Vercingetorix

Born around 82 BC to an Arvenian aristocrat murdered by his own people for reaching for kingship, Vercingetorix was exiled in early 52 BC for stirring revolt against Rome, returned with armed supporters, expelled his rivals, and was proclaimed king. He united most of Gaul's tribes under a single command and organized a scorched-earth resistance that nearly broke Caesar at Gergovia. The coordination failed at Alesia in September 52 BC; he surrendered, was hauled to Rome, and sat in prison for six years until Caesar's triumph in 46 BC, when he was executed. Forgotten through the Middle Ages, he was pulled back into light in the 16th century and became, from the 19th onward, a French national symbol - cast as either the heroic defender of freedom or the tragic loser who kept his dignity in defeat.