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{{short description|1st century British king of the Regnenses or Regni tribe}}
{{distinguish|Togodumnus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name=Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus
| image=
| caption=
| title=King of the [[Regni]] or Regnenses [[tribe]]
| reign=c. 43 – c. 80
| predecessor= [[Verica]] (king of the southern [[Atrebates]] tribe)
| successor=[[Roman Empire]]}}
'''Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus''' (or '''Togidubnus''', '''Togidumnus''' or similar; see [[#Naming difficulties|naming difficulties]]) was a 1st-century king of the [[Regni]] or Regnenses [[tribe]] in early [[Roman Britain]].

Chichester and the nearby [[Roman villa]] at [[Fishbourne Roman Palace|Fishbourne]], believed by some to have been Cogidubnus' palace, were probably part of the territory of the [[Atrebates]] tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43. Cogidubnus may therefore have been an heir of [[Verica]], the Atrebatic king whose overthrow prompted the [[emperor]] [[Claudius]] to invade. After the conquest, the area formed part of the [[civitas]] of the Regnenses / Regni, possibly Cogidubnus' kingdom before being incorporated into the Roman province. The public baths, amphitheatre and forum in [[Silchester]] were probably built in Cogidubnus' time.

==Sources==
In [[Tacitus]]'s ''[[Agricola (book)|Agricola]]'', published {{circa}} 98, where his name appears as "Cogidumnus" in most manuscripts although they can be considered as copies, and "Togidumnus" in one,<ref name=RIB>[https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/91 RIB 91]. Altar dedicated to Neptune and Minerva</ref> he is said to have governed several ''[[civitates]]'' (states or tribal territories) as a [[Roman client kingdoms in Britain|client ruler]] after the [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman conquest]], and to have been loyal "down to our own times" (at least into the 70s).<ref>[[Wikisource:Agricola#14|Tacitus, ''Agricola'' 14]]</ref>

He is also known from [[Chichester inscription|an inscription]] on a damaged slab of marble found in [[Chichester]] in 1723 and datable to the late 1st century. As reconstructed by J.E. Bogaers,<ref>J. E. Bogaers (1979) "King Cogidubnus in Chichester: another reading of RIB 91", ''[[Britannia (journal)|Britannia]]'' 10, pp. 243-254</ref> it reads (reconstructed parts in square brackets):
[[Image:Chichester inscription.jpg|thumbnail|250px|left|Chichester Inscription]]

[N]EPTVNO·ET·MIN[ER]VAE 
TEMPLVM 
[PR]O·SALVTE·DO[MVS]·DIVINA[E] 
[EX]·AVCTORITAT[E·TI]·CLAVD· 
[CO]GIDVBNI·R[EG·MA]GNI·BRIT·<ref>The fifth line of the inscription was formerly reconstructed to read R[·LEGAT·AV]G·IN·BRIT ("king and imperial [[legatus|legate]] in Britain"), but this is now considered a misreading.</ref> 
[COLE]GIVM·FABROR·ET[·Q]VI·IN·E[O] 
[SVNT]·D·S·D·DONANTE·AREAM <ref name=RIB/>
{{clear}}

Which is translated as:

{{quote|To Neptune and Minerva, for the welfare of the Divine Temple, by the authority of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, great king of the Britons, the guild of smiths and those in it gave this temple at their own expense ...ens, son of Pudentinus, presented the forecourt.}}

Another fragmentary inscription, reading [...]GIDVBNVS, was found at the [[Gallo-Roman]] town of [[Mediolanum Santonum]] (modern [[Saintes, Charente-Maritime|Saintes]], south-west [[France]]), although it is unlikely this refers to the same person.

==Naming difficulties==
In the Chichester inscription, the first two letters of the king's native name, given in the [[genitive case]], are missing. It is usually reconstructed as "Cogidubnus", following the majority of manuscripts of Tacitus, but some, including Charles E Murgia,<ref>Charles E Murgia (1977) "The Minor works of Tacitus : a study in textual criticism", ''[[Classical Philology]]'' 72, p.339</ref> believe "Togidubnus" is the more linguistically correct form as a Celtic name. The Roman names "''Tiberius Claudius''" indicate that he was given [[Roman citizenship]] by the [[Roman emperor|emperor]] [[Claudius]], or possibly by [[Nero]], and probably not, as has been suggested, that he was related to [[Claudia Rufina]], a woman of British descent whose marriage to [[Aulus Pudens]] in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] in the 90s is mentioned by the poet [[Martial]].<ref>[[Martial]], ''Epigrams'' XI.53, ed. & trans. D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Harvard University Press, 1993</ref>

He is nearly contemporary with [[Togodumnus]], a prince of the [[Catuvellauni]] tribe mentioned by [[Dio Cassius]],<ref>[[Dio Cassius]], ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/60*.html 60]</ref> and the similarity of their names has led some, including Dr Miles Russell of [[Bournemouth University]]<ref>Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Britain's Lost Governor'', Current Archaeology 204, p 630-635</ref><ref>Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Sussex'' Tempus, p 33-43</ref><ref>Miles Russell (2010) ''Bloodline: The Celtic Kings of Roman Britain'' Amberley, p 100-112, 140-146</ref> and the distinguished [[archaeologist]] Professor [[Barry Cunliffe]] of [[Oxford University]],<ref>Barry Cunliffe (1999), ''Fisbourne Roman Palace'', Tempus</ref> to suggest that they may be one and the same, thereby making the Fishbourne king a son of [[Cunobelinus]] and brother of [[Caratacus]]. However the sources do not appear to support this: according to Dio, Togodumnus was killed in 43 in the early stages of the [[Roman conquest of Britain]], whilst Tacitus says that Cogidubnus remained loyal to Rome as a client king into the later part of the 1st century. It is of course not unusual for two people to have similar names (cf. [[Dubnovellaunus]]). As the Chichester inscription supports Tacitus, Cunliffe's interpretation would appear to imply an error in Dio's ''Roman History'' or in its transmission, and some, including John Hind, have argued that Dio misinterpreted his sources as reading that Togodumnus had died when he had merely been defeated.<ref>J. G. F. Hind, "A. Palutius' Campaign in Britain: An Alternative Reading of the Narrative in Cassius Dio (60.19.5-21.2)", ''Britannia'' Vol. 38 (2007), pp. 93-106)</ref>

==Villa at Fishbourne==
[[Barry Cunliffe]] (the archaeologist who uncovered Fishbourne) has put forward the theory that [[Fishbourne Roman Palace]] was Cogidubnus's royal seat. Certainly the early phase of the palace, which dates to around AD 65, could have belonged to him or to one Tiberius Claudius [[Catuarus]], whose inscribed gold ring was found in excavations close by. Miles Russell, however, has suggested that, as the main constructional phase of the palace proper at Fishbourne seems to have been in the early AD 90s, during the reign of the emperor [[Domitian]] who built the [[Domus Flavia]], a palace of similar design upon the [[Palatine]] Hill in [[Rome]], Fishbourne may instead have been built for [[Sallustius Lucullus]], a Roman governor of Britain of the late 1st century.<ref>Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Sussex'' pp. 97-148</ref> Lucullus may have been the son of the British prince [[Adminius]].<ref>Norman Hammond, [https://archive.today/20070308194055/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-2292526.html "Whose busts are they?"], ''[[The Times]]'', 31 July 2006, retrieved 31 August 2006; Miles Russell (2010) ''Bloodline: The Celtic Kings of Roman Britain'' p 161-177</ref>

==In fiction==
Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus appears in the [[Cambridge Latin Course]] Books II and III and lives in the Palace of Fishbourne mentioned above. He falls ill during the book and moves to Bath, since he believes the sacred baths can cure him of his illness, but he meets Salvius. In the books, he is in the middle of a conspiracy against his life, headed by the wicked Salvius and the Emperor [[Domitian]]. He dies under house arrest in the spring of 83, after being ill for some time, and his will is recreated by Salvius in order to give himself the Palace of Fishbourne.

He is also the central character in [[Mark Patton (archaeologist)|Mark Patton]]'s novel, ''An Accidental King'',<ref>Mark Patton, ''An Accidental King'', {{ISBN|978-1-908910-87-5}}</ref> and a minor character in [[Douglas Jackson (author)|Douglas Jackson]]'s novel, ''Claudius''.<ref>Douglas Jackson, Claudius, {{ISBN|978-0-593-06062-9}}</ref>

He is the father of the central characters of ''They of Rome''.<ref>Lois M. Parker, ''They of Rome'', {{ISBN|0-8127-0308-1}}</ref>

He is a minor character in [[Lindsey Davis]]'s novels, ''[[A Body in the Bath House]]''.<ref>Lindsey Davis, ''A Body in the Bath House'', {{ISBN|0-7126-7854-9}}</ref> and ''[[The Jupiter Myth]]''.<ref>Lindsey Davis, ''The Jupiter Myth'', {{ISBN|0-09-929840-6}}</ref>

He is the first-person protagonist in [[Linda Proud]]'s novel ''Chariot of the Soul'',<ref>Linda Proud, ''Chariot of the Soul'', {{ISBN|978-1-907651-13-7}}</ref> in which he describes his education in Rome, studying Stoicism with [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], and his return to Britain charged with the mission of persuading the tribal kings not to resist the invasion of the Romans.

He is mentioned in [[Ben Aaronovitch]]'s novel Broken Homes, where he is one of the "Rivers of London”, and in Simon Scarrow’s novel ‘Under the Eagle’.

==Sources==
* Roger Gale (1722), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/103643 "An Account of a Roman Inscription, Found at Chichester"], ''Philosophical Transactions'' (1683–1775) Vol. 32 (1722), pp. 391–400
* Anthony A Barrett (1979), "The Career of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus", ''Britannia'' 10, pp. 227–242
* J. E. Bogaers (1979), "King Cogidubnus in Chichester: Another Reading of 'RIB' 91", ''Britannia'' 10, pp. 243–254
* Peter A. Clayton (ed) (1980), ''A Companion to Roman Britain''
* Sheppard Frere (1987), ''Britannia: a history of Roman Britain'' (3rd edition)
* Martin Henig, [http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba37/ba37feat.html#henig "Togidubnus and the Roman liberation"], British Archaeology, no 37, September 1998.
* Martin Henig (2002, 2012), ''The Heirs of King Verica, Culture and Politics in Roman Britain''
* Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Britain's Lost Governor'', Current Archaeology, no 204.
* Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Sussex''.
* Miles Russell (2010) ''Bloodline: The Celtic Kings of Roman Britain''.

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/regnenses/ Regnenses] at [http://www.roman-britain.co.uk Roman-Britain.co.uk]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cogidubnus, Tiberius Claudius}}
[[Category:1st-century births]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Briton monarchs]]
[[Category:1st-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:Claudii|Cogidubnus, Tiberius]]

Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus - Revision history

imported>Gamapamani: fix unpaired tags