Spring 51 BC · Cadurci territory (Lot valley, southern Gaul) Theater
Spring 51 BC
After Alesia the resistance fragmented into regional pockets. Uxellodunum was a near-impregnable oppidum on a high plateau above the Célé river, held by the last organized Gallic resistance force under Drappus and Lucterius. Caesar arrived to find the siege already in progress and determined to make an example that would end all further resistance permanently. Unable to storm the plateau, he engineered a tunnel to cut off the town's water supply from a spring at the base of the cliff — when the spring suddenly ceased to flow, the townspeople believed the gods had abandoned them and surrendered. Caesar then ordered that all who had borne arms have their right hands cut off — deliberately mutilating them in a way that left them alive to serve as permanent warnings throughout Gaul. He later wrote that the severity was intended to demonstrate what happened to those who chose continued resistance.
Commanders