Cottius

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Cottius
prefect of the Alpes Cottiae
IssueGaius Julius Donnus II
Julius Vestalis
Names
Marcus Julius Cottius
FatherDonnus
ReligionPaganism

Marcus Julius Cottius was King of the

Roman citizenship
.

Susa, Piedmont, Italy, capital of the Kingdom of Marcus Julius Cottius

Early relationship with Rome

The friendship between Cottius's realm and

numismatic evidence which suggests that Donnus established friendly relations with Julius Caesar
. As Caesar needed to cross the
Ligurian tribes in 14 BC must have convinced Cottius "to press the advantage and use his control of the Alpine passes as leverage for an alliance with Rome that would allow him to maintain his position".[1] Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman soldier and historian, remarked that even after Gaul had been subdued, Cottius alone continued to rely on the strategic position his kingdom afforded him.[3] The arrangement benefited both parties, as Augustus wanted to maintain good relations with the people who lived along the Montgenevre pass over the Alps, which was on the road to Gaul
.

Alliance with Rome

Arch of Augustus, Susa, Italy

The Roman alliance was established in 13 or 12 BC, and is attested in an inscription on the

Roman citizen, Latinizing his name as Marcus Julius Cottius, and was appointed præfectus civitatium. Areas assigned to this type of prefect (Roman governor) were areas newly brought under Roman administration in the Augustan period. These officials oversaw areas with a number of tribes and had a fixed term of office. However, this post in Cottia was permanent and hereditary, and made him and his 14 tribes joined the Alpine regiments of the Roman army.[7]

Reign as client ruler

Cottius enriched himself through trade between Italy and Gaul as his pass was the main trading route between these two countries. His capital, Segusium (today's Susa, Piedmont) grew and was adorned with public monuments. The region would feature a Roman amphitheater and a Roman aqueduct.[8] Under his guidance his people adopted Roman aspects in their customs, laws and language. However, they retained their religious cults intact. The identification of their gods with Roman ones occurred later.[9]

Death and legacy

The Alpes Cottiae, now known as the Cottian Alps, previously a Roman Province

Cottius was revered as a fair king who had foresight. He was laid to rest in a mausoleum still visited in the fourth century AD. After his passing the territory of the Alpes Taurinae that he had ruled began to be identified with the name Alpes Cottiae. It seems to have been seen as having a special status to the Romans compared to that of other non-Roman peoples. Strabo described the areas where the tribes of southern Gaul lived, which he named by their ethnic names; however, he used the term country of Cottius for the Cottian Alps. Vitruvius and Suetonius used the terms kingdom of the Cottians and Cottian kingdom respectively.[4][10] Ammianus Marcelinus used the term Cottianae civitiate.[3]

Successors

Cottius was succeeded by his son Gaius Julius Donnus II (reigned 3 BC-4 AD), and his grandson Marcus Julius Cottius II (reigned 5-63 AD), during whose long reign

Emperor Nero.[10]

Another of the elder Cottius' sons was the Roman centurion Julius Vestalis, who retook the frontier post of Aegyssus (modern Tulcea) on the Danube after it was captured by the Getae, a deed celebrated by Roman poet Ovid in his book Epistulae ex Ponto IV.

Many members of the Cottius family adopted the name Julius in their surname, and became members of the

gens Julia (gens Iulia), Patricians of Rome, such as Marcus Julius Cottius, Gaius Julius M. f. Donnus, and Marcus Julius M. f. Cottius.[14][15][16][17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Cornwell, H., Alpine Reactions to Roman Power, in Varga, R., Rusu-Bolindeț, V., (eds) Official Power and Local Elites in the Roman Provinces, p. 59
  2. ^ Livy XXI.38
  3. ^ a b Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 15.10.2
  4. ^ a b Vitruvius, On architecture, 8,3,17
  5. ^ Goodman, M., The Roman World 44 BC–AD 180, p. 120
  6. ^ Millar, Rome, the Greek World and the East: Government, Society and Culture in the Roman Empire, edited by F.,Cotton H., Roger G., p. 229
  7. ^ Cornwell, H., Alpine Reactions to Roman Power, in Varga, R., Rusu-Bolindeț, V., (eds) Official Power and Local Elites in the Roman Provinces, p. 59
  8. ^ Raymond G. Chase: Ancient Hellenistic and Roman amphitheatres, stadiums, and theatres: the way they look now. P. E. Randall, Portsmouth 2002, ISBN 1-931807-08-6
  9. S2CID 164529550
    .
  10. ^ a b Suetonius, Nero, 18
  11. ^ Suetonius, Tiberius, 37,3
  12. ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History, 60.24.4
  13. ^ Cornwell, H., Alpine Reactions to Roman Power, in Varga, R., Rusu-Bolindeț, V., (eds) Official Power and Local Elites in the Roman Provinces, p. 60
  14. ^ "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/670".
  15. ^ R. Rey (1898). "Le royaume de Cottius et la province des Alpes cottiennes d'Auguste à Dioclétien". Agregé d'histoire Inspecteur d'académie a Grenoble, A. Gratier and Editeurs. p. 99-104. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  16. ISBN 9788890705717
    .
  17. ^ Fabio Stok. "Aeneas redivivus: Piccolomini and Virgil: From Piccolomini to Pope Pius II, Musings on a Renaissance Holy Man". www.academia.edu. Baylor University (Waco, Texas). p. 6. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
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