Michel Redde. Alesia: l'archeologie face a l'imaginaire.

Michel Redde. Alesia: l'archeologie face a l'imaginaire. MICHEL REDDE. Alesia: l'archeologie face a l'imaginaire.209 pages, b&w & colour illustrations, tables. 2003. Paris:Errance; 2-87772-245-7 hardback 36 [euro]. In French national cultural consciousness, historic events aremarked by a series of defeats--Agincourt, Waterloo, June 1940 and, aboveall, Alesia. As the first great defeat in France's history, Alesiahas contradictory meanings. On the one hand, it allowed the peoples ofthe territory which is now France to overcome their ancient differencesand unite against an invader; on the other, this defeat opened the wayto Romanisation and thus the entry of the French territory into historyand culture. Alesia is therefore one of the key places in the history ofFrance The History of France has been divided into a series of separate historical articles navigable through the list to the right. The chronological era articles (highlighted in blue) address broad French historical, cultural and sociological developments. and an icon of republican ideology. Yet--or perhaps because ofthis--the site is the victim of a curious curse. Large scale excavations, carried out in the 1860s at theinstigation INSTIGATION. The act by which one incites another to do something, as to injure a third person, or to commit some crime or misdemeanor, to commence a suit or to prosecute a criminal. Vide Accomplice. of the emperor Napoleon III, revealed the Roman siege worksaround Mont Auxois at Alise-Sainte-Reine in Burgundy, recognised asthose of the battle of Alesia The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September 52 BC around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort of the Mandubii tribe. , and this identification was fullyendorsed by the vast Franco-German campaign of 1991-7 co-directed byMichel Redde and reported in this book. In spite of this, the generalpublic does not wish to believe it: the 'real' Alesia is notwhere the official archaeologists claim to have found it but elsewhere,where independent researchers would have located it were it not thatsensational discoveries were being suppressed by the State. The polemicbegan almost at the same time as Alise was first officially recognisedas the likely site of the battle; now the number of alternative siteshas risen to sixty, each one claimed as the only true Alesia. Many ofthe candidates are in Franche-Comte, a territorial attribution supportedby the Roman historian Dio Cassius Dio Cassius(Cassius Dio Cocceianus) (dīo kăsh`əs), c.155–235?, Roman historian and administrator, b. Nicaea in Bithynia. He was a grandson of Dio Chrysostom. His rise in civil and military office was steady; he became a senator (c. , writing some three centuries afterthe Gallic Wars Gallic Wars(găl`ĭk), campaigns in Gaul led by Julius Caesar in his two terms as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum (58 B.C.–51 B.C.). , who located the siege in the modern region of the Jura.The historical texts are thus not in agreement, and the earliest ofthem, that of Julius Caesar Julius Caesar:see Caesar, Julius. , can only offer a particular view of events. One might have imagined that this old bone of contention would havegot buried in the extraordinary expansion of archaeological activity inthe 1980s. Alas, no: the publication of the new Franco-German research(Redde & von Schnurbein 2001) provoked 'the Alesiaquarrel' again, and in a manner far beyond simple scholarly debate.For example, the national newspaper Liberation has carried a series ofarticles featuring the site of Syam at Chaux-des-Crotenay (Jura),championed as the true site of Alesia by archaeologist Andre Berthier inthe 1960s. The articles question the veracity of the attribution of thebattle of Alesia to Alise and, further still, the prerogative ofarchaeological research to draw such an interpretation from the writtensources. It was the resurgence of this polemic which persuaded Michel Reddeto write a second book, well documented and magnificently illustrated,with the principal aim of addressing the question of Alesia'slocation. Redde first reviews the historical context for the arrival ofRomans in Gaul and then the evidence for the siege at Alesia, an eventas important for Rome as it was for Gaul. Then comes the central andmost stimulating part of the book, which deals with the quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby"quest after, go after, pursuelook for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the thelocation of the battle, including the proposed sites in the Jura. Athird and final chapter recounts the archaeological evidence gatheredsince the nineteenth century at Alise. The quantity and quality of theinformation which authenticates the identification of the siege works asthose thrown by Caesar around the Gallic oppidum at Alesia are extremelyimpressive. They offer an occasion of the rarest kind to matcharchaeological data and written texts to an historic event. Alesia is a gripping example of archaeological reasoning, in thatit neither over-stretches results nor under-rates uncertainties. Reddedemonstrates what can be known about Alesia today, both as historicalevent and archaeological assemblage. He presents the evidence precisely,reasons rigorously and justifies interpretations with candour candouror US candorNounhonesty and straightforwardness of speech or behaviour [Latin candor]Noun 1. . Thisotherwise impeccable discourse falters a little in his critique of the'other Alesias'. To say they are the creatures of a'naive archaeology' is patently true but not really adequate.When 'face a l'imaginaire'--confronting the imaginary--itis not so much the rational explanations which count but what ideasreveal about attitudes and collective visions. This Alesia has yet to bewritten. In the mean time, in response to the doubts cast on theintegrity of archaeology and the threats to the author himself, andperhaps precisely because of them, Michel Redde has written what is, inmy opinion, the best book yet on Alesia. Reference REDDE M, & S. VON SCHNURBEIN. 2001. Alesia: fouilles etrecherches franco-allemandes autour du Mont Auxois. Paris: Academie desInscriptions et Belles Lettres Noun 1. belles lettres - creative writing valued for esthetic contentbelles-lettresliterary composition, literary work - imaginative or creative writing . Trans. M. Carver & M. Hummler. LAURENT OLIVIER Musee des Antiquites nationales 78105 Saint-Germain-en-Laye,France. (Email: laurent.olivier@culture.gouv.fr)