- Gaius Volusenus
Gaius Volusenus Quadratus was a Roman military officer and ally of
Julius Caesar .During the
Gallic War he served as "Tribunus Militum" in the 12th Legion under the legate Servius Galba, and distinguished himself in battle when Galba was defeated by theNantuates in 57 BC. [Julius Caesar , "Commentarii de Bello Gallico " [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+3.5 3.5] ]In
55 BC Volusenus was sent out by Caesar in a single warship to undertake a week-long survey of the coast of south eastern Britain prior to Caesar's invasion. ["Commentarii de Bello Gallico" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+4.21 4.21] ] He probably examined theKent coast between Hythe and Sandwich. When Caesar set off with his troops however he arrived atDover and saw that landing would impossible. Instead he travelled north and landed on an open beach, probably nearWalmer . Volusenus had evidently failed to find a suitable harbour, which would have prevented the damage Caesar's exposed ships would suffer at high tide. The great natural harbour atRichborough , a little further north, was used byClaudius in his invasion just 100 years later, but we do not know whether Volusenus travelled that far, or indeed whether it existed in a suitable form at that time (our knowledge of thegeomorphology of theWantsum Channel that created that haven is limited).Volusenus later became "Praefectus Equitum" (cavalry commander). In 53 BC, during the revolt of
Ambiorix , he was sent ahead by Caesar with cavalry to relieve Quintus Cicero, who was besieged by theSugambri in Atuatuca, but found it difficult to convince the terrified defenders that the rest of Caesar's army was not far behind. ["Commentarii de Bello Gallico" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+6.41 6.41] ]When the legate
Titus Labienus discovered thatCommius , the formerly loyal king of theAtrebates , was conspiring against them in the winter of 54 or53 BC , he invited him to a meeting and sent Volusenus and somecenturion s to execute him for his treachery. Commius escaped, but sustained a wound to the head. ["Commentarii de Bello Gallico" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+8.23 8.23] ]In
51 BC Volusenus was serving as commander of cavalry underMark Antony , and in the winter of that year was ordered by Antony to pursue Commius, who was conducting a campaign of agitation andguerrilla warfare . He defeated him in several skirmishes, and finally destroyed Commius's forces in a single engagement, although at the cost of a spear-wound to the thigh. Commius himself escaped and later sued for peace on the condition that he never again had to meet a Roman. ["Commentarii de Bello Gallico" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+8.48 8.48] ]In 48 BC, during the Civil War,
Aegus and Roscillus , two Gallic noblemen serving in Caesar's cavalry who had been caught defrauding their comrades of pay, decided to defect toPompey 's side, and attempted to assassinate Volusenus in an effort to show Pompey they had performed him some useful service. The task proved too difficult, and they were forced to defect without any such token. [Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Civili " ]After Caesar's victory, he was Tribune of the Plebs in 43 BC, and following Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, he was a supporter of
Mark Antony . [Cicero , "Phillipics" 14.3]References
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