Caradoc Coilus
Male 12 January 12AD - after 31 Dec 49AD
Born, Verulamium (Hertfordshire), Britain.
Died, Rome, Italy.
Father of Caradoc Caratacus.
Caratacus (also spelled Caractacus) was a historical British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. He may correspond with the legendary Welsh character Caradog (also written Caradoc, Caradawg) and the legendary British king Arvirargus.unian king Cunobelinus (the inspiration for William Shakespeare's Cymbeline). Based on coin distribution Caratacus appears to have been the protegé of his uncle Epaticcus, who expanded Catuvellaunian power westwards into the territory of the Atrebates. After Epaticcus died ca. 35 AD, the Atrebates, under Verica, regained some of their territory, but it appears Caratacus completed the conquest, as Dio tells us Verica was ousted, fled to Rome and appealed to the emperor Claudius for help. This was the excuse Claudius used to launch his invasion of Britain in 43.us and his brother Togodumnus led the initial defence of the country against Aulus Plautius's legions, primarily using guerilla tactics, but were defeated in two crucial battles on the rivers Medway (see Battle of Medway) and Thames. Togodumnus was killed and the Catuvellauni's territories conquered, but Caratacus survived and carried on the resistance further west.e Silures and Ordovices in what is now Wales against Plautius's successor as governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Scapula managed to defeat Caratacus in a set-piece battle somewhere in Ordivician territory (see the Battle of Caer Caradock), capturing Caratacus's wife and daughter and receiving the surrender of his brothers. Caratacus himself escaped, and fled north to the lands of the Brigantes. The Brigantian queen, Cartimandua, however, was loyal to Rome, and she handed him over in chains. This was one of the events that led to an eventual Brigantian uprising against Cartimandua, and then the Romans, from 69-71AD led by Venutius, who had once been Cartimandua's husband.e Malvern Hills, but the description of Tacitus makes this unlikely:tle so that the approaches, the escape routes, everything, was awkward for us and to his side's advantage. On one side there were steep hills. Wherever approaches were gentle he piled boulders into a sort of rampart. In front of him flowed a river of doubtful fordability and squadrons of armed men were in position on the defences.here near it, so this battle must have taken place elsewhere.e, presumably to be killed after a triumphal parade. Although a captive, he was allowed to speak to the Roman senate. Tacitus records a version of his speech in which he says that his stubborn resistance made Rome's glory in defeating him all the greater, viz;h and fortune, I should have entered this city as your friend rather than as your captive; and you would not have disdained to receive, under a treaty of peace, a king descended from illustrious ancestors and ruling many nations. My present lot is as glorious to you as it is degrading to myself. I had men and horses, arms and wealth. What wonder if I parted with them reluctantly? If you Romans choose to lord it over the world, does it follow that the world is to accept slavery? Were I to have been at once delivered up as a prisoner, neither my fall nor your triumph would have become famous. My punishment would be followed by oblivion, whereas, if you save my life, I shall be an everlasting memorial of your clemency.d to live in peace in Rome. After his liberation, according to Dio Cassius, Caratacus was so impressed by the city of Rome that he said "Why do you, who possess so many palaces, covet our poor tents?"Caractacus", but modern scholars agree, based on historical linguistics and source criticism, that the correct form is "Caratacus", pronounced "ka-ra-TAH-kus", which gives the attested names Caradog in Welsh and Carthach in Irish.adawg or Caradog, although his true historical context appears to have been forgotten. He appears in the Mabinogion, where he is named as a son of Bran the Blessed. He is left in charge of Britain while his father makes war in Ireland, but is overthrown by Caswallawn (the historical Cassivellaunus, who lived a century earlier than Caratacus). The Welsh Triads agree that he was the son of Bran the Blessed and name two sons, Cawrdaf and Eudaf. A later collection of Triads compiled by the 18th century Welsh antiquarian Iolo Morganwg, the authenticity of which is doubtful, adds that Caradawg's father Bran was held hostage by the Romans for seven years, and brought Christianity to Britain on his return. Iolo also makes the legendary king Coel a son of Caradawg's son Cyllen. Caradawg's line is traced through Bran to Aedd Mawr, giving him claim to the throne of Siluria (Monmouthshire).n Arthurian legend, appears in the medieval manuscript known as Harleian MS 3859. Three generations of his line read "Caratauc map Cinbelin map Teuhant". This is the equivalent of "Caratacus, son of Cunobelinus, son of Tasciovanus", putting the three historical figures in the correct order, although the wrong historical context, the degree of linguistic change suggesting a long period of oral transmission. This is particularly interesting as Tasciovanus's name does not appear in any surviving classical text or legendary tale, and has only been rediscovered in the 20th century through coin legends. The remainder of the genealogy contains the names of a sequence of Roman emperors, and two Welsh mythological figures, Guidgen (Gwydion) and Lou (Llew).a Regum Britanniae, although he may correspond to Arvirargus, a son of Cymbeline (Gweirydd, son of Cynfelyn, in Welsh versions).ssius's Roman History (Epitome of Book LXI, 33:3c [1], Earnest Cary's translation for the Loeb Classical Library, 1914-1927). This is a fragment of a lost passage of Dio, preserved in two variant versions in the 6th century Excerpta Vaticana and by the 12th century chronicler Joannes Zonaras, both Christian documents which may not accurately reflect Dio's original. It should be noted that Herbert Baldwin Foster's 1904 translation [2] reads "Carnetacus, a barbarian chieftain"., a 1961 book by the British Israelite pseudohistorian George Jowett, claims that he was a Christian before he came to Rome, and members of his family who were brought to Rome with him became important figures in the early Christian movement.h woman known to the poet Martial (Epigrams XI:53). Jowett identifies her as a daughter of Caratacus, and with the the Claudia mentioned in 2 Timothy in the New Testament. Martial describes Claudia's marriage to a man named Pudens (Epigrams IV:13), in all likelihood his friend Aulus Pudens, to whom he addresses numerous poems; Jowett's theory identifies him with St. Pudens, an early Christian saint whom he claims was the half-brother of St. Paul. The historical Pope Linus is claimed to be Caratacus's son on the basis of being described as the "brother of Claudia" in an early church document. The basilica of Santa Pudenziana in Rome was supposedly once called the Palatium Britannicum and was the home of Caratacus and his family.rate distortion of sources and cannot be relied upon.h chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. He may correspond with the legendary Welsh character Caradog (also written Caradoc, Caradawg) and the legendary British king Arvirargus.unian king Cunobelinus (the inspiration for William Shakespeare's Cymbeline). Based on coin distribution Caratacus appears to have been the protegé of his uncle Epaticcus, who expanded Catuvellaunian power westwards into the territory of the Atrebates. After Epaticcus died ca. 35 AD, the Atrebates, under Verica, regained some of their territory, but it appears Caratacus completed the conquest, as Dio tells us Verica was ousted, fled to Rome and appealed to the emperor Claudius for help. This was the excuse Claudius used to launch his invasion of Britain in 43.us and his brother Togodumnus led the initial defence of the country against Aulus Plautius's legions, primarily using guerilla tactics, but were defeated in two crucial battles on the rivers Medway (see Battle of Medway) and Thames. Togodumnus was killed and the Catuvellauni's territories conquered, but Caratacus survived and carried on the resistance further west.e Silures and Ordovices in what is now Wales against Plautius's successor as governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Scapula managed to defeat Caratacus in a set-piece battle somewhere in Ordivician territory (see the Battle of Caer Caradock), capturing Caratacus's wife and daughter and receiving the surrender of his brothers. Caratacus himself escaped, and fled north to the lands of the Brigantes. The Brigantian queen, Cartimandua, however, was loyal to Rome, and she handed him over in chains. This was one of the events that led to an eventual Brigantian uprising against Cartimandua, and then the Romans, from 69-71AD led by Venutius, who had once been Cartimandua's husband.e Malvern Hills, but the description of Tacitus makes this unlikely:tle so that the approaches, the escape routes, everything, was awkward for us and to his side's advantage. On one side there were steep hills. Wherever approaches were gentle he piled boulders into a sort of rampart. In front of him flowed a river of doubtful fordability and squadrons of armed men were in position on the defences.here near it, so this battle must have taken place elsewhere.e, presumably to be killed after a triumphal parade. Although a captive, he was allowed to speak to the Roman senate. Tacitus records a version of his speech in which he says that his stubborn resistance made Rome's glory in defeating him all the greater, viz;h and fortune, I should have entered this city as your friend rather than as your captive; and you would not have disdained to receive, under a treaty of peace, a king descended from illustrious ancestors and ruling many nations. My present lot is as glorious to you as it is degrading to myself. I had men and horses, arms and wealth. What wonder if I parted with them reluctantly? If you Romans choose to lord it over the world, does it follow that the world is to accept slavery? Were I to have been at once delivered up as a prisoner, neither my fall nor your triumph would have become famous. My punishment would be followed by oblivion, whereas, if you save my life, I shall be an everlasting memorial of your clemency.d to live in p
Sources
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