Like in the other books in the series Les petites histoires de l’HISTOIRE, the first two pages before the story sensu stricto are entitled The Adventure Begins… They provide answers to the questions: when, where, who, and “so what”. In 52 BCE, in the territory of today’s France, some Gallic tribes had already made agreements with Rome; others were nervously awaiting the results of Caesar’s attempts to conquer them all.

Against this background, a young Gaul, Samonios hears the message transmitted by loud voices from village to village in the traditional oral communication: Avaricum had fallen! Vercingetorix, the Averni's chieftain, had wanted to destroy the fortified town and deprive Romans of food and fodder, forcing them to return to Rome. The other chiefs had considered Avaricum impossible to conquer and had refused to destroy it. The message received now reveals the already legendary Avernian to have been proven right. The loss of Avaricum unites the various Gallic tribes under Vercingetorix. 

Samonios, with his friend Bebros and other warriors from the same village, go to join the great chieftain. He is very impressive – a head taller than the tallest Gauls – and without pity for his enemies and his disloyal allies alike. The Gallic army waits in the camp, but in the meantime, the news breaks that Caesar has left Avaricum and is with his Aeduan friends, who try to revolt but are quickly brought back to heel. The Parisii also refuse to submit to Caesar, who sends four legions against them. Vercingetorix, knowing that the Romans are going to his home, Gergovia, the Avernian capital, takes his army, cavalry and infantry, in the same direction. 

Soon, the Gauls can observe the legions advancing on the opposite shore of the river Elaver. They cannot cross because the Gauls destroyed the bridges. A few days later, Caesar and his legions cross the Elaver river to the Gauls' stupefaction: they have been watching the Roman army advancing in parallel on the opposite shore; focused on the troops ostensibly marching along the river, the Gauls did not notice that part of the army stopped to build new bridges, and once they were ready, the troops turned back and crossed, now pursuing the Gallic army. 

Vercingetorix is convinced that they have no chance of beating the Romans on the plain; they must go to Gergovia and make a stand there. Caesar advances and begins a state-of-the-art siege, building two camps linked by a deep ditch allowing safe communication between them. Vercingetorix fortifies Gergovia’s defenses; the Romans attack but are pushed away in several hours of long and chaotic battle. New legions come to tempt the Gauls to a battle on the plain. The Gallic chieftain knows better than to accept this invitation. 

After several days of Roman maneuvres on the plain, Caesar and his troops break camp and start to leave. Vercingetorix decides to attack them; his enthusiastic army pledges not to go home before a victory. All seems to go well when, suddenly, the cavalry of the Germani join the battle against the Gauls and a massacre begins. Vercingetorix orders an immediate withdrawal to Alesia, where the Gauls could safely endure several weeks of siege, waiting to be rescued by their allies. 

Caesar immediately begins investing Alesia with double fortifications to keep the besieged Gauls inside and prevent the relief forces from reaching the town. When help does not come, and there is almost nothing left to eat, one of the Arverni chieftains, Critognatos, counsels cannibalism, apparently practiced during the wars with Cimbri and Teutones. Still, finally, they send out women, children, and older people outside the walls to beg the enemy soldiers to be taken into captivity. The Romans have orders not to save them, and the Gauls in Alesia do not reopen the gates, leaving their women, children, and elders to die of thirst. 

When the relief troops finally arrive, they attack the legions three times, only to be defeated each time. The soldiers from Alesia join the battles; during the last one, Samonios’ friend Bebros is killed. Finally, it becomes clear to Vercingetorix that all is lost. To end his people’s pointless suffering, he gives himself up to Caesar, who exercises his famous clemency by letting go all Aedui and Arverni free as future allies. He then distributes members of the remaining tribes to Roman legionaries as slaves. Vercingetorix is taken to Rome, where, in 46 BCE, he marches in Caesar’s triumph and is later executed in prison. The young Gaul, Samonios, hears of his death in a message transmitted from village to village, the same way he heard about Avaricum’s fall at the beginning of the book. He refuses to transmit this news.  

Like all volumes in both series, Les petites histoires de l’HISTOIRE and Les petites histoires de la mythologie, the book ends with a section called Pour en savoir plus… [To learn more about it] providing data on sources for the story, its characters, events, and locations. This information is presented in easy to read, short, individual Q&A sections, e.g., Who was Vercingetorix? Who was Julius Caesar? Where is Gergovia? Where is Alesia? How did Gaul become Roman?

The motto of the series – Vis l’Histoire comme une aventure [Experience history as an adventure] clarifies how the conflict between Rome and the Gallic tribes is presented in the book. We learn about what happened through the eyes of a young Gaul who joins Vercingetorix forces and takes part in the Gallic army's progress, in the siege of Gergovia, Alesia, and its tragic outcome and aftermath. The story follows Caesar’s De bello Gallico. These events are naturally part of  France’s national history and, as such, of special interest to French children. Vercingetorix is an admirable character who managed to unite traditionally hostile tribes. His fate in the Tullianum jail and death are moving and tragic events, symbolizing the hopeless struggle for independence from Rome.  

The addition of a young fictional protagonist and his friend increases the narrative’s charm and attraction. Readers learn about historical facts and are able to imagine emotions related to the described events and at least partially, to grasp the reality of Gaul over two thousand years ago. The siege warfare, as conducted by Caesar, is explained and described in a manner simple enough for a young teenager, but at the same time, accurate and credible. Presentation of social structures existing in Gaul of the 1st century BCE highlights aspects of life in a community that the young reader can compare to  personal experience. Strongly male-centric, the novel appeals to boys, rather then girls. The only women in the story are the tragic Gallic characters who die between Alesia and the Roman siege.

A contemporary, unpretentious vocabulary and natural dialogues make the text easily accessible and attractive to children.

Beard, Mary, SPQR. A History of Ancient Rome, London: Profile Books, 2016 (ed. pr. 2015).

Brunaux, Jean-Louis, Les Gaulois. (Guides Belles Lettres Des Civilisations), Paris: Les Belles lettres, 2005.

Caesar, The Gallic War, trans. H. J. Edwards (Loeb Classical Library 72), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1917.

Drinkwater, John F., Roman Gaul. The Three Provinces, 58 BC–260 AD, Routledge Revivals, Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge, 2014 (ed. pr. 1983).

Genre: Short profiles of famous historical figures for children.