Iulius Civilis

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The Rhine border of the Roman Empire around the year 70 AD.

Iulius Civilis (* 25 , † after 70), with full name Gaius Iulius Civilis (incorrectly Claudius Civilis ), led a Germanic uprising against Rome in the 1st century AD . He came from a noble Batavian family and was prefect of an auxiliary cohort .

Life

Iulius Civilis came from a noble family of the Germanic Batavians who settled on the north-western Lower Rhine in the area of ​​today's Betuwe in the Netherlands and initially lived in friendship with the Romans. Early on he came into Roman service as the leader of Batavian auxiliary troops. His brother Claudius Paulus was in the service of Rome, just a nephew named Julius Briganticus (of the Batavian but took an offset to Civilis). Civilis had lost an eye in battle; he was married and had (at least) one son - both, wife and son, he transferred as hostages to Cologne in the city of the Ubier during the Batavian war .

However, Civilis and his brother fell out of favor during the reign of Emperor Nero (54–68 AD): Claudius Paulus was executed by the Roman general Fonteius Capito , and Civilis was brought to Rome in chains. After Nero's death, Civilis was pardoned by the successor emperor Galba and reinstated as cohort leader in Lower Germany.

Galba was the first of three other emperors in the four-emperor year , followed by Otho , who was murdered after a short reign and who was followed by the Lower Germanic military leader Vitellius as - temporary - emperor. Civilis was also accused of treason under Vitellius, but was able to flee. Initially, Civilis secretly supported the intentions of the future emperor Vespasian , whose “friend” he called himself.

The leader of the Bata was shaped by negative personal experiences in the Roman army. In 69 Civilis used the ongoing unrest in Italy after the death of Emperor Nero and the other emperors who had mutually eliminated each other to raise the Germanic tribes on the Rhine under the leadership of the Batavians and with the support of Germanic tribes on the right bank of the Rhine under the seer Veleda .

Batavian Uprising

The Batavian had the goal of an independent Rome region in North Western Europe, according to Tacitus. The modern research literature assumes, however, that Civilis first intervened in the civil war for Vespasian and only later - the reasons for this are controversial - had to fight against Rome itself.

Little by little, other Germanic tribes (including Caninefaten , Brukterer , Tenkerer , Cugerner , and finally (though temporarily) the Cologne Ubier ) joined the Civilis. Also Gallic tribes joined the revolt, including the Treveri under Julius Classicus and Lingones under Julius Sabinus . Even some Roman legions went over to Civilis (assuming he was supporting Vespasian).

Civilis no longer fought for Vespasian, but for a detachment of the Batavians from Roman sovereignty. In the meantime, Civilis' troops took the camps Vetera (near Xanten), Novaesium (Neuss) and Bonna (Bonn). The battles near Gelduba (Krefeld-Gellep) were also described in detail by Tacitus.

After the end of the turmoil of the four-emperor year , the new ruler Vespasian brought the lost territories back under control of the empire with his troops under General Quintus Petillius Cerialis . At first the Gallic tribes gave up the fight, and the Ubier again submitted to the Romans.

Civilis finally capitulated in the year 70. The (incompletely preserved) Histories of Tacitus are the last to describe the “surrender speech” of Civilis at the demolished bridge of a river near the splitting of the Rhine into Waal and Nederrijn .

Nothing is known about his further life.

Monuments

A memorial plaque for him was placed in the Walhalla near Regensburg .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tacitus: Historiae IV, Chapter: 26, 32–33, 35–36, 58 ff.
  2. ↑ Tacitus: Historiae V, Chapter: 10 - 26
  3. ↑ Tacitus: Historiae IV, Chapter: 21-27
  4. ↑ Tacitus: Historiae IV, chapters: 26, 32-33, 35-36, 58 ff. - Historiae V: chapters 15-26
  5. ↑ cf. Urban, Batavian Rebellion
  6. ↑ Tacitus: Historiae V, Chapter: 26

swell

Collection: Hans-Werner Goetz , Karl-Wilhelm Welwei (ed.): Old Germania. Vol. II. Darmstadt 1995, pp. 171-261.

literature

  • Frank Martin Beuttel : Germanic rulers . Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-89678-603-6 , pp. 39-51.
  • Georg Heinrich Kaufmann:  Civilis: Julius C. In: General German Biography (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 268 f.
  • Oliver Schmitt: Notes on the Batavian Rebellion. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 193 (1993), pp. 141–160
  • Ralf Urban : The "Batavian Rebellion" and the rising of Iulius Classicus . Publishing house Trier historical research, Trier 1985, ISBN 3-923087-07-1 ( Trier historical research , volume 8).
  • Ralf Urban: The revolt of Iulius Classicus and Iulius Sabinus. In: (ders.): Gallia rebellis. Surveys in Gaul as reflected in ancient evidence. Stuttgart 1999

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Civilis, Iulius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Civilis, Julius; Civilis, Gaius Iulius; Civilis, Gaius Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Leader of a Germanic uprising against Rome
DATE OF BIRTH 25th
DATE OF DEATH after 70