Litaviccus (ca. 50 BC) was a member of the
Gallic tribe of
Aedui
The Aedui or Haedui (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Aiduoi'', 'the Ardent'; ) were a Gauls, Gallic tribe dwelling in what is now the region of Burgundy during the La Tène culture, Iron Age and the Roman Empire, Roman period.
The Aedui had an ambi ...
. He played an important role at the
Siege of Gergovia. Though the Aedui at first supported
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
in his struggle against
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix (; ; – 46 BC) was a Gauls, Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman Republic, Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. After surrendering to C ...
, they defected from the Romans and joined Vercingetorix.
According to Caesar in his ''
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; ), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' (), is Julius Caesar's first-hand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it, Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine yea ...
'', the Aedui had been roused into this betrayal by
Convictolitavis, the leader of the Aedui. During the siege of Gergovia, Litaviccus was given command over 10,000 men who were sent to aid Caesar. During the march, however, Litavccus gave a speech to his soldiers where he claimed the Romans had killed the nobles of the Aedui, and that they had the same planned for the rest of the tribe. This convinced the soldiers to desert the Romans and instead join Vercingetorix.
Though the army of Litaviccus was very small compared to the
Legion
Legion may refer to:
Military
* Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army
* Aviazione Legionaria, Italian air force during the Spanish Civil War
* A legion is the regional unit of the Italian carabinieri
* Spanish Legion, ...
s of Caesar, Caesar was nonetheless forced to remove a part of his soldiers at Gergovia to deal with Litaviccus.
Litaviccus' rebellion did not last long; when Caesar presented the (according to Litaviccus) murdered nobles of the Aedui, the soldiers realized they had been lied to and surrendered, after which Litaviccus escaped and fled to Gergovia.
1st-century BC Gaulish tribal chiefs
Barbarian people of the Gallic Wars
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