v08_0895 - ARVERNI (Area of Clermont-Ferrand) Bronze à la tête négroïde aux annelets

ARVERNI (Area of Clermont-Ferrand)

(1st century AD)

The Arvernes who occupied the current territory of the former province of Auvergne were the most powerful people of Gaul. The Arverne Empire of Bituit had been destroyed in 121 BC by the Romans. Celtille, the father of Vercingetorix, had tried to reconstitute it around 80 BC for his own benefit before being put to death by his compatriots. Vercingetorix will become the leader of the Gallic coalition trying to oppose Caesar. He forces Caesar to lift the siege of Gergovie, but locks himself in Alésia. He is obliged to surrender in 52 BC to Caesar who keeps him alive to make him participate in his triumph in 46 BC. Vercingetorix is then strangled in his prison.