Cottius

[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.

The Roman alliance was established in 13 or 12 BC, and is attested in an inscription on the Arch of Susa, which was erected to commemorate this agreement between 9 and 8 AD.

[4][5] By it Cottius became a client king of Rome, with his authority reduced in exchange of the retention of his autonomy.

However, this post in Cottia was permanent and hereditary, and made him and his 14 tribes joined the Alpine regiments of the Roman army.

His capital, Segusium (today's Susa, Piedmont) grew and was adorned with public monuments.

[11] Cottius II was subsequently given additional land by Emperor Claudius and according to Cassius Dio, he "was then called King for the first time".

[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.