Cingetorix was one of the two chieftains struggling for the supremacy of the Treveri

Treveri

The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...

 of Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

. Caesar supported him over his more anti-Roman rival Indutiomarus

Indutiomarus

Indutiomarus was a leading aristocrat of the Treveri at the time of Caesar's conquest of Gaul...

. However Indutiomarus persuaded his people to join the revolt led by Ambiorix

Ambiorix

Ambiorix was, together with Catuvolcus, prince of the Eburones, leader of a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul , where modern Belgium is located...

 of the Eburones

Eburones

The Eburones , were a Belgic people who lived in the northeast of Gaul, near the river Meuse and the modern provinces of Belgian and Dutch Limburg, in the period immediately before it was conquered by Rome. They played a major role in Julius Caesar's account of his "Gallic Wars", as the most...

 in 54 BC

54 BC

Year 54 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Appius and Ahenobarbus...

, declared Cingetorix a public enemy and confiscated his property. Cingetorix presented himself to Caesar's legate

Legatus

A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...

 Titus Labienus

Titus Labienus

Titus Atius Labienus was a professional Roman soldier in the late Roman Republic. He served as Tribune of the Plebs in 63 BC, and is remembered as one of Julius Caesar's lieutenants, mentioned frequently in the accounts of his military campaigns...

, who defeated and killed Indutiomarus in a cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

engagement. The Treveri "transferred supreme rule to [Indutiomarus's] kinsmen," (6.2) and in 53 BCE again mounted a campaign against the Roman troops led by Labienus. They were again defeated. At that point, Caesar writes, "Leadership and rule [over the Treveri] was handed over to Cingetorix, who...remained loyal from the beginning." (6.8)