 Vercingétorix Memorial in Alesia | |
  Alesia Shown within France | |
| Location | Alise-Sainte-Reine |
|---|---|
| Region | Burgundy,France |
| Coordinates | 47°32′21″N04°30′02″E / 47.53917°N 4.50056°E /47.53917; 4.50056 |
| Type | Circular rampart oroppidum |
| Area | c. 140 hectares (350 acres) |
| History | |
| Builder | Celts, laterRoman |
| Material | Stone, earth, wood |
| Periods | Iron Age |
| Cultures | Celts,La Tène later Gallo-Roman |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Eugène Stoffel [fr],Michel Reddé [fr],Siegmar von Schnurbein [de] |
| Public access | Yes |
Alesia was the capital of theMandubii, one of theGallic tribes allied with theAedui. TheCelticoppidum was conquered byJulius Caesar during theGallic Wars and afterwards became a Gallo-Roman town. Modern understanding of its location was controversial for a long time; however, it is now thought to have been located on Mont-Auxois, nearAlise-Sainte-Reine inBurgundy, France.
According toDiodorus Siculus, the city was founded afterHeracles met and marriedKeltikē :[1][2]
Alesia is best known for being the site of the decisiveBattle of Alesia in 52 BC that marked the defeat of theGauls underVercingetorix by theRomans underJulius Caesar. Caesar described the battle in detail in hisCommentarii de Bello Gallico (Book VII, 69–90). The battle's outcome determined the fate of all of Gaul: in winning the battle, the Romans won both theGallic Wars and dominion over Gaul.
The enormous measures taken during the battle were impressive: in only six weeks, Caesar's troops built a ring of fortifications 15 km (9.3 mi) long (circumvallation) around Alesia and an additional ring 21 km (13 mi) long (contravallation) around that to stop reinforcements (around 250,000 men according to Caesar) from reaching the Gauls.
After being conquered by Caesar, Alesia became aGallo-Roman town. It featured a town centre withmonumental buildings such as temples and aforum. There was also a theatre.[3]: 32
For a long time after the abandonment of the Roman town[timeframe?], the location of Alesia and thus the site of the important battle was unknown and subject to speculation. In the 19th century, EmperorNapoleon III developed an interest in the location of this crucial battle in pre-French history. He was writing a biography of Caesar and saw the command of Vercingetorix over all Gaulish armies as a symbol of the French nation. At the same time he realized that the future French nation was heavily influenced by the Roman victory and centuries of rule over Gaul.
In 1838 an inscriptionIN ALISIIA was discovered nearAlise-Sainte-Reine in the departmentCôte-d'Or nearDijon. Napoleon III ordered an archaeological excavation byEugène Stoffel [fr] around Mont-Auxois. These excavations from 1861 to 1865 concentrated on the vast Roman siege lines and indicated that the historical Alesia was indeed located there.[3]: 32–33
Theoppidum was located on a plateau ofc. 97 hectares (240 acres), around 200 metres (660 ft) above the valley floor, surrounded by steep cliffs in every direction except at the eastern and western extremities.[3]: 32 It was protected by a wall (murus gallicus) enclosing an area of up to 140 hectares (350 acres), pierced by at least twopincer gates and in 52 BC it possibly had a population of 80,000, including refugees and men under the command of Vercingetorix.[4][5]
Later archaeological analysis at Alise-Sainte-Reine has corroborated the described siege in detail. The remains of siege rings said to match Caesar’s descriptions have been identified byarchaeologists usingaerial photography (e.g. byRené Goguey [fr]). Franco-German excavations led byMichel Reddé [fr] andSiegmar von Schnurbein [de] from 1991–97 confirmed these findings and effectively ended the long debate among archaeologists about the location of Alesia.[3]: 32
There have been other theories about Alesia's location that claimed it was inFranche-Comté or aroundSalins-les-Bains inJura. In the 1960s, a French archaeologist,André Berthier [fr], proposed that the location of Alesia is atChaux-des-Crotenay in Franche-Comté, at the gate of the Jura mountains—a place that according to him better suits the descriptions in Caesar's Gallic Wars.[6] This theory is not supported by archaelogical or historical research. In total, around 40 towns and other locations have claimed to be the site of Alesia.[7]
Part of the area has become the MuséoParc Alésia.[clarification needed] Not much of the Gallicoppidum is visible today, except for some remains of a rampart. Most of the ruins date to the town’s Roman period.[3]: 32–33
A largecopper statue of Vercingetorix, made in 1865 byAimé Millet, stands at the western end of the plateau.[7]
The uncertainty surrounding Alesia's location is humorously parodied in theAsterix comic bookAsterix and the Chieftain's Shield, in which, in this case because of Gaulish pride, characters repeatedly and vehemently deny that they know its location: "I don't know where Alesia is! No-one knows where Alesia is!".
