kingdom · Germany and Central Europe
Kingdom of Maroboduus
Origins
Maroboduus, a Marcomannic noble who had spent his youth in Rome, led his people from the Main region into Bohemia around 9 BCE to escape Roman offensives. There he subjected neighbouring peoples, including the Quadi, Lugii, Semnones and Langobardi, building a realm that stretched from the Danube to the Elbe and beyond.
Rule and society
Velleius Paterculus describes a centralised monarchy with a standing army of about 70,000 foot and 4,000 horse trained in Roman fashion; its royal seat may be the Marobudum named by Ptolemy. Roman merchants lived there. Augustus planned to crush him in 6 CE with twelve legions, but the Pannonian revolt forced a treaty recognising Maroboduus as a friend of Rome.
Decline and legacy
Maroboduus stayed neutral when Arminius destroyed Varus' legions in 9, and in 17 Arminius defeated him; the Semnones and Langobardi deserted. In 19 the Gothic exile Catualda seized his capital, and Maroboduus fled to Roman territory, dying in Ravenna in 37. Rome then created the client Kingdom of Vannius.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Maroboduus. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-maroboduus
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Maroboduus.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-maroboduus. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Maroboduus.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-maroboduus.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Maroboduus’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-maroboduus (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻