#arverni

A series of coins celebrating Caesar’s victories in Gaul appear in 48 BC. It was in this year that Caesar began hostilities against Pompey. In the previous year Pompey had released coins proclaiming his naval power. Caesar’s coins might be seen as a response. These coins were not minted by Caesar himself, but by two of his supporters who became moneyers in this year. One of these was L. Hostilius Saserna who released the coin above. The bearded male on the obverse of is often identified as Vercingetorix, the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in a revolt against Rome. Putting his face on a Roman coin is a strong symbol of the victory over and subjugation of the Gauls.

Vercingetorix 82 BC – 46 BC was a chieftain of the Arverni tribe; he united the Gauls in a revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. He came to power after his formal designation as chieftain of the Arverni at the oppidum Bibracte in 52 BC. He immediately established an alliance with other Gallic tribes, took command and combined all forces, and led them in Gaul's most significant revolt against Roman power. He won the Battle of Gergovia, in which 46 centurions and 700 legionaries died and more than 6,000 people were injured, whereupon Caesar's Roman legions withdrew.

Noted craftsmen, the Arverni enjoy improved income from their artisans, as well as profiting from the Gauls’ expertise with gold-working. In battle, their cavalry benefit from natural Gallic horsemanship, while the charisma and fighting prowess of their kings and chieftains make them formidable warriors, and earns them diplomatic respect amongst other barbarian tribes.

By Roman History Made Easy A map of Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the relative position of the Helvetii and the Sequani (Photo credit: Wikipedia) It's one of those strange paradoxes of archaeology - an ancient authority on Gaul describes Gallic cities 2000-years ago but his descriptions are often ignored by modern historians. The 19th and 20th century produced the idea of Gauls as the 'Noble Savage' and clearly, noble savages couldn't go around living in cities. As a result many of us - if we've ever heard of Gauls at all - will conjure up images of Asterix and Obelix living in thatched roundhouses rather than a sophisticated western civilisation that was rapidly catching up with Rome and Greece. Julius Caesar embraced this latter concept when he foresaw Gaul in its ascendancy - his reaction was to control the economic powerhouse Gaul could become through diplomatic and military force. If he hadn't, then it's likely just a few unified states from modern day central France would have had the economic means and resources to make Rome a client rather than the master. Celtic Gaul was dotted with several large commercial hubs by the 1st-century BC - many, such as Cenabum (modern day Orleans) and Lutetia (modern day Paris) had built their power on river trade. Cenabum's position on the Loire allowed it to control almost all commodity trading between the Atlantic Coast and the Mediterranean Basin, likewise Lutetia controlled the Seine, the gateway to the North Sea and the Baltic lands. But for both of these shipping corridors to prosper, short land routes between the southwards flowing Saone and, the northwards flowing Loire and Seine was an unavoidable necessity - making the area between Chalon-S-Saone (Cavillonum) and Nevers (Noviodunum) the place where the real money was to be made. This 100-mile land corridor was the bridge for all north-south trade across Celtic and Belgic Gaul. For all intents and purposes, every wine amphora moving north and every talent of iron heading south had to be taken off ships and road hauled. So whoever controlled this land bridge stood to make a lot of money - and it they did so by collecting tolls. Think about it - imagine a single freeway linking northern and southern Europe over which every pedestrian, pack animal and wagon had to pay for the pleasure. It was a cash cow and it was critically important - and it drove Gallic politics before and after Julius Caesar arrived in 58BC. The money this region was producing was almost certainly the reason for the continual warring between the Arverni and Aeduans in the early 1st-century BC and why Julius Caesar moved to eject Ariovistus and his German mercenaries from the same region as soon as the Romans arrived. That Caesar elected to maintain close relations with the Aeduans rather than the more powerful Arverni also suggests he was much more interested in where the Aedui were - rather than who they were. Continued at http://calvusguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-gauls-forgotten-city-builders.html Related articles * "The Conquest of Gaul" by Julius Caesar * The World of Caesarius of Arles  * The First Roman Camp in Germany... in English http://dlvr.it/2sSdBh #archaeology #rome