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Adminius, Amminius or Amminus was a son of

Cunobelinus Cunobeline or Cunobelin (Common Brittonic: *''Cunobelinos'', "Dog-Strong"), also known by his name's Latin form , was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about to about Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus ymbeline/nowiki> (d. ''c''. AD 40), king in ...

, ruler of the Catuvellauni">ymbeline/nowiki> (d. ''c''. AD 40), king in ...

, ruler of the Catuvellauni, a tribe of Iron Age Britain. His name can be interpreted as Common Brittonic">Brittonic ''*Ad-minios'', "he who is very tender". Based on coin distribution, where his name appears as ''Amminus'' it appears that, in the early to mid 1st century, he was ruler of the

Cantiaci The Cantiaci or Cantii were an Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest of Britain, Roman conquest, and gave their name to a ''civitas'' of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern Englan ...

of eastern Kent, a kingdom which presumably fell within his father's sphere of influence. Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Suetonius tells us he was deposed and exiled by his father ''c.'' 39 or 40. Cunobelinus had maintained friendly relations with the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, and it has been speculated that the elderly king had lost control to an anti-Roman faction led by his other sons,

Togodumnus Togodumnus (maybe died AD 43) was king of the British Catuvellauni tribe, whose capital was at St Albans, at the time of the Roman conquest. He can probably be identified with the legendary British king Guiderius. He is usually thought to have ...

and

Caratacus Caratacus was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who resisted the Roman conquest of Britain. Before the Roman invasion, Caratacus is associated with the expansion of his tribe's territory. His apparent success led ...

, who may have been instrumental in forcing Adminius out of power. Alternatively, his fall may have been the result of a revolt of the

against Catuvellaunian rule. Adminius fled to continental Europe with a small group of followers and surrendered to the Romans. The

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

at the time,

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

, presented this relatively minor event as a great victory over the foreign tribes of Britain and even penned an extravagant report which he insisted be read to the Roman senate. Adminius / Amminus may have persuaded Caligula that Britain was vulnerable to attack and that an invasion would be an even more famous victory for him. It is further likely that the capture of the British prince was the germ of Caligula's initiative to launch an invasion of Britain. The invasion never happened, either because of Caligula's famous eccentricity, which Roman historians record led him to order his army to collect seashells from

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

ish beaches as war trophies, or because of a mutiny in the invasion force assembled at

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. In any case, Rome's refusal to return the fugitive Adminius to his father was one of the contributory factors to growing anti-Roman sentiment in Britain, which necessitated

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

' successful invasion of that land in 43. An inscription found in Chichester names a "Lucullus, son of Amminus". Dr. Miles Russell of

Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The universi ...

argues that Sallustius Lucullus, Roman governor of Britain in the late 1st century (and who is also cited from an inscription found in Chichester), was therefore a son of this prince.Miles Russell (2006), "Roman Britain's Lost Governor", ''Current Archaeology'' 204, pp. 630-635
Sallustius Lucullus
a
Roman=Britain.org
Miles Russell (2006) ''Roman Sussex'', Tempus pp. 45-54; Miles Russell (2010) ''Bloodline: The Celtic Kings of Roman Britain'' Tempus, pp. 83-90

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