Vercingetorix in popular culture

The ancient Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix (c. 82 BC–46 BC) has appeared many times in works of popular culture.

  • Vercingetorix appears in the Asterix series of comics,[1] notably in Asterix the Gaul, Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield and Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter. He is seen at his surrender to Caesar, aloofly throwing his arms on (rather than at) Caesar's feet causing him to hobble, rather than walk, to his next conquest. Conversely, when Caesar himself relates the story of Vercingetorix's surrender to some of his minions (in The Mansions of the Gods), the Gallic chieftain is depicted as worn out and eager to give up.
  • Vercingetorix rose to prominence as a French nationalist hero during the 19th century, especially due to the efforts of Napoleon III and several "Celtomaniac" historians such as François Guizot and Augustin Thierry. His image was celebrated in numerous monumental bronze statues, paintings, works of literature, and school textbooks.[2]
  • Vercingetorix appears in the third yearbook of the Marvel G.I. Joe comics, a short story titled "My Dinner with Serpentor" dealing with his surrender due to the origins of pizza.
  • Vercingetorix appears in the Alix comics series, notably in the album entitled Vercingetorix.[3]
  • Vercingetorix is one of the Great Generals appearing in Civilization IV[4] as well as Civilization V.
  • A 2001 French film, Vercingétorix, also known as Vercingétorix: la légende du druide roi ("Vercingetorix: the legend of the druid king"), released as Druids in English,[5] was directed by Jacques Dorfmann and co-written by Dorfmann and Norman Spinrad, starring Christopher Lambert in the title role. It was neither a critical nor a box-office success, but did far better in Europe than the United States of America. Spinrad went on to write a novel, The Druid King, released in 2003.
  • In the French version of The Adventures of Tintin comic Explorers on the Moon, Captain Haddock calls Thomson and Thompson, "Espèces de Vercingétorix de Carnaval!" (Carnival Vercingetorix).
  • Johnny Rico mentions a smaller troop transport (those named for "foot sloggers", as he puts it) christened Vercingetorix in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
  • Vercingetorix appeared in the 2002 TNT television miniseries Julius Caesar, played by Heino Ferch.[6]
  • Vercingetorix's campaign against Caesar is the subject of Morgan Llywelyn's 1992 novel Druids.
  • The "King of all the Gauls" appears in the 2005 HBO/BBC series Rome, played by Giovanni Calcagno. He is in the episodes "The Stolen Eagle" and "Triumph".[7]
  • Vercingetorix appears as an enemy character in the computer games Praetorians and Age of Empires.[4]
  • Vercingatorix appears as a named Legendary net-type gladiator in the Freyr Games mobile app Call of Arena.
  • Vercingetorix is the name of a minor character in the manga series Air Gear by Oh! great.
  • In 62: A Model Kit, a novel by Julio Cortázar, a lead character sculpts a statue of Vercingetorix holding under his arm, as the character describes it, "his own decapitated [sic] head enlarged by history, changed into two thousand years of schoolboy compositions and the pretext for hollow speeches..."
  • Vercingetorix appears as a French warrior in the Anachronism card game.
  • Vercingetorix appears in the novel Emperor: The Field of Swords – a Novel of Julius Caesar, by Conn Iggulden.
  • Vercingetorix appears in the novel Saylor, Steven (2008). The Triumph of Caesar A Mystery of Ancient Rome. ISBN 978-1-84529-567-7.
  • Vercingetorix appears in the 1968 play Caesar at the Rubicon by Theodore H. White.
  • Vercingetorix is last of The Undying to be fought on Gran Pulse in Final Fantasy XIII.
  • In the 2nd Season of Robot Wars, a contesting robot was named Vercingetorix. In Robot Wars Extreme, they changed the name to Comengetorix, a pun on the original name.
  • The song Kingdom Come Undone by Eluveitie mentions Vercingetorix and the battle of Alesia.
  • Vercingetorix[8] -or- VX is a vineyard just outside Newberg, Oregon.
  • Vercingetorix is referenced several times in Katharine Kerr's "Deverry" novels, both by his own name and as "Gwercongetoryc" in the 'Deverrian dialect.'
  • Vercingetorix was portrayed by Mathew Baynton in a sketch on the popular BBC children's comedy program Horrible Histories, showing the Gaulish sentries' retreat in the rain at the siege of Avaricum.[9]
  • The village of Alise-Sainte-Reine holds a yearly festival celebrating Vercingetorix.[10]
  • The anime Code Geass: Akito the Exiled has a Knightmare Frame named Vercingetorix piloted by Shin Hyuga Shaing.
  • Vercingetorix is featured as a playable commander in the video game Total War: Arena.[11]
  • Vercingetorix is a playable character in "Gods of Rome".
  • Vercingetorix appears in Celtic Kings: Rage of War against the Roman Empire and the Gauls.[12][13]
  • In The Simpsons Mr. Burns says that Homer Simpson has "...the noble bearing of the barbarian leader Vercingetorix."
Poster for the French film Vercingétorix by Cândido de Faria for Pathé, 1909. Collection EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

References
  1. "New York Times, TV WEEKEND; Caesar Rendered for the Small Screen, June 27, 2003". 27 June 2003.
  2. Dietler, M., "Our ancestors the Gauls": archaeology, ethnic nationalism, and the manipulation of Celtic identity in modern Europe, American Anthropologist, 1994, 96: 584–605. Dietler, M., A tale of three sites: the monumentalization of Celtic oppida and the politics of collective memory and identity, World Archaeology, 1998, 30: 72–89.
  3. Wyke, Maria (2006). Julius Caesar in Western Culture. Wiley. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4051-2599-4.
  4. "The Epoch Times, Before France Was France, Aug 22, 2008".
  6. "Dallas Morning News, TNT presents first-class Roman epic in Caesar, June 29, 2003".
  7. "New York Times, TELEVISION; HBO's Roman Holiday, August 21, 2005". 21 August 2005.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 5, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "YouTube".
  10. Beardsley, Eleanor (2013-08-08). "How Gaul-ing! Celebrating France's First Resistance Fighter". NPR Morning Edition.
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIjn79K61ZQ
  12. Moscatello, Rick (2 September 2002). "Celtic Kings: Rage of War Review". IGN. Ziff Davis, LLC. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  13. Dulin, Ron (24 May 2002). "E3 2002: Celtic Kings impressions". GameSpot. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
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