Thumelicus

Thumelicus (* 15 ; † before 47 ) was the son of Arminius and Thusnelda .

Life

Thusnelda in the triumphal procession of Germanicus - The history painting by Carl Theodor von Piloty from 1873shows in the imagination of the 19th century how Thusnelda, leading her son Thumelicus with her, was presented in the triumphal procession on May 26th, 17 in Rome.

Arminius, the son of the Cheruscan prince Segimer , had lived with Thusnelda, the daughter of the Cheruscan prince Segestes , who was friendly to Rome , since autumn / winter 14 or spring 15 . The pregnant Thusnelda was handed over to the Roman general Germanicus by her father Segestes in the course of the Germanicus campaigns in 15 . In the triumphal procession of Germanicus on May 26th, 17 Thusnelda and Thumelicus were presented to the people of Rome as spoils of war; Thusnelda's father Segestes is said to have attended the drama as an ally of Rome. Due to the strategically important alliance between Segestes and Rome, contrary to the usual procedure, Thusnelda and her son Thumelicus were not killed after the triumphal procession but were exiled to Ravenna .

The further path of Thumelicus' life lies hidden in the darkness of history. Tacitus suggests: “The boy grew up in Ravenna. I will tell you about the game that fate later played with him in due course. ”The report he announced is lost or perhaps never was written. Because of this Tacitus quote and the fact that Thumelicus grew up in Ravenna, a city with a famous gladiator school, it is sometimes assumed that Tacitus meant gladiator fights by "game" and that Thumelicus ended his life in an exhibition fight in the circus . However, this interpretation cannot be directly verified.

Thumelicus, born during his mother's captivity, was named after his mother Thusnelda and with a Roman name - not after the Germanic father and enemy of the Romans, as if he were unknown.

literature

• Reinhard Wolters : Thumelicus . In: Heinrich Beck (ed.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 30, De Gruyter, Berlin 2005, p. 552.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tacitus: Annals 1.58.
2. ↑ Walter Böckmann: When the eagles sank. Arminius, Marbod and the legions of Varus . Lübbe-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 1984, ISBN 3-7857-0383-X , p. 200.