Commios - the Gallic King who became the First Name on British Coins

[John Conduitt]

Commios (Commius) is unusual in British Celtic history in that he is known beyond the coins bearing his name. He was also not British but king of the Atrebates, a Belgic tribe in Gaul.

He was installed as king of the Atrebates by Julius Caesar, after the latter defeated the tribe in 57BC. He was sent to Britain as Caesar’s envoy to persuade them not to resist the Roman invasion in 55BC, but they captured him and traded him back to Caesar for better terms when he did land. On Caesar’s second invasion in 54BC, Commios helped negotiate with the defeated British tribes. Through the Gallic Wars, Commios kept on Caesar’s good side and his tribe were left alone.

In 53BC, however, Caesar was told Commios was conspiring with Gallic tribes against him. The Romans tried to kill him but failed, and he joined the Gallic revolt. They were defeated but Commios survived. At some point he left for Britain, pursued by Caesar. He reached the coast when the tide was out, so he raised the sails on his ships anyway. From a distance it looked like he’d already departed, and Caesar stopped his pursuit. Commios was defeated once more by Mark Antony and agreed to exile in Britain.

How he came to be ruler of the British Atrebates is unknown, but as emigrants from his tribe, perhaps they’d always considered themselves under his rule. Either way, he was an established British ruler by 30BC with his capital at Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester in Hampshire).

Silchester Amphitheatre

(Mariegriffiths, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Despite his departure, Commios’s name continued to appear on Gallic coins, perhaps because his sons ruled in his absence. His name also appears on Atrebates coins in Britain – his was one of the first names on a British coin. These were struck until 20BC. His sons Tincomarus, Eppillus and Verica, ruled until the Roman conquest. (See the comments for why there was no COM COMMIOS, i.e. Commios, son of Commios).

This coin of Commios is uninscribed, but linked to the inscribed coins by the area it is found and a shared ‘S’ symbol.

Commios ‘Lazy E Ladder Head’ Unit, 50-25BC

Atrebates tribe, Hampshire/Sussex. Silver, 10mm, 0.59g. Moon head with ladder hair, lentoid eye, two double rings above. Horse left, E symbol above (pointing downwards), uncertain S-shape animal below (ABC 1040; VA 355-3).

Edited January 6 by John Conduitt

[DCCR]

> These were struck until 20BC, some inscribed ‘COM COMMIOS’, which implies the inscribed coins were in fact of Commios, son of Commios, and not Commios himself.

There don't seem to be any coins inscribed "COM COMMIOS" and it seems to have been an invention by Bean. The coin in question is CCI 69.0141 which reads "COM" (above the horse) and "MIOS" (under the horse's head). Bean said he saw a second coin in 1990 from the same dies which clearly said COMMIOS below the horse instead of a wheel, but unfortunately it had since disappeared.  There are now 5 other coins from the same reverse die, and they show a wheel under the horse exactly where Bean drew the missing "COM" part of the legend.

This, along with other developments, pushes the coins back towards the Gallic Wars and makes it very feasible for the Gaulish Commios to have minted them. Sills covers this in Divided Kingdoms.

 

 

[John Conduitt]

1 hour ago, DCCR said:

> These were struck until 20BC, some inscribed ‘COM COMMIOS’, which implies the inscribed coins were in fact of Commios, son of Commios, and not Commios himself.

There don't seem to be any coins inscribed "COM COMMIOS" and it seems to have been an invention by Bean. The coin in question is CCI 69.0141 which reads "COM" (above the horse) and "MIOS" (under the horse's head). Bean said he saw a second coin in 1990 from the same dies which clearly said COMMIOS below the horse instead of a wheel, but unfortunately it had since disappeared.  There are now 5 other coins from the same reverse die, and they show a wheel under the horse exactly where Bean drew the missing "COM" part of the legend.

This, along with other developments, pushes the coins back towards the Gallic Wars and makes it very feasible for the Gaulish Commios to have minted them. Sills covers this in Divided Kingdoms.

 

 

Thank you! Yes it was very messy trying to squeeze a son in there, not least when it seems he might have left sons to continue to rule in Gaul - but not the one named after himself. If there is no COM COMMIOS, it surely was Caesar's Commios.