Next day, Vercingetorix convokes a council. He declares that he has not undertaken this war out of personal interest, but for the cause of the liberty of all. “Since they must yield to fate, he places himself at the discretion of his fellow-citizens, and offers them, in order to appease the Romans, to be delivered up, dead or alive.” A deputation is at once sent to Cæsar, who requires that the arms and the chiefs be delivered to him. He places himself in front of his camp, inside the retrenchments; the chiefs are brought, the arms are laid down, and Vercingetorix surrenders to the conqueror. This valiant defender of Gaul arrives on horseback, clad in his finest arms, makes the circuit of Cæsar’s tribunal, dismounts, and laying down his sword and his military ensigns, exclaims: “Thou hast vanquished a brave man, thou, the bravest of all!”[535] The prisoners were distributed by head to each soldier, by way of booty, except the 20,000 who belonged to the Ædui and Arverni, and whom Cæsar restored in the hope of bringing back those people to his cause. Dio Cassius relates the surrender of the Gaulish chief as follows: “After this defeat, Vercingetorix, who had neither been taken nor wounded, might have fled; but, hoping that the friendship which had formerly bound him to Cæsar would procure his pardon, he repaired to the proconsul, without having sent a herald to ask for peace, and appeared suddenly in his presence, at the moment he was sitting on his tribunal. His appearance inspired some fear, for he was of tall stature, and had a very imposing aspect under arms. There was a deep silence: the Gaulish chief fell at Cæsar’s knees, and implored him by pressing his hands, without uttering a word. This scene excited the pity of the by-standers, by the remembrance of Vercingetorix’s former fortune compared to his present misfortune. Cæsar, on the contrary, upbraided him with the recollections on which he had hoped for his safety. He compared his recent struggle with the friendship of which he reminded him, and by that means pointed out more vividly the odiousness of his conduct. And thus, far from being touched with his misfortune at that moment, he threw him at once in fetters, and afterwards ordered him to be put to death, after having exhibited him in his triumph.” By acting thus, Cæsar believed that he was obeying state policy and the cruel customs of the time. It is to be regretted for his glory that he did not use, towards Vercingetorix, the illustrious Gaulish chief, the same clemency which, during the Civil War, he showed towards the vanquished who were his fellow-citizens.