Statue of Vercingétorix

Save
  • Address
    place de Jaude, R Gonode, Old Town
  • Show map Close map

Let us know if these details are incorrect

Lonely Planet review

Vercingétorix, chief of the Celtic Arverni tribe, almost foiled Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul. With most of Gaul overrun and Caesar slyly playing one tribe off against the other, Vercingétorix pulled together the tribes between the Loire and Garonne rivers and forged a force that could match the Roman legions in discipline.

In the summer of 52 BC, the Gauls' thrashing of Caesar's troops at Gergovia near Clermont-Ferrand, in the tribe's heartland, inspired a general uprising by most Gallic tribes, led by Vercingétorix.

For a couple of years the Gauls hounded the Romans with guerrilla warfare and stood up to them in several match-drawn pitched battles. But gradually Gallic resistance collapsed and Roman rule in Gaul reigned supreme. Vercingétorix was captured and taken to Rome, where he was paraded in chains in Caesar's triumphal procession. As a final insult he was left languishing in prison for six years before being strangled.