Togodumnus (died AD 43) was king of the British

Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their ...

tribe, whose capital was at St. Albans, at the time of the Roman conquest. He can probably be identified with the legendary British king Guiderius. He is usually thought to have led the fight against the Romans alongside his brother, but to have been killed early in the campaign. However, some authorities now argue that he sided with the Romans and is one and the same person as the client-king

Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus, Togidumnus or similar; see naming difficulties) was a 1st-century king of the Regni or Regnenses tribe in early Roman Britain. Chichester and the nearby Roman villa at Fishbourne, believed by some ...

, whose original name may have been Togidubnus or Togodumnus.

Career

Togodumnus is known only from

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

's ''Roman History'', according to which he was a son of

Cunobelinus Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_[Cymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c'' ...

''Roman History'' 60.20-21
/ref> He probably succeeded his father to the kingship of the Catuvellauni, who were the dominant kingdom in the south-east of Britain at this time. Their territory took in the lands of several other nations, including their neighbours the Trinovantes, and possibly the

Dobunni The Dobunni were one of the Iron Age tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions. Various historians and archaeologists have examined ...

further west. He had two notable brothers, Adminius and Caratacus. In Cunobelinus's later days Adminius gained control of the Cantiaci in Kent, but was driven from Britain in 40 AD, seeking refuge with the Roman emperor

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...

. Caligula planned an invasion of Britain in response, but called it off at the last minute. Based on coin distribution it appears that Caratacus, following in the footsteps of his uncle Epaticcus, completed the conquest of the

Atrebates The Atrebates (Gaulish: *''Atrebatis'', 'dwellers, land-owners, possessors of the soil') were a Belgic tribe of the Iron Age and the Roman period, originally dwelling in the Artois region. After the tribes of Gallia Belgica were defeated by ...

, the main rival to the Catuvellauni, in the early 40s. The Atrebatian king,

Verica Verica (early 1st century AD) was a British client king of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Claudian invasion of 43 AD. From his coinage, he appears to have been king of the, probably Belgic, Atrebates tribe and a son of Commius. Th ...

, fled to Rome and gave the new emperor,

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

, a pretext to conquer Britain in 43.

Death

According to Dio's account, Togodumnus led the initial resistance to the invasion alongside Caratacus, but was killed after the battle on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The Roman commander

Aulus Plautius Aulus Plautius was a Roman politician and general of the mid-1st century. He began the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and became the first governor of the new province, serving from 43 to 46 CE. Career Little is known of Aulus Plautius's e ...

then dug in at the Thames and sent word for Claudius to join him for the final march on the Catuvellaunian capital,

Camulodunum Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...

(

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

). Dio says that this was because the resistance became fiercer as the Britons tried to avenge Togodumnus, and Plautius needed the emperor's help to complete the conquest; however, as Claudius was no military man and in the end spent only sixteen days in Britain, it is likely the Britons were already as good as beaten. Leadership passed to Caratacus, who took the fight outside Roman-controlled territory and remained at large until 51.

Togodumnus and Togidubnus

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

mentions a king who ruled several territories as a loyal ally of Rome into the later part of the first century, called Cogidumnus in most manuscripts but Togidumnus in one. A damaged inscription, naming him "..gidubnus", places him in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

. The similarity of name has led some, including

Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, to suggest that they may be one and the same. John Hind argues that Dio was mistaken to write that Togodumnus died after the battle on the Thames: that the Greek word ''φθαρεντὸς'', "perished", may be Dio's mistranslation of a more ambiguous Latin word, ''amisso'', "lost", in one of his hypothetical sources, that in fact Togodumnus was defeated rather than killed, and that the Britons wanted to avenge his defeat rather than his death. He goes on to propose that Togodumnus, having submitted to the Romans, was appointed by them as a friendly king over the territories of the

Regini The Regni, Regini, or Regnenses were a Tribe which occupied modern West Sussex, East Sussex, south-west Kent, eastern Surrey, and the eastern edges of Hampshire. Their Tribal centre was at Noviomagus_Reginorum (Chichester in West_Sussex), close ...

, the

Belgae The Belgae () were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by Ju ...

and the

, becoming the loyal king referred to by Tacitus.J. G. F. Hind, "A. Palutius' Campaign in Britain: An Alternative Reading of the Narrative in Cassius Dio (60.19.5-21.2)", ''

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Grea ...

'' Vol. 38 (2007), pp. 93-106)

References

* Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Sussex'' Tempus, Stroud.

External links

Catuvellauni
a
Roman-Britain.co.uk
a
Romans in Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Togodumnus Briton rulers Celtic warriors 43 deaths 1st-century monarchs in Europe Year of birth unknown