ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the specific case of the massacre of the Germanic Tencteri and Usipetes in 55 BC, when almost the entire population would have perished. The above quote from Caesar's De Bello Gallico describes one of the biggest massacres perpetrated by the Roman army during the conquest of Gaul. It is often emphasised that all Roman generals probably inflated the number of enemy casualties in order to enhance their personal prestige as military leaders. Caesar's Commentaries on his conquest of Gaul are a unique document for the study of the violent aspects of Roman imperial expansion; they represent a detailed personal account by the general himself. Caesar concentrated his troops in a camp 12 km from the Germanic encampment, probably to the east. Caesar's narrative is rather vague about the exact topography of his actions against the Tencteri and Usipetes.
