As any decent student of history, or René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo’s Asterix comics, can tell you, Gaul was conquered for Rome by General Julius Caesar in 50 BC, when the Gaulish rebel leader Vercingetorix surrendered after the Siege of Alesia.
It was the culmination of eight years of Roman adventurism in the region that now comprises modern France. Caesar, an ambitious politician and general, first made inroads into Gaul in 58 BC, looking to expand his economic base to further his political ambitions at home. Tributes, taxes and loot from Gaul, a fertile country populated by culturally aligned but politically fractious Celtic tribes, was just the thing.
Where diplomacy and alliances failed, military conquest served well, with disciplined Roman legions flattening Gaulish infantry and light cavalry with little trouble. It was only the emergence of Vercingetorix, a chieftain of the Averni tribe of Gauls, as a unifying force in 52 BC that led to an open revolt, though this was quickly and mercilessly quashed.
‘Caesar’s Doomsday War’. Source: Pernel Media
Those are the broad and rather dry strokes, at any rate. But the new documentary Caesar’s Doomsday War goes beyond the facts and figures to give us a deeper insight into the campaign. Using dramatic re-enactments, sophisticated 3D modelling of the terrain, town and fortifications, and an impressive array of expert talking heads to guide us through, the film gives us both a clear overview of the Gallic Wars and a much more visceral and confronting account of ancient warfare than we’re used to.
What becomes clear very quickly is that Roman intervention in Gaul is one of those potential change points in history that fascinate professional and armchair historians alike. Roman political and military life were very intermingled, and battlefield success often led to political gains in the Imperial seat. For Julius Caesar, the Gallic Wars were a make-or-break endeavour, and it’s easy to speculate that defeat there would have led to defeat in Rome – no conquest of Gaul could very well have meant no Roman empire at all, as a disgraced Caesar would have been in no position to seize power.
Laurent Paolini as Caesar. Source: Pernel Media
Similarly, before Caesar took a hand in Gaulish internal politics, the country was made up of largely peaceful but independent tribal groups. If Vercingetorix had triumphed over the legions, could he have founded a united Gaul? And what would modern civilisation look like with Gaul as a seat of power and influence at the turn of the calendar?
Apart from planting the seeds of alternate history speculation, Caesar’s Doomsday War also paints a horrific picture of ancient warfare. What the Romans thought of as standard military doctrine, we would consider war crimes.
Maël Guivarch as Vercingetorix. Source: Pernel Media
The documentary explains that Caesar wiped out entire tribes of Gaulish resistance fighters and put entire cities to the sword (at the Siege of Avaricum some 40,000 Gauls were massacred, with only 800 managing to flee). Today, it would likely be labelled genocide. For his part, Vercingetorix practised scorched earth warfare, burning crops and towns as his forces retreated to deny forage and succour to the Romans; a ruthless tactic that also left any surviving Gauls under threat of starvation.
This approach has been growing in popularity in archaeological and historical circles. Facts and figures are all very good, but what can be lacking is an understanding of the human cost of these massive events, with the distance of time eliding away our empathy for the participants, and it’s useful to remind ourselves that these were real people suffering, fighting and dying. It’s especially vital in cases like the Gallic Wars, . Caesar’s Doomsday War isn’t just a great primer on the campaign, but a vital reminder that the people of the past were still people, and their struggles and agonies as real as our own.
Digging for answers in ‘Caesar’s Doomsday War’. Source: Pernel Media
Caesar’s Doomsday War screens 10pm Sunday 31 July on SBS and will be available at SBS On Demand for 30 days after airing:
A rather different take on Caesar’s interaction with the Gauls, the animated comedy Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods is also streaming at SBS On Demand:
