 204 00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:14,400 The purpose of that was, of course, to make sure that no one in the city could 205 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:15,339 break out. 206 00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:19,700 They could get outside their own walls, but only to be trapped in a killing 207 00:16:19,700 --> 00:16:22,920 ground between the Roman wooden wall and their wall. That's the first thing. 208 00:16:24,620 --> 00:16:28,280 This is not the first time Caesar has shown himself to be a master of 209 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:29,280 technology. 210 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:36,360 Three years earlier, in 55 BC, 400 ,000 Germans were looking for a new homeland 211 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,780 and crossed the Rhine River to settle in Gaul. 212 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,160 Caesar immediately delivered a brutal message. 213 00:16:44,380 --> 00:16:49,040 He sent 50 ,000 of his troops to the Rhine River with orders to slaughter the 214 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:50,040 Germans. 215 00:16:51,300 --> 00:16:53,780 What he does next was both horrific, 216 00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:55,900 Technologically astounding. 217 00:16:58,820 --> 00:17:03,260 Caesar foreshadowed his engineering prowess they will eventually show at 218 00:17:03,260 --> 00:17:09,380 Alessia. He built a 400 -foot long, 40 -foot wide suspension bridge over the 219 00:17:09,380 --> 00:17:13,280 Rhine River so that he could chase them back to Germany and hunt them down. 220 00:17:14,780 --> 00:17:19,460 Once across the river, Caesar brutally and mercilessly ravaged the countryside. 221 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:29,100 430 ,000 people, men, women, children, no survivors, in a 222 00:17:29,100 --> 00:17:33,800 deliberately calculated act of political butchery designed to send a clear 223 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,000 message to another people. 224 00:17:37,980 --> 00:17:42,240 Brutality aside, Caesar's spanning of the Rhine stands as a remarkable 225 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:47,080 engineering achievement of the ancient world. He built the entire bridge in 10 226 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:48,080 days. 227 00:17:48,910 --> 00:17:49,910 It was incredible. 228 00:17:49,930 --> 00:17:53,890 I mean, he built it with posts and beams and cabling. And the reason he built it 229 00:17:53,890 --> 00:17:57,650 was to say to the Germans, look, the Rhine isn't a barrier. We can come and 230 00:17:57,650 --> 00:17:58,770 you any time we want. 231 00:18:01,750 --> 00:18:06,110 After the butchery, Caesar headed back to Gaul and immediately destroyed the 232 00:18:06,110 --> 00:18:07,110 bridge. 233 00:18:10,170 --> 00:18:15,510 At Alesia, Caesar uses the same Roman technological superiority to trap the 234 00:18:15,510 --> 00:18:16,790 Gauls inside the city. 235 00:18:19,050 --> 00:18:23,670 The Gallic general Vercingetorix watches as Caesar's wall rises up around him. 236 00:18:26,230 --> 00:18:30,070 The 12 -foot -high wall is built partially from the earth dug out of the 237 00:18:30,070 --> 00:18:34,230 trenches. The walls are topped with wooden ramparts, and wooden towers rise 238 00:18:34,230 --> 00:18:35,290 every 80 yards. 239 00:18:35,910 --> 00:18:39,870 On top of all that, they put sharpened sticks, kind of like an early version of 240 00:18:39,870 --> 00:18:43,430 barbed wire, just in case someone tries to scale the thing. And except for a 241 00:18:43,430 --> 00:18:46,890 couple of areas, like places with natural barriers, this wall goes 242 00:18:46,890 --> 00:18:48,510 around the city. 243 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,560 It's a race against time. 244 00:18:51,060 --> 00:18:56,000 Once Caesar completes the wall, nearly 10 miles in circumference, it will be 245 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:01,840 impenetrable, trapping the entire population of the city of Alesia, some 246 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:06,580 men, women, and children, as well as the new tenants, the 70 ,000 -strong Gallic 247 00:19:06,580 --> 00:19:07,580 fighting force. 248 00:19:09,780 --> 00:19:14,000 Vercingetorix does have some beef and corn stored up at Alessia, but it's not 249 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:15,000 going to last forever. 250 00:19:15,470 --> 00:19:19,990 Caesar's men could go and try to steal some or buy some supplies, but that's 251 00:19:19,990 --> 00:19:21,010 easier said than done. 252 00:19:21,230 --> 00:19:25,130 Don't forget, Vercingetorix had burnt a lot of it during the Scorched Earth 253 00:19:25,130 --> 00:19:26,130 campaign. 254 00:19:27,970 --> 00:19:31,190 Vercingetorix knows that the winner of this battle will be the one who is able 255 00:19:31,190 --> 00:19:32,470 to stave off starvation. 256 00:19:34,550 --> 00:19:38,990 So he decides his only hope is to try to stop construction of the wall and stop 257 00:19:38,990 --> 00:19:40,450 the Romans from gathering food. 258 00:19:41,890 --> 00:19:44,370 If he can outlast Caesar in the city, 259 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:50,080 sooner or later the Roman army would find it very hard to gather supplies, 260 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:51,560 it too would wither on the vine. 261 00:19:52,340 --> 00:19:57,820 What he had to do is he had to keep attacking the Roman army to prevent it 262 00:19:57,820 --> 00:19:58,900 foraging from supplies. 263 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:05,440 So Vercingetorix resorts to his old tactics, hit and run. 264 00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:10,700 He sends several thousand of his cavalry to harass Caesar's construction workers 265 00:20:10,700 --> 00:20:11,700 and foragers. 266 00:20:13,669 --> 00:20:17,730 Vercingetorix gets away with it a few times. But finally, during one of these 267 00:20:17,730 --> 00:20:20,090 attacks, Caesar launches a counterattack. 268 00:20:20,990 --> 00:20:26,190 We're not exactly sure how many cavalry Caesar had, but I would imagine about 5 269 00:20:26,190 --> 00:20:31,130 ,000 or 6 ,000 Roman cavalry and 3 ,000 to 4 ,000 mercenary cavalry. 270 00:20:32,170 --> 00:20:35,550 A skirmish breaks out between Caesar's wall and Alesia. 271 00:20:37,530 --> 00:20:41,270 The Roman cavalry gain the advantage and the Gauls retreat. 272 00:20:42,490 --> 00:20:46,950 But Vercingetorix orders Elysia's gates closed to protect the Gauls already 273 00:20:46,950 --> 00:20:47,950 inside. 274 00:20:49,170 --> 00:20:51,250 Very, very heavy Gallic losses. 275 00:20:51,470 --> 00:20:55,750 Guys off their horses trying to basically claw their way back into the 276 00:20:58,030 --> 00:21:00,850 Vercingetorix has sentenced his men to death. 277 00:21:05,670 --> 00:21:10,070 52 BC, the siege of Elysia sees its first bloodshed. 278 00:21:10,430 --> 00:21:13,090 A cavalry skirmish has a deadly end for the Gauls. 279 00:21:13,750 --> 00:21:17,450 Despite winning the civil skirmish, Caesar decides to up the ante in terms 280 00:21:17,450 --> 00:21:18,349 the siege works. 281 00:21:18,350 --> 00:21:22,770 He orders more trenches to be dug, anti -personnel devices to be installed, and 282 00:21:22,770 --> 00:21:23,770 death traps to be built. 283 00:21:25,010 --> 00:21:29,510 Booby traps with huge, sharpened wooden spikes called chippy are planted at the 284 00:21:29,510 --> 00:21:30,510 bottom of the trenches. 285 00:21:32,690 --> 00:21:36,870 Iron barbs called stimuli are spread out in front of the walls to puncture 286 00:21:36,870 --> 00:21:38,490 soldiers' feet and horse hooves. 287 00:21:40,170 --> 00:21:42,030 Flooded moats were there. 288 00:21:43,310 --> 00:21:46,050 Trees knocked down to create obstacles. 289 00:21:46,350 --> 00:21:53,170 And covering it all would be whatever field guns they had and arrows, archer 290 00:21:53,170 --> 00:21:59,050 fire, slinger fire, missiles. They could literally sheath fire into an impact 291 00:21:59,050 --> 00:22:00,050 zone. 292 00:22:00,470 --> 00:22:06,010 After only five weeks, the 10 -mile wall equipped with pitfalls, obstacles, and 293 00:22:06,010 --> 00:22:08,710 anti -personnel devices is nearly complete. 294 00:22:11,310 --> 00:22:15,230 The Gallic general, Vercingetorix, is forced to take a bold gamble. 295 00:22:16,130 --> 00:22:22,630 He sends his entire 15 ,000 -strong cavalry force to ride across Gaul and 296 00:22:22,630 --> 00:22:24,870 recruit help from other Gallic tribes. 297 00:22:26,450 --> 00:22:30,130 While this seems to be a smart move, think about this for a minute. 298 00:22:31,530 --> 00:22:38,430 He had pretty good success just snipping at Caesar, harassing him, not 299 00:22:38,430 --> 00:22:39,430 letting him get anywhere. 300 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:41,980 not allowing him to gather food. 301 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:48,580 But he's giving all of that up, and he says, no pun intended, send in the 302 00:22:48,580 --> 00:22:49,580 cavalry. 303 00:22:49,820 --> 00:22:54,980 Vercingetorix changes his tactical design and allows the Romans, in 304 00:22:54,980 --> 00:22:57,600 build the siege works and feed their own. 305 00:22:57,820 --> 00:23:02,220 The decision to go for help rather than continuing to try to disrupt the 306 00:23:02,220 --> 00:23:05,560 foragers and construction workers is a critical military decision. 307 00:23:06,220 --> 00:23:10,580 If the cavalry is caught and the other tribes don't respond, Vercingetorix and 308 00:23:10,580 --> 00:23:11,660 his army are doomed. 309 00:23:12,820 --> 00:23:18,100 Now, without his cavalry to send forth to harass the Roman army, they can build 310 00:23:18,100 --> 00:23:23,000 the siege works at their leisure, which they do. More important than that is 311 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:24,900 they now can forage freely. 312 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:29,000 And what Caesar understands is clearly, what does he say? He orders his 313 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,400 commissariat to make sure you collect a 30 -day supply of grain. 314 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,200 Still, Caesar knows that if the Gallic cavalry does come back with 315 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,780 reinforcements, it can spell defeat for the Romans. 316 00:23:40,620 --> 00:23:45,900 To defend against this, Caesar decides to build another wall about 400 yards 317 00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:46,920 away from the first. 318 00:23:50,940 --> 00:23:53,500 Caesar's first wall keeps Vercingetorix in. 319 00:23:54,300 --> 00:23:57,740 His second wall will keep the reinforcement armies out. 320 00:23:58,180 --> 00:24:01,400 But it will also contain 50 ,000 Roman soldiers. 321 00:24:02,030 --> 00:24:04,110 who must camp in between the two walls. 322 00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:09,990 Outside this wall of circumvallation, you construct a second wall called 323 00:24:09,990 --> 00:24:12,730 contravallation, Latin contra, against. 324 00:24:13,310 --> 00:24:16,210 And this wall ran 20 miles. 325 00:24:16,490 --> 00:24:20,910 So you have a wall inside a wall and a city in the middle, kind of like looking 326 00:24:20,910 --> 00:24:22,790 at from the top down, kind of looking at a layer cake. 327 00:24:24,530 --> 00:24:28,830 Now, with no cavalry to harass them, the Romans have no difficulty building the 328 00:24:28,830 --> 00:24:29,830 second wall. 329 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:34,440 The wall is seamless except for a small section at the base of Mount Rhea, near 330 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:36,540 where two small rivers run through the valley. 331 00:24:37,660 --> 00:24:41,700 With the wall construction coming to an end, everyone starts realizing that the 332 00:24:41,700 --> 00:24:43,900 thing that's going to win or lose this thing is food. 333 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,200 Caesar knows that once the rest of the Gauls show up, he won't be able to send 334 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:49,360 his guys foraging anymore. 335 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,440 Meanwhile, inside the city, Vercingetorix personally takes control 336 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:55,440 and corn rations. 337 00:24:56,780 --> 00:24:58,700 Around seven weeks into the siege, 338 00:24:59,420 --> 00:25:01,200 Supplies inside the city are low. 339 00:25:01,420 --> 00:25:05,140 They are subsisting on whatever food had been stored before the siege. 340 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,980 Water for close to 100 ,000 women, children, and Gallic soldiers likely 341 00:25:10,980 --> 00:25:12,520 from the small rivers or wells. 342 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:20,120 There's a story about one of Vercingetorix's tribesmen saying to him, 343 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:22,960 eat the dead soldiers and the citizens of the town. 344 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,500 We could live a long time like that. 345 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:30,000 This wouldn't have been the first example of cannibalism, and it won't be 346 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,400 last. Think of the Donner Party in our own history. 347 00:25:32,940 --> 00:25:36,380 You know, the old history books always called the Gauls barbarians. 348 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:38,640 But they obviously had some humanity. 349 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:40,600 Vercingetorix didn't allow this. 350 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:45,640 Vercingetorix knows there are too many hungry mouths to feed. 351 00:25:46,460 --> 00:25:50,600 He devises a plan that he hopes will save the lives of some of the women and 352 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:51,600 children. 353 00:25:56,890 --> 00:26:03,070 sent them off to the Roman wall, essentially saying, look, let these 354 00:26:03,150 --> 00:26:05,790 there's no point to this, or actually take them in as slaves. 355 00:26:07,990 --> 00:26:13,050 Caesar rejects the offer. His own men are on the brink of starvation because 356 00:26:13,050 --> 00:26:17,310 land around Alesia has been left barren by Vercingetorix's scorched earth 357 00:26:17,310 --> 00:26:18,310 strategy. 358 00:26:18,910 --> 00:26:23,010 He has little sympathy for the desperate Gallic women and children who must 359 00:26:23,010 --> 00:26:24,090 return to Alesia. 360 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,840 But Vercingetorix doesn't want them back either. 361 00:26:32,780 --> 00:26:36,240 Having gotten rid of this large number of people that he no longer had to feed, 362 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:41,220 that Vercingetorix himself refused to allow them back in the city walls so 363 00:26:41,220 --> 00:26:44,000 the women and children, large numbers of women and children, were trapped 364 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,280 between the outer city wall and the inner Roman wall where they were allowed 365 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:48,740 simply to die of starvation. 366 00:26:50,580 --> 00:26:54,500 Some 3 ,000 women and children are trapped inside the no -man's land. 367 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,120 pawns in the struggle of wills between Vercingetorix and Caesar. 368 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:05,220 All these pathetic souls just languishing in this kind of limbo. 369 00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:08,540 literally caught in the middle of this fight. No one wants them. 370 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,720 But in this horrible test of wills, Vercingetorix weakens first. 371 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,840 Finally, the gate to Alesia open, and the townspeople re -enter. 372 00:27:24,910 --> 00:27:26,850 Caesar wins the Battle of Wills. 373 00:27:27,410 --> 00:27:33,410 Now the Gallic leader, Vercingetorix, doesn't get to transform his headache 374 00:27:33,410 --> 00:27:39,370 Caesar's. And Caesar gets to remind people of just what kind of man they're 375 00:27:39,370 --> 00:27:40,370 dealing with. 376 00:27:41,390 --> 00:27:43,830 The outlook for the Gauls is bleak. 377 00:27:44,050 --> 00:27:50,510 But then, three days later, on the horizon, a Gallic relief army, some 60 378 00:27:50,510 --> 00:27:51,570 strong, appears. 379 00:27:55,050 --> 00:27:58,390 They are led by Commodus, an old acquaintance of Caesar's. 380 00:28:02,370 --> 00:28:06,050 Commodus had been an ally to Caesar early on in the Gallic Wars. 381 00:28:06,670 --> 00:28:08,990 Vercingetorix had actually fought for Caesar also. 382 00:28:09,330 --> 00:28:14,610 So it was a real betrayal for Caesar to have these guys coming against him. 383 00:28:15,730 --> 00:28:19,510 Commodus wastes no time letting Caesar know he has arrived. 384 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,120 For the first time at the siege of Alesia, Caesar looks like he might be in 385 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:32,960 trouble. 60 ,000 Gallic soldiers, led by a man named Cominus, have come to the 386 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:33,960 rescue. 387 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:41,060 They're here to help Vercingetorix, who is trapped inside the city with tens of 388 00:28:41,060 --> 00:28:43,080 thousands of civilians and soldiers. 389 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,440 Cominus immediately goes on the offensive. 390 00:28:54,030 --> 00:28:58,190 He leads his infantry and attacks the Roman soldiers stationed on the outside. 391 00:29:01,270 --> 00:29:04,690 The Gauls were amazingly organized for a bunch of tribes that hadn't fought 392 00:29:04,690 --> 00:29:05,810 together until recently. 393 00:29:06,110 --> 00:29:09,570 They had infantry mixed in with the cavalry and covered the whole thing with 394 00:29:09,570 --> 00:29:10,570 archers and slingers. 395 00:29:15,710 --> 00:29:20,590 Caesar had no choice but to launch 5 ,000 cavalry to defend the wall, but 396 00:29:20,590 --> 00:29:22,210 ride into a hail of arrows. 397 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,880 Just when it seems the Roman defenses will collapse, Caesar sends in 398 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:28,880 reinforcements. 399 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:37,000 His timing is perfect, and the fresh troops push the Gauls back. 400 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,000 Despite the incredible difference in numbers, Caesar pushes the Gauls back 401 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:47,080 the way to the hill, just massacring the archers who had been supporting the 402 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:48,080 Gallic cavalry. 403 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,260 The fight rages from noon until sunset. 404 00:29:53,050 --> 00:29:55,010 The Romans emerge victorious. 405 00:29:56,170 --> 00:29:58,850 The Gauls' first assault ends in disgrace. 406 00:29:59,370 --> 00:30:03,530 The battle was nearly theirs. They had four times the number of soldiers and 407 00:30:03,530 --> 00:30:05,010 still could not defeat Caesar. 408 00:30:05,330 --> 00:30:06,770 This does not bode well. 409 00:30:07,670 --> 00:30:10,570 But Vercingetorix is not about to give up the fight. 410 00:30:11,190 --> 00:30:15,790 Somehow, he manages to coordinate with Commodus to launch a nighttime, multi 411 00:30:15,790 --> 00:30:18,090 -pronged attack against the Roman positions. 412 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,300 We don't know a lot about how much Communists and Vercingetorix could 413 00:30:22,300 --> 00:30:23,520 communicate with each other. 414 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:27,820 Maybe they had spies who could sneak through, but in battle, I doubt they 415 00:30:27,820 --> 00:30:29,560 communicate at all. It's just chaos. 416 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,360 Vercingetorix leads a force attempting to break through the inside wall. 417 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,180 Communists and his men attempt to scale the outside wall. 418 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:47,560 A third Gallic force. 419 00:30:48,090 --> 00:30:52,290 also on the outside, tries to break through the outer wall on the far side 420 00:30:52,290 --> 00:30:53,290 the city. 421 00:30:53,530 --> 00:30:55,770 The Gauls are learning, trying different tactics. 422 00:30:56,030 --> 00:30:59,250 This time they've got the cover of darkness on their side, and they've got 423 00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:01,330 ladders and wall hooks to scale the walls. 424 00:31:05,150 --> 00:31:09,750 Unfortunately for the Gauls, Caesar still has the upper hand. Up in the 425 00:31:09,750 --> 00:31:12,830 tower, he can easily see exactly what the Gauls are doing. 426 00:31:13,890 --> 00:31:18,050 With the high ground, Caesar's men easily repel the Gauls below. 427 00:31:19,290 --> 00:31:24,210 There are launching arrows, but also just this huge supply of stones and 428 00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:27,690 sticks. Nothing sophisticated, but I wouldn't want someone standing 12 feet 429 00:31:27,690 --> 00:31:29,390 me throwing stones at my head. 430 00:31:29,690 --> 00:31:33,210 You're trying to fill in these ditches and moats, and the whole time people are 431 00:31:33,210 --> 00:31:34,750 throwing deadly debris at you. 432 00:31:35,890 --> 00:31:39,590 In between the walls, Vercingetorix is getting pummeled. 433 00:31:40,070 --> 00:31:44,290 On the other side of the city, Caesar's siege works are doing their job. 434 00:31:44,730 --> 00:31:49,790 The little presence that Caesar planted, the anti -personnel devices, are really 435 00:31:49,790 --> 00:31:50,790 paying off here. 436 00:31:55,330 --> 00:31:59,210 These guys can't take a step without falling 10 feet onto a huge spike or 437 00:31:59,210 --> 00:32:00,570 getting a hook cut in their legs. 438 00:32:03,030 --> 00:32:07,190 Caesar's brilliantly planned siege of the city is proving too much for the 439 00:32:07,190 --> 00:32:08,190 Gauls. 440 00:32:08,950 --> 00:32:11,030 Cominus is being beaten on the outside. 441 00:32:12,010 --> 00:32:13,850 Vercingetorix is being beaten on the inside. 442 00:32:14,540 --> 00:32:18,120 The anti -personnel devices are killing Gauls right and left. 443 00:32:18,580 --> 00:32:24,360 And they both have this constant rain of Roman throwing spears and arrows coming 444 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:25,360 down on them. 445 00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:30,880 By daybreak, all the Gallic forces, both inside and outside the walls, are 446 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:31,880 forced to retreat. 447 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,800 Once again, Caesar is successful. 448 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,480 It's got to be driving Cominus and Driss and Cedric crazy. 449 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,020 They have three times the army. 450 00:32:42,750 --> 00:32:46,650 Yet they're spending most of their time filling up ditches and dying at the 451 00:32:46,650 --> 00:32:47,650 hands of the Romans. 452 00:32:47,910 --> 00:32:52,550 Caesar's like a master chess player. By imprisoning Alessia, then building the 453 00:32:52,550 --> 00:32:56,830 second wall to repel the Gauls from the outside, he's neutralized the numbers 454 00:32:56,830 --> 00:32:58,010 advantage the Gauls have. 455 00:32:58,530 --> 00:32:59,530 Absolute genius. 456 00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:02,430 Five more days' path. 457 00:33:03,230 --> 00:33:05,630 Starvation is taking its toll on the Gauls. 458 00:33:06,350 --> 00:33:09,410 Desperately, the Gauls try to figure out how to stop the Roman. 459 00:33:11,150 --> 00:33:14,990 They were already beaten back twice, but they had to do something. 460 00:33:15,430 --> 00:33:18,710 The people inside were beyond being out of food. 461 00:33:20,490 --> 00:33:24,450 Finally, the Gauls discover the weak spot in the Roman outer wall near the 462 00:33:24,450 --> 00:33:25,450 of Mount Rhea. 463 00:33:25,830 --> 00:33:29,810 Because of the Ose River, Caesar couldn't completely connect his outer 464 00:33:30,530 --> 00:33:32,910 It's a gap commonest hopes to exploit. 465 00:33:33,870 --> 00:33:37,790 So what they do is they sneak under cover of Nye to that weak spot tucked 466 00:33:37,790 --> 00:33:40,550 between the two hills, and they stay hidden in the woods. 467 00:33:41,410 --> 00:33:43,890 At noon the next day, they attack. 468 00:33:47,370 --> 00:33:51,450 Commodus' men flood through the opening in the wall and ravage the Roman 469 00:33:51,450 --> 00:33:52,450 infantry. 470 00:33:59,610 --> 00:34:04,090 At another part of the wall, A second Gallic force attempts to break in. 471 00:34:04,870 --> 00:34:07,710 The second Gallic force begins to overwhelm the wall. 472 00:34:07,910 --> 00:34:11,010 The Romans are simply running out of stuff to throw at them. 473 00:34:13,530 --> 00:34:17,010 At the same time, Vercingetorix attacks from the inside. 474 00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:36,659 Caesar watches this three -pronged Gallic attack from his siege tower. 475 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:43,080 Historians like to debate whether Caesar was really such a great tactician. But 476 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,639 what he did at that final battle, it was like conducting an orchestra. 477 00:34:47,780 --> 00:34:52,739 Caesar decides to commit 3 ,600 reinforcements to his defenses at the 478 00:34:52,739 --> 00:34:53,739 wall. 479 00:34:54,350 --> 00:34:58,510 He ordered reinforcement cavalry to come around from the northeast side to help 480 00:34:58,510 --> 00:34:59,510 protect the weak spot. 481 00:34:59,590 --> 00:35:04,070 But at the same time, the Gauls send another 20 ,000 troops into the gap in 482 00:35:04,070 --> 00:35:05,070 wall. 483 00:35:05,150 --> 00:35:08,850 But you see, 20 ,000 men isn't going to do you a lot of good when you're trying 484 00:35:08,850 --> 00:35:13,030 to funnel them through essentially a narrow gap between two rivers while 485 00:35:13,030 --> 00:35:16,590 being opposed on both sides by legion camps and in the front by a ditch and a 486 00:35:16,590 --> 00:35:17,590 wall. 487 00:35:18,850 --> 00:35:21,330 Caesar watches as the Gauls switch tactics. 488 00:35:21,530 --> 00:35:24,620 If they can't go through the wall, They will tear it down. 489 00:35:25,460 --> 00:35:27,340 By now, they're at the wall. 490 00:35:27,700 --> 00:35:30,780 And they're just tearing at these with these mural hooks. 491 00:35:31,240 --> 00:35:35,820 They're iron hooks designed for tearing down the walls of a besieged town. 492 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:40,060 Everything's kind of backwards because of Caesar's Wall. Usually it's the 493 00:35:40,060 --> 00:35:43,340 conquering force that's using mural hooks, not the defenders. 494 00:35:44,740 --> 00:35:46,880 The battle rages on all fronts. 495 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:13,940 Beezer finally takes matters into his own hands. He personally leads 2 ,400 496 00:36:13,940 --> 00:36:14,940 men into battle. 497 00:36:21,300 --> 00:36:26,420 He takes command of four cohorts of infantry himself, puts on his famous red 498 00:36:26,420 --> 00:36:30,620 cloak. He always thought it important that troops should see their commander 499 00:36:30,620 --> 00:36:34,360 battle, and leads these four cohorts right into the fray. 500 00:36:39,340 --> 00:36:43,440 The Roman line was ready to break until Caesar arrived at the last minute with 501 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:44,460 the reinforcements. 502 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:56,300 And there he is, hacking a call for the gladius, absolutely butchering them. 503 00:37:04,780 --> 00:37:10,420 There's a big difference between a commander saying, charge, and one 504 00:37:10,620 --> 00:37:11,620 follow me, boy. 505 00:37:21,380 --> 00:37:24,880 Patton wore a red cloak just because of Caesar. 506 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:30,380 Now that Caesar's there, the Roman legions put down all these pilum and 507 00:37:30,380 --> 00:37:33,440 and things that they were throwing from a distance, and they pick up their 508 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,600 swords, and they just charge the Gauls. 509 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:44,680 Caesar has the momentum, and he's going in for the kill. 510 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:56,940 More than two months into the siege of Alesia, Julius Caesar, wearing his 511 00:37:56,940 --> 00:38:00,320 red cloak, leads his men into battle against the Gauls. 512 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,500 And the texts say that what was happening is that the Roman line was 513 00:38:12,500 --> 00:38:17,800 break until Caesar arrived at the last minute with these four cohorts with the 514 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:22,580 reinforcements. And at the same time, you know, increasing Roman morale 515 00:38:22,580 --> 00:38:25,960 they saw their commander fighting with them with the red cloak. 516 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:33,720 By evening, Caesar had the momentum. He chases the Gauls to their camp, cuts 517 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:34,840 them down like animals. 518 00:39:05,089 --> 00:39:07,890 The defeat. 519 00:39:21,630 --> 00:39:25,910 sends the message of kind of despair to the other tribes in the coalition. 520 00:39:26,310 --> 00:39:30,630 And after a day or two, one by one, as they had done so many times in the past, 521 00:39:30,730 --> 00:39:33,750 they then wander back to their own tribal lands. 522 00:39:34,590 --> 00:39:38,370 And even Vercingetorix understands that the game is over. 523 00:39:40,690 --> 00:39:46,310 And he's the one who takes the initiative and opens negotiations with 524 00:39:46,310 --> 00:39:47,310 Romans. 525 00:39:49,190 --> 00:39:52,970 Caesar had made a name for himself by wiping out entire tribes. 526 00:39:54,230 --> 00:39:59,430 But uncharacteristically, after this battle, he decides to spare the Gallic 527 00:39:59,430 --> 00:40:00,430 warriors. 528 00:40:01,330 --> 00:40:02,970 Caesar was pretty lenient. 529 00:40:03,630 --> 00:40:08,330 Way out of character for the guy who is famous for annihilating whole tribes. 530 00:40:09,750 --> 00:40:14,510 Maybe he sensed that in order to keep insurgents down, he had to change 531 00:40:15,510 --> 00:40:17,970 Maybe he even acquired a newfound respect. 532 00:40:18,590 --> 00:40:20,510 for the way they had performed in battle. 533 00:40:21,430 --> 00:40:24,970 But of course, Vercingetorix had darted this. 534 00:40:26,510 --> 00:40:28,150 He had to be made an example. 535 00:40:33,390 --> 00:40:35,590 October 2nd, 52 BC. 536 00:40:36,370 --> 00:40:41,210 After almost two months of bloodshed, Vercingetorix finally surrenders. 537 00:40:43,030 --> 00:40:47,350 Vercingetorix puts his best armor on and marches through the gate. 538 00:40:48,490 --> 00:40:49,830 Coming right up to Caesar. 539 00:40:51,050 --> 00:40:53,990 And tens of thousands of Romans behind him. 540 00:40:55,130 --> 00:40:59,310 You can imagine the scene. Here's this guy who had dared to challenge Caesar, 541 00:40:59,490 --> 00:41:01,230 coming face to face with him. 542 00:41:13,630 --> 00:41:15,130 A valiant warrior. 543 00:41:15,710 --> 00:41:18,470 but one who has committed a basic tactical error. 544 00:41:21,190 --> 00:41:25,830 He had a plan not to take Caesar head on, but to skirmish, cut his 545 00:41:25,830 --> 00:41:31,350 communication, cut his supply lines, just harass him at every turn. He held 546 00:41:31,350 --> 00:41:35,230 to that at times when he could have tried to go in for the kill, but he 547 00:41:35,230 --> 00:41:39,230 disciplined. Then he suddenly scrapped the whole idea. He sends his best 548 00:41:39,230 --> 00:41:42,810 fighters to go get help, help that didn't end up doing much good. 549 00:41:43,550 --> 00:41:47,110 It's fascinating. He had hung to the original strategy right to the point 550 00:41:47,110 --> 00:41:51,550 it was succeeding, and then, for whatever reason, changes the strategy, 551 00:41:51,550 --> 00:41:52,550 cost him dearly. 552 00:41:54,770 --> 00:41:59,490 While many of the Gauls are freed, Vercingetorix is brought to Rome and 553 00:41:59,490 --> 00:42:00,490 executed. 554 00:42:01,410 --> 00:42:06,150 And as the story goes, for which there's probably not much evidence, that during 555 00:42:06,150 --> 00:42:09,370 one of Caesar's triumphs, he was strangled. 556 00:42:10,259 --> 00:42:14,760 in full public view, more likely he was simply executed in a Roman dungeon. 557 00:42:15,220 --> 00:42:18,860 The Romans were not, I mean, they had no problems with public execution. 558 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:23,180 But in this case, they were just well to be rid of what was called the firebrand 559 00:42:23,180 --> 00:42:26,080 of the Gauls, the men who were afraid that would light Gaul on fire. 560 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,660 Caesar spends the winter extinguishing the dying embers of the rebellion. 561 00:42:32,660 --> 00:42:36,240 Rome will not have to fight the Gauls for another 400 years. 562 00:42:37,420 --> 00:42:42,780 One can compare Caesar, to William Tecumseh Sherman of the March Through 563 00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:43,780 fame. 564 00:42:43,860 --> 00:42:49,540 In 1867, he was given the job of breaking the resistance of the Indians 565 00:42:49,540 --> 00:42:50,540 West. 566 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:56,660 He used the exact same tactics, scorched earth, massacre, removal, starvation, 567 00:42:56,900 --> 00:43:02,220 against the Amerindian tribes that Caesar had against the Gallic tribes, 568 00:43:02,220 --> 00:43:03,220 with the same results. 569 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:04,560 He won. 570 00:43:04,940 --> 00:43:07,580 The Amerindians were settled on reservations. 571 00:43:08,490 --> 00:43:10,210 and became American. 572 00:43:14,610 --> 00:43:19,130 Alesia was a great personal victory for Julius Caesar, who at times was the 573 00:43:19,130 --> 00:43:21,350 besieged as well as the besieger. 574 00:43:21,630 --> 00:43:25,850 But the outcome of this battle is more than just dramatic material for Caesar's 575 00:43:25,850 --> 00:43:26,850 own writings. 576 00:43:28,030 --> 00:43:33,250 The Battle of Alesia in the long run was one of the most beneficial things that 577 00:43:33,250 --> 00:43:36,890 happened to all of Europe because what it did is it allowed the thorough 578 00:43:36,890 --> 00:43:37,890 Romanization 579 00:43:38,460 --> 00:43:43,260 of an enormous area from the Rhine all the way to the Pyrenees, what today we 580 00:43:43,260 --> 00:43:48,960 would call Western Europe, was civilized and organized as a province of Rome and 581 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,500 then became, under the empire, essentially Italy and Rome itself. 582 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:57,000 It got to a point where the Gauls never thought of themselves as anything except 583 00:43:57,000 --> 00:43:58,000 Romans. 584 00:44:01,820 --> 00:44:05,340 Some say that Caesar's campaign was really a reign of terror. 585 00:44:06,060 --> 00:44:11,020 But Adalisia, He used brilliant tactics to defeat a large Gallic army that 586 00:44:11,020 --> 00:44:12,260 attacked from two directions. 587 00:44:13,100 --> 00:44:18,260 The result was that Caesar not only destroyed the Gauls, he united the land 588 00:44:18,260 --> 00:44:20,760 would become a significant part of Western Europe. 589 00:44:21,820 --> 00:44:28,540 And it all was made possible, ultimately, by the brilliance of a 590 00:44:28,540 --> 00:44:34,140 and the defeat of Vercingetorix at the Battle and Siege of Alessia.