View source for Gaius Julius Civilis

{{short description|Leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69 AD}}
{{cleanup rewrite|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Gaius Julius Civilis
| image         = File:Tervuren - "Claudius Civilis" by Lodewijk Van Geel.jpg
| caption       = Statue of Civilis in Tervuren by [[Lodewijk Van Geel]] (1820–1821)
| birth_date    = AD 25
| death_date    = {{circa}} 1st century
| allegiance    = [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavi]]
| known_for     = [[Revolt of the Batavi]]
}}
'''Gaius Julius Civilis''' (AD 25 – {{Circa|1st century}}; erroneously also '''Claudius Civilis''') was the leader of the [[Batavian rebellion]] against the Romans in 69 AD. His [[Roman naming conventions|nomen]] shows that he (or one of his male ancestors) was made a Roman citizen (and thus, the tribe a Roman vassal) by either [[Augustus]] or [[Caligula]].

==Early history==
Gaius Julius Civilis was born in AD 25.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sweers |first=Erik |date=23 October 2013 |title=Gaius Julius Civilis |url=https://www.historien.nl/gaius-julius-civilis/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024092129/https://www.historien.nl/gaius-julius-civilis/ |archive-date=24 October 2013 |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Historiën}}</ref> He was twice imprisoned on a charge of rebellion, and narrowly escaped execution. During the disturbances that followed the death of [[Nero]], he took up arms under pretense of siding with [[Vespasian]] and induced the inhabitants of his native country to rebel. The [[Batavians]], who had rendered valuable service under the early emperors, had been well treated in order to attach them to the cause of Rome. They were exempt from [[tribute]], but were obliged to supply a large number of men for the army, and the burden of conscription and the oppression of provincial governors were important incentives to revolt. The Batavians were immediately joined by several neighboring Germanic tribes.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=402–403}}

==Revolt==
{{main article|Revolt of the Batavi}}
[[File:The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis by Rembrandt van Rijn.jpg|thumb|''[[The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis]]'', completed in 1661 by [[Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn|Rembrandt]]. It depicts a [[Batavians|Batavian]] oath to Gaius Julius Civilis, the head of the [[Batavian rebellion]] against the [[ancient Rome|Romans]] in 69 AD.]]
The Roman garrisons near the Rhine were driven out, and twenty-four ships captured. Two legions under [[Mummius Lupercus]] were defeated at Castra Vetera (near the modern [[Xanten]]) and surrounded. Eight cohorts of Batavian veterans joined their countrymen, and the troops sent by Vespasian to the relief of Vetera threw in their lot with them.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=403}}

{{blockquote 
| text=Let Syria, Asia Minor, and the East, habituated as it is to despotism, submit to slavery&nbsp;... Freedom is a gift bestowed by nature even on the dumb animals. Courage is the peculiar excellence of man, and the Gods help the braver side.
| author=Gaius Julius Civilis<ref>Tacitus ''Historiae'' IV.17</ref>}}

The result of these accessions to the forces of Civilis was a rising in [[Gaul]]. [[Hordeonius Flaccus]] was murdered by his troops (70 AD), and the whole of the Roman forces were induced by two commanders of the Gallic auxiliaries—[[Julius Classicus]] and [[Julius Tutor]]—to revolt from Rome and join Civilis. The whole of Gaul thus practically declared itself independent, and the foundation of a new kingdom of Gaul was contemplated. The prophetess [[Veleda]] predicted the complete success of Civilis and the fall of the [[Roman Empire]]. But disputes broke out among the different tribes and rendered co-operation impossible; Vespasian, having successfully ended the civil war, called upon Civilis to lay down his arms, and on his refusal resolved to take strong measures for the suppression of the revolt.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=403}}

==Defeat and surrender==
The arrival of [[Quintus Petillius Cerialis]] with a strong force awed the Gauls and mutinous troops into submission; Civilis was defeated at Augusta Treverorum ([[Trier]], Trèves) and Castra Vetera, and forced to withdraw to the island of the Batavians. He finally came to an agreement with Cerialis whereby his countrymen obtained certain advantages, and resumed amicable relations with Rome. From this time, Civilis disappears from history.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=403}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Civilis, Claudius|volume=6|pages=402–403}} This documents that the chief authority for the history of the insurrection is [[Tacitus]], ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Histories]]'', iv., v., whose account breaks off at the beginning of Civilis's speech to Cerialis.
*[[Josephus]], [[Bellum Judaicum]], vii. 4.
*E. Meyer, ''Der Freiheitskrieg der Bataver unter Civilis'' (1856)
*[[Charles Merivale|Merivale]], ''Hist. of the Romans under the Empire'', ch. 58.
*H. Schiller, ''Geschichte der römischen Kaiserzeit'', bk. ii. ch. 2, § 54 (1883).

==External links==
{{Commons category|Julius Civilis}}
* [https://www.livius.org/ba-bd/batavians/revolt01.html Jona Lendering, "The Batavian Revolt"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504221225/http://www.livius.org/ba-bd/batavians/revolt01.html |date=4 May 2016 }}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Civilis, Julius |year=1905 |short=x}}

{{Authority control}}

{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}

[[Category:1st-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman generals]]
[[Category:Batavian people]]
[[Category:Early Germanic warriors]]
[[Category:Defectors]]
[[Category:Dutch nobility]]
[[Category:Dutch generals]]
[[Category:Dutch military commanders]]
[[Category:Netherlands in the Roman era]]
[[Category:Julii|Civilis, Gaius]]
[[Category:People of the Year of the Four Emperors]]
[[Category:1st-century Germanic people]]

[[Category:25 births]]

[[Category:1st-century deaths]]

[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]