Caesar's Gallic Wars were the major military offensives carried out by the Roman Legions, led by Julius Caesar, against the Gallic tribes between 58 and 50 BC, in Gaul (France-Belgium). The main rationale of Caesar's military campaigns in Gaul was twofold: 1) to put an end to a series of Gallic revolts against the Roman allies in both Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul; 2) to definitely secure Rome's northern border in the Alps region against any likely Gallic invasion of the Italic Peninsula, as these people had already done in the past during the Gallic sack of Rome in the 4th century BC. Gallic and Gaulish are the adjectives of Gaul, and the Gauls were a Celtic ethnic group who constituted a confederation of the warlike Celtic tribes who had settled in the 6th century BC in the territory lying northwest of the Alps, in the basins of the Rhine, Seine, and the Loire River.
Julius Caesar's campaigns against the Gallic tribes in France were vicious and unrelenting as he and the Senate had already decided to completely romanize the region of the Gaul once and for all, with the Battle of Alesia being the major military engagement of the Gallic Wars. During this battle, the Gauls' chieftain and commander, Vercingetorix, was taken prisoner and brought to Rome, where he lived in captivity for the remainder of his life, dying in 46 BC. The successful completion of these military offensives meant a major territorial and geopolitical expansion of the Roman Republic, which would soon become empire, under Augustus (Gaius Octavius). After the defeat of Vercingetorix, Roman legions and traders were able to travel safely by land from the Italic Peninsula to Hispania (Spain), which was an important Roman province.
Summary
By 58 BC, some Gaul tribes in southern France had established trade ties and friendly relations with Rome. However, these tribes came into conflict with the rest of the Gauls who rejected the presence of the Romans in southern France. Thus, they sought Caesar's support in their struggle against the most belligerent Gaulish tribes, which were the Nervii, Arverni, Turoni, Eburones, Menapii, Veneti, and Helvetii. The Roman consul and his legions were only too willing to help them and conquer the whole territory of Gaul, from the Rhine River to the Pyrenees. Although the Gallic Wars broke out in 58 BC, Julius Caesar began his military campaign in earnest in 57 BC, attacking and defeating the Nervii at the Battle of Sabis. The Nervii put up fierce fighting, making the Romans suffer many casualties.
In 55 BC, Julius Caesar launched punitive expeditions into the territory lying on the other side of the Rhine and, after that, across the English Channel. However, when he returned from Britain, the Eburones, under chieftain Ambiorix rose up in arms against the Romans in 54 BC; this is known as the Ambiorix's Revolt, which was successfully put down by the Romans in 53 BC after a savage and tenaciously-fought campaign. In 52, Julius Caesar fought against the Arverni tribe, under chieftain Vercingetorix, at the Battle of Gergovia, in which the Romans were defeated, and at the Battle of Alesia, in which the Arverni were totally and definitely beaten and routed by the Roman legions.
By 51 BC and 50 BC, most of Gaul had been conquered by the Romans. However, there was still pockets of resistance, which Caesar's legions were mostly in the process of mopping up. Although Gaul was conquered, it would not become a Roman province until 27 BC, as sporadic fighting would continue until as late as 70 AD. Second in command of Roman legions in the Gallic Wars were Titus Labienus, Quintus Tullius Cicero, Publius Licinius Crassus, Quintus Titurius Sabinus, and Lucius Arunculeius Cotta, who was killed in action by the Eburones.
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| Above, statue of Ambiorix in Belgium. He was chief of the Eburones tribe, which put up tenacious resistance in the Gallic Wars. |
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| Vercingetorix, chieftain of the Arverni, surrenders to Julius Caesar at Alesia in 52 BC. A painting by Lionel-Noel Royer, from 1899. |