Cunobelinus
Cunobelinus (also Cynobellinus , Greek Κυνοβελλίνος ; † around 40 AD) was the son of Tasciovanus and a king of the Catuvellaunen in pre-Roman southeastern Britain . In the English legend he also appears as Cynfelyn , Kymbelinus or Cymbeline and in this form became the inspiration for William Shakespeare's drama Cymbeline . Its name means "dog Belinus " ( hound of (the god) Belenus ), "the high Belinus", with Belinus not necessarily on the mainland Celtic god must refer, or "translucent dog" ( shining hound ).
Lore
Cunobelinus is only briefly mentioned by the classical historians Suetonius and Cassius Dio . However, his name also appears on numerous coins, and from this numismatic evidence some additional information about him can be gleaned about the scanty records of historians.
Life
It is known from coin finds that Cunobelinus was the son and successor of Tasciovanus , a king of the Catuvellaunen. This had expanded its area from the heartland north of the lower Thames eastward into the present counties of Essex and Suffolk and northward into present day Northamptonshire , especially at the expense of the Trinovante territory, thus creating a large empire in south-east England.
According to the numismatic finds, Cunobelinus may have taken over the throne around 10 AD. The diplomatic and trade relations between Rome and southern Britain grew steadily at that time and with it, of course, those with the Catuvellaunen, who partially controlled the trade routes with Roman Gaul. From the coin certificates it can be concluded that power struggles among the southern British rulers at the beginning of the 1st century AD, from which Cunobelinus emerged victorious and remained the most powerful king in the southeast of the island for the next three decades.
Nothing has come down to us about the personality of Cunobelinus or about events from his long reign. Only three of his sons - Adminius , Togodumnus and Caratacus - and a brother named Epaticcus are known by name. Thus, the course of his rule can only be inferred roughly from archaeological and numismatic finds. He should very soon have finally subjugated the Trinovantes, because soon after 10 AD he was issuing coins not only in the capital of the Catuvellaunen, Verlamion (the later Roman city of Verulamium , today's St Albans ), but also in Camulodunum (today Colchester ), the former capital of the Trinovants . The motif of some of these coins, a palm or laurel wreath, was adopted by the Romans, who used it to denote a military victory.
At the beginning of the 20s Cunobelinus was able to conquer large areas in Cantium (today 's Kent ), while his brother Epaticcus fought the Atrebates on the middle Thames and around the year 25 conquered their capital, Calleva Atrebatum (today's Silchester ). Until his death around the year 35, Epaticcus enlarged his territory, which his nephew Caratacus then took over. At that time, however, the Atrebates succeeded in regaining parts of their former territory.
In the north, Cunobelinus was able to expand its territory to the borders of the moorland. He was undisputedly the most powerful king of south-east England and Suetonius rightly called him the king of the Britons ( Britannorum rex ) and not just a prince of a tribe. During his long reign he should have maintained good relations with the Roman Empire. This is shown by his stable trade relations with Rome as well as by the return of Roman ships with military crews stranded on the British coast in AD 16 to Gaul. He called himself Rex ( King ) on his coins , presumably after he had been recognized as a client ruler by the Roman Emperor Tiberius . For some time he often had excellent imitations of contemporary Roman coins minted, perhaps executed by Roman artisans who had come to Britain through diplomatic channels. In any case, these coins far surpass the issues of earlier British kings in their high quality and artistic execution.
During the reign of Cunobelinus, trade with mainland Europe intensified. Archaeological finds show that an increasing number of luxury goods were imported to the island - probably via the port of Camulodunum - such as Italian wine vessels, Hispanic olive oil and fish sauces, glassware, jewels and Gallo-Belgian tableware. According to the geographer Strabo (who wrote around 17 AD), trade with Britain was lucrative for Rome, with the island exporting grain, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves and hunting dogs.
Some cities were massively expanded under Cunebelinus' reign, notably Camulodunum , Verulamium and Durovernum Cantiacorum (now Canterbury ).
Adminius, who, according to his coins, ruled the Kent region towards the end of Cunobelinus' rule , was banished from Britain by his father around the year 40, according to Suetonius, and sought refuge with the Roman Emperor Caligula , who then planned an invasion of Britain. But this undertaking was only carried out by his successor Claudius in 43, apparently shortly after the death of Cunobelinus, with Togodumnus and Caratacus initially leading the defense of their inherited empire against the Romans.
According to epigraphic evidence, Sallustius Lucullus , who was the Roman governor of Britain at the end of the 1st century AD, could have been a grandson of Cunobelinus.
Legend and literary reception
Cunobelinus lived on in British legends and later works. The medieval Welsh manuscript Harleian 3859 has a genealogy for Cunobelinus: Caratauc map Cinbelin map Teuhant , d. H. Caratacus, son of Cunobelinus, son of Tasciovanus . The relationship between these three historical kings is thus correctly reproduced, albeit in a historically incorrect context, and the strong deviation of the names handed down in the manuscript from the original name form points to a long oral tradition. The rest of the genealogy lists the names of a number of Roman emperors as well as those of the two Welsh mythological figures Guidgen ( Gwydyon ) and Lou ( Llew ).
According to the legendary early history of England, handed down by the medieval British chronicler Geoffrey von Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae (1136), Kymbelinus (English transliteration of Cunobelinus) was a son of Tenvantius and a mighty warrior who was and was brought up at the court of Emperor Augustus Armed the country with Roman weapons. He had excellent connections with the Roman court, and tribute payments followed out of mutual respect, not as reprisals. Two sons, Guiderius and Arvirargus , were born to him. Guiderius succeeded him, but died soon after the beginning of Claudius' invasion of Britain, so that Arvirargus now led the resistance against the Romans.
Geoffrey's story was included in his Chronicles (1578) by Raphael Holinshed . Shakespeare, in turn, used Holinshed's portrayal of Cunobelinus very freely in his work Cymbeline . Hence the story told by the great English writer has almost nothing in common with the life of the historical Cunobelinus. According to Shakespeare's account, the king, under the influence of his wicked second wife, forbids his daughter Imogen to marry the posthumus Leonatus, a non-noble but respectable man. Instead, she should take his crude stepson Cloten as husband. This is followed by mix-ups of people, scenes of jealousy due to false accusations of infidelity and a war with Rome, because the queen hadn't paid the tribute anymore. Finally there was peace again between Britain and Rome, the reunification of Cymbeline with his two sons Guiderius and Arvirargus (who were kidnapped in their childhood by an unjustly exiled nobleman named Belarius), the reconciliation of Imogen and Postumus, and the just punishment of Cloten and the Evil Queen.
Cunobelinu's name still lives on in England today. Some Buckinghamshire villages are called Kimbles . They are said to have been named after Cunobelinus. Beacon Hill and the mysterious earthwork of Cymbelines Mount or Cymbelines Castle extend above them . According to local folklore, the king and his sons fought against the invading Romans on the slopes of the mountain. He is said to be buried in the Lexden Tumulus .
literature
swell
- Cassius Dio : Roman History . Munich / Zurich 1985–1987 (five volumes, translated by O. Veh), vol. 60, chap. 19f.
- Suetonius : The life of the Roman emperors . Patmos, Düsseldorf 2001. ISBN 3-491-96032-0 (translated by Hans Martinet), Life of Caligula chap. 44.
- Geoffrey of Monmouth : Historia Regum Britanniae / The History of the Kings of Britain . Harmondsworth 1966 (translated by Lewis Thorpe), vol. 4, chap. 11f.
Secondary literature
- Stone: Cunobelinus . In: Pauly's real encyclopedia of classical antiquity , vol. IV 2, col. 1758f.
- Malcolm Todd: Cunobelinus . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , 2004, Vol. 14, pp. 708f.
Remarks
- ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 717.
- ↑ Suetonius , Caligula 44; Cassius Dio 60, 20f .; also Orosius 7, 5, 5.
- ↑ This city is also named by Cassius Dio (60, 21, 4) as the residence of Cunobelinus.
- ↑ Strabo 4, 5.
- ^ Suetonius, Caligula 44 = Orosius 7, 5, 5.
- ^ Cassius Dio 60, 20, 1.
- ↑ Geoffrey of Monmouth , Historia Regum Britanniae 4, 11f.
- ↑ Raphael Holinshed , Chronicles: History of England , Vol. 3, chap. 18th
- ^ William Shakespeare , Cymbeline .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cunobelinus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cynobellinus; Cunobelin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Son of King Tenvantius |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1st century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1st century |