Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/274

 258 MANDUBII. on the north side of Alesia, and in the narrower valley at the east end, is the railroad from Paris to Dijon. The nearest railway station to Alesia is Les Lammes. The summit of Alesia is not quite flat ; but the irregularities are inconsiderable. The sides of the hill beneath the plateau are steep and rocky; and the upper part of the ascent to the summit is not easy. Below the plateau, and below this steep ascent, there is a narrow level piece of ground, which ap- pears to have been widened a little by the labour of man ; and below this level part there is another de- scent, which in some parts is steep. The fine plain (planities) at the western foot of Alesia, which Caesar describes, is seen well from the western end of the level summit. This is the part which Caesar (c. 84) calls the " Arx Alesiae." The surface of the plateau rises a little towards the western extremity, and then fiills away abruptly, terminating in a rocky promon- tory, something like the head of a boat. A cross, with a small tree on each side of it, stands at the edge of the brow, and exactly marks the place fn)m which Vercingetorix looked down on the plain of Alesia (c. 84). Beneath the Arx Alesiae is the small town of A lise, on the western and south-west- ern slope of the hill. It occupies a different place fi-oin the old town of the JIandubii, which was on the summit level. The hill is a mass of rock. The pla- teau has a thin soil, and the few parts which are not cultivated are covered with a short grass like that on the Brighton downs. It appears that the town of the Mandubii occupied all the large plateau, the length of which is shown by the scale, though we must as- siuno that it was not all built on. The Arx, as al- ready explained, was at the west end, commanding a view of the plain. The city wall seems to have been carried all round the margin of the plateau. Caesar says (B. G. vii. 69): " under the wall, that part of the hill which looked towards the e.ist, all this space the forces of the Galli had filled, and they had formed in their front a ditch and a wall of stones (maeoria) six feet high." This is the place marked A. in the plan, the only part of the hill of Alesia which is connected with the neighbouring heights. It is a small neck of land which separates the valleys of the Loze and the Lozerain. This is the part where the plateau of Alesia is must accessible, which Vercingetorix first occupied when he retired to Ale- sia, and where he constructed the wall of loose stones (nuiceria). There are plenty of stones on the spot to construct another such wall, if it were wanted. At the eastern end of the plateau, just under the summit there is a source of water, which is now covered over with a small building. The water is now carried in pi{)es round the hill, to supply the hospital of AUse, which is (F.) on the west side of the hill on the slope. Water is got at AUse by di"-- ging wells in the small level below the plateau ; and as the Galli held this part of the mountain during the blockade, they may have got water from wells, as they no doubt did from the spring on the plateau. Caesar's lines were formed all round the hill of Alesia, and they crossed the neck (A.) which con- nects this hill with another hill (B.) on the south- east side. The " castra " of Caesar (cc. 69, 80) w(!re on B. C. D. E., on all the heights around Ale- .si I. Tbese hills have a steep side turned to Alesia, and fiat tops. They are so near to Alesia that Cae- sar could not be safe against an attack from the out- side, unless he occupied them. The valleys between Alesia and B. C. D. are narrow. On the north and MANDUBII. north-west side the valley is wider. There is a good source of water on the hill B. The hill of Alesia is well defined on the north and the south by the valleys of the two streams which Caesar mentions {B. G. vii. 69), and on the west side by the plain in which these rivers meet. Caesar estimates the width of this plain from north to south at three Roman miles ; and it is that width at least even in the part which is only a little dis- tance from the foot of the hill. It extends much further in a NW. direction on the road to Montbard. This plain is a perfect level, covered in summer with fine wheat. As we go from the foot of the hill of Alesia to Les Laumes, the Arx Alesiae is a con- spicuous object. Caesar made two lines of circumvallation round Alesia. The circuit of the inner lines was eleven Roman miles ; and we may infer from his words that this circumvallation was entirely in the plain and the valleys, except that it must have passed over tlie small elevation or neck of land between A. and B. In making the outer hnes, which were fourteen Roman miles in circuit, he followed the level as far as the ground allowed (c. 74) ; from which we conclude that some parts of the outer line were on the high grounds opposite to the hill of Alesia ; and the form of the surface shows that this must have been so. The upper part of the hill west of Cressigny, part of which hill appears in the north-west angle of the plan, was crossed by the lines ; and the camp of Eeginus and Eebilus (c. 83) was on the slope of this hill which faces Alesia. One of the ditches (fossae) of the interior lines was filled with water from the river (c. 72). The lines of eleven and fourteen miles in circuit are no ex- aggeration. No less circuit would enclose the hill and give the Romans the necessary space. The boldness of the undertaking may be easily conceived by the aid of numbers ; but the sight of the work that was to be done before Vercingetorix and his troops, to the number of 80,000 men, could be shut in, can alone make us fully comprehend and admire the daring genius of the Roman proconsul. There was a cavalry fight in the great plain before Caesar had completed his works. The Galli were driven back from the plain to their camp under the eaat end of the hill, and took refuge within Alesia. After this defeat Vercingetorix sent his cavalry away, and made preparation for holding out till the Gallic confederates should come to his aid. (B.G. 70, 71.) When the forces of the confederates (vii. 75) came to raise the blockade of Alesia, they posted themselves on the hills where the name Miissy ajipears ; and in the battle which is de- scribed in vii. 79, the Gallic cavalry filled the plain on the west side of the hill of Alesia, while the infantry remained on the heights about Miissy. The Gallic horse were beaten back to their camp (c. 80) ; but on the following night they renewed the attack on that part of the lines which crossed the plain. This attack also failed The next night the GalUc confederates sent 60,000 men under Vergasillaunus to the north, to the back of the hill (E.), on the south slope of which Eeginus and Rebilus had their camp. Their orders were to fall on the Romans at midday. The Galli got to the back of the hill at daybreak, and waited till near noon, when they began their attack on the camp. At the same time the cavalry of the confederates came against the lines in the plain ; and Vercingetorix descended from the heights of Alesia to attack the lines from