Size of Roman Army Camp in Netherlands Reconsidered

VELSEN, THE NETHERLANDS—The NL Times reports that a large Roman army camp in Velsen covered about 27 acres, making it much larger than previously thought. It was first discovered in the 1940s, and archaeologists subsequently excavated there for decades. The original camp on the site has been dated to between A.D. 16 and 28, while the later camp dates to A.D. 40 to 50. The camps, positioned to fight the Germanic Chauci tribe, would have been able to house thousands of soldiers. “The picture of the early Roman [period] in the Netherlands has been made more complex,” said Saskia Stevens of the University of Utrecht. To read about a catastrophic battle between Julius Caesar and two Germanic tribes in what is now the Netherlands, go to "Caesar's Diplomatic Breakdown."