\b0 A member of one of the most powerful families of the Arverne people, Vercingetorix led the r
evolt against the Roman presence in Gaul in 52 BC. Facing Caesar's legions, he successfully defended the \i oppidum\i0 of Gergovia but at the end of an inconclusive cavalry battle allowed himself to be surrounded on the plateau of Alesia. After several
weeks of siege and with the armies sent to his aid kept at bay, he was forced to surrender. Taken to Rome, he was executed at the end of six years of captivity when the total conquest of Gaul was achieved by the Romans.\par
