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Lucterius (or Lucterios,ancient Greek: Λυκτεριoς) was a leader of theCadurci, aCeltic people whose territory was located aroundCahors in the modernFrench department ofLot.[1] In the 50s BC, the Cadurci were a client people of theArverni, thecivitas ofVercingetorix, under whom Lucterius served during the last stages of theGallic Wars. In his memoirs,Julius Caesar calls him a man of unsurpassed boldness.[2]
During the Gallic rebellion of 52 BC,Vercingetorix placed part of his forces under the command of Lucterius and sent him to secure the allegiance of theRuteni, a border people. Advancing through the territory of theNitiobriges andGabali, he amassed an impressive number of troops and was on the point of invading theNarbonensis, theRoman province of Mediterranean Gaul, when the arrival of Caesar and his army forced him to withdraw.[3]
Lucterius remained at large after the surrender of Vercingetorix atAlesia and continued the resistance the following year in an alliance withDrappes, aSenonian under whom motley contingents of Gallic rebels had gathered. They attempted another invasion of the Narbonensis, but were blocked byGaius Caninius Rebilus. They temporarily withdrew to theoppidum ofUxellodunum, in the French province of "le Quercy" (nowadays commune ofPuy-d'Issolud). Mindful of the fate of Vercingetorix under siege at Alesia, they found it imprudent to remain within walls, and encamped about 10 miles away. For a time they were able to keep the town provisioned with grain despite the Roman presence.[4]
Despite the capture ofVercingetorix, Lucterius continued rebellion and guerrilla warfare in Gaul, coupled with the political situation in Rome, had put increasing pressure on Caesar as he neared the end of his legal term asproconsul. The Gallic leaders hoped to earn time with a siege, untilCaesar would be called back toRome. Thus,Caesar joined the siege with the intention of making Uxellodunum an example of the consequences of resistance.[5]Caesar's strategy to bring the siege to an end was to dig tunnels to hijack the underground flow of the water spring theGauls used to survive in theiroppidum. When the spring dried up,Uxellodunum surrendered. Caesar spared the lives of those who had fought, but had their hands cut off as a visible reminder of the penalty for what he considered betrayal.[6] Caesar calls those who were mutilatedimprobi, "wicked, faithless, lacking in integrity or trustworthiness"; he characterizes the resistance as if the Gauls were breaking a treaty rather than fighting to retain their independence. Although theCadurci were not under Roman rule at the beginning of theGallic Wars, they were clients of theArverni, who were independent but had a treaty with Rome dating to the defeat ofBituitus in the 120s BC.Lucterius, having fled before the surrender, sought refuge among theArverni, but was betrayed and turned over to the Romans by the Arverni leader Epasnactos.[7]
Following his capture by theRomans, it seems Lucterius was kept as a prisoner for some time, and paraded on a chariot duringCaesar's triumph inRome.[8]There is no known information about him after this. However it is probable, that unlikeVercingetorix, he was not executed, but rather pardoned, and became part of the newGallo-Roman aristocracy ruling over RomanGaul. This belief originates from fragments of two statues discovered inCadurci territory and in thesanctuary of the Three Gauls ofLugdunum (Lyon), bearing inscriptions mentioningGallo-Roman officials with "Lucterius" in theirtria nomina.[9] They were probably a son and grandson of the rebel leader, which demonstrates the family remained influential after theRoman conquest.[10]
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