CARATACUS (47)

Celtic CARADOC.

British chieftain who unsuccessfully resisted the invasion of Roman legions dispatched by the emperor Claudius.

His father Cunobelinus was a ruler of a large kingdom centred around the lands of the Catuvellauni (in modern Hertfordshire) and the Trinovantes (in modern Essex).

Upon the death of his father (c. 42), Caracatus and his brother Togodumnus inherited and jointly ruled these lands. Their hostility to Rome gave Claudius an excuse to invade Britain (43).

Caracatus led the native resistance, but he and his brother were defeated by Aulus Plautius at the Medway River in 43.

Fleeing westward, Caracatus rallied the Silures of south Wales and the Ordovices of north Wales; finally his forces were crushed by Ostorius Scapula somewhere in the territory of the Ordovices (50).

He escaped to the Brigantes in northern Britain, but their queen, Cartimandua, handed him over the Romans.

Claudius eshibited his captive in a triumphal procession in Rome, Caracatus conducted himself with such dignity (flema) that he was subsequently pardoned and allowed to spend the rest of his life in honourable captivity.