31 Facts About Ariovistus

Ariovistus was a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC, who name appears prominently in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.

Ariovistus is known exclusively through Roman sources, chiefly Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.

Ariovistus had two wives, one of whom he had brought from home.

Ariovistus is described by Caesar as rex Germanorum or king of the Germani.

Ariovistus was recognised as a king by the Roman Senate, but how closely the Roman title matched Ariovistus's social status among the Germanic people remains unknown.

Ariovistus seized a third of the Aeduan territory, settling 120,000 Germans there.

Ariovistus made the decision to clear out the Sequani from the strategic Doubs valley and to repopulate it with Germanic settlers.

Ariovistus demanded a further third of Celtic land for his allies the Harudes.

In 59 BC, while Julius Caesar was consul, Ariovistus had been recognised as "king and friend" by the Roman Senate prior to their conflict.

Ariovistus had likely already crossed the Rhine at this point.

Ariovistus refused the summons on the grounds that if Caesar wanted to speak to him, he should come to him; besides, he was not prepared to enter Caesar's territory without his army, which it would be impractical and expensive to gather.

Ariovistus pointed out that Ariovistus was a friend to Rome and that the Romans had a prior interest, which they certainly would enforce.

Ariovistus was welcome to keep the friendship of Rome if he would comply.

Ariovistus refused to comply, asserting the right of conquest and the right of the conqueror to exact tribute from the conquered.

Caesar presents himself as attempting to act as an honest broker in the conflict, offering reasonable terms to settle the matter; however, as Caesar himself relates, Ariovistus later accused him of intending to lead an army against him right from the outset.

Whatever the motivation, Ariovistus overestimated the strength of his position.

Ariovistus apparently believed his official relationship to Rome was one of equals, but the Romans accepted no equals and saw the relationship as one between patron and client.

Ariovistus appears to have believed the Romans would not attack him.

Ariovistus had to combat a panic among his own men, who had heard that the Germans were some sort of superior warriors.

Ariovistus sent ambassadors to Caesar agreeing, because Caesar had come to him, to a conference.

Caesar, known for giving his potential enemies every last chance, entertained the idea that Ariovistus was coming to his senses.

Ariovistus now took the tack of claiming the Aedui had attacked him rather than vice versa.

Ariovistus described official Roman friendship as a sham, and he uttered another uncanny prophecy: that he could gain the real friendship of many leading men at Rome by killing Caesar.

Finally, from a distance of two miles, Ariovistus cut Caesar's supply line, isolating his garrison.

However, it is evident that there was a more mundane reason for Ariovistus declining battle: he had Caesar surrounded.

Ariovistus had Caesar under siege and hoped to starve him out.

Ariovistus had to force the Germans to battle or be starved into surrender.

Some, including Ariovistus himself, managed to cross the river in boats or by swimming.

Ariovistus was dead by late 54 BC, when his death is said to have been a cause of indignation among the Germans.

Ariovistus immediately went on to a campaign against the Belgae, and the disposition of the lands on the Rhine is missing from his account.

William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and, under Ariovistus, suggests another derivation of the first element that seems to fit runic inscriptions known today.