Julius Segimundus was a nobleman of the Germanic Cherusci. Segimundus was a son of

Segestes Segestes was a nobleman of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci involved in the events surrounding the Roman attempts to conquer northern Germany during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus. Arminius, the Cheruscan noble and military leader, had m ...

. His father was a close ally of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

and were therefore followers of the

imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult may ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. In this context, Segimundus worked as a high priest at the

Ara Ubiorum The ''Ara Ubiorum'' (Altar of the Ubii) was a Roman sanctuary in the Oppidum Ubiorum (modern day Cologne). It was erected in the last decade of the 1st century BC and was dedicated to the goddess Roma and the Roman emperor. It was a central locati ...

, an altar in

Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and t ...

, near

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After Arminius began an uprising against the Romans in 9 AD, Segimundus sided with the rebels after allegedly tearing his priestly garland from his head. In 15 AD, after the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius ...

, Segestes and Segimundus were besieged by Arminius. Segestes then sent Segimundus as part of a delegation to the Roman army leader Germanicus, in hope for support against Arminius. Segimundus was forgiven by Germanicus for his earlier participation Arminius' rebellion. He was sent across the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

with an escort and was able to save Segestes from defeat. In 17 AD, Segimundus, his sister

Thusnelda Thusnelda (; 10 BC – after AD 17) was a Germanic Cheruscan noblewoman who was captured by the Roman general Germanicus during his invasion of Germania. She was the wife of Arminius. Tacitus and Strabo cite her capture as evidence of both the ...

, wife of Arminius, and her son

Thumelicus Thumelicus (born 15 AD; died before 47 AD, probably in 30 or 31) was the only son of the Cherusci leader Arminius and his wife Thusnelda, daughter of the pro-Roman tribal leader Segestes. In May 15 AD, Arminius besieged Segestes at his stronghol ...

were part of the

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

of Germanicus in Rome.

Sources

* Arthur Stein: Segimundus. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE). Band II A,1, Stuttgart 1921, Sp. 1073. * Volker Losemann: Segimundus. In: Der Neue Pauly (DNP). Band 11, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, , Sp. 339 f. * Hermann Reichert, Konrad Vössing: Segestes. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2. Auflage. Band 28, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, , S. 105–107. 1st-century BC Germanic people 1st-century Germanic people Cherusci warriors {{Europe-royal-stub