The bridges on the Allier were broken, but Caesar
seized and repaired one of them and carried his army over.
The town of Gergovia stood on a high plateau, where the rivers rise which
run into the Loire on one side and into the Dordogne on the other. The
sides of the hill are steep, and only accessible at a very few places, and
the surrounding neighborhood is broken with rocky valleys. Vercingetorix
lay in force outside, but in a situation where he could not be attacked
except at disadvantage, and with his communication with the fortress
secured. He was departing again from his general plan for the campaign in
allowing Gergovia to be defended; but it was the central home of his own
tribe, and the result showed that he was right in believing it to be
impregnable. Caesar saw that it was too strong to be stormed, and that it
could only be taken after long operations. After a few skirmishes he
seized a spur of the plateau which cut off the garrison from their
readiest water-supply, and he formed an entrenched camp upon it. He was
studying the rest of the problem when bad news came that the Aedui were
unsteady again. The ten thousand men had been raised as he had ordered,
but on their way to join him they had murdered the Roman officers in
charge of them, and were preparing to go over to Vercingetorix.
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