Octavius

Octavius

Octavius ( _cy. Eydaf) was a legendary king of the Britons in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia regum Britanniae", a fictional account of the rulers of Britain.

According to Geoffrey's story, Octavius was brother to Constantine I and ruled over Britain while Constantine was emperor in Rome. Constantine had been crowned king of the Britons upon his father's death in 306 at York. As Constantine became more powerful, he was forced to leave Britain in the hands of a proconsul while he ruled in Rome. This prompted Octavius, then Duke of the Gewissei tribe of Celts, to begin a rebellion against Roman rule. Octavius murdered the proconsul and his aides then took the crown of Britain upon his own head.

This led to a response from Constantine who sent three legions to Britain under the command of his great-uncle, Trahern, the brother of the late King Coel. He landed at Kaerperis and captured it forcing Octavius to conscript all the island into the army to combat the Roman legions. Octavius met Trahern in a field outside Winchester where they fought and Octavius won. Trahern fled to Albany and pillaged the land. That caused Octavius to react again, where he met Trahern in Westmorland, but Octavius was defeated this time. Octavius fled Britain and Trahern took on the crown himself.

Octavius fled to Norway where he sought help from King Gunbert. In Britain, supporters of Octavius managed to ambush Trahern and kill him near London, allowing Octavius to return to Britain. Once arrived, he scattered the Roman forces and retook the throne of Britain, gaining an incredible amount of wealth and prestige. Following years of rule, Octavius decided to marry his only daughter off to the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus. After a brief struggle with his nephew, Conan Meriadoc, the kingship of Britain was given to Maximus, and Octavius abdicated.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Octavius — bezeichnet den lateinischen Vornamen, Octavius (Name) ein Geisterschiff, Octavius (Schiff) Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort bezeichneter Begriffe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Octavĭus — Octavĭus. Die Octavia gens war ursprünglich ein volskisches Rittergeschlecht, welches schon zur Königszeit nach Rom übersiedelte; es war theils patricisch, theils plebejisch; zu jenem gehörten die Familien Balbus u. Rufus; zu diesem die der… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Octavĭus — Octavĭus, Name eines röm. plebejischen Geschlechts, das aus dem volskischen Veliträ in Latium stammte. Seine namhaftesten Glieder sind: 1) Gnäus, zeichnete sich im Kriege gegen Perseus aus, in dem er als Prätor 168 v. Chr. den Befehl über die… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Octavius — Octavius, röm. plebejisches Geschlecht, welches erst 165 v. Chr. das Consulat erlangte. – C. O., gest. 58 v. Chr., wurde durch Cäsars Schwester Julia Großvater des C. Julius Cäsar Octavianus Augustus; s. Augustus …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Octavius — m English: from the Roman family name, derived from Latin octāvus eighth. The name was fairly frequently given to a male eighth child (or eighth son) in large Victorian families. It is much less common these days, when families rarely extend to… …   First names dictionary

  • Octavius — Octavius,   römischer Gentilname, Oktavier …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Octavius — [äk tā′vēəs] n. [L < octavus, eighth] a masculine name: fem. Octavia …   English World dictionary

  • OCTAVIUS (M.) — M. OCTAVIUS Historicus priscus, auctori de Origine gentis Roman. Laudatus. an idem cum Octavio Hersenno, Macrob. Saturn. l. 3. c. ult. Cn. Octavius. Consul, pepulit cinnam collegam, An. 667. Urb. Cond. surrogatô L. Corn. Merulâ huic, qui manu… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • OCTAVIUS — I. OCTAVIUS Fanensis, dictus Cleophilus: Docuit in aliquot Italiae Academiis, principibus Medicaeis et Curiae Romanae gratus. Prosâ versuque varia edidit: a Socero venenô peremptus, A. C. 1490. aetat. 43. Franc. Polyardus, in eius vita. Pierius… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Octavius, S. (1) — 1S. Octavius (5. März), ein Martyrer in Africa. S. S. Adrianus6, wo er unter dem Namen Octavianus vorkommt. (I. 365.) …   Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”