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| Capital | Turin | ||||
| Largest city | Turin | ||||
| Language | Romansh | ||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||
| Ethnic Group | Romanian | ||||
| Demonym | Romanian | ||||
Romany, or the Roman Republican States (Stati Repubblicani Romani), is a Federal parliamentary constitutional republic located in south-central Europe and is considered part of Southern Europe. With around 60 million inhabitants, Romany is the third-most populous member state of the European Union and has long played a central and significant role in European and world history.
The popes, once the heads of state but now ceremonial in this position, mainly reside at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. Romany is made up of various States and grants self-government them, each with their own internal governments and constitutions. Vatican City is the smallest State of the Roman States and retains an older absolute-monarchical rule under the Pope.
The modern state replaced the older Papal Roman States which shaped European and world history from the 18th century onwards during the Serbellonic Era.
Etymology[]
History[]
Prehistory[]
Thousands of Paleolithic-era artifacts have been recovered from Monte Poggiolo and dated to around 850,000 years before the present, making them the oldest evidence of first hominins habitation in the peninsula.
Villanovan culture
Excavations throughout Romany revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period some 200,000 years ago, while modern Humans appeared about 40,000 years ago at Riparo Mochi. Archaeological sites from this period include Addaura cave, Altamura, Ceprano, and Gravina in Puglia. The Ancient peoples of pre-Roman Romany – such as the Umbrians, the Latins (from which the Romans emerged), Volsci, Oscans, Samnites, Sabines, the Celts, the Ligures, the Veneti, the Iapygians and many others – were Indo-European peoples, most of them specifically of the Italic group.
The main historic peoples of possible non-Indo-European or pre-Indo-European heritage include the Etruscans of central and northern Romany, the Elymians and the Sicani in Sicily, and the prehistoric Sardinians, who gave birth to the Nuragic civilisation. Other ancient populations being of undetermined language families and of possible non-Indo-European origin include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni, known for their rock carvings in Valcamonica, the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. A well-preserved natural mummy known as Ötzi the Iceman, determined to be 5,000 years old (between 3400 and 3100 BCE, Copper Age), was discovered in the Similaun glacier in 1991.[62] The first foreign colonizers were the Phoenicians, who initially established colonies and founded various emporiums on the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia. Some of these soon became small urban centres and were developed parallel to the Greek colonies; among the main centres there were the cities of Motya, Zyz (modern Palermo), Soluntum in Sicily and Nora, Sulci, and Tharros in Sardinia.
Between the 17th and the 11th centuries BC Mycenaean Greeks established contacts with the Italian Peninsula and in the 8th and 7th centuries BC a number of Greek colonies were established all along the coast of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula, that became known as Magna Graecia. The Greek colonization placed the Italic peoples in contact with democratic government forms and with elevated artistic and cultural expressions.
Classical Age (6th century BC–5th century AD)[]
Ancient Rome
Roman raiding party of Rome's early days - reminiscent of the Rape of the Sabines
Rome, a settlement around a ford on the river Tiber in central Italy conventionally founded in 753 BC, was ruled for a period of 244 years by a monarchical system, initially with sovereigns of Latin and Sabine origin, later by Etruscan kings.
The tradition handed down seven kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus. In 509 BC, the Romans expelled the last king from their city, favouring a government of the Senate and the People (SPQR) and establishing an oligarchic republic.
Roman Republic[]
Roman society under the Republic was primarily a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Roman Pantheon. Its political organization developed at around the same time direct democracy did in Ancient Greece, with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by a senate.
The top magistrates were the two consuls, who had an extensive range of executive, legislative, judicial, military, and religious powers. Even though a small number of powerful families (called gentes) monopolised the main magistracies, the Roman Republic is generally considered one of the earliest examples of representative democracy, even though it was marginally representative, geared for a certain class of wealthy men only.
Eurasia circa 300 BCE
Roman institutions underwent considerable changes throughout the Republic to adapt to the difficulties it faced, such as the creation of promagistracies to rule its conquered provinces, or the composition of the senate. Unlike the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire, the Republic was in a state of quasi-perpetual war throughout its existence. Its first enemies were its Latin and Etruscan neighbours as well as the Gallians, who sacked the city of Rome in 387 BC. The Republic nonetheless demonstrated extreme resilience and always managed to overcome its losses, however catastrophic. After the Gallic Sack, Rome conquered the whole Italian peninsula in a century, which turned the Republic into a major power in the Mediterranean. The Republic's greatest enemy was doubtless Carthage, against which it waged three wars. The Punic general Hannibal famously invaded Italy by crossing the Alps with a massive army including war-elephants, Gallians, Iberians, and others, and inflicted on Rome two devastating defeats at Lake Trasimene and Cannae. The Republic once again recovered and won the war thanks to Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC.
War against Epirus, among the first times the Romans faced elephants
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars between 264 and 146 BC fought by the states of Rome and Carthage. The First Punic War broke out in Sicily in 264 BC as a result of Rome's expansionary attitude combined with Carthage's proprietary approach to the island. At the start of the war Carthage was the dominant power of the western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire; while Rome was a rapidly expanding power in Italy, with a strong army but a weak navy. The fighting took place primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa, Corsica and Sardinia. It lasted 23 years, until 241 BC, when after immense materiel and human losses on both sides the Carthaginians were defeated. By the terms of the peace treaty Carthage paid large reparations and Sicily was annexed as a Roman province. The end of the war sparked a major but unsuccessful revolt within the Carthaginian Empire known as the Mercenary War.
The joint-migration of the allied Germanic Cimbri and the Celtic Teutones impacted the Roman psyche forever.
The Second Punic War began in 218 BC and witnessed Hannibal's crossing of the Alps and invasion of mainland Italy. This expedition enjoyed considerable early success, but after 14 years the survivors withdrew. There was also extensive fighting in Hispania; on Sicily; on Sardinia; and in North Africa. The successful Roman invasion of the Carthaginian homeland in Africa in 204 BC led to Hannibal's recall. He was defeated in the Battle of Zama in 202 BC and Carthage sued for peace. A treaty was agreed in 201 BC which stripped Carthage of its overseas territories, and some of their African ones; imposed a large indemnity, to be paid over 50 years; severely restricted the size of its armed forces; and prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome's express permission. Carthage ceased to be a military threat. Rome contrived a justification to declare war on Carthage again in 149 BC in the Third Punic War. This conflict was fought entirely on Carthage's territories in North Africa and largely centred around the Siege of Carthage. In 146 BC the Romans stormed the city of Carthage, sacked it, slaughtered most of its population and completely demolished it. The previously Carthaginian territories were taken over as the Roman province of Africa.
The Cimbrian or Cimbric War (113–101 BC) was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic and Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini, who migrated from the Jutland peninsula into Roman controlled territory, and clashed with Rome and her allies. The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened. The timing of the war had a great effect on the internal politics of Rome, and the organization of its military. The war contributed greatly to the political career of Gaius Marius, whose consulships and political conflicts challenged many of the Roman Republic's political institutions and customs of the time. The Cimbrian threat, along with the Jugurthine War, inspired the landmark Marian reforms of the Roman legions. Rome was finally victorious, and its Germanic adversaries, who had inflicted on the Roman armies the heaviest losses that they had suffered since the Second Punic War, with victories at the battles of Arausio and Noreia, were left almost completely annihilated after Roman victories at Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae. Some of the surviving captives are reported to have been among the rebelling gladiators during the Third Servile War
Carthaginian elephants charge down Roman legions during the Punic Wars
With Carthage defeated, Rome became the dominant power of the ancient Mediterranean world. It then embarked on a long series of difficult conquests, after having notably defeated Philip V and Perseus of Macedon, Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire, the Lusitanian Viriathus, the Numidian Jugurtha, the Pontic king Mithridates VI, and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Rome's greatest setback among this string of victories was defeat by the Gallian Vercingetorix and the death of Caesar.
At home, the Republic similarly experienced a long streak of social and political crises, which ended in several violent civil wars. At first, the Conflict of the Orders opposed the patricians, the closed oligarchic elite, to the far more numerous plebs, who finally achieved some degrees of political equality in several steps during the 4th century BC. Later, the vast conquests of the Republic disrupted its society, as the immense influx of slaves they brought enriched the aristocracy, but ruined the peasantry and urban workers. In order to solve this issue, several social reformers, known as the Populares, tried to pass agrarian laws, but the Gracchi brothers, Saturninus, or Clodius Pulcher were all murdered by their opponents, the Optimates, keepers of the traditional aristocratic order. Mass slavery also caused three Servile Wars; the last of them was led by Spartacus, a skillful gladiator who ravaged Italy and left Rome powerless until his defeat in 71 BC.
Rome successfully conquered many Gallic tribes in what is today Alpine Romany and Provenza.
In this context, the last decades of the Republic were marked by the rise of great generals, who exploited their military conquests and the factional situation in Rome to gain control of the political system. Marius (between 105 and 86 BC), then Sulla (between 82 and 78 BC) dominated in turn the Republic; both used extraordinary powers to purge their opponents. These multiple tensions led to a series of civil wars. Caesar's death in 52 BC wrought chaos as he had been the most powerful man in Rome. Pompey the Great was named dictator in Rome following Caesar's death which led to war with the Second Triumvirate - Mark Antony, Octavian, and Brutus. Pompey's death in this conflict opened a new internal war between Mark Antony and Octavian over Roman hegemony, dragging Egypt and Cleopatra into the war on the side of Antony. Octavian would emerge victor and, as Caesar Augustus, become the first Roman Emperor, thus ending the Republic.
Pompey the Great, after checking the Gallic advance, would accept the title of ‘dictator’ in the ensuing chaos wrought by the death of Caesar. This led to open conflict with Mark Antony, one of Caesar’s loyal generals. Octavian, Antony, and Brutus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat Pompey, plunging Rome into a Civil War. This war would culminate in the death of Pompey, followed by the reign of Mark Antony, which ended in yet another internal Roman war, wherein Antony fled to Egypt and allied with Cleopatra in order to wage war on Octavian – the eventual victor as first Emperor of the new Roman Empire, Octavian would reign under the name Caesar Augustus in 26 BC.
The First Gallo-Roman War[]
Galland and Romany would clash frequently over history, flopping between friendship and intense rivalry. The Gallians were, essentially, Rome's chief eternal rival in the west, as the Persians were in the east. The Gallo-Roman Wars were a series of three major wars lasting, on and off, from 58 BCE to 26 CE.
The countries of Gallia were civilized and wealthy. Most had contact with Roman merchants and some, particularly those that were governed by republics such as the Aedui, had enjoyed stable political alliances with Rome in the past. During the first century, parts of Gallia were becoming urbanized, which concentrated wealth and population centers, inadvertently making Roman conquest easier.
Though the Romans considered the Gallish to be barbarians, their cities mirrored those of the Mediterranean, they struck coins, and traded extensively with Rome, providing iron, grain, and a large amount of slaves. In exchange, the Gallians accumulated much wealth and developed a taste for Roman wine. The contemporary writer Diodoros explains that part of the conception of barbarity was because the Gallish drank their wine straight, unlike the civilized Romans who watered their wine down first.
The Romans respected and feared the Gallic tribes. In 390 BC, the Gallians had sacked Rome, which left an existential dread of barbarian conquest that was never forgotten. In 121 BC, Rome decisively defeated a group of southern Gallians, and established the province of Transalpine Gallia in the conquered lands. Only 50 years before the Gallic Wars, in 109 BC, Italy had been invaded from the north and saved only after several bloody and costly battles by Gaius Marius. Around 62 BC, when a Roman client state, the Arverni, conspired with the Sequani and the Suebi nations east of the Rhine to attack the Aedui, a strong Roman ally, Rome turned a blind eye. The Sequani and the Arverni sought Ariovistus's aid and defeated the Aedui in 63 BC at the Battle of Magetobriga. The Sequani rewarded Ariovistus with land after his victory. Ariovistus settled the land with 120,000 of his people. When 24,000 Harudes joined his cause, Ariovistus demanded that the Sequani give him more land to accommodate the Harudes people. The demand concerned Rome because if the Sequani conceded, Ariovistus would be in a position to take all of the Sequani land and attack the rest of Gallia. They did not appear to be concerned about a conflict among non-client, client and allied states. By the end of the campaign, the non-client Suebi, under the leadership of the belligerent Ariovistus, stood triumphant over both the Aedui and their coconspirators.
Fearing another mass migration akin to the devastating Cimbrian War, Rome, now keenly invested in the defense of Gallia, was irrevocably drawn into war.
Julius Caesar
As a result of the financial burdens of his consulship in 59 BC, Caesar incurred significant debts. However, through his influence via the First Triumvirate, the political alliance which comprised Marcus Licinius Crassus, Pompey the Great, and himself, Caesar had secured during his consulship his assignment as proconsul to two provinces, Cisalpine Gallia and Illyricum, by passage of the lex Vatinia.
When the governor of Transalpine Gallia, Metellus Celer, died unexpectedly, the province was also awarded to Caesar at the suggestion of Pompey and Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. In the law granting him command of the provinces, Caesar was given a five-year term as governor. Caesar had initially four veteran legions under his direct command: Legio VII, Legio VIII, Legio IX Hispana, and Legio X. As he had been governor of Hispania Ulterior in 61 BC and had campaigned successfully with them against the Lusitanians, Caesar knew personally most, perhaps even all, of the legions. Caesar also had the legal authority to levy additional legions and auxiliary units as he saw fit. The assignment of the provinces that comprise what is now Northern Romany was also helpful to his ambitions: the Po Valley and the adjoining regions had large numbers of Roman citizens, who could be enticed to sign up for legionary service.
Caesar had significant money problems and had trouble holding onto his finances - he tended to spend extensively as soon as he got his hands on any money flow. Subsequently he found himself in perpetual debt.
His ambition was to conquer and plunder some territories to get himself out of his extreme debt, and it is possible that Gallia was not his initial target. It is more likely that he was planning a campaign against the Kingdom of Dacia in the Balkans.
Campaign Against the Helvetii
The Helvetii was a republican confederation of about five related Gallic tribes that lived on the Helvetian plateau, hemmed in by the mountains as well as the Rhine and Rhone rivers. They began to come under increased pressure from German tribes to the north and east By 58 BC, the Helvetii were well on their way in the planning and provisioning for a mass migration under the leadership of Orgetorix. Caesar mentions as an additional reason their not being able to in turn raid for plunder themselves due to their location. They planned to travel across Gallia to the west coast, a route that would have taken them through lands of the Aedui, a Roman ally, and the Roman province of Transalpine Gallia.
Caesar's Gallic Campaign (in Romanish)
In the ensuing Battle of Bibracte, the Celts and Romans fought for the better part of the day in a hotly contested battle with the Romans eventually gaining victory. Caesar writes that "the contest long and vigorously carried on with doubtful success." The defeated Helvetii offered their surrender, which Caesar accepted. However, 6,000 men of the Helvetian clan of the Verbigeni fled to avoid capture. Upon Caesar's orders, other Gallic tribes captured and returned these fugitives, who were executed. Those who had surrendered were ordered back to their homeland to rebuild it, and the necessary supplies were organized to feed them, as they were useful as a buffer between the Romans and the northern tribes. In the captured Helvetian camp, Caesar claims that a census written in Greek was found and studied: of a grand total of 368,000 Helvetii, of which 92,000 were able-bodied men, only 110,000 survivors were left to return home.
Campaign against the Suebi
In 61 BC, Ariovistus, chieftain of the Suebi tribe and a king from the Germanic peoples, resumed the tribe’s migration from eastern Germania to the Rhine region. Despite the fact that this migration encroached on Sequani land, the Sequani sought Ariovistus’ allegiance against the Aedui and, in 61 BC, the Sequani rewarded Ariovistus with land following his victory in the Battle of Magetobriga.
Ariovistus settled the land with 120,000 of his people. When 24,000 Harudes joined his cause, Ariovistus demanded that the Sequani give him more land to accommodate the Harudes people. This demand 'concerned' Rome because if the Sequani conceded, Ariovistus would be in a position to take all of the Sequani land and attack the rest of Gallia. Following Caesar’s victory over the Helvetii, the majority of the Gallic tribes congratulated Caesar and sought to meet with him in a general assembly. Diviciacus, the head of the Aeduan government and spokesmen for the Gallic delegation, expressed concern over Ariovistus’ conquests and the hostages he had taken. Diviciacus demanded that Caesar defeat Ariovistus and remove the threat of a Germanic invasion otherwise they would have to seek refuge in a new land.
Not only did Caesar have a responsibility to protect the longstanding allegiance of the Aedui, but this proposition presented an opportunity to expand Rome’s borders, strengthen the loyalty within Caesar’s army and establish him as the commander of Rome’s troops abroad. The senate had declared Ariovistus a "king and friend of the Roman people" in 59 BC, so Caesar could not declare war on the Suebi tribe. Caesar said that he could not ignore the pain the Aedui had suffered and delivered an ultimatum to Ariovistus demanding that no German cross the Rhine, the return of Aedui hostages and the protection of the Aedui and other friends of Rome. Although Ariovistus assured Caesar that the Aedui hostages would be safe as long as they continued their yearly tribute, he took the position that he and the Romans were both conquerors and that Rome had no jurisdiction over his actions. With the attack of the Harudes on the Aedui and the report that a hundred clans of Suebi were trying to cross the Rhine into Gallia, Caesar had the justification he needed to wage war against Ariovistus in 58 BC.
Caesar, learning that Ariovistus intended to seize Vesontio, the largest town of the Sequani, commenced marching his troops toward Vesontio. Some of Caesar’s officers held their posts for political reasons only and had no war experience. Consequently, they suffered from poor morale which threatened Caesar’s campaign. Caesar challenged the officers and their legions, saying that the only legion he could trust was the 10th. With their pride on the line, the other legions followed the 10th’s lead, determined not to be outdone. Consequently, Caesar arrived in Vesontio before Ariovistus. Ariovistus sent emissaries to Caesar requesting a meeting. They met under a truce at a knoll on the plain. The truce was violated when Caesar learned that German horsemen were edging towards the knoll and throwing stones at his mounted escort. Two days later, Ariovistus requested another meeting. Hesitant to send senior officials, Caesar dispatched Valerius Procillus, his trusted friend, and Caius Mettius, a merchant who had successfully traded with Ariovistus. Insulted, Ariovistus threw the envoys in chains.
Ariovistus marched for two days and made camp two miles behind Caesar, thus cutting off Caesar’s communication and supply lines with the allied tribes. Unable to entice Ariovistus into battle, Caesar ordered a second smaller camp to be built near Ariovistus’ position. After the camp was completed, Caesar again challenged Ariovistus and was rewarded when Ariovistus attacked the smaller camp and was repulsed. The next morning Caesar assembled his allied troops in front of the second camp and advanced his legions in triplex acies (three lines of troops) towards Ariovistus. Each of Caesar’s five legates and his quaestor were given command of a legion. Caesar lined up on the right flank. Ariovistus countered by lining up his seven tribal formations. Caesar was victorious in the battle that ensued due in large part to the charge made by Publius Crassus. As the Germans began to drive back the Roman left flank, Crassus led his cavalry in a charge to restore balance and ordered up the cohorts of the third line. As a result, the whole German line broke and began to flee. Most of Ariovistus’ one-hundred and twenty thousand men were killed. He and what remained of his troops escaped and crossed the Rhine, never to engage Rome in battle again. The Suebi camping near the Rhine returned home. Caesar was victorious.
Campaign against the Belgae
In 57 BC Caesar once again intervened in an intra-Gallic conflict, marching against the Belgae. The Belgae had recently attacked a tribe allied with Rome and before marching out with his army to meet them, Caesar ordered the Remi and other neighbouring Gallians to investigate the Belgae's actions. His army suffered a surprise attack in the battle of the Sabis while it was making camp near the river Sambre.
The Nervii advanced so quickly that Caesar did not have the time to organise his forces and nearly suffered a humiliating defeat. Caesar admits to losing all of his standards and most his centurions dead or felled by wounds. He himself was forced to take up a shield and personally rally his forces which were then threatened with envelopment and massacre. The strong stand by the X legion and the prompt arrival of reinforcements enabled Caesar to regroup, redeploy and eventually repulse the Nervii once the Atrebates and Viromandui were put to flight.
Expeditions
The following year, 56 BC, Caesar turned his attention to the tribes of the Atlantic seaboard, notably the Veneti tribe in Armorica, who had assembled a confederacy of anti-Roman tribes. The Veneti were a seafaring people and had built a sailing fleet in the Gulf of Morbihan, requiring the Romans to build galleys and undertake an unconventional land and sea campaign.
The ships of the Veneti were made much differently from those of the Mediterranean. Caesar records them as being made of strong oak, rendering Roman rams useless and with a much higher stern than the normal Roman ships. The land dominance of Rome sent the Veneti sailing time after time to other coastal towns they had. To defeat the superior ships of the Veneti, the Romans devised fixing hooks onto long poles to shred the rigging of enemy ships while also pulling them close enough for melee attacks. Eventually Caesar was able to subdue these tribes after a protracted land and sea campaign.
Caesar took his forces across the Rhine in 55 BC in a punitive expedition against the Germans, though the Suebi, against whom the expedition was mounted, were never engaged in battle. That same year, he then crossed the Channel with two legions on his ships to mount a similar expedition against the Britons. The British adventure nearly ended in defeat when bad weather wrecked much of their fleet and the unfamiliar sight of massed chariots of the Britons caused confusion among their forces. Caesar did manage to secure a promise of hostages, though only two of them were actually sent. He withdrew, but returned in 54 BC with a much larger force that defeated the powerful Catuvellauni, and forced them to pay tribute to Rome.
The expeditions had little lasting effect, but were great propaganda victories for Caesar, keeping him in the public eye at home. The campaigns of 55 BC and early 54 BC have caused controversy for many centuries. They were controversial even at the time among Caesar's contemporaries, and especially among his political opponents, who decried them as a costly exercise in personal aggrandizement.
Ambiorix's Revolt
Discontent among the subjugated Gallish tribes prompted a major uprising amongst the Belgae against Julius Caesar in the winter of 54–53 BC, when the Eburones of north-eastern Gallia rose in rebellion under their leader Ambiorix. Fifteen Roman cohorts were wiped out at Atuatuca Tungrorum and a garrison commanded by Quintus Tullius Cicero narrowly survived after being relieved by Caesar in the nick of time. The rest of 53 BC was occupied with a punitive campaign against the Eburones and their allies, who were said to have been all but exterminated by the Romans.
The Romans spent the night in disarray, putting together their belongings and preparing to march out of the fort once morning came. The enemy heard the hubbub in the Fort and prepared an ambush. When dawn broke, the Romans, in marching order (long columns of soldiers with each unit following the other), more heavily burdened than usual left the Fort. When the greater part of the column had entered a ravine, the Gallians assaulted them from either side and sought to harry the rearguard and prevent the vanguard from leaving the ravine. Caesar notes that Sabinus lost his mind, running from cohort to cohort and issuing ineffectual orders. Cotta, by contrast, kept his cool and did his duty as a commander, in action his duty as a soldier. Due to the length of the column, the commanders could not issue orders efficiently so they passed word along the line to the units to form into a square. The troops fought bravely though with fear and in clashes were successful. Thus, Ambiorix ordered his men to discharge their spears into the troops, to fall back if attacked by a group of Romans and chase back the Romans when they tried to fall into rank. During the engagement, Cotta was hit full in the face by a sling-shot. Then Sabinus sent word to Ambiorix to treat for surrender, a proposal which was acceded to. Cotta refused to come to terms and remained steadfast in his refusal to surrender, while Sabinus followed through with his plan to surrender. However, Ambiorix, after promising Sabinus his life and the safety of his troops, distracted him with a long speech, all the while slowly surrounding him and his men and slaughtering them. The Gallians then charged down en masse onto the waiting Romans where they killed Cotta, still fighting, and the great majority of the troops. The remainder fell back to the fort where, despairing of help, they killed each other. Only a few men slipped away to inform Titus Labienus of the disaster. Overall, one legion and 5 cohorts, around 7500 Romans, were killed in the battle. Gallic casualties are unknown.
The Gallish forces proved equal to the task with the Romans in many engagements
After defeating Cotta and Sabinus, Ambiorix tried to raise a general revolt in Belgica. A Belgic attack on Quintus Tullius Cicero (younger brother of the orator Cicero), then stationed with a legion in the territory of the Nervii, led to a siege of the Roman camp during which Ambiorix unsuccessfully tried to repeat his earlier bluff. The attack ultimately failed due to the timely appearance of Caesar. Titus Labienus, the commander of the Fourth legion, which was stationed in the southern Ardennes, discovered that Indutiomarus and the Treveri were rebelling as well.
The Treverian leader called for aid from the Senones and Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. The Fourth legion withstood the siege and Indutiomarus was killed after an unsuccessful attack. His relatives made their escape across the Rhine. Before targeting the Eburones themselves, Caesar first attacked Ambiorix's allies, forcing them to promise that they would not help the tribe who had destroyed Cotta and Sabinus. The Nervii were the first victims of the Roman retaliation. During that winter a force of four legions laid waste the fields, took a great many cattle and prisoners. The Menapii were then attacked by five legions to deprive Ambiorix of potential help. Five legions were sent because, according to Caesar, they, alone of all the tribes of Gallia, had never sent ambassadors to him to discuss terms of peace, and had ties of hospitality with Ambiorix.
A renewed campaign of devastation finally forced them to submit, and Caesar placed his ally Commius of the Atrebates in control of them. After this Caesar built a bridge across the Rhine and campaigned in Germania to punish the German tribes who had aided the Treveri. When the Roman Senate heard what happened, Caesar swore to put down all the Belgic tribes. The Roman campaigns against the Belgae took a few years, but eventually the Belgae were no match against 50,000 trained Roman soldiers. The tribes were slaughtered or driven out and their fields burned. The Eburones ceased to exist following the campaign. The fate of the leaders of the revolt is different but neither was taken to walk in Caesar's triumphal parade. Cativolcus was now old, weak and unable to endure the hardships of flight. He solemnly cursed Ambiorix for instigating the conspiracy, and then committed suicide by poisoning himself with yew. Ambiorix and his men, however, managed to cross the Rhine and disappeared without a trace.
The Anti-Roman Coalition
Ambiorix's revolt was merely the prelude to a much bigger campaign led by Vercingetorix, chief of the Arverni tribe of south-central Galland, who united many Gallic tribes and states under his leadership. Recognizing that the Romans had an upper hand on the battlefield due to their panoply and training, he declined to give battle against them and instead fought a "scorched earth" campaign to deprive them of supplies. Caesar hurriedly returned from Italy to take charge of the campaign, pursuing the Gallians and capturing the town of Avaricum but suffering a heavy defeat at Gergovia.
Vercingetorix, instead of staying mobile and in the open, chose to hold out at Alesia. Vercingetorix' besieged forces had little resources left and were overcrowded. The Gallic rebel formed a plan to make his forces look larger, assembling all willing women and arming them. the Romans, seeing the very large number of enemies pouring out of the town, started retreating from the most advanced positions to regroup. But the move was not understood by some of their comrades, and quickly panic and confusion spread on the inner line as the night fall.
Arverni forces rush a Roman defended position
Vercingetorix ended up being the first to break into the Roman positions, wreaking havoc: he freed prisoners, started fires, and cut communications between forts, preventing the Romans from properly coordinating their formation in the middle of the camp, effectively isolating them from each other. The women did their part as well, their bravery noted despite sometime having no more than rocks and insults to throw at the enemy. A breach finally opened on the northern wall: Romans defenders were flanked and overwhelmed, trapped in their own fortification system, the carnage was massive: while the Gallic coalition lost an estimated 18,000 men in the battle, only 6,000 Romans survived. It was a heavy defeat, with a number of Roman casualties not seen since the ill remembered days of the Cimbric war. Caesar rode out in a last-ditch charge, preferring to die in battle rather than surrender. As his horse was killed, he twisted his ankle falling. A group of former Aedui auxiliaries passing by recognized him and decided to capture him alive rather than simply bring back his head. It is believed that Caesar was kept alive and died months later of illness, with Vercingetorix keeping his skull as a morbid trophy.
Pompey the Great[]
The word of Caesar’s destruction had far reaching implications and sent woe and fear through Rome.
The death of Caesar made Pompey the Great the most important figure of Rome. Pompey immediately mustered four legions and, as proconsul of Hispania, ordered one of his legates over there, Marcus Petreius, to send three more toward Narbo Martius.
Pompey used boats requisitioned in Massillia to cross the Rhodanos and joined with Marcus Petreius for a direct attack on the Gallic positions. He commanded 48,000 men; a good half being rather experienced soldiers, either stationed in Hispania or veterans of previous campaigns, survivors from the Caesarian army led by Trebonius, the rest being green troops. He also benefits from Massillians scouts and 2000 Iberians levies.
Vercingetorix’ warriors were unable to match Petreius’ veteran legions and started to lose ground, but with his support busy elsewhere, the Romans couldn’t press on. The rear troops had abandoned the chase of Ambiorix, the returned rebel wanted by Rome, who had dispersed his men in the nearby hills, but were still too far, the centre was still rescuing the left; Petreius decided to stop his advance rather than risking being encircled and cut off from the rest of the army. It left Vercingetorix enough time to retreat orderly as well: the Gallians were exhausted and the Romans were disorganized but not broken; a second assault would be too hazardous. In the end, both sides claimed victory despite the important casualties.
The Gallians gave up any dream of conquering southern Gallia in one swift move, but he didn’t leave without the spoil harvested, and stopped a Roman counter-attack dead in it tracks. Pompey was unwilling to pursue the Gallish forces for the rest of the year, acknowledging they were a more dangerous enemy than he initially thought, but he put an end to the threat in the region, his principal mission assigned by the Senate.
For Pompey's supporters, he just saved every Roman living in Narbonnese Gallia (the future Provenza), those loyal Romanized-Gallians, and Italy beyond. For his opponents, he lacked guts and should have pressed on, and nasty whispers about him losing his edge spread in the back rows of the Senate. The Romans remained in Arelate for the winter under the command of Marcus Petreius, while Pompey returned to Rome discussing further action with the Senate. He has studied the possibility of a second expedition to finish what Caesar started, and made parallels with the long and difficult conquest of inner Hispania, where many Iberian and Celtiberian tribes fought to the bitter end.
Celtic Gallia was larger and twice more populous however: it would requires long time engagement of troops, drawing men and resources from other parts of the empire, something Pompey thought unwise considering that many neighbours were becoming menacing: emboldened Parthians threatening to invade Syria again, civil unrest in Egypt that could interrupt vital grain trade, agitated Dacians and Dalmatians raiding the borders.
Pompey didn’t want to stay away from Rome, as some senators like Cato and Marcus Junius Brutus, a rising star of Roman politics, were actively trying to sap his influence and power they saw as dangerously hegemonic. A solution was agreed upon: fortify the Rhodanos valley and the bank of the Garumna north of Narbo, and wait for the Gallians to return to their usual internal feuds. Once divided again, pro-Romans sympathies could be reactivated among some of them, making ulterior subjugation easier.
The Roman Legions gained a fearsome reputation
The Pompeian War
Rome faced turmoil in a series of internal conflicts following the Gallic Crisis. Octavian, Pompey, and Brutus formed the Second Triumvirate which came to a clash, plunging Rome into a Civil War (The Pompeian War or the Pompeian-Octavian War). Brutus would lose out fairly early, having the smallest territory, around Narbo, and his unsuccessful attempt to gain aid from Vercingetorix proved unpopular among his fellow Romans, gaining him the moniker Brutus the Betrayer. This war would culminate in the death of Pompey the Great, followed by his son, Sextus Pompey, taking his father's mantle in the east and keeping the war going against Octavian, with Sextus fleeing to Egypt, he allied with Cleopatra in order to wage war on Octavian – the eventual victor as first Emperor of the new Roman Empire, Octavian would reign under the name Caesar Augustus.
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