The Segontiaci were a tribe of
Iron Age Britain
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ir ...
in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
. They may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "four kings of that region" and in the archaeological record by distinct pottery assemblages.
During Julius Caesar's second invasion of Britain in 54 BCE, following Caesar's military success and restoration of King
Mandubracius
Mandubracius or Mandubratius was a king of the Trinovantes of south-eastern Prehistoric Britain, Britain in the 1st century BC.
History
Mandubracius was the son of a Trinovantian king, named Imanuentius in some manuscripts of Julius Caesar's '' ...
to power over the
Trinovantes
The Trinovantēs (Common Brittonic: *''Trinowantī'') or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes of Pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, and included lan ...
, opposition to the Romans coalesced around the figure of
Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus was a historical British military leader who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was revea ...
which led to divided loyalties among the Britons, as Caesar records. Emissaries of five British tribes, including the Segontiaci (the others being the
Ancalites
The Ancalites were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. They may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "four ...
, the
Bibroci
The Bibroci were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. They may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "four k ...
, the
Cenimagni
The Cenimagni were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. It has been suggested that the name is a variant of ''Iceni'' with the Latin adjective ''magni'', m ...
and the
Cassi
CAS (formerly Chemical Abstracts Service) is a division of the American Chemical Society. It is a source of chemical information. CAS is located in Columbus, Ohio, United States.
Print periodicals
''Chemical Abstracts'' is a periodical index tha ...
), arrived at the Roman camp to treat for peace, and agreed to reveal details of Cassivellaunus' stronghold. Caesar besieged him there and brought him to terms. When Caesar left Britain he took
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...
s from the Britons, although which tribes were compelled to give any is not specified.
''Segontiaci'' means "people of the place of strength". There was a later Roman fort in north
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
called
Segontium
Segontium ( owl, Cair Segeint) is a Roman fort on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The fort, which survived until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, was garrisoned by Roman auxiliaries from present-day Belgium and Ge ...
, but it is probably not the place referred to in the tribal name.
Brittonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
*seg-ontio-n meant "strong place", and might easily arise independently in different areas.
[Ranko Matasović. "sego-" in: Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online. Edited by Alexander Lubotsky. Brill, 2015. Brill Online. February 8, 2015. http://iedo.brillonline.nl/dictionaries/lemma.html?id=17113{{dead link, date=May 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes ]
See also
*
Iron Age tribes in Britain
The names of the Celts, Celtic Iron Age tribes in Britain were recorded by Roman Empire, Roman and Ancient Greece, Greek historians and geographers, especially Ptolemy. Information from the distribution of Celtic coinage, Celtic coins has also shed ...
*
Cantiaci
The Cantiaci or Cantii were an Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest, and gave their name to a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern England. Their capital was ''Dur ...
*
Segontium
Segontium ( owl, Cair Segeint) is a Roman fort on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The fort, which survived until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, was garrisoned by Roman auxiliaries from present-day Belgium and Ge ...
References
External links
Segontiacian
Segontiuma
Roman-Britain.co.uk
Celtic Britons
Tribes involved in Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain
Historical Celtic peoples