niall Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 what is known about his early life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 what is known about his early life? Not much is really known about his early life, the Gauls didn't record their histories like the Romans did so we only have reports about Vercingetorix from the time he began to make himself known to the Romans. He was a young Avernian aristocrat, his father had been a big player throughout Gaul but was eventually killed by his own tribe when he tried to make himself their king. Vercingetorix eventually managed to do what his father couldn't and unite all of Gaul against Rome and the rest as they say is history! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Not entirely so I'm afraid., Only the external threat of roman aggression allowed Vercingetorix to unite some of the Gauls. Don't forget, there were gauls who were perfectly happy to assist Caesar in return for being left alone. Also, the alliance of gauls under vercingetorix only happened at the end of the campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Not entirely so I'm afraid., Only the external threat of roman aggression allowed Vercingetorix to unite some of the Gauls. Don't forget, there were gauls who were perfectly happy to assist Caesar in return for being left alone. Also, the alliance of gauls under vercingetorix only happened at the end of the campaign. Ok ok then Mr Picky I stand corrected! I'll change the 'all of Gaul' to 'some' of Gaul, and I should have mentioned the tribes that were allied to Rome like the Aedui, Bituriges and the Remi. But I did say Vercingetorix 'eventually' managed to unite Gaul which could mean that it happened towards the 'end' of the campaign. In the beginning Vercingetorix was expelled from his own tribe the Averni when he began raising an army to oppose Caesar but undeterred he continued to recruite more men until he had a force big enough to go back to his own tribe and take command and be proclaimed king by his warriors. He then proceeded to persuade the majority of the tribes in Gaul to join him and declare him their war leader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 The problem with the conventional view of Vercingetorix is Caesar. He liked to exaggerate his achievements and they wouldn't have been so impressive had the gaulish leader not been such a noble and capable leader. To be honest, he may have been, after all he did defeat Caesar once - something which Caesar never forgot as it cast doubt on his reputation as an invincible general. The treatment that Vercingetorix got after capture wasn't just about him being a man who resisted Rome - it was about a man who had resisted Caesar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 I've just come across an interesting snippet. The Gauls had developed their own coinage by caesars time inspired by greek coins they encountered during their expansive phase in the 4th century BC. Vercingetorix doesn't appear on very many many of them at all. Granted this might be the restricted sample found, but it does also suggest he wasn't as powerful or popular as generally believed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 I've just come across an interesting snippet. The Gauls had developed their own coinage by caesars time inspired by greek coins they encountered during their expansive phase in the 4th century BC. Vercingetorix doesn't appear on very many many of them at all. Granted this might be the restricted sample found, but it does also suggest he wasn't as powerful or popular as generally believed. An interesting thought Caldrail, It's true that Vercingetorix doesn't appear on many Gaulish coins but I'd be interested to know if there were any other coins around with any other famous Gauls depicted on them, from what I've gathered the majority of Gaulish coins had pictures of the gods (mostly Greek) depicted on them such as Artemis, Apollo etc. So this could lead us to believe that for Vecingetorix to have the honour of his head put on a coin must mean that he was at least powerful enough and highly thought of by the people of Gaul to be bestowed with this honour which is usually reserved for the gods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 what is known about his early life? At one point, Vercingetorix was very, very small with a head that was HUGE for his body. He was also speechless and unable to walk. With time, however, Vercingetorix overcame these obstacles... sorry, couldn't resist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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