Commius

Commius (Commios, Comius, Comnios) was a king of the Belgic nation of the Atrebates, initially in Gaul, then in Britain, in the 1st century BC.

When Julius Caesar conquered the Atrebates in Gaul in 57 BC,[1] as recounted in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, he appointed Commius as king of the tribe.

[6] However this loyalty was not to last, as related by Aulus Hirtius in the final book of the De Bello Gallico, written after Caesar's death.

While Caesar was in Cisalpine Gaul in the winter of 53, the legate Titus Labienus believed that Commius had been conspiring against the Romans with other Gaulish tribes.

[10] A 1st century AD source, Sextus Julius Frontinus's Strategemata, tells how Commius fled to Britain with a group of followers with Caesar in pursuit.

[12] By about 30 BC Commius had established himself as king of the Atrebates in Britain, and was issuing coins from Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester).

The Latin Commeo “to move back and forth” would be very appropriate for the shuttle diplomacy attributed to Commius, but that would imply he was remarkably Romanised for that early date.

[15] The name Commius (British *Combios 'cutter, smiter, killer') is thought to derive from the Celtic verb *kom·binati 'to cut, smite, kill' (Welsh cymynu, Old Irish com·ben).

[16] Chris Rudd in his "Ancient British kings and other significant Britons" suggested Com- meaning “friend” or perhaps literally ‘one who lives with?

[18] French Nobel laureate Anatole France wrote a lengthy short story about the Romanization of Belgic Gaul from the point of view of Commius, whose name he recasts in Germanic form as Komm.

The story, "Komm of the Atrebates," appears in France's historical fiction collection Clio and can be read in English translation online.