Gaius Valerius Caburus (''

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

'' 1st century BC) was a leader of the Helvii, a relatively small

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

whose territory was more or less equivalent to the

Vivarais Vivarais (; ; {{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of Ardèche, named after its capital Vivier ...

(the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Gallia Transalpina Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first Ro ...

. Caburus was granted

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...

in 83 BC by

Gaius Valerius Flaccus Gaius Valerius Flaccus (; died ) was a 1st-century Roman poet who flourished during the "Silver Age" under the Flavian dynasty, and wrote a Latin ''Argonautica'' that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes' more famous epic.governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. The date of his last known activity indicates that he was probably between the ages of twenty and thirty at the time, and almost certainly under thirty-five. Caburus took his

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

gentilic A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, provi ...

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

, as was customary for

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

citizens. It was exceedingly rare in the early 1st century BC for an ethnic Celt born outside the Italian peninsula to hold Roman citizenship. Caburus's service must have been of great value during a politically turbulent time; see discussion of Flaccus's governorship and his position during the civil wars of the 80s. Caburus's loyalty to Rome was long-lived, as was his prominence among his people. During the 50s BC, he actively supported

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland). Gauls, Gallic, Germanic peoples, Germanic, and Celtic Britons, Brittonic trib ...

. He last appears in the historical record in 52 BC as a leader of the Helvii, more than thirty years after becoming a Roman citizen. This longevity, coupled with the rare grant of citizenship, suggests that Caburus was a person of exceptional political acuity and leadership qualities. Caburus had two known sons, Troucillus (or Procillus), who played a

diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...

role on Caesar's staff in 58 BC, and Domnotaurus (in

probably Donnotarvos), who died while defending Helvian territory against a force of

Arverni The Arverni (Gaulish: *''Aruernoi'') were a Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul, contesting primacy over the region with the n ...

and

Gabali The Gabali (Gaulish: *''Gabli'') were a Gauls, Gallic tribe dwelling in the later Gévaudan region during the La Tène culture, Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Gabalos'' or ''Gabalis'' by Julius Caesar, Caesar (mid-1 ...

sent by

Vercingetorix Vercingetorix (; ; – 46 BC) was a Gauls, Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman Republic, Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. After surrendering to C ...

Etymology of name

A Celtic origin for the name Caburus has sometimes been disputed, but it may derive from ''cabo'', "mouth."Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental'', 2nd ed. (Paris: Éditions Errance, 2003), p. 432.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caburus, Gaius Valerius 1st-century BC Romans Barbarian people of the Gallic Wars 1st-century BC tribal chiefs in Europe Helvii (Gauls) People from Ardèche People from Gallia Narbonensis Roman people of the Gallic Wars Caburus, Gaius

Etymology of name

See also

References