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About the Text

Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland was written collaboratively by Raphaell Holinshed, William Harrison, John Hooker, and others in three volumes and two editions, in 1577 and in 1587.  It provides a comprehensive history of the island of Britain from first inhabitants to the mid-16th century, taken from a variety of different sources and historians.  Shakespeare most likely used the 1587 version (shown to the right) as a source for many of his historical plays and a few of his non-historical ones, most notably King Lear and Macbeth (and Cymbeline, of course).

Similarities

There are many fewer exact similarities than differences in the historical account of Cymbeline.

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They are as follows:

  • There was a King of Britain named Cymbeline

  • He had two sons named Guiderius and Arviragus

  • During his reign, Britain had to pay tribute to the Roman Empire, ruled by Augustus Caesar

  • Someone in his family started a war with the Romans by not paying it

Names

Nearly all of the character names in Cymbeline are taken from Holinshed's Chronicles, although most are not related to the historical Cymbeline.

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  • Imogen - was a princess of Greece who married Brutus of Troy (who is supposedly descended from Aeneas)

  • Posthumus - was (possibly) the name of one of Aeneas's sons

  • Cloten - was King of Cornwall prior to Cymbeline

  • Polydore (Guiderius) - was another historian referenced by Holinshed

  • Cadwal (Arviragus) - not directly mentioned by he notes kings named Cadwallon and Cadwallader

  • Morgan (Belarius) - several figures named Morgan are mentioned at various points

  • Caius Lucius - the names Caius and Lucius appear, but never together

The only major character names not to appear in Holinshed (or any other source) are Belarius, Pisanio, Iachimo, and Philario.

Differences

The differences are much more numerous, but many of them are only small changes to the character or chronology of historical events.

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Cymbeline

  • The only thing Cymbeline is historically noted for is for being king when Jesus was born

  • He grew up in Rome and was well regarded by Augustus Caesar, so he was "at liberty" to pay tribute or not

  • Augustus did want to invade Britain for not paying tribute, but it was under his father's rule, not his

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Guiderius

  • He decided not to pay tribute, but the Roman invasion against him was ineffective as it was lead by Caligula

  • Eventually, England under Guiderius was invaded by Claudius because of other rebellions

  • This second invasion led to fighting and resulted in his death

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Arviragus

  • He became king because his brother died and had no heirs

  • He managed to end the fight with the Romans, either by battle or by diplomacy (depending on the historian)

  • He may or may not have received Claudius's daughter in marriage for doing so (again depending on the historian)

  • He was a very good king, and grew very wealthy, ultimately deciding not to pay tribute and causing the Romans to invade again

  • British history says the fighting ended because it was a stalemate, but Roman history says he just stopped because he was too old

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