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  • The Gauls were one of Rome’s oldest and most bitter enemies. They had sacked Rome

  • and throughout the centuries fought alongside the Republic’s most dangerous adversaries,

  • including Pyrrhus and Hannibal. By the end of the 2nd century BC Southern Gaul was largely

  • subdued, however, there was still tension in Northern Gaul, particularly along the Rhine.

  • These tensions would ultimately climax in the Gallic Wars: the conflict that would shape

  • the future of Western Europe for centuries to come, giving rise to the Holy Roman Empire

  • and modern-day France, the conflict that would forever etch the name Gaius Julius Caesar

  • in the annals of history.

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  • Rome had been rocked by almost half a century of Civil Wars and the Republic was in decline.

  • Both Marius and Sulla had marched on Rome, highlighting the ineffectiveness of the system

  • for maintaining a large Empire and the fact that the legionaries were more loyal to their

  • generals than to the state. Following this chaotic period, three men had established

  • an unofficial alliance to effectively control the Republic. This was the First Triumvirate

  • consisting of the famous general Pompey the Great, the richest man in Rome Crassus, and

  • Julius Caesar. Caesar had been consul the year before, in

  • 59 BC, but his political campaigning had left him in debt and made him many enemies in Rome;

  • he needed to make money fast and gain enough military success to keep his political adversaries

  • at bay. When the time came for distributing provinces for Caesar to govern as proconsul,

  • he was able to use his political allies to secure Cisalpine Gaul, Illyricum and Transalpine

  • Gaul for an unprecedented 5 years. This put Caesar in control of four veteran Legions,

  • the VII, VIII, IX and X, all of whom had fought with Caesar before in Hispania and were loyal

  • to him. They had a total of roughly 22,000 Legionaries plus auxiliaries. Caesar now had

  • the men he needed; all he needed was an excuse for war.

  • Fortunately for Caesar, a Celtic tribe, the Helvetii, was planning a migration into Gaul

  • in 58 BC. Their leader, Orgetorix, had formed a confederation with a number of neighbouring

  • tribes, the Tulingi, Latobrigi, Rauraci and Boii, and they now numbered 368,000 men, women

  • and children. Orgetorix had even convinced them all to burn their homes in order to leave

  • no option of failure. However, soon he was accused of being a tyrant, was forced to commit

  • suicide. Command passed to Divico. Divico was determined

  • to stick to the plan and began amassing supplies in order to start pouring into Gaul. To do

  • this they would have to either pass through the land of the Roman ally Aedui, and the

  • province of Transalpine Gaul, or take the longer route through the mountain passes in

  • the North. The Romans had built up a healthy fear of

  • migrating tribes following the Cimbrian War in 113-101 BC and so Caesar, hearing of this,

  • was only too willing to come to the rescue of the Aedui. He took the only available legion

  • in the area and force marched them up to Geneva, destroying the bridge on the Rhone that provided

  • access into Transalpine Gaul. The Helvetii appealed to Caesar asking for

  • military access through Roman lands and promising they would not attack. Caesar played for time,

  • pretending to consider this offer for almost 15 days. Using this time, his legion was able

  • to construct a fortified embankment almost 5 metres high stretching 20 miles along the

  • river bank. With the legion manning the embankment and now in a stronger position, Caesar denied

  • the Helvetii access and refused to allow them to cross. Some of the Helvetii ignored this

  • and attempted to cross nonetheless in small boats but were prevented from doing so by

  • the legionaries throwing javelins and shooting arrows into them.

  • With the southern route thus blocked, the Helvetii decided to take the longer northern

  • route through the mountains into Gaul. Leaving his top lieutenant, Labienus [labiaenus],

  • in command, Caesar returned to Italy to levy a further two legions and to pull the other

  • 3 veteran legions out of their winter quarters in Aquileia, bringing his total to approximately

  • 33,000 legionaries plus auxiliaries. Despite Labienus being in a position to easily

  • block the mountain pass, the Helvetii managed to push into Gallic territories and began

  • ravaging the land. The Gauls pleaded with Caesar to intervene and chase the Helvetii

  • out and Caesar, yet again, was only too willing to help, marching his legions into the Gallic

  • territories. The decision of Labienus to not hold the Helvetii in the mountains was likely

  • an order received from Caesar; the Celts were now in open terrain, which better suited the

  • Roman legions, and their pillaging of Gaul gave Caesar an excuse to intervene.

  • Word reached Caesar that the Helvetii were currently attempting a crossing at the Arar

  • River. They had been crossing in four large groups using many rafts and boats, but due

  • to the size of the horde and their lack of organisation, the crossing had already taken

  • them days and one group was still yet to cross. Caesar took 3 of his legions and swiftly marched

  • to the river. Quickly forming his legions into battle formation,

  • Caesar fell upon the Celts waiting to cross. Caught unaware, unprepared, and encumbered

  • by their baggage, the Helvetii did not even have enough time to form a proper battle line.

  • The fighting was over quickly, with the whole stranded group being killed or fleeing into

  • the nearby woods whilst the other three groups could do nothing but watch helplessly from

  • the other side of the river. The main Helvetii force began to move on and, not wanting to

  • lose the initiative, Caesar quickly built a bridge across the river and moved all of

  • his six legions across. The crossing that had taken the Celts 20 days had taken the

  • Romans just 1. Caesar began tailing the Helvetii, waiting

  • for the right time to strike. There were a few minor cavalry skirmishes, but nothing

  • decisive. Caesar did once manage to find a battlefield that was advantageous and even

  • had Labienus in position behind the enemy, however, due to poor communication from his

  • scouts, Caesar was forced to pull back from the battlefield. This caused a delay in Caesar’s

  • plan and he was being to run low on rations. He decided to head to the nearby town of Bibracte

  • to resupply his army before continuing the pursuit. As he began to march off however,

  • Divico gave chase, harassing the rear of the Roman army.

  • Caesar sent his cavalry and light infantry to fight a delaying action in order to buy

  • time to deploy his main force on a nearby hill. The four veteran legions formed three

  • lines at the front with the two newly levied Legions, along with the auxiliaries, positioned

  • further up the hill. These men were not tested in battle and so were not expected to do any

  • of the fighting, instead they were to guard the baggage and were spread thin across the

  • hill to seemingly increase the size of Caesar’s army. The Helvetii, numbering somewhere between

  • 60,000-90,000 warriors, had successfully fought off the Roman cavalry and light infantry,

  • forcing them to retreat. They now formed their infantry into a tightly packed shield wall

  • and advanced on the Romans. The front two lines of legionaries opened

  • the battle with a volley of javelins. These hampered the Helvetii by becoming stuck in

  • their shields, forcing them to drop them and to break into a looser formation. With the

  • shield wall in disarray, the Roman front lines charged into melee. The fighting was intense

  • and tough but the Romansdiscipline and experience gave them the edge. Slowly, they

  • began to get the upper hand, with the Helvetii being forced back to a nearby mountain. However,

  • as the Romans pressed up the mountain, a portion of the Helvetii allies composed of Boii and

  • Tulingi, roughly 15,000 warriors, entered the battle. These men had been acting as a

  • rear-guard, protecting the camp, and now they fell on the Roman flank, threatening to encircle

  • them. The Helvetii, bolstered by the arrival of

  • their allies, began pushing back with renewed vigour. With the two front lines of legionaries

  • already engaging the Helvetii on the mountain, Caesar committed his final line of veterans,

  • which had been acting as a reserve. After hours of hard fighting, the Helvetii on the

  • mountain were eventually broken and forced from the battle. However, the Boii and Tulingi

  • fell back to the camp to make a last stand. Using their baggage wagons they formed a makeshift

  • rampart and continued the fight, hurling missiles down into the Roman ranks. This is where the

  • fighting was the most difficult as the Boii were famed warriors and fought desperately.

  • Finally, after fighting long into the night, the third line was able to break into the

  • camp, ending the battle. The battle had lasted almost 12 hours. Caesar

  • had lost perhaps 5,000 men, whilst the Helvetii had lost around 40,000 to 60,000. Of the 368,000

  • people who began the migration, only 130,000 were now left. Caesar, with no cavalry left

  • to speak off, was not able to give chase immediately and gave his men three days in order to recover

  • from the battle before starting the pursuit. The Helvetii, seeing the Romans chasing them

  • once more, surrendered completely and were forced to return to their homeland and made

  • a vassal of Rome, acting as a buffer between Roman and Germanic lands.

  • Caesar had achieved his aim of gaining a swift military victory and, for now, he would be

  • able to hold off his political enemies in Rome. Furthermore, the Romans had now shown

  • themselves to be a powerful force in the Gallic theatre. After his victory, Caesar rested

  • in Bibracte for a short time before moving on. Rumour had already reached him of a Germanic

  • tribe that had crossed the Rhine and was terrorising Gaul.

  • The Gallic Wars were just starting and in our future videos we will talk more about

  • them, so make sure you are subscribed to our channel and pressed the bell button. We would

  • like to express our gratitude to our Patreon supporters and channel members, who make the

  • creation of our videos possible. Now, you can also support us by buying our merchandise

  • via the link in the description. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch

  • you on the next one.

The Gauls were one of Rome’s oldest and most bitter enemies. They had sacked Rome

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Caesar and Gallic Wars: Battle of Bibracte 58 BC DOCUMENTARY(Caesar and Gallic Wars: Battle of Bibracte 58 BC DOCUMENTARY)

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    香蕉先生 發佈於 2022 年 07 月 04 日
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