Commius

Also known as: Comius / Commius the Atrebatian · Family: Atrebates · Role: king · First appears: The Gallic War, Book IV, 16–21

In Book IV of the Gallic War, Caesar made Commius king of the Atrebates after subduing them, and sent him to British states to urge them to accept Roman protection. As an ambassador, Commius was seized and chained when leaving his ship in Britain, then sent back after the battle. In Book VI, Caesar left him with cavalry among the Menapii as a guard.

In Book VII, Caesar had exempted Commius’s state from taxes and granted him the country of the Morini. At Commius’s request, the Bellovaci sent two thousand men, and he was entrusted with supreme command alongside Vergasillaunus and others as their forces marched to Alesia. In Book VIII, Commius and Correus headed neighboring states raising an army to invade the Suessiones; Commius also returned from seeking German aid with cavalry, including 500 Germans, and later fled to those Germans.

Book VIII recounts that Titus Labienus discovered Commius’s conspiracy against Caesar and sent Caius Volusenus Quadratus to kill him under pretence of a conference. Commius was severely wounded in the head during the attempt, and it was said that he resolved never to come within sight of a Roman. He later supported himself and his adherents by plunder, infested roads, and intercepted Roman supply convoys; at last, he pierced Caius Volusenus Quadratus in the thigh with a lance. Commius offered hostages to Marcus Antonius, who accepted them and allowed him to avoid appearing before a Roman.