Cottius

Marcus Julius Cottius was King of the Celtic and Ligurian inhabitants of the mountainous Roman province then known as Alpes Taurinae and now as the Cottian Alps early in the 1st century BC. Son and successor to King Donnus, he negotiated a dependent status with Emperor Augustus that preserved considerable autonomy for his country, making him a Roman governor, and adopted Roman citizenship. thumb|Susa, Piedmont, Italy, capital of the Kingdom of Marcus Julius Cottius

==Early relationship with Rome== The friendship between Cottius's realm and Rome goes back at least to the reign of his father King Donnus; there is numismatic evidence which suggests that Donnus established friendly relations with Julius Caesar. As Caesar needed to cross the Cottii Regnum in 58 BC on his way to Gaul, he made an agreement with King Donnus to have his troops transported on his road as well as having a new paved road being built. This road was the path most likely taken by General Hannibal when he crossed the Alps in 218 BC. During the civil wars which followed Caesar's death, many Gallic tribes rebelled. At the end of these wars Emperor Augustus took charge in Rome and suppressed the Gallic revolts. The destruction of the Salassi tribes and the subjugation of the Ligurian tribes in 14 BC must have convinced Cottius "to press the advantage and use his control of the Alpine passes as leverage for an alliance with Rome that would allow him to maintain his position". Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman soldier and historian, remarked that even after Gaul had been subdued, Cottius alone continued to rely on the strategic position his kingdom afforded him. The arrangement benefited both parties, as Augustus wanted to maintain good relations with the people who lived along the Montgenevre pass over the Alps, which was on the road to Gaul.