Brennus

Brennus (or Brennos) is the name of two Gaulish chieftains famous in ancient history:

The recurrence of the name Brennus makes it possible that it was a title rather than a proper name. Some 19th-century scholars connected the name with the modern Welsh word for "king", brenin, though Brennus and brenin have since been proven to be unrelated (brenin – earlier breenhin – being derived from the Celtic *brigantinos, meaning "(someone) pre-eminent, outstanding"). As early as the 12th century AD, authors such as Geoffrey of Monmouth (in his Historia Regum Britanniae were connecting the name Brennus with the Welsh personal name Bran meaning "Crow", though the similarity of the names is superficial and they are not likely to share a common linguistic origin.

Brennus (4th century BC)

Brennus (or Brennos) was a chieftain of the Senones. He defeated the Romans at the Battle of the Allia (18 July 390 BC). In 387 BC he led an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome and captured most of the city, holding it for several months. Brennus's sack of Rome was the only time the city was occupied by a non-Roman army before the fall of the city to the Goths in 410 AD.

Background

The Senones were a Gaulish tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne, but which had expanded to occupy northern Italy. About 400 B.C. a branch of the Senones made their way over the Alps and, having driven out the Umbrians, settled on the east coast of Italy from Ariminum to Ancona, in the so-called Ager Gallicus, and founded the town of Sena Gallica (Sinigaglia), which became their capital.

In 391 they invaded Etruria and besieged Clusium. The Clusines appealed to Rome. Quintus Fabius Ambustus and his two brothers were sent to negotiate with the Gauls. They allegedly broke their oath of neutrality by participating in hostilities outside of Clusium. Livy and Plutarch say that the Senones marched to Rome to exact retribution for this.

Brennus (3rd century BC)

Brennus (or Brennos) (died 279 BC) was one of the leaders of the army of Gallic invasion of the Balkans, defeated the assembled Greeks at Thermopylae, and is popularly reputed to have sacked and looted Delphi, although the ancient sources do not support this.

In 280 BC a great army, comprising about 85,000 warriors, coming from Pannonia and split in three divisions, marched south in a great expedition to Macedonia and central Greece. The division led by Brennus and Acichorius moved against Paionians.

Some writers suppose that Brennus and Acichorius are the same person, the former being only a title and the latter the real name.

The other two divisions were led by Cerethrius and by Bolgios, moving against the Thracians and Triballi, and against the Macedonians and Illyrians, respectively.

Brennus is said to have belonged to an otherwise unknown tribe called the Prausi. These Gauls had settled in Pannonia because of population increases in Gaul, and sought further conquests.