According to Zosimus, Charietto saw barbarian raiders crossing the Rhine and determined to take action.
Going out into the forest at night he would kill a number of the raiders, sever their heads and bring them into the town come daytime.
Charietto was encouraged by Julian to attack the barbarian raiders at night, while Roman regular forces would confront them by day.
Ammianus Marcellinus, the other major chronicler for the life of the Emperor Julian, also refers to a figure named Charietto, in this case a Roman general who was killed resisting an excursion by the Alamanni at Cabillonum[1] in 366 or 367.
While there is no conclusive evidence linking this individual with Charietto the headhunter, some scholars have assumed a connection.