Battle of Gergovia
| Battle of Gergovia | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Gallic Wars | |||||||
 Ancient Gergovia was located on the plateau in the background. The main battlefield was the area in the image's center right |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Roman Republic | Gallic tribes | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Julius Caesar | Vercingetorix | ||||||
|
|||||
The Battle of Gergovia took place in 52 BC in Gaul at Gergovia, the chief town of the Arverni. The battle was fought between a Roman Republic army, led by proconsul Julius Caesar, and Gallic forces led by Vercingetorix. The Gauls won the battle.
The site is identified with Merdogne, now called Gergovie, a village located on a hill within the town of La Roche-Blanche, near Clermont-Ferrand, in south central France. Some walls and earthworks still survive from the pre-Roman Iron Age.
Prelude
Vercingetorix had earlier been expelled from Gergovia[1]. In winter 53 BC, whilst Caesar was gathering his forces for a strike against the Gauls, Vercingetorix attacked Gergovia.[2] Caesar states that this left him with a difficult decision, between keeping his forces safe over the winter but showing Roman weakness in defending her allies the Aedui and thus losing their support, or bringing Vercingetorix to open battle but risking running out of supplies - he chose the latter.[3]
Leaving two legions and all his baggage train behind in Agedincum, Caesar led the remaining legions to Gergovia's aid. His sieges of Vellaunodunum, Genabum and Noviodunum on route caused Vercingetorix to lift his siege and march to meet Caesar in open battle at Noviodunum, which Caesar won.[4] Caesar then besieged and captured Avaricum and resupplied there.
The battle
With the winter almost over, Caesar went in person to win back Aedui support and backing, and then detached a force of four legions under Titus Labienus to advance into Senones and Parisii territory, taking the remaining 6 legions, Aedui auxilia and Germanic cavalry to Gergovia himself.[5] In response, Vercingetorix broke down all the bridges over the river Allier and began to march along its opposite bank. This did not prevent Caesar from crossing, but Vercingetorix continued to advance his force faster than Caesar's, so that the choice of when and where to give battle remained his.
Five days later Caesar reached Gergovia and, realising its mountainous location made a frontal assault risky, relied on his superior siege tactics.[6] He ordered a double trench, 12 feet wide, to be constructed between a captured hill and his main camp. Intending to completely encircle Gergovia and starve the Gauls inside, Caesar was interrupted by betrayal from his Gallic allies the Aedui, led by Litaviccus whom he fought and defeated after a desperate struggle.
Caesar then went back to Gergovia and realised that his siege would fail. His only chance now of victory was to get Vercingetorix off the high ground. He used a legion as a decoy and moved onto better ground, capturing three Gallic camps in the process. He then ordered a general retreat to fool Vercingetorix and pull him off the high ground. However, the retreat was not heard by most of Caesar's force. Instead, spurred on by the ease with which they captured the camps, they pressed on toward the town and mounted a direct assault on it. The noise of the assault drew Vercingetorix back into the town. 46 centurions and 700 legionaries died in the resulting engagement, and over 6,000 were wounded on the Roman side, compared to the several hundred Gauls killed and wounded. In the wake of the battle, Caesar lifted his siege and advanced instead into Aedui territory.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.