Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

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Zorch
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Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

Post by Zorch »

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/d ... aeologists

Archaeologists claim to have proved that Julius Caesar set foot on what is now Dutch soil, destroying two Germanic tribes in a battle that left about 150,000 people dead.

The tribes were massacred in the fighting with the Roman emperor in 55BC, on a battle site now in Kessel, in the southern province of Brabant.

Skeletons, spearheads, swords and a helmet have been unearthed at the site over the past three decades. But now carbon dating as well as other historical and geochemical analysis have proved the items dated to the 1st century, the VU University in Amsterdam said.

“It is the first time the presence of Caesar and his troops on Dutch soil has been explicitly shown,” said Nico Roymans, an archaeologist at the institution.

The two tribes, the Tencteri and the Usipetes, came from an area east of the Rhine and had asked Caesar for asylum. But the Roman emperor refused and ordered his eight legions and cavalry to destroy them, the university said.

Caesar wrote about the battle in his account of the Gallic wars, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, but the exact location had until now remained a mystery. He said he wiped out the tribes, which would have meant more than 400,000 dead, but the university said the toll was likely to be 150,000 to 200,000.


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freeboy
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RE: Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

Post by freeboy »

well, we could have simply read what the man wrote and seen that he was there...
And sadly the tribes where slaughtered... standing up to a hardened Emperial army was futile in this instance.... now where is that forest?
And yes I know the debacle in the forest was at a much later time frame as this one.
"Tanks forward"
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Jagdtiger14
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RE: Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

Post by Jagdtiger14 »

Caesar was a known propagandist (for his own political advantage)...he probably did not wipe out the tribes. Killing 150,000 people would have been a huge undertaking...I would doubt if it was even 15,000. How many skeletons did they find? It also sounds unreal from the stand point that these tribes were seeking asylum, but prior to that it states that they were massacred in a fight with the Romans.
Conflict with the unexpected: two qualities are indispensable; first, an intellect which, even in the midst of this obscurity, is not without some traces of inner light which lead to the truth; second, the courage to follow this faint light. KvC
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76mm
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RE: Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

Post by 76mm »

I'm always amazed how few ancient battlefield sites we've found. Cannae? Nope. Alesia? (nope, not with certainty). Alexander's battles--nope... It sure seems like there'd be metal bits scattered all over that could be found with metal detectors, etc.
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Orm
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RE: Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

Post by Orm »

Thank you, Zorch, for sharing. [:)] [&o]
Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb -- they're often students, for heaven's sake. - Terry Pratchett
Zorch
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RE: Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands

Post by Zorch »

ORIGINAL: Orm

Thank you, Zorch, for sharing. [:)] [&o]
You're very welcome. [8D]

In other news, the World Court of Justice at the Hague indicted one Gaius Julius Caesar on 150,000 counts of genocide and demanded Italy extradite him.
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