Arvirargus
Arvirargus (or
Arviragus) was a legendary, and possibly historical, British king of the 1st century AD. A shadowy historical Arviragus is known only from a cryptic reference in a satirical poem by
Juvenal, in which a giant
turbot presented to the Roman emperor
Domitian (AD 81-96) is said to be an omen that "you will capture some king, or Arviragus will fall from his British chariot-pole".
[Juvenal, Satires 4.126-127]Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae (1136) presents a legendary Arviragus who is contemporary with the emperor
Claudius (AD 41-54).
[Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae 4.12-17]A son of the former king
Kimbelinus, Arvirargus succeeds to the throne of Britain after his elder brother,
Guiderius, dies fighting the invading Romans under Claudius. Arviragus puts on his brother's armour and leads the army of the Britons against the Romans. When he learns that Claudius and his commander,
Hamo, have fled into the woods, Arvirargus follows him until they reach the coast. The Britons kill Hamo as he tries to flee onto a ship and the place is named
Southampton after him. Claudius is able to reassemble his troops elsewhere and he
besieges Portchester until it falls to his forces.
Following Hamo's death, Arvirargus seeks refuge at
Winchester, but Claudius follows him there with his army. The Britons break the siege and attack the Romans, but Claudius halts the attack and offers a treaty. In exchange for peace and tribute with Rome, Claudius offers Arvirargus his own daughter in marriage. They accept each other's terms and Arvirargus aids Claudius in subduing the
Orkneys and other northern lands.
In the following spring, Arvirargus weds Claudius's daughter,
Genvissa, and names the city of
Gloucester after her father. Following the wedding, Claudius leaves Britain in the control of Arvirargus. In the years following Claudius' departure, Arvirargus rebuilds the cities that have been ruined and becomes feared by his neighbours. This causes him to halt his tribute to
Rome, forcing Claudius to send
Vespasian with an army to Britain. As Vespasian prepares to land, such a large British force stands ready that he flees to another port,
Totnes, where he sets up camp.
Once a base is established, he marches to
Exeter and besieges the city. Arvirargus meets him in battle there and the fight is stalemated. The following morning, Queen Genvissa mediates peace between the two foes. Vespasian returnes to Rome and Arvirargus rules the country peacefully for some years. When he finally dies, he is buried in Gloucester, the city he built with Claudius. He is succeeded by his son,
Marius.
Geoffrey's legendary Arvirargus appears to correspond to some degree to the historical
Caratacus, son of
Cunobelinus, who, along with his brother
Togodumnus, led the initial resistance to the
Roman invasion of AD 43, and went on to be a thorn in Rome's side for nearly a decade after Togodumnus's death.
[Dio Cassius, Roman History 60:19-22; Tacitus, Annals 12:33-38] Welsh versions of Geoffrey's
Historia call him Gweirydd and his brother Gwydr.
[Acton Griscom (1929), The Historiae Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth]Arvirargus is also connected to the legend that
Joseph of Arimathea brought
Christianity to Britain. The
Domesday Book (1086) records that Arviragus granted Joseph and his followers "twelve hides of land tax free, in Ynis-witrin (Glastonbury)" (the Domesday Book also says that "The Domus Dei, in the great monastery of Glastonbury, called the Secret of the Lord, this Glastonbury Church possesses, in its own villa XII hides of land which have never paid tax").
William of Malmesbury's
De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae (1126) and
John Hardyng's
Chronicle (1464) also refer to the king giving Joseph land at Glastonbury.
Arvirargus is a character in
William Shakespeare's play
Cymbeline. He and his brother Guiderius had been kidnapped in childhood by Belarius, a nobleman wrongly banished by Cymbeline, and brought up in secret in Wales, but are reunited with their father and sister
Imogen in time for the Roman invasion.
[William Shakespeare, Cymbeline]
