Gaius Julius Vindex

• 1. Introduction

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  Gaius Julius Vindex governed the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, and the historian Cassius Dio thought he stood apart from the officials of his day. Dio wrote that he was 'powerful in body and of shrewd intelligence,' a man 'skilled in warfare and full of daring for any great enterprise.' Vindex also carried, in Dio's telling, 'a passionate love of freedom and a vast ambition.' That ambition eventually pushed him into open defiance of Emperor Nero. What did a senator from a Gallic province hope to gain by turning on Rome's ruler? And why would the man who ultimately took power after Nero go on to honor Vindex's memory?

• 2. A Gallic Senator

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  The name Gaius Julius was not an accident of Roman naming custom. His family had likely gained citizenship under Gaius Julius Caesar himself, though the honor may instead trace back to Augustus or to Caligula. Vindex came from a noble Gallic family in Aquitania, a lineage that Claudius raised to senatorial status. That rank drew him into the circles around the imperial court, where he sided with the faction of Empress Agrippina, Nero's mother. In the year 59, Vindex took part in a conspiracy against the emperor. That early brush with conspiracy would not be his last stand against Nero.

• 3. Turning Against Nero

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  In either late 67 or early 68, Vindex raised open rebellion against Nero. His followers may have carried more complicated motives. As a senator, Vindex likely wanted something simpler: a better emperor in Nero's place, and an end to the tyranny gripping the empire. To build support for the revolt, he declared his allegiance to Servius Sulpicius Galba, then governing the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. That declaration turned a regional uprising into a contest for the throne itself.

• 4. An Emperor's Debt

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  By June of 68, military backing for Galba had grown strong enough to force the issue: Nero took his own life. The Senate then acclaimed Galba as the new emperor. Once in power, Galba struck coins bearing Vindex's memory, a tribute to the man to whom he owed his throne. Before any of that took place, though, Vindex still had to reckon with a Roman army bearing down on the province he governed.

• 5. The Battle of Vesontio

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  Lucius Verginius Rufus, governor and commander of the army stationed in Germania Superior, marched his legions against Vindex. Their armies met near the town of Vesontio, known today as Besançon, in a clash later called the Battle of Vesontio. Verginius and Vindex actually met face to face beforehand, yet the fighting broke out anyway, apparently without either commander giving the order. Two things might explain what happened: the soldiers' hunger for plunder, or Verginius's own weakness as a commander. Vindex's forces lost the battle, and rather than face capture, he took his own life. Which of those two explanations actually decided the outcome at Vesontio has never been settled.