He instigated the war, and Vercingetorix was the signage that it wasn't over. It could be that Cæsar continued the war fearing the newfound Gallic forces would follow him right back to Rome. Or worse, grow and reclaim all of Cæsars conquest.

Either way, Gaul was a place of turmoil. It would unlikely simply be peaceful and not react had Cæsar left.

Nice bit at the end there!

I'm not entirely certain that correctly characterizes how Caesar treated defeated enemies.

By the same guy who wrote "make it a desert and call it peace" no less!

This is often asserted but I think a simple glance at a timeline provides a real challenge to it. The Roman empire's expansion was more or less ended by about halfway through Augustus' reign (so roughly "year zero"), and while there were a few border expansions after that they tended to be fairly specific and "one off"--the conquest of Britain by Claudius and the conquest of Dacia about sixty years later by Trajan being the main examples. Exceptions aside, there is not a steady, constant expansion of Rome's borders by military conquest. And yet, these two hundred years are by most measures the period of the height of Rome's prosperity. Which becomes difficult to explain if Rome's prosperity depended on a constant stream of new conquests.

Ed: to clarify a bit I'm not saying the Roman empire functioned on hugs and teddy bears, it was certainly a creation of an extremely intense period of military conquest and was maintained by the threat of military force, but its actual functioning was not dependent on continuous border expansion.

Rome was an empire ("a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority") long before it had an emperor. Even just Italy had enough distinct peoples to qualify.

> Zenobia was similarly allowed to retire peacefully to Italy.

I can speak to this particular point.

As mentioned, Vercingetorix was perceived as a savage and a bandit.

Zenobia, on the other hand, was the wife of Odenathus, the governor of Palmyra. It's hard to overstate just how important Palmyra was to the empire. It was the western terminus of the Silk Road and a huge source of reliable tax revenue. One didn't become governor of that particular province by failing upwards or biding time. Odenathus would have been a fascinating guy. He must have been fluent in numerous languages, a skilled negotiator, and a decent military leader.

Then things went all kablooey. The Emperor of Rome was defeated and captured by the Persians. He'd never see the west again. His son Gallienus (who was quite capable, screw you Gibbon) inherited the biggest crap sandwich ever. The western empire saw invasions from the Goths in Gaul, the Franks in the north, and a Persian king who was oh so very pleased with himself.

Gallienus pretty much did everything by the book, but he only had resources to fight a war on one front. Spoiler: that means Italy. Gaul and Palmyra would have to deal. It appears Odenathus said, "hey, I know some guys. I'll make some calls." He assembled an army and defended Palmyra. Against the same Persian king who'd taken the Emperor hostage. He reclaimed most of the lands the Persians had taken in the war, and he even invaded Persia.

Guess who never had to pay for his own drinks again. Yep, this guy.

Odenathus then declared himself King of Palmyra. Gallienus had his hands full. so...OK, at least Palymra's safe for now while he takes care of things at home. Everything's hunky dory just as long as...oh, crap. Gallienus just got killed by his soldiers.

Odenathus was also assassinated. Stories vary, but his wife Zenobia stepped in. Unlike the Romans, the "barbarians" were generally smart enough to know putting boys on the throne was a bad move. Odenathus' son was far too young, so Zenobia took the title of regent. Then she declared herself Empress of the Palmyrene Empire and went conquering.

Problem is, subsequent Emperors were tied up in western Europe, so there was little they could do. It wasn't until Aurelian came in with a plan (and the mobile cavalry Gallienus invented) to put the pieces back together. The whole Aurelian/Zenobia fight would make a heck of a movie, but suffice it to say, they were both really sharp and had loyal armies behind them.

Aurelian won, Palmyra was back in the band with a warning not to play long drum solos without permission, and Zenobia was taken back to Rome to be abased in a triumph. Then, like all usurpers, she was...wait. She wasn't executed? In fact, it looks like Aurelian gave her a house within commuting distance of Rome and let her live out her life.

Why? Here's my hypothesis: Aurelian was a frontiersman. He'd been born outside the Empire, and like many provincials who'd worked their way out of poverty and barbarism through military service, he believed more strongly in Roman principles than many people born within the central Empire. Among those principals were a recognition of merit and a desire to make the best use of resources. Zenobia would have had a network. She knew people from China to Spain, and she ran a split Hellenic/Semitic empire with no real recorded dissent. Her talents were apparent, and I'm guessing Aurelian kept her close for consultation from time to time.

Roman Empire didn't exist at that point bud

Unironically, the best I got is what is shown happening in the HBO tv series "rome" at the beginning

But you'd want to check Caesars journals if you want the primary source

Also the Thor's Angels podcast that talks about what happened in Europe as the Western Roman Empire receded. "If you we're a Briton in 300, you had it made. If you were a Briton in 500, you were in trouble." lol

Bomb channel. Have always watched intently whenever they post something new.

The Catuvellauni according to his Wikipedia page.

It was said that Caesar would forgive those who he defeated, but only once. If you rose up in arms against him a second time then he was not so capable of forgiveness.

That’s the kind of speech you get when it’s paraphrased and embellished after the fact

That's kind of what happens when you live in 200bc.

He was from the tribe beginning "Ca-" that i can never spell. Camalluivani? Catelluvaini? Cataullvianne? Cat Stephens? Whatever it is, he was one of that lot

This makes a lot of sense. Caesar was definitely one for theatrics. The man knew how to tell a story.

That's the one! Thank you.

Vercingetorix and his Arverni weren't roman subjects so I think it's incorrect to describe Caesar's war of obvious aggression as a rebellion. Semantics perhaps, but I think the word rebellion carries the notion of betrayal when they were in fact defending their homeland from a foreign expansionist invader.

Caesar instigated that whole war so I don't think he was pissed he had to be there. In fact, he refused to return to Rome when recalled by the Senate for starting an illegal war.

one of my favorite channels of all time

I know this is well known but just wanted to point out Brennus and his boss move (according to Livy) after sacking Rome in 390:

“At last the Gauls consented to accept a ransom of a thousand pounds of gold. As it was being weighed out, the Roman tribune complained of some unfairness. Brennus at once threw his heavy sword into the scale; and when asked the meaning of the act, replied that it meant Vae victis (" woe to the conquered").”

> I'm sure both his face and actions were the inspirations for several villains (I'm pretty sure Blofeld is partly based on him)

Not being a huge Bond aficionado, I figured he (or someone very much like him) was an inspiration for Marvel Comics' Baron Strucker. I now see that character was probably ripped off pretty directly from Blofeld.

Not a historian, but I feel like it probably played a role that Vercingetorix was defeated in a rebellion against Rome that involved a significant amount of conspiracy and betrayal by Roman "allies"

Vercingetorix led the Galls in the Second Gallic War. The word Second is critical here. Julius Caesar had a general policy of showing some mercy against a defeated foe once, but if he had to go back again to fight, all manner of brutality was on the table. Caesar was pissed that he was wasting time and resources knocking down the Galls again in the Second Gallic War, and he slaughtered whole cities, sold captured women and children en-mass into slavery, and denied their military leader the customary Roman mercy.