Atrebates

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Atrebates

The Atrebates (singular Atrebas, meaning "settlers") were a Belgic

Belgae

The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul in the 1st century BC, and later also in Roman Britain. They gave their name to the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, and later, to the modern country of Belgium, where they are colloquially known as the "Old Belgians"....
tribe of Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
and Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
before the Roman conquests. According to Alexander MacBain, the name Attrebates is related to the Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
aitreibh, ‘building,’ Early Irish aittreb, ‘building,’ and Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
adref, ‘homewards,’ going on to state that the Celtic

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
root treb corresponds to Latin tribus, ‘tribe,’ and English thorpe, ‘village’ .

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The Atrebates (singular Atrebas, meaning "settlers") were a Belgic

Belgae

Gaul

Great Britain

Irish language

Welsh language

Celtic languages

The Atrebates in Gaul

The Gaulish Atrebates lived in or around modern Artois

Artois

Artois is a former provinces of France of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km? and a population of about one million....
in northern France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. Their capital, Nemetocenna, is now the city of Arras

Arras

Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard language dialect....
.

In 57 BC they were part of a Belgic

Belgae

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's conquests elsewhere in Gaul, contributing 15,000 men. Caesar took this build-up as a threat and marched against it, but the Belgae had the advantage of position and the result was a stand-off. When no battle was forthcoming the Belgic alliance broke up, determining to gather to defend whichever tribe Caesar attacked. Caesar subsequently marched against several tribes and achieved their submission.

The Atrebates then joined with the Nervii

Nervii

The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgae tribes, living in the northeastern hinterlands of Gaul they were known to trek long distances to engage in various wars and functions....
and Viromandui

Viromandui

The Viromandui or Veromandui were a tribe of the Belgae, occupying a small region in northern Gaul. We know about them primarily from Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, a book chronicling Caesar's early conquests against the Gauls....
and attacked Caesar at the battle of the Sabis

Battle of the Sabis

The Battle of the Sabis, also known as the Battle of the Sambre or the Battle against the Nervians , was fought in 57 BC in the area known today as Wallonia, between the Roman legions of the Roman Republic and an association of Belgic tribes, principally the Nervii ....
but were there defeated. After thus conquering the Atrebates, Caesar appointed one of their countrymen, Commius

Commius

Commius was a historical king of the Belgae nation of the Atrebates, initially in Gaul, then in Prehistoric Britain, in the 1st century BC....
, as their king. Commius was involved in Caesar's two expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC and negotiated the surrender of Cassivellaunus

Cassivellaunus

Cassivellaunus was a historical Brythonic chieftain who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Great Britain in 54 BC. He also appears in British legend as Cassibelanus, one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's kings of Britain, and in the Mabinogion, Brut y Bryttaniait and Welsh Triads as Caswallawn, son of Beli Mawr....
. In return for his loyalty he was also given authority over the Morini

Morini

The Morini were a Belgic tribe in the time of the Roman Empire. We know little about their language but one of their cities, Boulogne-sur-Mer was called Bononia by Zosimus and Bonen in the Middle Ages....
. However he later turned against the Romans and joined in the revolt led by Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix , born around 82 BC, died 46 BC, was tribal chief of the Arverni, originating from the Arvernian city of Gergovia and known as the man who led the Gauls in their ultimately unsuccessful war against Roman republic rule under Julius Caesar....
in 52 BC. After Vercingetorix's defeat at the Siege of Alesia, Commius had further confrontations with the Romans, negotiated a truce with Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
, and ended up fleeing to Britain with a group of followers. However, he appears to have retained some influence in Gaul: coins of post-conquest date have been found stamped with his name, paired with either Garmanos or Carsicios, who may have been his sons or regents.

Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
's 2nd century Geography refers to the "Atribati" living on the coast of Belgic Gaul

Gallia Belgica

Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany....
, near the river Sequana

Sequana

In Gallo-Roman religion, Sequana was the goddess of the river Seine, particularly the springs at the source of the Seine, and the Gaulish tribe the Sequani....
(Seine

Seine

The Seine is a slow flowing major river and commercial waterway within Regions of France of ?le-de-France and Haute-Normandie in France and famous as a romantic backdrop in photographs of Paris, France....
), and names Metacum as a town of theirs.

The Atrebates in Britain

Commius soon established himself as king of the British Atrebates, a kingdom he may have founded. Their territory comprised modern Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a Counties of England on the south coast of England....
, West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial counties of England until 1974 and the coming into force of the Local Government...
and Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
, centred on the capital Calleva Atrebatum (modern Silchester

Silchester

Silchester is a village and civil parish in the England county of Hampshire. It is best known for the adjacent archaeological site and Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, which was first occupied by the Romans in about AD 45 and includes what is thought to be the best-preserved Roman Empire wall in Great Britain....
).

The settlement of the Atrebates in Britain was not a mass population movement. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe

Barry Cunliffe

Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, Order of the British Empire, b. , known as Barry Cunliffe, was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007....
argues that they "seem to have comprised a series of indigenous tribes, possibly with some intrusive Belgic element, given initial coherence by Commius". It is possible that the name "Atrebates", as with many "tribal" names in this period, referred only to the ruling house or dynasty and not to an ethnic group; Commius and his followers, after arriving in Britain, may have established a power-base and gradually expanded their sphere of influence, creating what was in effect a proto-state

State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
. However during Caesar's first expedition to Britain in 55 BC, after the Roman cavalry had been unable to cross the Channel, Commius was able to provide a small group of horsemen from his people, suggesting that he may have already had kin in Britain at that time. After this time, the Atrebates were recognized as a client kingdom

Roman client kingdoms in Britain

The Roman client kingdoms in Britain were native tribes who chose to align themselves with the Roman Empire because they saw it as the best option for self-preservation or for protection from other hostile tribes....
of Rome.

of Tincomarus

Tincomarus

File:Tincomarus stater.jpgTincomarus was a king of the Iron Age Belgae tribe of the Atrebates who lived in southern central Prehistoric Britain shortly before the Roman invasion of Britain....
, king of the Atrebates.]] Coins stamped with Commius's name were issued from Calleva from ca. 30 BC to 20 BC. Some coins are stamped "COM COMMIOS": interpreting this as "Commius son of Commius", and considering the length of his apparent floruit
Floruit

Floruit refers to a period of time during which a person, school, movement or even species was active or flourishing. It is the third person, singular, perfect tense, indicative, active form of the Latin verb florere ? "to flourish"....
, some have concluded that there were two kings, father and son, of the same name.

Three later kings of the British Atrebates name themselves on their coins as sons of Commius: Tincomarus

Tincomarus

Eppillus

Eppillus was the name of a Roman client kingdoms in Britain of the Atrebates tribe of the British Iron Age. He was the son of Commius, the Gaulish former ally of Julius Caesar who fled to Britain following the uprising of Vercingetorix, or possibly of his son....
and Verica

Verica

Verica was a United Kingdom Roman client kingdoms in Britain of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Roman invasion of Britain of 43 AD....
. Tincomarus seems to have ruled jointly with his father from about 25 BC until Commius's death in about 20 BC. After that, Tincomarus ruled the northern part of the kingdom from Calleva, while Eppillus ruled the southern half from Noviomagus (Chichester

Chichester

Chichester is a cathedral city status in the United Kingdom in West Sussex, England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Ancient Rome past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings....
). Numismatic and other archeological evidence suggests Tincomarus took a more pro-Roman stance than his father, and John Creighton argues from the imagery on his coins that he was brought up as an obses (diplomatic hostage) in Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
under Augustus.

Augustus's Res Gestae mentions two British kings presenting themselves to him as supplicants, probably ca. 7 AD. The passage is damaged, but one is probably Tincomarus (the other is Dubnovellaunus

Dubnovellaunus

Dubnovellaunus or Dumnovellaunus was the name of at least one, and possibly several kings of south-eastern Prehistoric Britain in the late 1st century BC/early 1st century AD, known from coin legends and from a mention in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti....
, of either the Trinovantes

Trinovantes

The Trinovantes or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes that lived in pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, England and Suffolk, and included lands now located in Greater London....
or the Cantiaci

Cantiaci

The Cantiaci or Cantii were a Celtic or Belgae people living in Britain before the Roman conquest of Britain, and gave their name to a civitas of Roman Britain....
). It appears Tincomarus was ousted by his brother, and from this point Epillus's coins are marked "Rex", indicating that he was recognised as king by Rome.

In about 15, Eppillus was succeeded by Verica (at about the same time, a king by the name of Eppillus appears as ruler of the Cantiaci in Kent

Kent

Kent is a Counties of England in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary....
). But Verica's kingdom was being pressed by the expansion of the Catuvellauni

Catuvellauni

The Catuvellauni were a Celtic/Belgae tribe or state of south-eastern Prehistoric Britain before the Roman conquest of Britain.The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through numismatic evidence and scattered references in classical histories....
under Cunobelinus

Cunobelinus

Cunobelinus was a historical king in pre-Roman Ancient Britain, known from passing mentions by classical historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and from his many inscribed coins....
. Calleva fell to Cunobelinus's brother Epaticcus

Epaticcus

File:Epaticcus.jpgEpaticcus or Epaticcu was a brother of Cunobelinus, king of the Catuvellauni, a tribe of Iron Age Britain.Coins bearing his name begin to appear in the northern lands of the neighbouring Atrebates tribe and their capital, Calleva Atrebatum , probably fell to him around AD 25....
by about 25. Verica regained some territory following Epaticcus's death in about 35, but Cunobelinus's son Caratacus

Caratacus

Caratacus was a historical British Iron Age chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. The legendary Welsh mythology character Caradoc and the legendary British king Arvirargus may be based upon Caratacus....
took over the campaign and by the early 40s the Atrebates were conquered. Verica fled to Rome, giving the new emperor Claudius

Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
the pretext for the Roman conquest of Britain

Roman conquest of Britain

By AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire....
.

After the Roman conquest, part of the Atrebates' lands were organized into the pro-Roman kingdom of the Regnenses

Regnenses

The Regnenses, Regni or Regini were the subjects of a British Celtic kingdom and later a civitas of Roman Britain. Their capital was Noviomagus Reginorum, "New Field of the Regneses",known today as Chichester in modern West Sussex....
under Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus

Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus

Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus was a 1st century king of the Regnenses in early Roman Britain.Chichester and the nearby Roman villa at Fishbourne Roman Palace, believed to be Cogidubnus' palace, were part of the territory of the Atrebates before the conquest....
, who may have been Verica's son. The tribal territory was later organised as the civitates
Civitas

In the history of the Roman Empire, the Latin term civitas referred to the condition of Roman citizenship. It was also used to describe a type of settlement....
(administrative districts within a Roman province) of the Atrebates, Regnenses and possibly the Belgae.

List of kings of the Atrebates

Commius
Commius

Commius was a historical king of the Belgae nation of the Atrebates, initially in Gaul, then in Prehistoric Britain, in the 1st century BC....
, 57 - c. 20 BC
Tincomarus
Tincomarus

File:Tincomarus stater.jpgTincomarus was a king of the Iron Age Belgae tribe of the Atrebates who lived in southern central Prehistoric Britain shortly before the Roman invasion of Britain....
, c. 20 BC - AD 7, son of Commius
Eppillus
Eppillus

Eppillus was the name of a Roman client kingdoms in Britain of the Atrebates tribe of the British Iron Age. He was the son of Commius, the Gaulish former ally of Julius Caesar who fled to Britain following the uprising of Vercingetorix, or possibly of his son....
, AD 8 - 15, brother of Tincomarus
Verica
Verica

Verica was a United Kingdom Roman client kingdoms in Britain of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Roman invasion of Britain of 43 AD....
, 15 - 40, brother of Eppillus

lands annexed by Roman Empire

External links

and the at
at

Atrebates

The Atrebates in Gaul

The Atrebates in Britain

List of kings of the Atrebates

See also

External links