Region: Western Europe · Coordinates: 47.537, 4.504 · 8 events
| Year | Source | Account |
|---|---|---|
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | Defeated in the cavalry battle, Vercingetorix retreated to Alesia, a town of the Mandubii; Caesar left his baggage and pursued, killed about 3,000 of the rearguard, and camped at Alesia the next day. |
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | Alesia, a town on a high hill, could only be taken by formal siege; Caesar built an 11-mile circumvallation with a 20-foot-deep ditch and 23 forts, and soon also a 14-mile outer line, creating a double siege. |
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | With food running out, the besiegers of Alesia debated surrender, breakout or compromise; the Arvernian noble Critognatus spoke of his ancestors, urging them to hold out even by eating the weak. Then the people of Mandubii were sent out of the walls, but Caesar would not admit them. |
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | The relief army reached Alesia and camped a mile away; the next day it filled the plain with cavalry. Caesar placed soldiers on both defensive lines and directed a cavalry battle. |
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | A day later, at midnight, the Gauls approached the plain defenses with hooks, ladders and grappling irons and attacked all at once; Vercingetorix sallied out from inside in response, but the Romans held at their assigned positions. |
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | Having found the weak point of the northern hill camp by reconnaissance, the Gauls sent 60,000 men under Vergasillaunus; Labienus, Brutus, Fabius and others poured in troops, until Caesar himself came and his cavalry struck the enemy's rear, causing a great massacre. |
| 52 BC | Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War | Vercingetorix proposed that either he be killed or handed over to atone to Rome; Caesar ordered the weapons and commanders surrendered, and sat before the camp while the Gallic leaders handed Vercingetorix over. |
| 52 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Many fleeing barbarians enter the city of Alesia with their king |