Private Road into Prae Wood off A 4147 - geograph

''Verlamion, or Verlamio, was a settlement in

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 ...

. It was the centre of

Tasciovanus Tasciovanus (died c. 9 AD) was a historical king of the Catuvellauni tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain. History Tasciovanus is known only through Numismatics, numismatic evidence. He appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni c. ...

' power and a major center of the

Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their k ...

from about 20 BC until shortly after the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

invasion of AD 43. Its location was on Prae Hill, 2 km to the west of modern

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Etymology

The etymology is uncertain: perhaps the name means "settlement above the marsh", or " ettlement ofUerulamos road-Hand in Brittonic.Isaac, G. R., "Place-Names in Ptolemy's Geography: An electronic data base with etymological analysis of the Celtic name-elements (2004). The elements *wer- and *lamā- meant "high" and "hand" respectively in

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic ( cy, Brythoneg; kw, Brythonek; br, Predeneg), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, was a Celtic language spoken in Britain and Brittany. It is a form of Insular Celtic, descended from Proto-Celtic, a ...

(*-i- is adjectival, denoting a place, and *-on is the usual o-stem neuter suffix). An alternative etymology may be guessed via back construction from modern Welsh, as bank of the (River)

Ver Ver or VER may refer to: * Voluntary Export Restraints, in international trade * VER, the IATA airport code for General Heriberto Jara International Airport * Volk's Electric Railway, Brighton, England * VerPublishing, of the German group VDM P ...

, where Ver could mean short, or be a contracted form of Veru, or Berw, meaning a foaming or bubbling river (cf Berwyn).

Iron age

Celtic gold stater Catuvellauni Tasciovanus

It is believed that the tribal capital was moved to the site by

(around 25 to 5 BC). The location of the previous capital is not certain, but it is possible to speculate on the basis of evidence in Caesar's ''

Commentarii de Bello Gallico ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Ca ...

'' and archaeological evidence for Iron Age sites in the area. One possible site is a few miles to the north near

Wheathampstead Wheathampstead is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north of St Albans. The population of the ward at the 2001 census was 6,058. Included within the parish is the small hamlet of Amwell. History Settlements in this area were ...

, where a feature called the Devil's Dyke has been interpreted as part of the defences of a large ''

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

'' near the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

. Tasciovanus was the first king to mint

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

at Verlamion, beginning around 10 BC. There is evidence that the ''oppidum'' may have had a significant ritual function. The centre grew under Tasciovanus' son,

Cunobelinus Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_ ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c' ...

. Cunobelinus may have constructed Beech Bottom Dyke, a defensive earthwork near the settlement whose significance is uncertain. It has been suggested that it is part of an unusually large defensive scheme including Devil's Dyke mentioned above, running from the River Ver to the River Lea.

Roman and later history

The Latinised name for the oppidum, and the Roman city which replaced it, was

Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...

. In Saxon times

was founded on an adjacent hill.

Local museum

Verulamium Museum Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...

, which mainly showcases Roman items, has a pre-Roman section.Verulamium Museum
, stalbansmuseums.org.uk

Etymology

Iron age

Roman and later history

Local museum

See also

References

Further reading