Huy Liège Belgium

The Siege of the Aduatuci (57 BCE): A Failed Last Stand Against Rome

The Aduatuci, described as the descendants of a Cimbri remnant, had remained in northern Gaul after their ancestors helped defeat a Roman army under Marcus Junius Silanus in 109 BCE. By 57 BCE, they were neighbors of both the Nervii and the Eburones and had sent troops to assist the Nervii in their fight against Julius Caesar during the Battle of the Sabis. However, upon learning of the Nervii’s catastrophic defeat, the Aduatuci retreated to their stronghold, a heavily fortified settlement in the Meuse Valley.

Caesar’s Siege of the Aduatuci’s Fortress

• The exact location of the Aduatuci stronghold remains uncertain, with possibilities including:

  • Namur (Citadel of Namur)
  • Huy
  • St. Servais, just north of Namur

• Caesar pursued the Aduatuci, determined to eliminate all remaining Belgic resistance.

• The Aduatuci initially resisted Roman assaults, but as Caesar’s legions erected siege weapons, they recognized their hopeless position and sued for peace.

The Aduatuci’s Attempted Deception and Final Stand

• Caesar promised mercy if they surrendered, and in response, the Aduatuci opened their gates and laid down some weapons.
• However, this was likely a deception—the Aduatuci had secretly kept additional weapons concealed within the city.
• That night, believing the Romans to be off-guard, the Aduatuci launched a surprise attack using improvised shields and hidden weapons.
• However, the Romans were prepared—they repelled the attack and massacred the Aduatuci forces.

The Aftermath: The Enslavement of the Aduatuci

• Following their defeat, the Aduatuci were effectively annihilated.
• According to Caesar, 53,000 survivors were sold into slavery, a fate commonly inflicted upon defeated rebellious tribes.
• This brutal punishment served as a warning to other Gallic tribes considering resistance against Rome’s conquest.

Significance of the Siege of the Aduatuci

• The siege marked the final major resistance of the Belgic tribes in 57 BCE, effectively securing Roman control over northern Gaul.
• The Aduatuci’s fate demonstrated Caesar’s strategic approach to conquest, using a mix of diplomatic deception, siege warfare, and punitive measures to ensure long-term Roman dominance.
• Their destruction eliminated another potential threat to Roman expansion and paved the way for the full subjugation of Gaul in the years to come.

The Siege of the Aduatuci remains one of the most ruthless yet decisive engagements of the Gallic Wars, further solidifying Caesar’s reputation as a relentless military commander.

The open war with Spain starts with a promising victory for the French at the Belgian village of Les Avins on May 20, 1635, in what is at this time the bishopric of Liège.

The Spanish army, inferior in numbers, is surrounded and completely defeated in just a few hours.

Some five thousand Spanish are killed or wounded, fifteen hundred captured and the rest scattered.

It is the first serious engagement for the French, which had entered the war only three months before.

The French army had joined up with the Dutch coming from the north, but their disagreements have given the Spanish the time to reorganize themselves.

They harass the French with quick cavalry raids.

The French army also suffers from lack of supplies and money, which has led to widespread desertions.

After the Peace of Prague (1635), Imperial troops are free to reinforce the Spanish.

Famine exhausts the protagonists of the War of the Grand Alliance in 1694 and the year sees no great battles or sieges.

Although William is able to take the small fortress of Huy in September, neither side wants a repetition of the bloodbath at Landen.

At sea, the Anglo-Dutch fleets are sent to help the Allied war effort in Italy and Spain.

With the French fleet largely confined to port the rapidly increasing Royal Navy has gained the upper hand, forcing a strategic re-think in France—the French navy switches from fleet warfare to privateering against Anglo-Dutch shipping.

This causes serious damage to the commerce of the maritime powers, and together with the Anglo-Dutch fleets enforcing the blockade, the Allies are unable to use their navies in an offensive way against either Europe or French possessions overseas; Louis can only be defeated on the Continent.