Chapter III - Pompey Troubles 53 - 52 BC
Back in Rome, Pompey, his wife having died only months prior, still was in a stupor of grief. Julia had not been his first wife, nor would she be his last. But, it frayed the relationship between Caesar and Pompey, since Julia had been Caesar's daughter. Caesar, knowing full-well the alliance was paramount, gave to him his grandniece. Octavia the Younger, while being forced from her congenial marriage to the Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a man worthy of the Consulship.
Pompey wished to decline, but, without a suitable alternative, went with Octavia. Their marriage, while not the happiest of affairs, reaffirmed the old alliance, now in it's sixth year.
Meanwhile, the Gallic tribes rebelled once again in the year 53 BC, lead by a brute of a barbarian called Vercingetorix, who rallied the Gauls under his leadership. The revolt was a particularly bloody affair by all accounts, with Caesar at on time leading at least nine legions in the field against the rebels. Several pitched battles followed, and the legionaries were in no mood for prisoner taking. In one particular battle at the town of Avaricum, Caesar's men spent 25 days on short rations, and ended up butchering as many of the forty thousand enemies as got within their reach after routing them.