Kestergat

A number of historians state that the Roman camp of Quintus Cicero would have been located here on the Kesterveld. The entrance to the camp would have been the Kestergat , a place name that is still linked to the crossroads east of here where the Molenstraat connects to the Ninoofsesteenweg.

If that's the case, then here was the famous attack on the depleted Roman troops who came to winter here in 54-53 BC after their battles in Britain. When his legion was in winter quarters, it was attacked by a coalition of Eburones, Atuatuci, Nervians, and a number of smaller Gallic tribes. Quintus Tullius, however, did not allow himself to be lured out of his fortified camp. His troops had great difficulty in repelling the ferocious attacks of the Gauls, but held out until they were relieved by Caesar. One of the famous chieftains of the Eburones who was behind the attacks on the Romans was Ambiorix who had killed 15 Roman cohors in Tongeren during the battle of Atuatuca Tungrorum.

Pascal Brackman