For someone who died 2,000 years ago, we know rather a lot about Marcus Caelius.
He was born in Bologna in 44BC and rose through the ranks of the Roman army to the rank of senior centurion in the 18th Legion.
In 9AD he was based at Castra Vetera, near the modern-day German town of Xanten – which is around 12 miles from the airport of Weeze/Niederrhein and near the border with Holland.
Castra Vetera was a extensive military and administrative base, close to the river Rhine, and second only to Cologne in importance for the Roman Empire in the region.
