Verica (early 1st century AD) was a British client king of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Claudian invasion of 43 AD. From his coinage, he appears to have been king of the, probably Belgic,

Atrebates The Atrebates (Gaulish: *''Atrebatis'', 'dwellers, land-owners, possessors of the soil') were a Belgic tribe of the Iron Age and the Roman period, originally dwelling in the Artois region. After the tribes of Gallia Belgica were defeated by Caes ...

tribe and a son of Commius. The distribution of his coins also shows that Verica's kingdom was centred on modern

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and east Hampshire, and its capital would have been in or close to what became the Roman Noviomagus Reginorum (modern Chichester). He succeeded his elder brother Eppillus as king in about 15 AD, and may also have reigned over the northern Atrebatic kingdom at

Calleva Atrebatum Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain. The modern villa ...

, today called

Silchester Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of ...

. He was recognised as '' rex'' by Rome and appears to have had friendly trade and diplomatic links with the empire. His territory was pressed from the east by the Catuvellauni, led by Epaticcus, brother of Cunobelinus, who conquered Calleva in about 25 AD. After Epaticcus's death ca. 35 AD Verica regained some territory, but Cunobelinus's son Caratacus took over and conquered the entire kingdom some time after 40 AD. According to Welcher, by 42AD when Verica was expelled, his kingdom had been reduced to a core area around Chichester and the Manhood peninsula, perhaps contained within the dykes of the Chichester entrenchments.

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

records that "Bericus" (almost certainly Verica) was expelled from Britain around this time during a revolt.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

refers to demands by the Britons that Rome return "certain deserters". As ''rex'', Verica was nominally an ally of Rome, so his exile gave Claudius an excuse to begin his invasion. Verica's relationship with Rome has been used to argue for the site of the Roman invasion of Britain as being along the south coast to assist him, rather than being at the traditional spot at Richborough in Kent. Verica's southern Atrebatic kingdom of what is now Sussex and east Hampshire, had maintained a good relationship with Rome for many years. Verica is likely to have been seen by the Romans as an ally and a counter-balance to the powerful Catuvellaunian tribe to the north. This may have led to Roman military intervention to support Verica against the Catuvellauni who were becoming a threat to the Roman Empire's north-west frontier. Unlike other nearby areas, the hillforts in the core of Verica's kingdom show no sign of refortification and show the apparently pro-Roman attitude of the area's inhabitants. After the invasion, Verica may have been restored as king, but this is not attested in the historical or archaeological record. In any case a new ruler for the region, Cogidubnus, soon appeared. Cogidubnus may have been an heir of Verica who by this time would have been very elderly indeed.

Bibliography

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External links

Atrebates
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Roman-Britain.co.uk
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Romans in BritainCoinage of Verica
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{{authority control Briton rulers Celtic warriors 1st-century monarchs in Europe