Burdunellus

Burdunellus (meaning "little mule", possibly a nickname) was a Roman usurper of the late fifth century, recorded only briefly in the Consularia Caesaraugustana. Under 496 it is recorded that "he became a tyrant in Hispania", a phrase which, in the political language of the time and considering the nature of the source, must mean he tried to claim the imperial dignity and authority.[1][2] He was eventually abandoned by his own supporters, who turned him over to legitimate authorities and sent him to Tolosa, where he was burned to death inside a bronze bull, an unusual fate for a usurper but designed to humiliate.[1] The location of Burdunellus' petty tyranny is unknown, but was probably the valley of the Ebro centred on Caesaraugusta.[1][2]

Sources

• Collins, Roger. Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-631-18185-7.
• Thompson, E. A. "The End of Roman Spain: Part III." Nottingham Mediaeval Studies, xxii (1978), pp. 3–22. Reprinted as "The Gothic Kingdom and the Dark Age of Spain" in Romans and Barbarians: The Decline of the Western Empire. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. pp. 161–187. ISBN 0-299-08700-X.

Notes

1. Collins, 35.
2. Thompson, 193.