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Caesar's Gallic Wars

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Osprey's Essential History Volume 43, Caesar's Gallic Wars 58-50 BC, covers the series of wars in wars in Western Europe that made Julius Caesar a household name in ancient Rome. Kate Gilliver, a British academic who took in PhD in Roman military theory, uses Caesar's own commentaries as the basis for her synopsis, but tempers that biased account with input from other sources to provide greater balance. Indeed, military readers will be pleased with the sound use of military analysis in order to add value to this account; unlike many other historians who attempt to detail ancient campaigns, Gilliver remains focused on the primary elements of the conflict and does not become distracted with archaeological minutiae. The campaign maps provided in this volume also add greatly to the narrative, since most translations of Caesar's commentaries lack effective maps to demonstrate Roman operations. Overall, Gilliver's account should be pleasing to academics and military professionals, for shedding greater insight into how, why and what Caesar accomplished in Gaul.

Caesar's Gallic Wars begins with a short introduction, a chronology, and a section on the background to the war. The section on the warring sides is 12 pages long and notes that, "the Gallic warriors fought as individuals, " but "the might of the Roman army lay in the strength of its formations, and that was based on unit morale, discipline and training." The heart of Gilliver's narrative - the sections on the outbreak of the war and the main campaigns of 58-50 BC, spans some 35 pages. The narrative is greatly aided by seven maps: the campaigns of 58 and 57 BC, the battle against the Helvetii in 58 BC, the battle against the Nervii in 57 BC, the campaigns of 56 and 55 BC, the campaigns of 54 and 53 BC, the campaigns of 52 and 51 BC, and the siege of Alesia. The final sections include portrait of a soldier (Caesar's centurions), the impact of the conflict (loss of life, slavery, destruction, food supplies, religious and social changes), portrait of a civilian (Roman merchants), how the war ended (Roman triumphs), and conclusions. The section of further reading is overly-brief, and considering the author's academic background, should have included pertinent journal articles from relevant historical and archaeological texts.

Gilliver makes a number of interesting and often understated points about the military aspects of the Gallic Wars. First, the Romans had a technological edge in field artillery and siege warfare techniques that hurt the morale of Gallic opponents. In particular, the scorpion was a very effective anti-personnel weapon for which the Gauls had no equivalent. The Gaullic oppidum, or hill forts, had seemed resilient to attack in tribal warfare but they were easily reduced by efficient Roman siege methods. Second, the Gauls were accustomed to tribal warfare where rival armies disbanded during the winter months, but the professional Roman armies were capable of staying together year after year. Rome's ability to conduct a sustained military presence in conquered Gaullic territory undermined the Gaul's hopes that they could ride out an invasion. Third, the Roman army was virtually unbeatable in conventional battles and the only effective means of resistance was guerrilla warfare. Gilliver notes that other than the heavy losses inflicted on Sabinus' legions during the revolt of 53 BC and the repulse at Gergovia in 52 BC, the Roman army generally dominated combat operations throughout the wars. Although Caesar's campaigns may not seem like Blitzkrieg-style operations to the modern mind, Gilliver notes, "for the Gauls, the intensity of Roman campaigning and particularly the speed with which their lands were reduced to provincial status must have been a terrible shock." A fourth military point that Gilliver makes concerns the inability of the Gauls to form a common defense against the Romans; indeed, Caesar was particularly adept at playing upon tribal rivalries to divide and conquer his foes.

Gilliver also makes the interesting conclusion that Caesar used the wars in Gaul to build himself a fortune (from the sale of slaves) and a military reputation, both of which were necessary to further his political ambitions. Caesar's campaigns succeeded in neutralizing all effective resistance to Roman occupation, but it took several more generations to pacify the entire countryside. Operationally, Caesar was also quite brutal - even by Roman standards - and he strove to inflict (or claim) maximum losses upon the enemy. Gilliver notes that a Roman general had to kill at least 5,000 enemies in order to gain a triumph in the capital. Furthermore, Caesar used cruelty to weaken the will to resistance in his foes. In 52 BC, Caesar's troops stormed the oppidum of Avaricum and massacred all 40,000 inhabitants. In 51 BC, Caesar eliminated one of the final Gaullic holdouts at Uxellodunum but, "instead of massacring the defenders, Caesar cut off their hands and set them free, to serve as an example of the punishment meted out to those who resisted Rome." Caesar was also capable of military "stunts" like bridging the Rhine River and brief expeditions to Britain, both of which captured the Roman imagination but provided no tangible strategic benefits. Gilliver's account of the Gallic Wars is excellent in every regard and is a model synthesis, particularly given the restraints of limited ancient sources.

As I say in my Amazon's AYA page I'm a history buff. Caesar is one of my favorite characters. I've read his "Commentaries" and "The Civil War", Suetonius' "The Twelve Caesars", Plutarch's "Lives" and a score of contemporary books about his life.
In my periodic searches I've found Kate Gilliver's "Caesar's Gallic Wars" and the excellent review of it from Dr. Forczyk and decided to give it a try.

I wasn't disappointed. This is a great resume of the Roman conquest of Gaul. In only 96 pages the author gives a very concise, clear and accurate picture. Maps of the campaign and specific battles are wonderful. For the first time I was able to visualize the enormous distances covered by Roman Legions in such a brief time period and the strategic difficulties they had to overcome.
Ms. Gilliver starts with a synopsis of the events preceding the campaign, continue with a comparison of Roman and Gallic mentality and attitudes on regard of war. Then describes the campaign itself and finally gives an evaluation of the impact on Gaul and Rome.

Osprey's edition is very well done, first quality paper and reproductions and a dynamic presentation of the text.
This book may suites as an introduction for neophytes or as a graphic resume for students and researchers.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

I must confess that I don't know much about Ancient History. That is why I am really enjoying Osprey's Essential History series. This book is a better one in the series. It is well written and laid out (unlike The Punic Wars, which looked like it was assembled in a tornado). The colour maps and diagrams are placed close to the corresponding text.
Of course it only skims the surface of Caesar's conquest of Gaul (modern day France), but that is all I want for now. It nicely sets up the next book in the series: Caesar's Civil War.

This book provides a very good introduction to the topic in only 96 pages (about half of which are illustration) and can be read in about an hour and a half or two. First, like most Osprey series books in the series, it provides a few pages to provide some perspective into the region and the relationship between Rome and the peoples of Gaul (mostly one of border tensions and warfare). Then a few pages summarize the armies in terms of organization, weapons and other equipment, leadership, fighting strategies and strengths and weaknesses of each side. Although it is short it is quite good. Then there is a history of the campaign along with underlying analysis as to why Rome was able to eventually defeat the Gauls. Finally there are a few pages regarding the implications of this victory and Rome's attempts to convert the area into a Roman province. All and all an excellent introduction to the topic and an excellent primer for the hour and a half or two required to read it.

This book wasn't bad, and I liked it, but it certainly wasn't worthy of 5 stars. The book had many deficiencies. For example:

The "Pax Romana" section didn't really address to what extent Caesar was responsible for the Pax Romana period.

For a book focused on Caesar's Gallic Wars, too little effort was spent describing the actual strategies of Caesar, and too much on assessing Caesar's own bias in his own writings. As far as I could tell, this book wasn't supposed to be a critique of Caesar's writing, it was supposed to be a history lesson. One note in the introduction about the inadequacy of Caesar himself as an unbiased source would have sufficed.

Back in the time of Caesar, it was Gaul, a name given and used by none who lived there. Kate Gilliver in her ninety-two-page work details the conquest of the area known as Gaul to the Romans, by the most famous Roman of them all, Gaius Julius Caesar. The tribes of Gaul were the oldest and most hated enemies of the Romans. It was a Gallic tribe that sacked Rome in the year 390 B.C. causing hatred that would last for generations. Not even Hannibal of Carthage had been able to sack Rome; he only got close to it. Rome would always fear the image of Gallic invasions coming from the North. In the centuries that followed Rome and Gallic tribes would clash repeatedly, but this time was different. This time a Roman general, Julius Caesar was going to take the fight directly to the heart of Gaul itself.

"The Roman siege works at Alesia were extraordinary in the size and complexity. After digging a deep ditch on the plain to prevent cavalry attacks on the working parties, the Romans built a rampart with palisade and towers at regular intervals, and a double ditch, one filled with water diverted from the rivers where possible; seven camps and 23 redoubts were added at strategic points. This line covered circuit of 11 miles. Caesar was not happy even with this formidable system of defenses, and lines of bobby traps were extended for several yards in front of the trenches. These comprised rows of sharpened stakes, then covered pits with sharpened stakes planted in them, and finally rows of wooden stakes with barbed iron spikes stuck into them. Once this circuit was complete Caesar had another identical line built outside, 14 miles in circumference, to protect the besiegers from the relieving army. The whole system took about a month to construct. Archaeological investigations have indicated that the fortifications were not as complete as Caesar suggests. There may have been gaps in the lines, particularly where the terrain provided natural protection, but the systems held up to concerted attacks by both Gallic armies even when they were prepared with bridging materials to cross the outer defenses and ditches." p.58-59

There is a lot of information packet into these ninety pages. Gilliver takes a strong look into these historical events that occurred over 2000 years ago. There are maps, detail analysis of battles, chapters devoted to both the military and civilians in this time period.

"Centurions were the highest echelon of professional soldiers in the legion and their senior officers and commanders were politicians whose military expertise and skill could very considerably. The 60 or so centurions in each legion were appointed by the army commander--the provincial governor. While some may have been appointed because of their social status, the majority gained promotion through experience, leadership, and conspicuous courage. This must have encouraged ambitious private soldiers to prove their worth on the battlefield and gain promotion to centurion." p.66

I really enjoyed and highly recommend this book; it is useful guide into the world of the first century B.C. I would also recommend to anyone interested in reading Julius Caesar's own Commentaries, to pick up this book first since it is a lot more clear, impartial and precise. Having this book to use as a reference while going though Caesar's work will help any reader, especially a novice of the time period, increase their understanding of this very important historic event to Western Civilization; Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul.

This is not a book for the light hearted. You will need to know your history. The difficulty in reading this book was not having a map of the cities with todays locations in them. If you love history, you may enjoy this book.