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Cunobelinus (Brythonic: Hound of Belenus) was a king of the Catuvellauni tribe of the Brythonic Celts. Cunobelinus, who is also known as Cymbeline and Cynfelyn, is a legend amongst the Welsh and honored by them as an ancestor of Arthur.
No one knows when Cunobelinus was born. Due to the scarcity of sources we do not know when or where Cunobelinus was born. It is entirely possible he was born in Verlamio (modern St. Albans), which was the capital of the Catuvellauni for most of his father’s reign. His father was Tasciovanus, the grandson of Cassivellanus, leader of the resistance against Julius Caesar. His mother is unknown.
We have our first mention of Cunobelinus in 9 AD. Probably due to the fact that Rome was distracted by the disaster at Teutoburg, Cunobelinus led his first recorded military action in 9 AD. He was warring against the Trinovantes, old enemies of the Catuvellauni. The enmity between the two tribes goes back to the days of Cassivellanus, when the Trinovantes betrayed the Catuvellauni to Caesar. Leading to the Catuvellauni’s current status as a tributary state of the Roman Empire. In any case after gaining his father’s permission Cunobelinus led an army into the lands of the Trinovantes and easily conquered them. With this conquest the Catuvellauni became the biggest and most powerful tribe in Southeastern Britain. Tasciovanus decided it was best to have a relative ruling over the Trinovantes, so he appointed Cunobelinus to rule over them. For his capital Cunobelinus chose the old capital of the Trinovantes: Camulodunum (modern Colchester). However Cunobelinus would not get to stay there for long, for in 10 AD Tasciovanus passed away and Cunobelinus as the eldest son became king of the Catuvellauni.
Cunobelinus would be a brilliant king. With the death Tasciovanus and the ascension of his son Cunobelinus things looked good for the Catuvellauni. One of Cunobelinus’ first actions was to take the crown of the conquered Trinovantes and add it to his own. Effectively making the Trinovantes and the Catuvellauni a joint kingdom. To further cement this Cunobelinus moved the capital from Verlamio to Camulodunum .We know from the coinage minted that Tasciovanus was not friendly with Rome and had no relations with them beyond what was normal of a tributary state. Cunobelinus changed all that. He opened up relations with Rome and through some deft political maneuvering got himself recognized by Tiberius as Britannorum Rex (Latin: King of the Britons). The Romans authorized the Catuvellauni to build a mint to make coins with the title on them only to discover to their surprise that the Catuvellauni already had the ability, indeed had it since Tasciovanus. In the mid 20s AD Cunobelinus sought to expand his kingdom, to make the Roman bestowed title of Britannorum Rex a reality. Cunobelinus would go in one direction while his younger brother, Epaticcus, went another direction. Of these conquests we only know of what Epaticcus was doing. The campaign of Epaticcus was against the Atrebates and their king Verica. In 25 AD Epaticcus conquered the Atrebatean capital of Calleva (modern Silchester). Present on this campaign was Cunobelinus’ youngest child, Caradoc (the other two sons were with Cunobelinus). 25 AD also marked the end of Cunobelinus’ own campaign, of which little is known. This marked a peaceful period for the combined Trinovantean-Catuvellaunian kingdom. In this period Cunobelinus focused on peaceful matters and diplomatic conquests rather then military ones and Camulodunum flourished as its king lavished attention on it, making Camulodunum the center of politics, learning, and trade in Britain. In 35 AD disaster struck when Epaticcus died. Cunobelinus was depending on his brother to guard the flank while he ruled from Camulodunum in peace. To solve the problem Cunobelinus divided up the kingdom between his sons. The eldest, Adminius, was given control of the lands of Cantium (modern East Kent) where the old sub king Vodenos had recently died. The second son, Togodumnus, was given the Catuvellaunian heartlands based around Verlamio to rule. The youngest son, Caradoc, was given the former lands of Epaticcus to rule. It was during this time that Cunobelinus began to show his dislike for Togodumnus’ and Caradoc’s involvement with the Druids. No one knows exactly why Cunobelinus disliked the Druids and we may never know. In any case he did not make his displeasure with his younger sons a secret. Around 40 AD (the exact date is unknown) Cunobelinus was rendered unable to rule effectively, modern historians believe he suffered a stroke, and a power grab between his sons began. Togodumnus and Caradoc acted quicker then Adminius and seized control. Forging a decree the younger brothers banished Adminius, the favored son, and Caradoc gave control of Cantium to himself. Adminius fled to Rome, hoping to gain protection with Caligula. Caligula, who was mentally unstable, treated Adminius’ arrival as the surrender of all Britain to him. An invasion army was assembled and Togodumnus and Caradoc prepared to defend, only to be abandoned by Caligula on a whim (the vast army was ordered to collect seashells instead). In 42 AD Cunobelinus died in Camulodunum and all of Southeastern Britain mourned his passing. So died Cunobelinus, the first British statesman, at an unknown age.
When Cunobelinus died everything began to fall apart. While Cunobelinus lived he kept his vast kingdom together through a careful mix of politics and force. He also had a healthy respect for the power of Rome and knew that keeping them as a friend was better then as an enemy. Unfortunately Cunobelinus’ sons did not possess their father’s political skills or his respect for Rome so soon after his death the kingdom was destroyed by the army of Claudius Caesar. Later in time Cunobelinus became a semi-mythical folk hero amongst the Welsh and Shakespeare used this for the basis of his play Cymbeline. In conclusion Cunobelinus was a good king to his people and a good statesman who deserves his title of “First Statesman of Britain”.
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User Comments:
| Wijitmaker
:: January 25 2006 |
| Excellent article Joshua, where did you find all this good information? I imagine it was pretty scarce to research. Very cool! |
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| Caesar
:: January 25 2006 |
Great article 
Very informative  |
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| TheCobra1
:: October 1 2008 |
Wow ... an interesting family, to be sure.
Holy cow! Seashells? Must've been humiliating for the Legions of Rome to be collecting seashells instead of sacking a city . . . |
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