Orgetorix

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Orgetorix
A coin bearing the profile of Orgetorix
Born
Ancient Gaul
Died61 BC
Occupations
  • Politician
  • ambassador
Known forConspiracy to take control of Gaul
Children
  • Daughter of Orgetorix
  • Sons of Orgetorix

Orgetorix was a prominent nobleman among the Helvetii, a Celtic-speaking tribal confederation that resided in what is now Switzerland during the consulship of Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic.[1]

In Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Orgetorix is said to have played a role in instigating the westward migration of the Helvetii as part of a conspiracy with Dumnorix of the Aedui and Casticus of the Sequani to gain control of Gaul. After the plot was revealed by informers, he was summoned to stand trial for treason but instead rallied an army of his vassals and debtors. Before the Helvetii state could muster an army in response, he died from an unknown cause; possibly suicide.[2]

The migration of the Helvetii would occur regardless and become one of the inciting events of the Gallic Wars in which Caesar conquered Gaul.[3]

Name

Julius Pokorny segments the name [P]orgeto-rix in which the first element contains Gallic orge "kill", related to Old Irish orcaid "kill", from the Indo-European root *per-g-, "to hit."[4] The second element is manifestly Celtic rīx, "king:" "warrior-king", which does not imply that the owner of the name is necessarily a legal ruler. Although Orgetorix had aspirations in that direction, he was not a legal ruler.

Migration of the Helvetii

Conspiracy

According to Caesar's I.2 of De Bello Gallico, Orgetorix was among the wealthiest and most distinguished of the Helvetii nobles. He was made an ambassador on behalf of the Helvetians to the other Gallic tribes and made deals with Casticus of the Sequani and Dumnorix of the Aedui, the latter of whom he would gave his daughter in marriage.[2] Orgetorix intended to seize control of all of Gaul, with Dumnorix and Casticus as his fellow triumvirs.[5] In 61 BC, he convinced the Helvetii to attempt to migrate from Helvetian territory to southwestern Gaul (modern-day France).[6]

The Helvetians made elaborate preparations for the journey. According to Caesar, they spent two years sowing crops and buying beasts of burden and intended for the migration to start in the third year. The effort came by way of marital exchange and individual alliances among some of the young nobles from all three tribes.[7]

Trial and death

Rivals among the Helvetii discovered Orgetorix's plot and moved to put him on trial with the penalty of death by burning if he were found guilty. On the day that he was to be tried, Orgetorix summoned all of his vassals in addition to their mobilized clients, followers, and dependents, forming an army of more than 10,000 men at arms. Though this threat prevented him from being tried, he would die shortly after from an uncertain cause.[8]

Many Helvetians suspected that Orgetorix committed suicide to avoid execution by burning. According to Roman accounts, he managed to evade pleading his case, but as the magistrates forced away the crowd of persons from the fields, Orgetorix died. Nonetheless, the Helvetians continued their attempt to migrate.[8]

Interpretation

Some historians have argued that Caesar's description of the conspiracy of Orgetorix, Dumnorix, and Casticus bears a number of similarities to the First Triumvirate of which Caesar himself was a member. This has led some to conclude his account may serve as a sort of allusion.[9] William Henry Altman expands on Yves Gerhard's views of this by presenting six parallels between what he calls "The Gallic Triumvirate" and the First Triumvirate.

Parallels between "The Gallic Triumvirate" and the First Triumvirate

  1. Secret character of alliance
  2. Chronological simultaneity of two triads
  3. Common goal of two conspiracies
  4. Use of marriage for political goal
  5. Common appeal to people against aristocracy
  6. Eventual defeat of coalitions

Legacy

The species of butterfly Catoblepia orgetorix would be named after Orgetorix by naturalist William Hewitson in 1870.[10]

Depictions in media

Orgetorix appears as a major character in The Conspiracy of Orgetorix, A Dramatization (1917) by Brita L. Horner, a play that was written in Latin for students. Students were encouraged to discuss parallels with the then-ongoing First World War.[11]

Dumnorix, A Play Fabula Braccata (1918) also dramatizes the formation of the conspiracy in Latin. It was written by the scholar Max Radin during his time teaching Latin at Newton High School in New York City.[12]

Other persons with the same name

In 1989, fragments of an inscription bearing the name Orgetorix were found at the Jublains archeological site, a set of ruins located in the French commune of Jublains which date primarily to the Roman era. Found in the remains of an ancient theater, the inscription identifies Orgetorix as a rich merchant who donated the theater to the city.[13]

A similar inscription related to the construction of a theater dedicated to an Orgetorix has been found in the commune of Meaux.[14]

See also

References

  1. Welch, Kathryn (31 December 2009). Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter: The War Commentaries as Political Instruments. ISD LLC. ISBN 9781910589366. Retrieved 4 February 2019 – via Google Books.
  2. "Caesar: Bellum Gallicum I". www.thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  3. "Interea Caesar Ea Legione". Scribd. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  4. Pokorny, Julius (2005) [1959]. "per-3, per-g-". indogermanisches etymologisches woerterbuch. Leiden: Leiden University, the IEED-project. pp. 818–819. Archived from the original on August 9, 2011.
  5. "Hardcore History 60 The Celtic Holocaust". www.dancarlin.com. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  6. Grillo, Luca; Krebs, Christopher B. (28 December 2017). The Cambridge Companion to the Writings of Julius Caesar. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107023413. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via Google Books.
  7. Caesar, Julius (26 November 1998). The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on The Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191605666. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via Google Books.
  8. Hammerton, Sir John Alexander (5 November 2015). "The Greatest Ancient and Medieval History: Forever Books Guide". 谷月社. Retrieved 10 April 2020 – via Google Books.
  9. Altman, William Henry Furness (2015). "Self-Revelation and Concealment in Caesar's DE BELLO GALLICO: CICERO, Orgetorix, and the Belgae". Revista Classica. 28 (1): 16–176.
  10. "Catoblepia magnalis". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands.
  11. Horner, Brita L. (1917). "The Conspiracy of Orgetorix, A Dramatization". The Classical Journal. 13 (1): 61–65.
  12. Radin, Max (1918). "Dumnorix, A Play Fabula Braccata". The Classical Journal. 13 (5): 314–342. JSTOR 3288427.
  13. Naveau 1998, p. 100
  14. Inscription CIL XIII, 03024.
  15. CIL, XIII-1, 3187

Sources

  • Naveau, Jacques (1998). Le chasseur, l'agriculteur et l'artisan. Guide du musée archéologique de Jublains [The Hunter, the Farmer and the Artisan: Guide to the Archaeological Museum of Jublains] (in French). Laval: Conseil général de la Mayenne. ISBN 978-2-9513333-0-7.

Sources