#ambiorix

Ambiorix

Ambiorix (c. 54/53 BCE) was the co-ruler of the Eburone tribe of Gallia Belgica (north-eastern Gaul, modern-day Belgium) who led an insurrection against Caesar's occupying forces in Gaul in the winter of 54/53 BCE. Nothing is known of his youth or rise to power; he enters and leaves history in the pages of Caesar's Gallic Wars which later historians then drew on for their own accounts of the uprising. Even his name is unknown as “Ambiorix” is a title meaning “Rich King” or an epithet meaning “King in All Directions”. However he came by that title, he actually shared the Eburone kingship with an elder leader named Cativolcus who seems to have been pressured into supporting Ambiorix's revolt and later regretted the decision. Ambiorix gained lasting fame for his clever deceit of the Roman garrison in Gaul under the command of Quintus Titurius Sabinus (died 54/53 CE) and Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta (died 54/53 CE) and the subsequent ambush which destroyed a Roman legion.

Caesar's Gaul

The Eburone Uprising was a complete surprise to the Roman forces as they believed they were on good terms with the tribe as a whole and with Ambiorix in particular. The Eburones were among the weaker tribes in the region and had become a client of the larger and stronger Aduatuci tribe to whom they paid tribute and surrendered hostages.

After Caesar defeated the Nervii and their allies at the Battle of the Sabis River c. 57 BCE, he reformed the tribal systems in Gaul, allegedly in the interests of equality and peace, but the reformation served his own purposes in decreasing the power and prestige of any one tribe. The Eburones profited from this as they were freed from their obligations to the Aduatuci, and Ambiorix personally benefited as hostages from his family were set free. The Romans, therefore, felt secure in their relationship with the tribe even though it was understood that they were still an occupying military force in the Eburones' land.

Eburones Revolt

Yesterday I wrote a post about the Eburones. In that post I mentioned how the Eburones revolted against the Romans and slaughtered a Roman legion. I wanted to share some more information about this event. 

It was the year 54BC and the Roman war season was ending around half October. The army settled down in Eburones territory to stay there for the winter. Armies usually did not go on campaigns during the winter until around/after the Napoleonic era. 

Ambiorix was most likely aware of where the Roman army was having its break. Only two weeks after the arrival of the Romans, Ambiorix and Catuvolcus gave the sign to start the revolt. The Romans were gathering wood outside of the camp's defences when they were attacked. Ambiorix managed to lure the Romans out of their camp with the use of a lot of slingers. 

The attack was not decisive and Ambiorix requested a meeting for negotiations. Ambiorix tried to convince the Romans that he did not start the attack but that his men provoked the attack instead. He also told Caius Arpineius, the friend of Roman army leader Sabinius who was sent to negotiate, that a large horde of Germanics were on their way and that they would arrive in two days. Ambiorix then proposed a deal in which the Romans could safely pass through his territory so that they could reconnect with nearby legions. 

The Romans discussed their options in a quite fierce debate that went on the rest of the day according to Julius Caesar. Caesar himself was not present, he was in fact in Italy at this time which is probably why the Eburones felt comfortable enough to attack. 

Eventually the Romans decided to leave their location to travel to Cicero's camp. This decision was to be a fatal one for the Romans. Near the modern day Dutch city of Maastricht in the Jekerdal at the border of Belgium, the 14th legion of Julius Caesar together with 5 cohorts walked right into an ambush set up by Ambiorix. The Romans were marching through a valley when they were attacked on all sides, one photo shows the ambush. The Romans were trapped and they barely had any space to go into battle formations. Roman battle formations were one of the most important factors in the success of its army. Because they had no time and space to prepare for this battle, the whole legion and the five cohorts were wiped out. 

According to Caesar's words, the battle would have started around 7:30 in the morning and it probably lasted about six hours. Between 5500-7200 Roman soldiers died, one and a half legion was destroyed. According to Caesar, dead Romans littered the ground.

It was definitely one of Caesar's major defeats and he was enraged by this destruction of his legion. Caesar took his revenge and in turn destroyed the entire tribe, which I mentioned yesterday. 

Answer me this baby

Do you have time to listen

To the words the sit between

My childhood traumas

The things I hold in

Let me tell you about the things that made me numb

The things I hold to heart

The things that’ll earn your honor

An ear full and then some

Let me earn your honor.

Come back to my ear

Can we be honest

I just wanna hold you close

「ＳＡＬＥ！！」

新年は新しい靴で

2018年１月２日からスペシャルセールを行います。

.

金沢KOKONや当店で扱っている

ベルギー王室御用達のシューメーカー「AMBIORIX」

こちらの蔵出しセールです

しかも、すごく沢山入荷してきました（笑）

今回は価格もスペシャル

なんと一律￥３７，０００（税込）です！

グッドイヤーウェルテッド製法で

革はデュプイをはじめ

KOKONでも使っているドゥジェルマンのオイルレザー

ステッド社のスエード

この辺りで作った靴がこの価格です。

人気のブーツ「America」も沢山でます。

こんなモデルや

珍しい革で作った靴もあります。

数は少ないですが「ラマの皮」なんかも

ノルウェージャンの靴も結構ありますよ

これ全て￥３７，０００（税込）です。

.

ほとんどが１点物なので

店頭で足入れしてお選びいただければと思います。

サイズは３８（5ハーフぐらい）から４４（9ハーフ）まで

ですが３８と４４は１足づつしかないんです。すいません。

その分、６ハーフから８ぐらいはかなり揃ってますので

色々と見ていただけると思います。

AMBIORIXの靴をこれだけ揃えて

この価格でお出しするのは

本当に初めて

ぜひこの機会に王室御用達の履き心地を

感じて欲しいです。

.

■「AMBIORIXセール」

期間：１月２日～１月３１日（在庫次第で終了）

価格：￥３７，０００（税込）現金支払い

クレジットカードの場合は￥３９，０００（税込）とさせていただきます。