Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix (c. 82-46 BCE) was a chieftain of the Arverni tribe who led a large confederation of Gallic tribes in a major uprising against Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in 52 BCE. Adopting a strategy of scorched-earth resistance and cavalry harassment, he inflicted a rare defeat on Caesar's forces at the Battle of Gergovia before being besieged and ultimately defeated at the Battle of Alesia, where Caesar's double ring of fortifications trapped and starved the Gallic army into surrender. Vercingetorix surrendered personally to Caesar, was held captive for years, and was eventually executed in Rome; he has since become a national symbol of Gaulish, and later French, resistance to foreign conquest.