Togodumnus

Togodumnus was a king of the Catuvellauni who led British resistance to the Claudian invasion and was killed in its opening weeks. He was a son of Cunobelinus, the ruler whom Suetonius called king of the Britons and whom Shakespeare turned into Cymbeline, and who had built the largest power in southern Britain from a capital at Camulodunum, modern Colchester. Cunobelinus died around AD 40, and Togodumnus and his brother Caratacus divided the inheritance and continued expanding it aggressively, pushing into the territory of the Atrebates to the south. That expulsion supplied the pretext. Verica, the exiled Atrebatic king, fled to Rome and appealed for restoration, which gave Claudius — an emperor with no military reputation and an insecure claim — the invitation he needed. Aulus Plautius landed with four legions in AD 43, probably at Richborough. The brothers fought a delaying campaign rather than risk everything at once. Cassius Dio describes a river battle, generally identified with the Medway, lasting two days — unusually long for an ancient engagement — in which auxiliaries swam the river in armour and killed the British chariot horses, and Vespasian, then a legionary legate, crossed higher up. Togodumnus was defeated there or at the Thames shortly afterwards and died soon after, whether of wounds or otherwise the sources do not say. His death hardened rather than broke the resistance, and Plautius halted and sent for the emperor. Claudius arrived with elephants, took Camulodunum, and stayed sixteen days. Caratacus fought on for eight years. Some historians now identify him with Togidubnus, the client king of the Regni, which would mean he survived and changed sides.

• Lived: 10 BCE – 43 CE
• Nationality: British
• Roles: ruler, general