Commius

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Commius was since 57 BC King of the Atrebates . At first he supported Gaius Iulius Caesar in his Gallic War , but changed in 52 BC. The sides and became a bitter opponent of the Roman invaders. Around 50 BC He emigrated with part of his tribe from Gaul to southeastern Britain and founded a new empire there.

Ally of Caesar

Commius came from the people of the Atrebates who settled in northwest Gaul . After Caesar 57 BC In a difficult battle the Nervians and their allies, including the Atrebates, on which Sambre had defeated and subdued, he raised Commius to king of his people.

55 BC The Roman general planned to wage a campaign against Britain , but first received envoys from several British peoples who offered their submission. With the request to maintain this attitude, Caesar sent the ambassadors home again and joined them as his own legate Commius, since he had great influence in southern Britain. Commius was supposed to try to persuade as many tribes as possible to accept the Roman sovereignty and to inform them of Caesar's imminent arrival, but was immediately tied up and treated as a prisoner after his appearance on the island. After Caesar and his army had forced the landing, the Britons released the Atrebaten king, asked for peace and took hostages. However, there were further fights in which the Romans also used a small contingent of 30 horsemen that Commius had brought with him. When Caesar undertook a second expedition to Britain the next year (54 BC), Commius again took part and, towards the end of this campaign, brokered peace with Cassivellaunus , who had emerged as the leader of the resistance of the islanders against the Romans.

Initially, Commius remained a loyal ally to the Romans and, as a reward for his work in Britain, was allowed to rule his people largely autonomously. In addition, the Moriners were subordinated to his government and the Atrebates were exempt from tax liability. After Caesar's war against the Menapians , Commius was supposed to watch over this people with a cavalry regiment (53 BC).

Fight against the Romans

When the Arverni Vercingetorix 52 BC When he led the great revolt of Gallic tribes against Roman rule and achieved certain successes, Commius fell away from Caesar and caused the Bellovacians to fight the occupiers not separately, but together with the other allied native peoples. While Vercingetorix was besieged in Alesia , Commius was one of the leaders of the great army that came to the aid of the trapped. But ultimately all relief efforts were unsuccessful; Vercingetorix had to surrender and the main resistance of the Gauls was broken.

Nevertheless, Commius continued the fight and fought several battles against the Romans as commander of the Belgians . Although they ultimately got the upper hand, they still had to admit that their opponent was dangerous. When Caesar in the winter of 52/51 BC He stayed in Gallia Cisalpina , his legate Titus Labienus represented him as commander-in-chief in subjugated Gaul. Labienus gave Gaius Volusenus Quadratus the order to invite Commius to an apparent discussion and to assassinate him during the conversation with the help of a few selected centurions. The Atrebate fell into the trap and suffered a serious head injury from a sword stroke, but was then defended and rescued by his friends. Accordingly, he felt an even greater bitterness against the Romans.

51 BC Commius fought with his Atrebates and in association with Correus , the chief of the Bellovacians, again against Caesar. He made contact with the Germanic peoples who had settled east of the Rhine and received reinforcement troops from them. The Gauls lost the battle in which Correus fell. Commius escaped to the Germans. End of 51 BC BC he resumed the war in Gaul, but since the Atrebates had meanwhile surrendered, he switched to guerrilla tactics by constantly threatening the Roman supply and communication channels with his horsemen. Gaius Volusenus Quadratus was once again charged with fighting Commius, this time by the later triumvir Marcus Antonius , who then served as Caesar's legate. At the head of the cavalry, Volusenus fought several successful skirmishes, but once, in a persistent pursuit, collided directly with Commius, who inflicted a severe thigh wound on him. The Romans were able to repel the enemy, but Commius managed to escape on his fast horse.

The Atrebate soon saw the hopelessness of continuing the war, probably also because he was running out of fighters, and had Antonius make an offer of peace. In this he declared himself ready to position hostages and to accept a place of residence assigned to him by Antonius, if - out of justified fear - he never had to come near a Roman again. Antonius agreed to these surrender conditions.

Forging an empire in south-east England

Soon after that, Commius is likely to have fled to Britain with some of the Atrebates. Sextus Iulius Frontinus , who wrote a work on lists of wars in the 1st century AD, reports - albeit without specifying a date - that Commius fled with his followers to the coast and was persecuted by Caesar. When he reached the shores of the English Channel , a favorable wind was blowing; However, since the tide was out, his ships were stuck in the shallow water. Nevertheless, he had the sails set as if he were already at full speed at sea and was thus able to deceive his enemies, who were still far away, who then stopped the chase.

Commius then seems to have founded an empire of the Atrebates in south-east Britain and until around 20 BC. To have been their king. According to coins found there, he had three sons named Tincomarus , Eppillus and Verica , who ruled after him as kings. Coins with Commius' name were also found in Gaul. As the last of his sons, Verica led the government from around AD 15, was driven from the island around AD 40 and asked Emperor Claudius for help. This led to the Roman invasion of Britain in 43.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Caesar, Gallic War 2, 16-27.
  2. ^ Caesar, Gallic War 4, 21, 7.
  3. ↑ Caesar, Gallic War 4, 21, 5-8; 4, 27, 2ff .; 4, 35, 1.
  4. ^ Caesar, Gallic War 5, 22, 3.
  5. ↑ Caesar, Gallic War 7, 76, 1.
  6. ^ Caesar, Gallic War 6, 6, 4.
  7. ↑ Caesar, Gallic War 7, 75, 5-7, 76, 4; 7, 79, 1.
  8. ↑ Cassius Dio 40, 42, 1ff.
  9. ↑ Aulus Hirtius , Gallic War 8, 23, 3-7; Cassius Dio 40, 43, 1f. - Dating according to Friedrich Münzer (RE IV, 1, column 770), while Malcolm Todd (ODNB vol. 12, p. 869) classifies the murder attempt on Commius a year earlier.
  10. ↑ Hirtius, Gallic War 8, 6, 2; 8, 7, 6; 8, 10, 4f.
  11. ^ Hirtius, Gallic War 8, 21, 1; 8, 23, 2; 8, 47, 1ff.
  12. ^ Hirtius, Gallic War 8, 48, 1-7.
  13. ↑ Hirtius, Gallischer Krieg 8, 48, 8f .; Cassius Dio 40, 43, 2.
  14. ^ Frontinus, Strategemata 2, 13, 11.
  15. ↑ Cassius Dio 60, 19, 1 (who calls the man who fled to Claudius Bericus , but this is most likely identical with Verica).
personal data
SURNAME Commius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Atrebates
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH around 20 BC Chr.