Atuatuca

Atuatuca (or Aduatuca) is the name of two ancient fortified settlements located in the eastern part of modern Belgium, between the Scheldt and Rhine rivers.

[3] Maurits Gysseling has proposed that Atuatuca was the original form, which later gave way to Aduatuca under the influence of Romance languages.

[4] The ancient name of the city of Tongeren, founded ex-nihilo by the Romans around 10 BC,[5] is rendered as Atuatuca Tungrorum on the basis of written sources from the beginning of the Common Era: the settlement is known as Atouatoukon ca.

[13] The exact location of Eburonean stronghold remains uncertain, but it is almost certainly not the same as Tungrorum since no evidence of human settlement before the end of the first century BC have been found there.

[15] In the words of Edith Wightman, "changes which took place after Caesar, involving new folk from across the Rhine and reorganization of existing peoples, make localization difficult.

"[12] Caesar describes Atuatuca as a castellum ('fort, stronghold, shelter') located in the middle of the Eburonean territory, between the Meuse and the Rhine rivers.

[17][18] Vanvinckenroye has proposed the plateau of Caster at Kanne, situated between the Meuse and the Jeker river, around 15 km east of Tongeren, as the most likely place for the Eburonean stronghold.

[5] According to the traditional view, the camp was abandoned under Tiberius (14–37 AD), then civilians from the neighbouring canabae took possession of the base, which ultimately became the capital of the Tungrian civitas.

[8] Apart from later mentions of this placename which clearly refer to Tongeren, Caesar's commentaries on his wars in Gaul are the only surviving source of information.

"[25] He was referring to earlier sections of the commentaries where Q. Titurius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta were slain during the start of this rebellion of the Eburones.

[26] These two lieutenants of Caesar had been ordered to winter amongst the Eburones after a drought year, which was a cause of the rebellion, although Aduatuca had not been named in the earlier discussion.

Where either a hidden valley, or a woody spot, or a difficult morass furnished any hope of protection or of security to any one, there he had fixed himself".