Lucius Caedicius

Lucius (?) Caedicius (* around 40 BC; † after 9 AD) was a Roman officer who is mentioned in the context of the Varus Battle .

Caedicius was Centurion , Primus Pilus (the highest-ranking centurion in a legion ) and Praefectus Castrorum , the highest officer in a legion who rose from the career of a centurion. In the year 9 he was in command of the Aliso fort and successfully defended it against the Teutons of Arminius .

There are only two express mentions of Caedicius in surviving historical sources ( Velleius Paterculus II, 120 and Sextus Iulius Frontinus "war lists" IV, 7.8) as well as two places in Frontin ("war lists" II, 9.4 and III, 15.4), which with high Probability to report the deeds of Caedicius. Even the first name is uncertain. In the text of Velleius there is only “L.” Caedicius, Frontin does not mention the first name at all.

After the “Varian defeat” surviving Romans rescued themselves in the Aliso fort and were besieged there by “huge masses” of Teutons. Arminius had the heads of fallen Romans speared and carried against the ramparts to terrify the crew, but Caedicius maintained discipline. Concerned that the Germanic peoples could set fire to the ramparts, he fell on the ruse reported by Frontin to simulate a lack of wood, which is why the Germanic peoples removed the wood from the area around the fort and thus unconsciously deprived themselves of the possibility of setting a fire. Caedicius also ordered the Germanic peoples of war to be taken to the supposedly inexhaustible grain stores of the Aliso fort and then released so that they could spread among their compatriots that starvation of the fort was hopeless. Eventually the Teutons became careless with the cordoning off of the fort, and on a stormy moonless night the crew of Aliso, including women and children, was able to sneak through the blockade ring. She was discovered at the last moment, but Caedicius let the trumpets blow; the Germanic peoples believed that a Roman relief army was approaching and abandoned the pursuit.

This successful rescue was the only ray of hope for the Romans after the battle in the Teutoburg Forest , which may have contributed to the highly appreciative words of Velleius Paterculus about Caedicius: “L. Caedicius, the camp prefect, ... is to be praised for his efficiency (virtus) “, since he saved the people entrusted to him from need and distress through prudence and determination; he waited for the right time and then made the way back to theirs with the sword.