Rome and the Low Countries
Caesar conquered Gaul and wrote about it. Discover the Belgae, Ambiorix and the Eburones, Roman towns like Tongeren, and why you read Caesar's account with a critical eye.
Why
On the market square of Tongeren stands a big statue of a moustached warrior: Ambiorix. Who was he, and why is he there?
Ambiorix was a leader of the Eburones, a people in the north of Gaul. In 54 BC he rose up against the Roman conqueror Julius Caesar. Almost everything we know about him comes from one book: the account Caesar wrote himself.
That is a problem. Caesar was Ambiorix's opponent and wanted to look good in Rome. So whenever you study history, ask: who wrote this, and why? That is how you learn to read sources critically, today on social media too.
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