Caratacus
Caratacus (also spelled Caractacus) is the Roman form of the Celtic name Caradoc.
It usually refers to the chieftain Caratacus, (died c. 54AD), who was a Celtic warrior from the Catuvellaunii tribe. Probably the youngest son of king Cunobelin (William Shakespeare's Cymbeline), he was a loyal follower of his uncle Epaticcus during the internal struggles for power. His fame as a warrior started during the war against the Atrebates tribe and their king Verica. The Catuvellaunii defeated Verica who, in a last attempt to secure power, appealed to the Roman Empire for help. This plea was the excuse emperor Claudius used to invade Britain. Along with his brother Togodumnus, Caratacus led the defence of the country, but they were defeated: Togodumnus was killed in the Battle of Medway and Caratacus was forced to flee. Afterwards, when his tribesmen accepted the Roman occupation, Caratacus continued to struggle. He fought actively against governor Aulus Plautius both in southern England as in Wales, where he fled to after the Catuvellaunii surrender. In Welsh lands, he organised the resistance of the Silures and Ordovices tribes against Roman presence. Caratacus gave plenty of trouble to the successor of Plautius, governor Publius Ostorius Scapula, who had great difficulty in dealing with his uprisings. Finally, in 50 AD, Scapula managed to defeat Caratacus in the Battle of Caer Caradock and Caratacus was forced to flee once more, this time to the North. Seeking asylum in the Brigantes lands of queen Cartimandua, Caratacus was betrayed by her and delivered to the Romans as a proof of her alliance. After his capture, Caratacus was sent to Rome as a war prize and presumably to be killed after a triumphal parade. Although a captive, he was allowed to speak in the senate and made such an impression that was pardoned and allowed to live in peace inside Rome. Afterwards, Caratacus disappears from the sources and probably died around the year 54.
His fame survived for several centuries. A genealogy of an otherwise unknown British king in the Historia Britonum traced his ancestry to Caratacus.
