Burdunellus


Burdunellus 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. 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. The location of Burdunellus' petty tyranny is unknown, but was probably the valley of the Ebro centred on Caesaraugusta.