Commius was a historical king of the Gaulish and British Atrebates tribes in the 1st century BC.

When Julius Caesar conquered the Atrebates in Gaul in 57 BC he appointed Commius as king of the tribe.

Before Caesar's first expedition to Britain in 55 BC, Commius was sent as Caesar's envoy to persuade the Britons not to resist him. However he was arrested as soon as he arrived. When the Britons failed to prevent Caesar from landing, Commius was handed over as part of the negotiations. Commius was able to provide a small detachment of cavalry from his tribe to help Caesar defeat further British attacks. During Caesar's second expedition to Britain Commius negotiated the surrender of the British leader Cassivellaunus.

In 52 BC Commius and the Atrebates turned against Caesar, joining the revolt led by Vercingetorix. After the defeat of Vercingetorix in the Siege of Alesia, Commius fled to Britain. When he reached the English Channel the wind was in his favour but the tide was out, leaving the ships stranded on the flats. Commius ordered the sails raised anyway. Caesar, following from a distance, assumed they were afloat and called off the pursuit.

By about 30 BC Commius had established himself as king of the Atrebates in Britain, issuing coins from Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). Coins marked with his name continued to be issued until about 20 BC, and some have suggested, based on the length of his floruit, that there may have been two kings, father and son, of the same name. However, if Commius was a young man when appointed by Caesar he could very well have lived until 20 BC.

He had three notable sons, Tincommius, Eppillus and Verica. From about 25 BC he appears to have ruled in collaboration with Tincommius. After his death Tincommius appears to have ruled the northern part of the kingdom from Calleva, while Eppillus ruled the southern part from Noviomagus (Chichester).

Sources

• Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico
• Sextus Julius Frontinus, Stratagemata

External links

• Caesar's De Bello Gallico
• Frontinus's Strategemata at LacusCurtius
• Roman-Britain.org