Alesia published!

Pixelia is thrilled to announce the publication of Alesia, the final volume of John Lanier’s three-part student edition of Caesar’s Gallic War, Book VII. Congratulations to John Lanier and the student editors of Alesia: Sammy Al-Hamwy, Ruth Eastlund, Ethan Ish, Allison Kim, Zoe Kim, Yolaine Lefevre, Habte Martone, Hannah Poplack, Gabriel Salganick, and Nicolas Wang.

Picking up the thread where Gergovia, the second volume, leaves off, Alesia recounts the great battle at the town of Alesia, where Caesar’s legions lay siege to Vercingetorix and his coalition army, only to find themselves besieged by a host of Gallic reinforcements. As Caesar builds toward the conclusion of his epic account of the Gallic War, the freedom and the future of Gaul hang in the balance.

Alesia adopts the same approach to annotation and elucidation as its critically acclaimed companions in the series, Avaricvm and Gergovia. To facilitate ease of reading and cut down on student fatigue, vocabulary and commentary appear on the same page as the text. The notes are streamlined and given in plain language so that students get the guidance they need without having to wade through editorial clutter. Meanwhile, original illustrations from artists Suran Gao and Hannah Poplack allow the modern reader to consider this crucial chapter in history from the perspective not just of Caesar, but of the footsoldiers and civilians, Gauls and Romans alike, who lived and suffered through it.

Like all of Pixelia’s releases, Alesia is available in affordable paperback or as a freely downloadable etext. For the first time, then, teachers of any Latin class from the intermediate level onward can assign the climactic book of Caesar’s magnum opus, without burdening students with heavy book costs.