Teutobod

The migration of the Cimbri and Teutons

Teutobod , Latin Teutoboduus († 101 BC ) was a military leader of the Teutons who invaded the Roman Empire together with the Cimbri during the Cimber Wars and in 105 BC. BC won a major victory in the battle of Arausio . 102 BC Teutobod was defeated and captured in the battle of Aquae Sextiae and probably executed in the triumph of Gaius Marius the following year after its performance .

Life

Of the preserved ancient sources, which only offer brief descriptions - for example based on the extensive historical work of Titus Livius - Florus deals most thoroughly with Teutobod, which he calls rex . Other antique sources refer to Teutobod as dux . Only Florus expressly reports that Teutobod was the leader of the Teutons; in Eutropius and Hieronymus Teutobod appears generally as a dux of the invading Germanic tribes.

According to Florus, Teutobod was very tall and strong, and also physically agile. He was wounded during the battle of Aquae Sextiae (102 BC), which ended in a crushing defeat for the Teutons against the Romans, and fled to the mountains after his armies had been brought down. He had been used to jumping four or even six horses placed side by side, but was hardly able to mount one while fleeing. Soon it fell into the hands of the Romans. After the invasion of the Cimbri across the Alps into northern Italy, they initially avoided a battle when Gaius Marius arrived with his army and waited for the Teutons, whose defeat they did not want to believe. According to Plutarch , Marius let the Cimbrian ambassador sent to him shortly before the battle of Vercellae (101 BC) the kings of the Teutons - Plutarch uses the plural form here! - present tied up; These kings were captured by the Sequani after their flight from the battlefield of Aquae Sextiae in the Alps . Plutarch does not name Teutobod by name, but this incident should be related to him.

Teutobod was later led through Rome in the triumphal procession of Gaius Marius and was the most remarkable showpiece. His execution probably took place afterwards. Orosius, however, mentions the death of Teutobod immediately after the losses of the Teutons at Aquae Sextiae in his abridged representation of the Livian account, as if he had died there.

See also

• Cimbri and Teutons

swell

• Lucius Annaeus Florus : Epitoma de Tito Livio 1, 38, 10.
  • read z. B. in Günter Laser: Roman History. Latin and German. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-18122-0 .
• Eutropius : Breviary from urbe condita 5, 1, 4.
• Orosius : Historiae adversus paganos 5, 16, 12.

literature

• Felix Dahn :  Teutobod . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 37, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, p. 618.
• Friedrich Münzer : Teutoboduus. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VA, 1, Stuttgart 1934, column 1165 f.
• Reinhard Wolters :  Teutobod. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 30, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018385-4 , pp. 363-364.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Florus, Epitoma de Tito Livio 1, 38, 10.
2. ↑ Eutropius, Breviarium ab urbe condita 5, 1, 4; Orosius, Historiae adversus paganos 5, 16, 12; Jerome , chronicle 1489.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Reinhard Wolters:  Teutobod. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 30, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018385-4 , p. 363.
4. ↑ Plutarch, Marius 24, 5 ff.
5. ^ Orosius, Historiae adversus paganos 5, 16, 12.