Starting in 58 BC, Julius Caesar, as proconsul of Gaul, conquered the lands between the Pyrenees, the Rhine and the Atlantic in eight years of campaigns, which he described in his Commentaries on the Gallic War. He defeated the Helvetii, crossed the Rhine twice, made two expeditions to Britain, and in 52 BC besieged the Gallic leader Vercingetorix at Alesia, building double siege lines. The war added a huge territory to Rome, made Caesar rich and gave him a loyal army, and it brought the Latin language and Roman culture to what is now France.
Before and after
- 8 December 65 BCEBirth of Horace
- 63 BCEBirth of Strabo
- 23 September 63 BCEBirth of Augustus
- from 60 BCE to 106 CEDacia
- from 59 BCE to 51 BCECaesar begins the conquest of Gaul
- 58 BCEPublication of Commentarii de Bello Gallico
- 58 BCEBattle of Vosges
- 58 BCEBattle of the Arar
- from 58 BCE to 51 BCEGallic War
More in Wars, politics & history
- 587 BCENebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple
- from 499 BCE to 449 BCEGreco-Persian Wars
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from 218 BCE to 201 BCESecond Punic War
- 43 CERome invades Britain
- 17 January 395 CEThe Roman Empire is permanently divided
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century BCE.