Quintus Laberius Durus

Quintus Laberius Durus (died August 54 BC) was a Roman military tribune who died during Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain. Caesar describes how soon after landing in Kent, the Romans were attacked whilst building a camp by the native Britons. Before reinforcements could arrive, Laberius was killed.^[1] His burial site is traditionally the earthworks of Julliberrie's Grave near Chilham (which is in fact a Neolithic long barrow).

Orosius, in his Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, calls him Labienus,^[2] confusing him with Caesar's legate Titus Labienus, who lived to fight against Caesar in the Civil War. The error was perpetuated by Bede^[3] and Geoffrey of Monmouth,^[4] both of whom refer to a tribune called Labienus being killed in Britain. The latter says he was killed by Nennius.

Despite his status as a footnote in history, a long modern poem by American poet Gabriel Gudding is dedicated to Laberius ("For Quintus Laberius Durus, Who, Because of a Javelin in His Lungs, Died Near Kent, in Early August, 54 B.C") and appears in his book, A Defense of Poetry (the University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002). A historical novel, Caesar (Harper, 1999), by Australian writer Colleen McCullough, also involves him.

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