Historical Background

      The Roman fort at Atuataca, where Decius and Leo are stationed has a long and bloody history.  Formerly a Gallic fortress, Caesar, during his conquest of Gaul, used the site for winter quarters for his troops.  He writes in De Bello Gallico that in 54 BC the camp was attacked and the Romans were massacred.  Caesar enacted swift and bloody revenge and exterminated the Eburones, the tribe that attacked the camp.
       Decius and Leo lived in Atuataca during the reign of Augustus.  At this time, the fort became an established Roman military camp.  Not much is known about this period since there has been little excavation of the fort itself. The town of Tongres, which sprung up around the military camp continued to grow and served as an important center of trade for the region Eventually the fort grew into a walled city which has overtaken the original fort.  However,  part of the Roman wall is still visible today.
        Roman authors such as Caesar have described to us the larger battles, invasions and greater military dramas that took place at Atuataca and the surrounding region.  Lost to history is the many smaller disputes that must have also erupted between the Romans and various Gallic tribes in the time following Caesar's conquest of Gaul.  While these accounts have not survived, they must have been equally important to those living at the time.  It is one of these smaller encounters that I hoped to recapture in Leo Molossus. ​