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Silures
The Silures ( , ) were a powerful and warlike tribe or tribal confederation of ancient Britain, occupying what is now south east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas. They were bordered to the north by the Ordovices; to the east by the Dobunni; and to the west by the Demetae. Origins According to Tacitus's biography of Agricola, the Silures usually had a dark complexion and curly hair. Due to their appearance, Tacitus believed they had crossed over from Spain at an earlier date.The dark complexion of the Silures, their usually curly hair, and the fact that Spain is the opposite shore to them, are an evidence that Iberians of a former date crossed over and occupied these parts. Jordanes, in his Origins and Deeds of the Goths, describes the Silures. The Silures have swarthy features and are usually born with curly black hair, but the inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies. They are like the Gauls or the Spaniards. The Iron Age hillfort ...
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Publius Ostorius Scapula
Publius Ostorius Scapula, modern statue on the terrace of the Roman Baths (Bath) Publius Ostorius Scapula (died 52) was a Roman statesman and general who governed Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of Caratacus. Early life Publius Ostorius Scapula was the son of a Publius and likely the nephew of Quintus Ostorius Scapula, the first joint commander of the Praetorian Guard appointed by Augustus and later prefect of Egypt. The Quintus Ostorius Scapula who was consul in 41 AD was probably his brother or cousin. Career Nothing is known of his early career. He was suffect consul, probably in 46. In the winter of 47 he was appointed the second governor of Roman Britain by the emperor Claudius, succeeding Aulus Plautius. The south and east of the island was securely occupied and alliances had been made with tribes outside the Roman-controlled area, but other tribes continued to resist. Believing a new governor would be reluctant to ca ...
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Chepstow
Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the Severn Bridge. It is the easternmost settlement in Wales, situated east of Newport, east-northeast of Cardiff, northwest of Bristol and west of London. Chepstow Castle, situated on a clifftop above the Wye and the old bridge, is often cited as the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain. The castle was established by William FitzOsbern immediately after the Norman Conquest, and was extended in later centuries before becoming ruined after the Civil War. A Benedictine priory was also established within the walled town, which was the centre of the Marcher lordship of Striguil. The port of Chepstow became noted in the Middle Ages for its imports of wine, and also became a major centre for the export of timber and bark, from ...
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Caerwent
Caerwent () is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It was founded by the Romans as the market town of '' Venta Silurum'', an important settlement of the Brythonic Silures tribe. The modern village is built around the Roman ruins, which are some of the best-preserved in Europe. It remained prominent through the Roman era and Early Middle Ages as the site of a road crossing between several important civic centres. The community includes Llanvair Discoed. The village itself had a population of about 1,200. Etymology The modern name derives from '' Venta'', an ancient British word denoting a "market", and Caer, a later Welsh word denoting a fortified settlement. The town would give its name to the post Roman successor kingdom of Gwent and it is possible that the modern name means "''Fort of Gwent''". Romans writers recorded the town as ''Venta Silurum'' to distinguish it from the othe ...
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Ordovices
The Ordovīcēs (Common Brittonic: *''Ordowīces'') were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain before the Roman invasion. Their tribal lands were located in present-day North Wales and England, between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east. Unlike the latter tribes that appear to have acquiesced to Roman rule with little resistance, the Ordovices fiercely resisted the Romans. They were eventually subjugated by the Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola in the campaign of 77–78CE when the Romans overran their final strongholds on Anglesey. Etymology The Celtic name hammer fighters, cognate with the words for 'hammer': , (with a prothetic ''g-'') and (with a prothetic ''h-'') and - to fight (cf. Lemovices, Eburovices). John Edward Lloyd suggested that the name of this tribe is preserved as the element ''-orwig'', ''-orweg'' in the place nameDinas Dinorwig("Fort of the Ordovices") in North Wales, though Melville Richards rejected the idea. G ...
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Dobunni
The Dobunni were one of the Iron Age tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions. Various historians and archaeologists have examined the Dobunni, including Stephen J. Yeates in his book '' The Tribe of Witches'' (2008), where he suggests that the latter part of the name possibly derives from *''bune'', a cup or vessel, with a similar meaning to the later tribal name Hwicce; both being related to the recognisable cult of a Romano-British goddess. This view has been sharply criticised by several archaeologists. Archaeologist Miles Russell suggests that their original name may have been "Bodunni", connecting this with the Celtic word ''*bouda'' meaning "Victorious", in the sense of "The Victorious Ones". Territory The tribe lived in central Britain in an area that today broadly coincides with the English counties of Bristol, Gloucestershire and the north of Somerset, ...
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Demetae
The Demetae were a Celtic people of Iron Age and Roman period, who inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales. The tribe also gave their name to the medieval Kingdom of Dyfed, the modern area and county of Dyfed and the distinct dialect of Welsh spoken in modern south-west Wales, Dyfedeg. Etymology and relationship to Dyfed The tribal name Demetae is thought to derive from a Common Celtic element related to the modern Welsh word ''defaid'' (sheep) as well as the Ancient Brythonic word ''defod'' (wealth, property or riches). This element persists in the name for the area of West Wales that the tribe inhabited, with the post-Roman Kingdom of Dyfed (proto-Celtic *dametos') a clear continuation of the Pre-Roman etymon. The name even survived the Norman conquest of Wales and the introduction of the Shire system, with Thomas Morgan noting that the Welsh inhabitants of Pembrokeshire still referred to the area as ''Dyfed'' in the nineteenth century. ...
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Legio II Augusta
Legio II Augusta ( Second Legion "Augustus'") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman Republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "''Augusta''" from a victory or reorganization that occurred during the reign of Augustus. In Republican service The Legio II, Sabina was a Roman military unit of the late Republican era, which may have been formed by Julius Caesar in the year of the consulate of 48 BC and coincide, in this case, with the Legio II. Enlisted to fight against Pompey, they took part in the subsequent Battle of Munda of 45 BC. Alternatively it could be the Legio II, formed by the consul, Gaius Vibius Pansa in 43 BC and recruited in Sabina, hence its nickname. If this theory is true, then it probably participated in the subsequent battle of Philippi of 42 BC on the side of the triumvirate, Octavian and Marc Antony. After the defeat of the Republicans, Legio II swore allegiance to ...
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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 kings before the conquest can be traced through ancient coins and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Cassius Dio, who implies that they led the resistance against the conquest in AD 43. They appear as one of the '' civitates'' of Roman Britain in Ptolemy's ''Geography'' in the 2nd century, occupying the town of Verlamion (modern St Albans) and the surrounding areas of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire. Their territory was bordered to the north by the Iceni and Corieltauvi, to the east by the Trinovantes, to the west by the Dobunni and Atrebates, and to the south by the Regni and Cantiaci. Name The name 'Catuvellauni' (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī/Catu-uellaunī'', ...
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Caratacus
Caratacus was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who resisted the Roman conquest of Britain. Before the Roman invasion, Caratacus is associated with the expansion of his tribe's territory. His apparent success led to Roman invasion, nominally in support of his defeated enemies. He resisted the Romans for almost a decade, using guerrilla warfare, but when he offered a set-piece battle he was defeated by Roman forces. After defeat he fled to the territory of Queen Cartimandua, who captured him and handed him over to the Romans. He was sentenced to death but made a speech before his execution that persuaded the Emperor Claudius to spare him. Caratacus' speech to Claudius has been a popular subject in visual art. Name Caratacus' name appears as both ''Caratacus'' and ''Caractacus'' in manuscripts of Tacitus, and as ''Καράτακος'' and ''Καρτάκης'' in manuscripts of Dio. Older reference works tend to favour the spelling "Caractacus", coi ...
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Goldcliff
Goldcliff () is a village, parish and community to the south east of the city of Newport in South Wales. It lies within the Newport city boundaries in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Administratively, the community of Goldcliff includes the village/parish of Whitson. The population in 2001 was 233; by 2011 it had risen to 329. Toponymy The name is said to have originated from the siliceous limestone cliff, standing about high, at Hill Farm, rising over a great bed of yellow mica which breaks the level at the shore and has a glittering appearance in sunshine, especially to ships passing in the Bristol Channel. Giraldus Cambrensis, who toured Wales in 1188, refers to the location as "Gouldclyffe" and describes it in Latin as "...glittering with a wonderful brightness". Bradney, Sir Joseph, ''A History of Monmouthshire, Vol 4 part 2: The Hundred of Caldicot'' (Part 2). pub 1914, reprinted 1994, Merton Priory Press. Character Together wi ...
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Sudbrook, Monmouthshire
Sudbrook is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 4 miles south west of Chepstow and 1 mile east of Caldicot. It lies close to the Second Severn Crossing on the Severn Estuary, and adjoins the village of Portskewett. It was largely built in the late 19th century for workers on the Severn railway tunnel. At that time it was also known as Southbrook. History Sudbrook hill fort Sudbrook was of early historic importance in guarding the Severn estuary at an ancient ferry crossing place. An Iron Age hillfort is located on the coast, probably built and occupied by the Silures from the 2nd century BC and occupied by the Romans from the 1st century AD until the 4th century. The hillfort was originally much bigger than now having been eroded over the centuries. Finds of Roman coins at Black Rock, Portskewett, show that the ferry crossing was in use in Roman times, on the route between the Roman stations of ''Aquae Sulis'' (Bath) and ''Venta Silurum'' ( C ...
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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 Ireland, which had an independent Iron Age culture of its own. The Iron Age is not an archaeological horizon of common artefacts but is rather a locally-diverse cultural phase. The British Iron Age followed the British Bronze Age and lasted in theory from the first significant use of iron for tools and weapons in Britain to the Romanisation of the southern half of the island. The Romanised culture is termed Roman Britain and is considered to supplant the British Iron Age. The tribes living in Britain during this time are often popularly considered to be part of a broadly- Celtic culture, but in recent years, that has been disputed. At a minimum, "Celtic" is a linguistic term without an implication of a lasting cultural unity connecting ...
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