Archaeologists discovered location of Caesar’s battle
Human remains from the Caesar massacre | Photo: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
During a conference held on December 11, 2015 in Amsterdam, archaeologist Nico Roymans of the Free University of Amsterdam announced that his team had managed to confirm the location of the place where the Roman commander Julius Caesar massacred two Germanic tribes in 55 BCE.
To this day, the exact location of the battle has been unknown, and the account of the battle comes from Caesar’s writings in Book IV De Bello Gallico. It is the oldest known battle that took place on Dutch soil.
Scientists have found a large number of remains of skeletons, swords, arrowheads and helmets. The tribes of Tencteri and Usipetes originated across the Rhine and appealed to Caesar for asylum. Caesar rejected the requests and ordered his soldiers to massacre. Today the word genocide would be used.
The site where the discoveries were made is Kessel in North Brabant, the Netherlands.
- VU archaeologists discover location of historic battle fought by Caesar in Dutch river area, "Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam", 9 December 2015
