Reconstructing the Battle of Gergovia from Ceasar's Conquest of Gaul.
This is the first French translation of Gabriello Simeoni's "Description of Limagne d'Auvergne" published in 1561. The work, translated by Antoine Chappuis, features a large folding map and woodcuts in the text, showcasing medals, sculptures, and inscriptions. It is an essential study of antiquities in Auvergne and Velay, including the Battle of Gergovia site.
Italian humanist Simeoni had a deep understanding of Limagne due to his stays in Auvergne with his protector, Bishop Guillaume Duprat. Simeoni's work contains one of the first cartographic representations of the Auvergne region in France, based on Caesar's account of the Gallic Wars. The map is a testament to both the cartographic conception of the era and an attempt to translate a literary narrative into space.
Simeoni reconstructed the location of the Battle of Gergovia from textual evidence in Ceasar's famous text. On the map, he has illustrated Gallic and Roman troop locations along the Allier River as well as a potential location for the Gallic oppidum. A Gallic oppidum refers to a fortified settlement or town built by the Gauls, an ancient Celtic people who inhabited the region that is now modern-day France. These oppida served as important political, economic, and social centers for the Gallic tribes during the Iron Age (around 800 BC to 50 BC) and were usually located on elevated terrain for strategic and defensive purposes.
"La Limagna d'Overnia" is a woodcut map oriented west, with north to the right. The woodcutter is unknown but could be Pierre Eskrich or the "Maître à la capeline." The map is framed by the coat of arms of Catherine de Médicis, Guillaume Duprat, the city of Clermont, and the author, topped by an Italian-style cartouche with two chimeras and a dedication to Catherine de Médicis. At the bottom, there is an ornamental cartouche featuring an excerpt from Lucan's "The Civil War" (La Pharsale), and a short Latin geographical description of Limagne below. At the very bottom, a compass on a ruler and a Greek maxim, meaning "the best measure of all things," are depicted.