Siege of Uxellodunum

The Siege of Uxellodunum was one of the last battles of the Gallic Wars that took place in 51 BC at Uxellodunum. This marked the last major military confrontation of the Gallic Wars and the pacification of Gaul under Roman rule. The battle resulted in a decisive Roman victory.

Decisive Actions Leading up to the Siege
Lucterius, the chief of the Carduci, together with Drapes, chief of the Senones, had retired to the hill fort of Uxellodunum with the goal of remaining in the relative safety of the fortifications until the governorship of Gaius Julius Caesar ended in Gaul. The group had apparently planned to then begin a new rebellion against their Roman conquerors. Uxellodunum was heavily fortified both by its natural position, which had a river dividing the valley it overlooked which almost entirely surrounded the hill it was built on and its impressive fortifications built there by the Carduci tribe. There was also a mountainside which covered one of its sides as to prevent any approach. For this reason, it was impossible to besiege it in the same manner the Romans had used at the Battle of Alesia a year before.

The Legatus in charge of Uxellodunum, Gaius Caninius Rebilus, conscious of the fact that his two Legions were anxious to commence an action to repeat the glories Julius Caesar had won at Alesia, divided his legions into three camps in areas around the fort where the terrain was high enough to ensure that any attempt to escape the fort by the Gauls would likely be unsuccessful. By this manner, he planned to effectively seal off the city.

Gallic Blunders
The Gauls trapped inside the oppidum (Latin for hill fort settlements such as Uxellodunum), having learned the lessons of starvation from the disaster at the Siege of Alesia (where Luciterius had actually been present), made plans to leave the settlement by night to forage for food and provisions. Climbing over the ramparts at night, Luciterius and Drapes left a garrison of around 2,000 men inside Uxellodunum, taking the remainder of their force over the rampart to forage en masse. While some of the local Carduci Gauls in the surrounding areas freely gave the rebels supplies, much of the provisions were taken by force. After collecting together the foraged supplies, the Gauls tried to again sneak past the Roman sentries set by Caninius Rebilus but were detected in the attempt. Caninius Rebilus, upon learning of the Gallic plans, concentrated the bulk of his legions in the area where the Gauls were attempting to re-enter his perimeter and unleashed them on the Gaulish convoy. Luciterius, who was in charge of the convoy immediately took flight with his warbands without bothering to inform Drapes. The rest of the men accompanying the convoy met the Roman onslaught and were massacred almost to a man, some sources quoting as many as 12,000 Gauls killed in the action.

Caninius Rebilus, apparently satisfied with his good fortune, left one of his legions behind to defend his three camps and gathered the rest of his soldiers to pursue Drapes. The Legatus successfully destroyed the remaining Gaulish forces in the area under Drapes (Luciterius having already fled) even capturing Drapes himself who was executed shortly thereafter.

Safe in the knowledge that further Gallic reinforcements would no likely be coming to the aid of Uxellodunum due to the blunders on the parts of Luciterus and Drapes, Gaius Caninius Rebilus intensified his siege works around Uxellodunum. Shortly after these actions, Gaius Fabius, another of Caesar's Lagates in Gaul who had been tasked with subduing the Senones, arrived fresh from his victory at the Battle of the Loire with a full 25 cohorts of legions (Roughly two and a half legions). These reinforcements put the Roman forces at four and a half legions, enough to construct competent siege works and completely encircle the fort.

Arrival of Gaius Julius Caesar and the Cutting of the Water Supply
While these actions had been ongoing, Gaius Julius Caesar was in territory of the Belgae in the central part of Gaul. It was there that he was informed by courrier of the revolt of the Carduci and Senones. Determined to ensure that there would be no more rebellions in Gaul after the expiration of his tenure as governor, Caesar made immediately for Uxellodunum with his cavalry, leaving behind his legions, even though his two legates had the situation under control. Indeed, Caesar made his way so quickly to Uxellodunum that he actually surprised his two Legates with his personal presence.

Upon arrival at the siege, Caesar decided that the city could not be carried by force. This was a problem for the Romans because they had also been informed by deserters that the city had an abundant food surplus despite the previous blunders of Liciterius and Drapes. Caesar decided therefore to target the city's water supply. The terrain of the fort was such that it would be impossible to actually divert the river anywhere in the immediate vicinity of Uxellodunum as the water almost flowed directly from the mountain down into the valley, making the digging of diversion canals unfeasible. By the same logic however, Caesar noticed the difficulty with which the Gauls had to collect their water, having to come down a very steep slope to reach the riverbank. With the knowledge of this potential flaw in the defenses, Caesar stationed archers and balista in the vicinity of the river to cover any attempt to gather water from this main source.

More troublesome for Caesar however, a secondary water source came down from the mountain and went directly underneath the walls of the fort. This secondary source had seemed to be almost impossible to block access to. The terrain was extremely rugged and it would not have been feasible to take the ground by force. Before long, Caesar was informed of the location of the source of the spring. With this knowledge, he ordered his engineers to build a ramp of earth and rock capable of facilitating a ten story siege tower which he used to bombard the spring source. Concurrently to this, he had another group of engineers build a tunnel system that finished at the source of the same spring.

The Battle
The Gauls, falling for the diversion of the tower, attacked it immediately, setting it on fire and keeping it under a constant barrage of missiles so as to prevent the Romans from extinguishing the blaze. Caesar then sent a diversionary attack up the ramp, the narrowness of the works ensuring a bloody confrontation. After a good deal of fighting on the ramp, Caesar ordered his legions in positions surrounding the city to take up a war shout, fooling the Gauls into believing a direct assault on the walls was forthcoming. The Gauls were obliged to retire from their attacks and to man the walls.

Shortly thereafter, the sappers were able to tunnel through to the water source and finished the job of cutting the Gauls off from their water sources. Upon seeing this, the Gauls were forced to surrender their unfavorable position.

Aftermath and Reprisals
Caesar accepted the Gallic surrender, however he decided to ensure that this would mark the last Gaulish rebellion by setting a severe example to those that survived. He decided against executing or selling the survivors into slavery had been customary in contemporary battles. Instead, he decided on an extremely harsh punishment to dissuade any further thoughts of rebellion in his province. He proceeded to cut the hands off of all the surviving men of military age, but left them alive. He then dispersed the vanquished Gauls throughout the province for all to see that they would never again be able to take up arms against him or the Roman Republic.

After dealing with the Gaulish rebels, Caesar took two of the legions and marched to summer in Aquitania which he had previously not visited. He briefly passed through the city of Narbo Martius in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis and marched through Nementocenna. Deeming Gaul sufficiently pacified as no further rebellions arose Caesar took the 13th Legion and marched to Italy where he proceeded to cross the Rubicon and started the Great Roman Civil War on 17 December, 50 BC.

Commentaries, Book 8
Having arrived at Uxellodunum, contrary to the general expectation, and perceiving that the town was surrounded by the works, and that the enemy had no possible means of retiring from the assault, and being likewise informed by the deserters that the townsmen had abundance of corn, he endeavoured to prevent their getting water. A river divided the valley below, which almost surrounded the steep craggy mountain on which Uxellodunum was built. The nature of the ground prevented his turning the current: for it ran so low down at the foot of the mountain, that no drains could be sunk deep enough to draw it off in any direction. But the descent to it was so difficult, that if we made opposition, the besieged could neither come to the river nor retire up the precipice without hazard of their lives. Caesar perceiving the difficulty, disposed archers and slingers, and in some places, opposite to the easiest descents, placed engines, and attempted to hinder the townsmen from getting water at the river, which obliged them afterward to go all to one place to procure water. (Latin) p. 221 Book VIII

Classic Sources

 * The Complete Works of Gaius Julius Caesar in Latin, Italian and English
 * Aulus Hirtius, De bello Gallico 8, 32–44.

Modern Sources





 * (In French)














 * Uxellodunum le dernier combat, L'Archéologue, 660, 2002, pp. 22–26 (In French)