17.201 Correus found again and commented upon

From: Humanist Discussion Group (by way of Willard McCarty willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk)
Date: Wed Aug 27 2003 - 04:44:19 EDT

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                   Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 17, No. 201.
           Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
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             Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 09:29:40 +0100
             From: Spencer Tasker <spencer@tasker.info>
             Subject: Re: 17.192 Correus, wherefore art thou Correus?

    Alan,

    The answer to your question can be found in Caesar's "De bello
    gallico" (Gallic Wars): Book 8

    Correus was a chieftain of the Bellovaci (c.51/50 BC)("who exceed all the
    Gauls and Belgae in military prowess") who co-led a force against the
    Suessiones, which were supporters of Rome. Caesar lent his aid to his
    allies, to cut a long story short Correus' attempt to ambush Roman
    foragers landed him in a well-laid trap. Needless to say his forces
    were worsted and "put to the rout, and having lost the greater part of
    their men, they fled in consternation whithersoever chance carried them;
    some sought the woods, others the river, but were vigorously pursued by
    our men and put to the sword. Yet, in the mean time, Correus,
    unconquered by calamity, could not be prevailed on to quit the field
    and take refuge in the woods, or accept our offers of quarter, but,
    fighting courageously and wounding several, provoked our men, elated
    with victory, to discharge their weapons against him."(8:19)
    ( http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.8.8.html )

    I can only surmise that a combination of the use of the Gallic Wars in
    Grammar Schools around this time must have played no small part in
    prompting depiction of the scene - overcoming the "who, what, where"
    that the name of Correus provoked today. Additionally, I am tempted to
    speculate on the nationalistic subtext which the depiction of this
    Gallic hero may have carried at the Paris Exposition of 1889.

    FYI, Google turned up the following magic lantern slide depicting the same
    scene:
    http://www.geh.org/ar/strip50/htmlsrc/m198607110006_ful.html#topofimage

    Regards,

    - Spencer



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