Gaul

by Michael Sage

"This is a useful entry in this series looking at one of the best known of all Roman Conquests." ― History of War

This latest volume in the Roman Conquests series deals with some of the best known Roman campaigns of all. Indeed, due to the involvement of Julius Caesar and the commentaries he wrote upon them, these are some of the most studied of any ancient campaigns.

Before Caesar, however, Rome had already established a foothold across the Alps in Gaul (the Province, modern Provence) and Michael M Sage starts with these early acquisitions which were largely reactive and defensive. The Gauls were one of the great warrior societies of ancient Europe and some of Rome's heaviest defeats were suffered here at the end of the second century BC.

This context makes all the more remarkable the dazzling success of the audacious campaigns, just half a century later, by which Caesar rapidly completed the initial conquest of the rest of Gaul. The subsequent revolts that soon occurred, culminating in the great unified rising under Vercingetorix, are also covered in detail, with the epic siege of Alesia as the dramatic climax.

Michael Sage narrates and analyses all these campaigns, showing how the Roman war machine was ultimately able to overcome vastly superior numbers of Celtic warriors, to extend Rome's rule from the Mediterranean to the English Channel.

Genres: History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2011

Reviews

[Russ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since this book, in the Roman Conquests series, is about the conquering of Gual, it is primarily about the activities of Julius Caesar, as he's the one who is responsible for bringing Gaul under Rome. Toward that end, the book succeeds greatly as a short and concise history of Caesar and Gual during that period.

Tribal war bands had been raiding Rome (the city) for years and then fleeing back into or across the mountains with Roman loot, leaving the city in destruction. By the time Caesar comes along, Rome is more than a city: it's a growing empire, and much of the tribal raiding is now occurring on Roman interest outside of Italy. The book covers the continued growth of that empire into Gaul, and closes the chapter on Galic raiding bands on Roman interests.

There is some detail given about the native Europeans' culture(s), like, for example, important leaders, tribes, and political and social structure. However, such detail is only to provide context for what is occurring in regards to the conquest of those tribes, which is fine because that's the purpose of the book. If you're looking for in depth detail on Galic culture, then you'll want to look elsewhere.

[T.A. Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really well-written, describing the flow of this history as an interesting story.

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to the Roman conquest of Gaul. The majority of the text centers on Caesar's campaigns for two reasons: 1) the most detailed source we have about the conquest of Gaul is Caesar's "De Bello Gallico," and 2) Caesar conquered the vast majority of Gaul (earlier Roman leaders only conquered a small portion of southern Gaul). Of note is the fact that the author is evenhanded in his treatment of Caesar and Roman society in the first century B.C.E.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a summary of Caeser's Gallic Wars, which kept in all the military details, but omitted his observations of the customs of the Gauls: which are what I was interested in.