Gaul (Roman Conquests)

Michael Sage

This latest volume in the Roman Conquests series deals with some of the best known Roman campaigns of all. Indeed, due to the involvement of Julius Caesar and the commentaries he wrote upon them, these are some of the most studied of any ancient campaigns. Before Caesar, however, Rome had already established a foothold across the Alps in Gaul (the Province, modern Provence) and Michael M Sage starts with these early acquisitions which were largely reactive and defensive. The Gauls were one of the great warrior societies of ancient Europe and some of Rome's heaviest defeats were suffered here at the end of the second century BC. This context makes all the more remarkable the dazzling success of the audacious campaigns, just half a century later, by which Caesar rapidly completed the initial conquest of the rest of Gaul. The subsequent revolts that soon occurred, culminating in the great unified rising under Vercingetorix, are also covered in detail, with the epic siege of Alesia as the dramatic climax. Michael Sage narrates and analyses all these campaigns, showing how the Roman war machine was ultimately able to overcome vastly superior numbers of Celtic warriors, to extend Rome's rule from the Mediterranean to the English Channel.