This
map shows the approximate location of the major tribes who lived in Britain at
the time of the Roman Conquest of Britain in the First Century AD. The sole
source for the existence and location of these tribes are Roman writers who
visited Britain.
One
of the best observers of the tribes of Celtic Britain was Tacitus who wrote on
historical events in Britain. Another was a Roman geographer called Ptolemy who
wrote a description of Britain, listing the names of the many British tribes.
This
is the name of peoples who lived in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The
Romans used the word Caledones
to describe both a single tribe who lived in the Great Glen between the modern
towns of Inverness and Fort William. They also called all the tribes living in
the north Caledonians. We know the names of some of these other tribes. They
include the Cornovii
and Smertae who probably lived in Caithness, the Caereni who lived in the far
west of the Highlands, the Carnonacae
and the Creones in the Western Highlands.
The
Vacomagi
lived in and around the Cairngorns. Other unknown tribes lived in Orkney,
Shetland and the Hebrides. Warriors from many of these tribes came together to
resist the Romans under a leader called Calgacus at battle of Mons Graupius in
AD 84. Although the Romans won this battle, they never successfully conquered
the Highlands. The Romans admired the Caledonii for their ability to
endure cold, hunger and hardship. Tacitus described them as red-haired and
large-limbed.
All
these tribes lived very different lifestyles than neighbouring peoples in other
parts of Scotland. In many areas they lived in tall stone towers, called
Brochs, or other fortified sites, called Duns. Unlike the Taexali
and Venicones,
the Caledones
rarely made religious offerings of fine metal objects.
Taexali
Little
is known about this group who lived in what is today Grampian, except that the
people lived in small undefended farms and hamlets. They shared much with their
neighbours the Venicones to the south.
These low lying and fertile parts of eastern Scotland provide archaeological evidence for different types of settlement and rituals compared to those of the Highlands and Islands to the west and north.
These low lying and fertile parts of eastern Scotland provide archaeological evidence for different types of settlement and rituals compared to those of the Highlands and Islands to the west and north.
Although
the Taexali were defeated by the Romans in AD 84, they were never
permanently occupied. Like the Venicones and Caledones, they
lived beyond the northern most frontier of the Roman Empire; the Antonine Wall.
Carvetii
This
tribe lived in what is today Cumbria.
They
are a poorly known group which were made into their own civitas (an
administrative units or 'county') in the Roman Province. There is very little
archaeological evidence for the people who lived in this area before the Roman
Conquest.
Like
their neighbours, the Novantae, these peoples probably lived in small
farms and did not use coins or have big hillforts.
The
Carvetti might have been a smaller tribe within the large kingdom or
federation of the Brigantes.
Venicones
This
tribe lived in what is today Tayside.
The
Roman army campaigned several times in the territory of this people, but they
were never permanently conquered and occupied. The archaeological evidence
shows that this people and their northern neighbours, the Taexali, had
much in common.
The
Venicones were one of the few groups in northern Britain at this time
that buried their dead in stone lined graves, such graves and cremation burials
are very rare in other parts of Britain before the Roman period.
Archaeologists suspect many Iron Age peoples often practised complex funeral rituals in which bodies were naturally allowed to decompose.
Archaeologists suspect many Iron Age peoples often practised complex funeral rituals in which bodies were naturally allowed to decompose.
The
Venicones and Taexali also made offerings of prestigious
decorated locally made metal objects in bogs and lakes, including massive
bronze armlets.
Only the Venicones and Taexali wore these unusual ornaments, which could weigh over 1.5 kg each and were worn one on each arm.
Only the Venicones and Taexali wore these unusual ornaments, which could weigh over 1.5 kg each and were worn one on each arm.
Epidii
Little
is known about this mysterious tribe except that they lived in the modern
region of Kintyre and probably the islands of Arran, Jura and Islay.
Damnonii
This
is the tribe or people who lived in the central part of Scotland around what is
today Glasgow and Strathclyde.
The
name of this tribe could be spelt either as Damnonii or as Dumnonii
although the Dumnonii is also the name of the people who lived in Devon
and Cornwall at this time.
Many tribes in Britain and France at the time of the Roman Conquest shared similar names which may have been as a result of inter-tribal contact. It could, however, be coincidence, as people used similar types of names for themselves such as 'the people of the mountains', 'people of the horn' or 'the brave people' etc.
Many tribes in Britain and France at the time of the Roman Conquest shared similar names which may have been as a result of inter-tribal contact. It could, however, be coincidence, as people used similar types of names for themselves such as 'the people of the mountains', 'people of the horn' or 'the brave people' etc.
The
Damnonii were conquered by the Romans and for many years their territory
was occupied by the Roman army before they retreated further south to the line
of Hadrians Wall.
Novantae
The
Novantae were a little known tribe or people who lived in what is today
south-west Scotland.
The
people living in this area did not build massive forts on the tops of
mountains, as did the Votandini, nor did the make many offerings of fine
metal objects.
Like
their neighbours to the south, the Carvetii, archaeologists have found
little evidence for the lives of these peoples before the Roman Conquest. They
were clearly farmers and herders, but few of their farms and other settlements
have been excavated by archaeologists so far.
Selgovae
A
British tribe of Scotland, the name is thought to mean 'hunters'.
The
Roman geographer Ptolemy places them in the Southern uplands of Scotland,
although it is not clear from the little evidence we have as to exactly where
this people lived. Some scholars place their location as the upper Tweed Basin,
and it is unclear if they were part of the Votadini.
The
Selgovae might have used Eildon Seat as their principal settlement, but
this might have been a Votadinian site.
Like
the Votandini, they were conquered in AD 79-80 by the Roman army.
The
Votadini were a very large tribe or people that lived in the south east
of Scotland. In the north, their territory started at Edinburgh and the Firth
of Forth and stretched as far south as Northumberland in northern England. It
is not clear where the boundary between the Votadini and the other large
tribe, the Brigantes, was, although it probably frequently shifted as a
result of wars and as smaller tribes and communities changed allegiances.
The
Votadini, like the Brigantes, were a group made up of smaller
tribes, unfortunately the names of these smaller tribes and communities remain
unknown.
Archaeologically,
the territory of the Votadini was very different to that of either the Venicones
or the Novantae. Large walls, banks and ditches surrounded most of their
farms and the people made offerings of fine metal objects, but never wore
massive armlets.
There
are also at least three very large hillforts in their territory (Yeavering
Bell, Eildon Seat and Traprain Law), each was located on the top of a prominent
hill or mountain. The hillforts may have been used for over a thousand years by
this time as places of refuge and as places for meetings for political and
religious ceremonies.
Brigantes
This
large tribe was, like the Votandini, a federation of smaller
communities. The name means 'upland people' or 'hill dwellers'. This name is
very appropriate as the Pennines formed the heart of their territory.
After
the Roman Conquest, the Brigantes were formed into a very large
civitates, or administrative unit that covered most of Yorkshire, Cleveland,
Durham and Lancashire. It stretched from the North Sea to the Irish Sea. We
know the names of some of the smaller tribes they made up the Brigantes
at the time of the Roman Conquest. They include the Setanti in
Lancashire , the Lopocares, the Corionototae and the Tectoverdi
around the Tyne valley. This huge area was very varied. As well as people
living in the Dales and hills, many people farmed the fertile land in Durham,
Tyneside and Teeside. At the time of the Roman Conquest people in this region
wore swords carried in distinctive local metal scabbards that were highly
decorated.
An
important centre for the Brigantes was built at Stanwick in North
Yorkshire in the first century AD. This was probably the capital of Queen
Cartimandua who ruled the Brigantes. Cartimandua was friendly towards
the Romans, but her husband was anti-Roman. The Romans invaded and occupied the
territory in AD79.
Parisi
The
Parisi lived in East Yorkshire. They were a small, but distinctive group
of people who farmed the chalk hills of the Yorkshire Wolds. The Parisi
share their name with the people who lived in France around what is today Paris
although whether both tribes shared strong links is hotly debated. The British Parisi
are known for their unusual 'chariot-burials' and cemeteries.
Unlike
other people living in Britain between about 300 and 100 BC, the people in East
Yorkshire buried their dead in large cemeteries. This was much like the way
many peoples in France and Germany buried their dead at the same time. However,
in other respects, the East Yorkshire Parisi lived in British style
houses, wore British style ornaments and used British style pottery. At the
time of the Romans, the Parisi had stopped burying they dead in this unusual
way. However, the carried on other distinctive styles of life and remained
separate from their large, powerful neighbours, the Brigantes. After the
Roman Conquest they were made into their own small civitas with their capital
at Petuaria (modern Brough on Humber)
The
Cornovii are a surprisingly obscure tribe, given that they lay well
within the boundaries of the Roman province and their civitas capital,
Wroxeter, was one of the largest in Britain. They share their name with a
Caledonian tribe who lived in the far north of Scotland. The name probably
means 'people of the horn'. There is no reason to think that this group shared
any common ancestry with the group in Caithness.
Many
tribes or peoples in Europe at the time of the Roman Conquest shared similar
names. This might be because these tribes had contacts with each other. But it
is just as likely to be a coincidence, as people used similar types of names
for themselves such as 'the people of the mountains' or 'the brave people' etc.
The Cornovii never issued coinage and before the Roman Conquest left
little evidence to recognise them. They probably lived in what are today the
modern counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.
The
Deceangli, the Ordovices and the Silures were the three
main tribe groups who lived in the mountains of what is today called Wales.
However, in prehistory Wales, England and Scotland did not exist in anyway as
distinctive entities in the ways they have done so for the last 1000 years. The
Deceangli were the peoples of what is today north Wales and probably included
the peoples who lived on the Isle of Anglesey.
The
Romans considered Anglesey, or Mona as they and the locals at the time called
it, as a stronghold of the Druids. Because the Druids played an important role
in encouraging the recently conquered Britons to resist the Roman Conquers, the
Roman army specifically targeted Anglesey for destruction. On the eve of Boudicca's
revolt in what is today East Anglia, the Roman Army has only just completed the
long and difficult task of conquering the tribes living in the Welsh Mountains.
The final episode of that conquest was the invasion of Anglesey and the
slaughter of the Druids there.
Ordovices
This
group covered much of the mountains and valleys of what is today mid-Wales.
They were the northern neighbours of the Silures and the Southern
neighbours of the Degeangli.
Like
the Silures and Degeangli, these peoples lived in small farms,
often defended against attack. After the emperor Claudius invaded southern
England in AD 43, one of the main leaders of the Britons, called Caratacus
escaped to the Ordovices and the Silures. They were stirred into
rebellion by Caratacus and for a long time successfully resisted the Romans.
The
Roman general Agricola only finally defeated the Ordovices in 77-8. The
tribe was incorporated into Britannia and became a civitas (an administrative
district).
This
large tribe appears to have been created only shortly before the Roman Conquest
of Britain. It offered no resistance to the Romans and was quickly turned into
a civitas (an administrative district equivalent to a modern county) with its
capital at the city of Leicester.
The
Corieltauvi combined groups of people living in what is today most of
the East Midlands (Lincolnshire. Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire,
Northamptonshire). Before about 50 to 1 BC, archaeological evidence suggests
two different groups or tribes lived in this region. One lived in what is today
Lincolnshire, the other in what is today Northamptonshire. Both areas were
different to each other and were important centres of population and economy in
the period c. 400 and 100 BC.
The
Corieltauvi are known from their coins that are found throughout the
East Midlands. This group appears to have been a new federation that united
earlier different groups. This was a region were people lived in villages, and
some times larger settlements. Leicester was certainly an important large
settlement before the Roman Conquest, as were a number of large settlements in
Lincolnshire, such as Dragonby and Old Sleaford.
This
was another tribe that issued coins before the Roman Conquest. Their coins and
other archaeological evidence shows that the tribe's territory was in the
modern counties of Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. They appear
to have been a wealthy and powerful group of tribes between 200 and 50 BC.
From
their territory come the finest hoards of gold treasure found in Iron Age
Britain; the Snettisham torcs. Other hoards of elaborately decorated bronze
chariot fittings point to a love of conspicuous display by the nobles of the Iceni.
This tribe also shunned contacts with the Roman world and the changes they
brought with them that characterised the life styles of Catuvellauni and
Trinovantes at this time.
The
Iceni had important religious centres at Snettisham and at Thetford. But
when they were made into Roman Civitas, the Romans did not choose either of
these centres, but the settlement at Caistor, near what is today Norwich. Was
this because the Iceni led the most successful revolt against Roman rule
in the history of Roman Britain? When the Romans invade southern Britain in AD
43 the Iceni were friendly towards the new rulers. Their king Prasutagus
became a client-king of Rome. But on his death the kingdom was incorporated
into the Roman province and together with other abuses led to the Icenian
revolt led by Prasutagus' widow, Queen Boudicca.
Demetae
These
were the people who lived in the fertile lands of Pembrokeshire and much of
Carmarthenshire in southwest Wales. They lived in small farms scattered across
the countryside and shared many features of their lives with their neighbours
across the Bristol Channel in Devon and Cornwall. They were friendly towards
the Romans and quickly adapted to Roman rule, unlike their more warlike and
scattered neighbours in the mountains of Wales; the Silures and the Ordovices.
Because
of this the Demetae did not need to be intensively garrisoned by the
Roman army, except along their eastern border, which may have been to protect
them from their hostile neighbours, the Silures. The tribe was
incorporated into the province of Britannia and became a civitas (an
administrative unit, or county, within the Roman province). The capital of the
Roman civitas was at Carmarthen (Moridundum Demetarum).
Catuvellauni
The
Catuvellauni were the tribe that lived in the modern counties of
Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire. Their territory also
probably included tribes in what is today Buckinghamshire and parts of
Oxfordshire. The tribal name possibly means 'good in battle'.
The
Catuvellauni existed as a tribe at the time of Julius Caesar, but in the
following years became an extremely powerful group. Their first known king was
Tasciovanus, who is known from the coins he minted with his name on them. He
founded a royal and ritual centre at Verulamium, modern St Albans in about
AD10. There were several other large settlements or clusters of villages in
their territory, such as at Baldock and Welwyn.
Before
this time, the Catuvellauni, Trinovantes and Cantiaci were
very different from other British tribes. They had been using coins for at
least a century, adopted the same way of burying the dead as was practised in
northern France, and eat and dressed in ways more common in France than other
parts of Briton. Tasciovanus successors created a large kingdom through
conquest and alliance that included the Trinovantes and Cantiaci.
The
most successful king was Cunobelinus (Cymbeline), but after his death in the
late 30's AD, his kingdom was beset by rivalries between his successors. This
was the excuse used by the Roman Emperor Claudius to conquer southern Britain
in 43 AD. The Catuvellauni were one of the most pro-Roman of British
peoples who very quickly and peacefully adopted Roman lifestyles and Roman
rule.
A
very rich grave of a pro-Roman Catuvellaunian ruler who lived at the
time of the Roman Conquest has been excavated at Folly Lane, St Albans. They
became one of the first civitas in the new province, Verulamium becoming one of
the first and most successful cities in Roman Britain.
Silures
Several
Roman authors including Pliny, Ptolemy and Tacitus mention this tribe and later
civitas (administrative unit in a Roman province). Their territory was south
east Wales - the Brecon Beacons and south Welsh valleys. A people of the
mountains and valleys, we know relatively little about how they lived.
Like
the other tribes of the Welsh Mountains, they were difficult for the Romans to
conquer and control. For a time in the period around AD 45-57, they led the
British opposition to the Roman advance westwards.
Tacitus
describes them as a strong and warlike nation, and for ten years or more the
Romans fought to contain, rather than conquer them. Although defeated and
occupied by the early 60's, their bitter resistance may explain the late grant
of self governing civitas status to them only in the early 2nd century. The
capital was established at a previously unoccupied site at Caerwent and was
given the name Venta Silrum. Tacitus described them as swarthy and
curly-haired, and suggested their ancestors might be from Spain because of the
similarities in appearance with some peoples in Spain. However, there is no
evidence to suggest any genetic links between south Wales and parts of Spain.
Dubunni
This
large tribe lived in the southern part of the Severn Valley and the Cotswolds
and were one of the few groups to issue coins before the Roman Conquest. The
main distribution of these coins shows that the Dubunni occupied or
ruled an area as far south as the Mendips, and the coins also hint that the
group was divided into northern and southern subgroups.
The
Dubunni lived in very fertile farmland in farms and small villages. They
did not resist the Roman Conquest, unlike their neighbours, the Silures.
Indeed,
they may have been one of the first tribes to submit to the Romans, even before
the Romans reached their territory. The Dubunni had a central or
important settlement at Bagendon in Gloucester, on the eastern edge of their
territory. This centre was replaced by the important Roman city of Cirencester,
which became the capital of the Dubunnic civitas after the Roman
Conquest.
The
Dumnonii were the British tribe that occupied the whole of the South
West peninsula and parts of Southern Somerset. They did not use coins, nor did
they have large settlements to act of political centres for the tribe, and
there is no evidence for a dynasty of Dumnonian kings.
The
Dumnonii were probably a group of smaller tribes that lived across the
large area of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. The people lived in small
farmsteads, usually surrounded by large walls, however, there were also local
differences in the types of settlements and other aspects of life between
different parts of Devon and Cornwall. There is also evidence for contacts and
trade with Brittany with whom they shared similar styles of highly decorated
pottery. Cornwall was one of the few parts of Britain where the dead were
buried at this time.
The
Dumnonii appear to have accepted the Roman conquest without resistance
and as a result few garrison forts were placed in their territory, although
this area never fully adopted Roman ways of life.
Life
styles and types of settlements remained little changed from the Iron Age
through the Roman period. The Romans granted them civitas status and the town
of Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) was their administrative centre.
Durotriges
Centred
in Dorset, this people were also found in southern parts of Wiltshire and
Somerset and western Dorset. This was a people that minted and used coins
before the Roman Conquest, but there is no evidence from the coins or burials
for a strong dynasty of kings. Rather the Durotriges seem to have been a
loosely knit confederation of smaller tribal groups at the time of the Roman
conquest. One of these smaller tribal groups that lived around Dorchester,
buried their dead in inhumation cemeteries.
A
unique feature of the Durotriges at this time was that they still
occupied hillforts. Although hillforts are one of the most well known features
of the Iron Age, most were no longer occupied at turn of the first millennium.
Best known of these Durotrigean hillforts is that of Maiden Castle near
Dorchester, others include South Cadbury Castle and Hod Hill.
A
major trading centre existed at Hengistbury Head from which cross-channel trade
with Gaul was controlled. This may be the settlement called Dunium by Ptolemy
which was located on the border between the Durotiges and Atrebates.
Cross channel trade was not an important source of goods for the Durotriges,
who preferred local products.
A
particular type of pottery made at Poole Harbour was traded through out the
territory of the Durotriges. At the time of the Roman invasion the Durotriges
put up a spirited, if unsuccessful opposition and they are almost certainly one
of the two tribes that Suetonius records fighting against Vespasian and the 2nd
legion. After the conquest they were made into a civitas with their capital was
at Durnovaria (Dorchester) in the mid-70's. Later a second Durotrigean
civitas was created, administered from Lindinis (Ilchester).
The
Belgae were probably not a British tribe. The Romans applied the name Belgae
to a whole group of tribes in northwest Gaul, but the appearance of a civitas
of this name in Britain is something of a mystery.
According
to the Roman geographer Ptolemy the territory of the Belgae included not
only Winchester but also Bath nearby and an as yet unidentified settlement
called Ischalis.
It
seems likely that Ptolemy has made an error here since the resulting shape of
the territory of the Belgae would bear little resemblance to pre-Roman
tribal geography and would be something of an administrative nightmare. If the
civitas was actually focussed around Winchester (called by the Romans Venta
Belgarum - 'town of the Belgae') there is still a problem, since this
area seems to have been part of the old kingdom of the Atrebates.
The
civitas of the Belgae was therefor most probably an artificial creation
of the Roman administration, like the neighbouring civitas of the Regni,
and was created at about the same time in c. AD 80 following the death of King
Cogidubnus. Its administrative capital at Winchester was known as Venta
Belgarum, which was an important settlement before the Roman Conquest.
Atrebates
This
is another British tribe that shares a name with a tribe in pre-Roman France.
They were the second most powerful group in southern Britain at the time of the
Roman Conquest, they issued and used coins, and had many contacts with France.
They
probably consisted of a group of tribes ruled by a single dynasty, their
territory originally stretched from what is today West Sussex, Hampshire and
Berkshire.
After
the Roman Conquest, their territory was divided into three separate civitates,
one such centre was at the major settlement at Silchester, near Reading.
Another
major Royal centre, comparable to those at St Albans, Colchester and Stanwick,
was at Chichester. The Atrebates had long links of trade with France and
it is likely that people from the Atrebates were related by married to
people from French tribes. Commas, a French leader from the French tribes
called the Atrebates, fled to Britain during Julius Caesar's conquests
of Gaul. Commius then appears as the name of the Atrebates ruler.
From
about 15 BC, the Atrebates seem to have established friendly relations
with Rome, and it was an appeal for help from the last Atrebatic king, Verica,
which provided Claudius with the pretext for the invasion on Britain in AD 43.
After the Roman Conquest, the territory of the Atrebates was divided up,
with Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) becoming the capital of a Roman civitas
that administered the area of modern Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and north
Hampshire.
The
name Atrebates means 'settlers' or 'inhabitants'.
Regni
Like
the civitas of the Belgae, the Regni are not a tribe or people known
at the time of the Roman Conquest, rather the Romans created this civitas (an
administrative unit within a Roman province), possibly around a smaller tribal
group that were part of the Atrebates.
Before
the Roman Conquest, the whole of the territory between what is to today West
Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire was the territory of the Atrebates, this
important kingdom had two major centres at Silchester, near Reading, and
Chichester.
West
Sussex was an area with very strong links to France before the Roman Conquest
and was one of the first areas to use coins and adopt north French styles of
cremating the dead.
Between
about 10 BC and AD 43, Chichester became an important Royal centre, on a par
with St Albans, Stanwick or Colchester. This area was very pro-Roman and served
as one of the bases for the Roman Conquest of Britain. The ruler of the area
was King Cogidubnus, who started the great palace at Fishbourne, outside
Chichester, after the Conquest.
Because
of his help to the Romans, Chichester at least remained a client Kingdom and
not part of the new Roman province until Cogidubnus' death in about 80 AD.
After this time, the territory of the Artebates was divided up into
three civitas, with the Regni being the civitas centred on Chichester
and administering West Sussex.
Cantiaci
This
is the name of the tribe or people who lived in north and east Kent. Like other
peoples in southeast Britain at the time of the Roman Conquest, this group was
very open to influences from France and the Mediterranean World and they
eventually became part of the large kingdom of Cunobelinus.
Like
the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes they buried their dead according
to the north French custom of cremation.
After
the Roman Conquest they became a civitas based on their principle settlement at
Canterbury.
Trinovantes
The
Trinovantes are the first British tribe to be mentioned by a Roman
author, appearing in Caesar's account of his invasion of 54 BC. By this date
they seem to have been already involved in a power struggle with the
neighbouring tribes to the west who were to be forged into the kingdom of the Catuvellauni
under Tasciovanus. This group shared the same ways of life and religious practices
as the Catuvellauni and Cantiaci.
They
used coins, cremated their dead, ate from plates and drank from cups, They
became part of the large kingdom established by the rules of the Catuvellauni.
The
king Cunobelinus essentially absorbed the two tribes into one larger
kingdom and he or his predecessors, established Colchester as a new royal site
on the same model as St Albans. It was Colchester, that became the target for
the Roman Emperor Claudius' invasion in AD43.
After
the Roman Conquest, the Trinovantes were restored as tribal entity in
the form of a civitas (an administrative unit or county) within the new Roman
Province. The capital of the civitas was the Roman city of Colchester, which
was originally founded as colony for retired Roman soldiers.
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