Chapter X: (Year of Rome 702.) (3)

Dio Cassius relates the surrender of the Gaulish chief as follows: “After this defeat, Vercingetorix, who had neither been taken nor wounded, might have fled; but, hoping that the friendship which had formerly bound him to Cæsar would procure his pardon, he repaired to the proconsul, without having sent a herald to ask for peace, and appeared suddenly in his presence, at the moment he was sitting on his tribunal. His appearance inspired some fear, for he was of tall stature, and had a very imposing aspect under arms. There was a deep silence: the Gaulish chief fell at Cæsar’s knees, and implored him by pressing his hands, without uttering a word. This scene excited the pity of the by-standers, by the remembrance of Vercingetorix’s former fortune compared to his present misfortune. Cæsar, on the contrary, upbraided him with the recollections on which he had hoped for his safety. He compared his recent struggle with the friendship of which he reminded him, and by that means pointed out more vividly the odiousness of his conduct. And thus, far from being touched with his misfortune at that moment, he threw him at once in fetters, and afterwards ordered him to be put to death, after having exhibited him in his triumph.” By acting thus, Cæsar believed that he was obeying state policy and the cruel customs of the time. It is to be regretted for his glory that he did not use, towards Vercingetorix, the illustrious Gaulish chief, the same clemency which, during the Civil War, he showed towards the vanquished who were his fellow-citizens.

When these events were accomplished, Cæsar proceeded towards the Ædui, and received their submission. There he met the envoys of the Arverni, who promised to pay deference to his orders: he required from them a great number of hostages. Afterwards, he placed his legions in winter quarters. T. Labienus, with two legions and some cavalry, among the Sequani (Sempronius Rutilius was given him as a colleague); C. Fabius and L. Minucius Basilius, with two legions, among the Remi, in order to protect them against the Bellovaci, their neighbours; C. Antistius Reginus amongst the Ambluareti; T. Sextius among the Bituriges; C. Caninius Rebilus among the Ruteni, each with one legion. Q. Tullius Cicero and P. Sulpicius were established at Cabillonum (_Chalon_) and Matisco (_Mâcon_), in the land of the Ædui, on the Saône, to ensure the supply of provisions. Cæsar resolved to pass the winter at Bibracte.[536] He announced those events at Rome, where twenty days of public thanksgivings were decreed.

[Sidenote: Details of the Excavations at Mont Auxois.]

XIII. The excavations earned on round Mont Auxois, from 1862 to 1863, have brought to light, in nearly all points, the fosses of the Roman retrenchments. The following is the result:--

CAMPS.--Cæsar debouched upon Alesia by the mountain of Bussy (_see Plate 25_), and distributed his army round Mont Auxois: the legions encamped on the heights, and the cavalry was established on the lower grounds, near the streams.

There were four camps of infantry, two of them, _A_ and _B_, on the mountain of Flavigny. Their form depends on that of the ground: they were shaped in such a manner that the retrenchments should, as far as possible, command the ground situated before them. On the side where it could have been attacked, that is, to the south, the camp _A_ presented formidable defences, to judge from the triple line of fosses which surround this part. (_See Plates 25 and 28._) We must, perhaps, suppose that it was occupied by Cæsar in person. The camp _B_ is more extensive. The vestiges of its _remblai_ are still visible at the present day, in the greatest part of its circuit, in consequence of this land having never been touched by the plough. It is the only known example of visible traces of a camp made by Cæsar. None of the camps of the mountain of Flavigny having been attacked, the excavations have only brought to light in the fosses a small number of objects. The entrances to the camps are at the places marked by arrows on _Plate 25_. A third camp of infantry was situated on the mountain of Bussy, at _C_.

The fourth infantry camp was established on the lower slopes of Mont Réa, at _D_. It is the one occupied by the two legions of Reginus and Rebilus, and which Vercasivellaunus attacked with 60,000 men. Indeed, it will be observed that the spur situated to the north of Mont Auxois, between the Rabutin and the Brenne, is much farther from Alesia than the other mountains which surround it, and Mont Réa, which is the nearest part of it, is still more than 2,000 mètres distant from it. Hence it follows that Cæsar could not have included Mont Réa in his lines without giving them an excessive development. Consequently, he was obliged to establish one of his camps on the southern slope of that hill. This camp was on the point of being forced, and an obstinate battle was fought there. The excavations have led to the discovery in the fosses of a multitude of interesting objects, and, among them, more than 600 Roman and Gaulish coins. (See the list in _Appendix C_.)[537] The extremity of the upper fosse, represented by dots on _Plates 25_ and _28_, has not been discovered, because earthfalls have taken place on that part of Mont Réa, which would have obliged the excavators to dig too deep to arrive at the bottom of the fosse. The strength of the retrenchments of the infantry camps was very variable, as may be seen by inspecting the various profiles of the fosses. (_See Plate 28._) For each camp, they have larger dimensions on the side which is not defended by the escarpments, as may easily be conceived.

There were four cavalry camps, _G H I K_, placed near the different streams: three in the plain of Laumes, and one in the valley of the Rabutin. The fosses of these camps took greatly varied shapes. (_See Plate 28._) In general, their dimensions were decidedly less than those of the fosses of the infantry camps. Camp _G_, however, had rather deep fosses; no doubt because it was farthest from the lines. The fosse which enclosed camp _I_ towards the side of the Brenne has disappeared by the inundations of the river.

REDOUBTS, OR CASTELLA.--Of the twenty-three redoubts or blockhouses (_castella_), five only have been discovered; they were the most considerable; they are represented on _Plate 25_, by the numbers 10, 11, 15, 18, 22. The others, built of wood, and forming blockhouses, would not have left any trace; they are marked by circles on the most convenient places.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARMY. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LINE OF INVESTMENT.--We know, from the “Commentaries,” that camp _D_, on the slopes of Mont Réa, contained two legions. By comparing its superficies with that of the other camps, we may admit that these were occupied in the following manner: in camp _A_, one legion; in camp _B_, two legions; in camp _C_, three legions; total, eight legions. The three remaining legions would have been distributed in the twenty-three redoubts. As we have said, the number of 11,000 paces can evidently only apply to the line of investment formed by the eight camps and the twenty-three redoubts established round Alesia immediately after the arrival of the army, and not, as has been believed, to the countervallation properly so called, which was only constructed subsequently (VII. 72). This number is rigorously exact, for the circuit of ground surrounded by the camps measures a little more than sixteen kilomètres, which represents 11,000 Roman paces.

THE FOSSE OF TWENTY FEET.--This fosse has been discovered in its whole extent: it barred the plain of Laumes, following a direction perpendicular to the course of the Ose and the Oserain, and did not go round Mont Auxois. _Plate 28_ represents two of its most remarkable sections. It was not exactly twenty feet in width, as stated in the “Commentaries;” neither was it everywhere 400 paces distant from the countervallation. This measurement is only exact towards the extremities of the fosse, near the two rivers.

COUNTERVALLATION.--Vercingetorix, having retired to the plateau of Alesia, could only have escaped by the plain of Laumes, and, at the worst, by the valley of the Rabutin; for the spurs situated to the south, the east, and the north of Mont Auxois are surmounted by a belt of perpendicular rocks, which form insurmountable barriers, and the valleys of the Oserain and the Ose, which divide them, constitute veritable defiles. It became important, therefore, to bar the plain of Laumes with impregnable works. Hence Cæsar accumulated there the means of defence; but he simplified them everywhere else, as the excavations have shown.

These are the works, peculiar to the plain of Laumes, which Cæsar describes in chapters 72 and 73. The traces of the two fosses exist over the whole extent of the plain, from one river to the other. They had not the same form: the one nearest to Mont Auxois is square-bottomed; the other is triangular. (_See Plates 27 and 28._) The width of the first is fifteen feet, as stated in the text; that of the triangular fosse is fifteen feet at certain points, but more frequently a little less. The two fosses have the same depth; but it does not reach fifteen feet, as the translators have wrongly understood it. To dig a fosse of fifteen feet deep is so considerable a work, on account of the two stages of workmen which it requires, that it has, perhaps, never been executed for a temporary fortification. Moreover, the result of the excavations leaves no doubt on this subject: the two fosses of the countervallation have both only a depth of from eight to nine feet.

The fosse which is nearest Mont Auxois was filled with water. The Romans had naturally introduced the water into that of the two fosses which, owing to its square bottom, could contain the most considerable volume. A careful level made in the plain of Laumes has proved that this water was derived from the Oserain. During the excavations, the gravel has been found which the water of this river had carried with it, at the time of the investment of Alesia, almost to the middle of the length of the fosse.

To the left of the Oserain, the countervallation cut the first slopes of the hill of Flavigny for a length of 800 mètres; thence it continued, having but one fosse, the various sections of which are indicated on _Plate 28_. It ran at first along the left bank of the river, at a mean distance of fifty mètres, as far as the mill of Chantrier, then cut the western extremity of Mont Penneville, between the Oserain and the Ose, followed the right bank of the latter river, along the slopes of the mountain of Bussy, and, after having crossed the small plain of Grésigny, joined the camp established at the foot of Mont Réa. Nearly everywhere the Romans had the advantage of a commanding position to defend the countervallation. The excavations have proved that in the plain of Grésigny the fosse of the countervallation had been filled with water from the Rabutin. They have led to the discovery in the ancient bed of this stream (_see Plate 25_), at the very point where the fosse joined it, of a wall of unhewn stones, which barred the waters so as to conduct them into this fosse.[538]

CIRCUMVALLATION.--Over the extent of the plain of Laumes, and on the slopes of the mountain of Flavigny, the circumvallation was parallel to the countervallation, at a mean distance of 200 mètres. It had only one single fosse, which in the plain was square-bottomed, so as to allow more soil to be dug out; everywhere else its form was triangular. (_See Plate_ 28.) The circumvallation of the mountain of Flavigny ceased towards the escarpments, where the defences became useless; then, again, it continued on the plateau, where it formed the connection between the camps. After this, it descended towards the Oserain, cut the point of Mont Penneville, re-ascended the slopes of the mountain of Bussy, where it similarly united the camps, descended into the plain of Grésigny, which it crossed in a direction parallel to the countervallation, and ended at camp _D_. On the heights it was made to follow the undulations of the ground, so that its defenders should occupy as much as possible a commanding position with respect to that of the assailants. Moreover, the works of the circumvallation were not everywhere the same. Thus, near the escarpments and ravines which cut this line, the Romans had made no fosse with epaulment, but only accessory defences, such as _abatis_ and wolf-pits, which even alternated on divers points.

Above the _castellum_ 21, between Grésigny and Mont Réa, the excavations have brought to light a fosse of great dimensions, the bottom of which was full of bones of animals of divers kinds. Its position, near a small ravine in which runs a brook, may lead us to suppose that here was the _abattoir_ of the Roman army. In considering this fosse, and those which have been discovered on the top and on the slopes of Mont Réa, as forming part of the circumvallation, there will be found for the development of this line about twenty kilomètres, which represents with sufficient accuracy the fourteen miles of the text of the “Commentaries.”[539]

WOLF-PITS.--In the plain of Laumes, at the top of the circumvallation, and close to the exterior bank of the fosse, there have been counted more than fifty wolf-pits, in five rows. Others have been cleared out on the heights--nine between the camp _A_ and the escarpments, twenty-seven on the mountain of Bussy, near the _castellum_ 15; they are dug in the rock, and in such a perfect state of preservation that they appear as though they had been made but yesterday. At the bottom of some of these last, fifteen arrow-heads were picked up. All these wolf-pits are three feet deep, two feet in diameter at the top, and a little less than one foot at the bottom.

GAULISH CAMP.--During the first days of the investment, the besieged encamped on the slopes of Mont Auxois, towards the eastern part of the hill. They were protected by a fosse and a wall of unhewn stones six feet high. We have traced the site of this camp at _P Q R S_ on _Plate 25_. The excavations have brought to light, in the direction of _Q R_ on the slopes which shelve towards the Oserain, traces of fosses and remains of walls. On the plateau of Mont Auxois it might be interesting to attempt to discover the ancient Gaulish wall. It has been uncovered in pieces here and there over the whole space of the declivities; hence it may be concluded that the town occupied the whole of the plateau.

A remarkable specimen of this wall is visible at a point of Mont Auxois, near the spot where recently the statue of Vercingetorix has been erected.

As to the camps of the army of succour, it is probable that the Gauls did not form any retrenchments on the hills where they established themselves.