Maroboduus (d. AD 37), also known as Marbod, was a

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people who lived close to the border of the Roman Empire, north of the River Danube, and are mentioned in Roman records from approximately 60 BC until about 400 AD. They were one of the most important members of th ...

, who were a Germanic

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

an people. He spent part of his youth in Rome, and returning, found his people under pressure from invasions by the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

between the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

. He led them into the forests of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, near to the

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people during the Roman era, who were prominent in Greek and Roman records from about 20 AD to about 400 AD. By about 20 AD they had a kingdom centred in the area of present-day western Slovakia, north ...

who already lived nearby, and established a large alliance.

Name

The name appears in Latin and Greek texts spelt variously: ''Maroboduus, Marobodus, Maraboduus, Meroboduus, Morobuduus, Moroboduus, Marbodus'' and ''Marabodus'' in Latin sources; ''Maroboudos'' and ''Baroboudos'' in Greek ones. According to linguist

Xavier Delamarre Xavier Delamarre (; born 5 June 1954) is a French linguist, lexicographer, and former diplomat. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on the Gaulish language. With linguist Romain Garnier, Delamarre is the co-publishing edi ...

, the personal name ''Maroboduus'' is a latinized form of

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

''Maro-boduos'', from ''maro''- ('great') attached to ''boduos'' ('crow'; cf. Middle Irish ''bodb'' 'scald-crow, war-divinity', Old Breton ''bodou'' ' ardea'; also

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...

''Boduoci''). The Celtic personal names ''Boduus'', ''Teuto-boduus'', ''Ate-boduus'', ''Soli-boduus'', ''Boduo-genus'', and ''Buduo-gnatus'' are related. Philologist

John T. Koch John Thomas Koch (born 1953) is an American academic, historian, and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory, and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' ...

argues that Middle Irish ''bodb'' must be understood as the 'bird on the battlefield and manifestation of the war-goddess'. The second element of the name, ''boduos'', is a term shared by Celtic and Germanic languages, where it is found as the common noun *''badwō'' ('battle'; cf. ON ''bǫð'', OE ''beado'', OS ''badu''-'','' OHG ''batu-'') and in the name of the war goddess ''

Baduhenna In Germanic paganism, Baduhenna is a goddess. Baduhenna is solely attested in Tacitus's '' Annals'' where Tacitus records that a sacred grove in ancient Frisia was dedicated to her, and that near this grove 900 Roman soldiers were killed in 28 ...

''. The original meaning of Celtic–Germanic *''b^hod^hwo''- must have been 'battle, fight', later metaphorised in Celtic as 'crow', a bird symbolizing the carnage in battle.

Biography

Maroboduus was born into a noble family of the Marcomanni. As a young man, he lived in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and enjoyed the favour of the Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. The Marcomanni had been beaten utterly by the Romans in 10 BC. About 9 BC, Maroboduus returned to

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

and became ruler of his people. To deal with the threat of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

expansion into the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

basin, he led the Marcomanni to the area later known as

to be outside the range of the Roman influence. There, he took the title of king and organized a confederation of several neighboring Germanic tribes. He was the first documented ruler of Bohemia with a government. Germania Enobarbo e Tiberio

Augustus planned in 6 AD to destroy the kingdom of Maroboduus, which he considered to be too dangerous for the Romans. The future emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

commanded 12 legions to attack the Marcomanni, but the outbreak of a

revolt Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

, and the need for troops there, forced Tiberius to conclude a treaty with Maroboduus and to recognize him as king.

War with Arminius and death

His rivalry with

Arminius Arminius (; 18/17 BC–AD 21) was a chieftain of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, in which three Roman legions under th ...

, the Cheruscan leader who inflicted the devastating defeat at the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, was a major battle fought between an alliance of Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire between September 8 and 11, 9&nbs ...

on the Romans under

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC or before – September AD 9) was a Roman general and politician. Serving under Augustus, who founded the Roman Empire, he is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutob ...

in 9 AD, prevented a concerted attack on Roman territory across the Rhine in the north (by Arminius) and in the

basin in the south (by Maroboduus). However, according to the first-century AD historian

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; ) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the period from the death o ...

, Arminius sent Varus's head to Maroboduus, but the king of the Marcomanni sent it to Augustus. In the revenge war of Tiberius and

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

against the Cherusci, in 16 AD, Maroboduus stayed neutral. In 17 AD, war broke out between Arminius and Maroboduus, and after an indecisive battle, Maroboduus withdrew into the hilly forests of Bohemia in 18 AD. In the next year,

Catualda Catualda (flourished in 1st century AD) was a Marcomannic exile who deposed the Marcomannic king Maroboduus in 18 AD. Catualda is mentioned in ''The Annals'' of the Roman historian Tacitus. Following the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, while Germa ...

, a young Marcomannic nobleman living in exile among the

Gutones The Gutones (also spelled Guthones, Gotones etc) were a Germanic people who were reported by Roman era writers in the 1st and 2nd centuries to have lived in what is now Poland. The most accurate description of their location, by the geographer Pto ...

, returned, perhaps by a subversive Roman intervention, and defeated Maroboduus. The deposed king had to flee to Italy, and Tiberius detained him for 18 years in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. There, Maroboduus died in 37 AD. Catualda was, in turn, defeated by the

Hermunduri The Hermunduri, Hermanduri, Hermunduli, Hermonduri, or Hermonduli were an ancient Germanic tribe, who occupied an inland area near the source of the Elbe river, around what is now Bohemia from the first to the third century, though they have als ...

Vibilius Vibilius or Vibillius (flourished in 1st century AD) was a powerful king of the Hermunduri in the 1st century AD, mentioned in The Annals of the Roman historian Tacitus. According to Tacitus, Vibilius deposed the Marcomannic king Catualda, who ha ...

, after which the realm was ruled by the

Vannius Vannius (flourished in 1st century AD) was the king of the Germanic tribe Quadi. According to The Annals of Tacitus, Vannius came to power following the defeat of the Marcomannic King Catualda by the Hermunduri King Vibilius, establishing the ...

. Vannius was himself also deposed by Vibilius, in coordination with his nephews

Vangio and Sido Vangio and Sido (flourished in 1st century AD) were two Quadian brothers who were the co-rulers of a Roman client kingdom in Bohemia in the 1st century AD. According to The Annals of Tacitus, Vangio and Sido were the sons of a sister of Vannius, ...

, who then ruled as Roman client kings.Germania
UNRV History

References

Bibliography

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External links