The
Cantiaci or
Cantii were a
CeltCelts is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language...
ic or
BelgicThe Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain. They gave their name to the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, and later, to the modern country of Belgium....
people living in Britain before the
Roman conquestBy 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...
, and gave their name to a
civitasIn 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....
of
Roman BritainRoman Britain was those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia...
. They lived in the area then called Cantium, now called
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county 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. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
, in south-eastern England, and spoke a Brythonic language - most likely a dialect of
BritishBritish or Brythonic was an ancient Brythonic language spoken throughout the island of Britain, south of the Firth of Forth....
with influence from Gaulish. Their capital was
Durovernum CantiacorumDurovernum Cantiacorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Canterbury, located in the English county of Kent.-Origins:...
, now
CanterburyCanterbury lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
.
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
landed in Cantium in
55Year 55 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:*Consuls: Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.*Consuls Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus pass the Lex Trebonia.*Gallic War...
and
54 BCYear 54 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:*Consuls: Appius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.*Gallic Wars**July—Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain: receives nominal submission from the chieftain Cassivellaunus and installs Mandubracius as a friendly...
, the first
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
expeditions to Britain.
The
Cantiaci or
Cantii were a
CeltCelts is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language...
ic or
BelgicThe Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain. They gave their name to the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, and later, to the modern country of Belgium....
people living in Britain before the
Roman conquestBy 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...
, and gave their name to a
civitasIn 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....
of
Roman BritainRoman Britain was those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia...
. They lived in the area then called Cantium, now called
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county 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. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
, in south-eastern England, and spoke a Brythonic language - most likely a dialect of
BritishBritish or Brythonic was an ancient Brythonic language spoken throughout the island of Britain, south of the Firth of Forth....
with influence from Gaulish. Their capital was
Durovernum CantiacorumDurovernum Cantiacorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Canterbury, located in the English county of Kent.-Origins:...
, now
CanterburyCanterbury lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
.
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
landed in Cantium in
55Year 55 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:*Consuls: Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.*Consuls Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus pass the Lex Trebonia.*Gallic War...
and
54 BCYear 54 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:*Consuls: Appius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.*Gallic Wars**July—Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain: receives nominal submission from the chieftain Cassivellaunus and installs Mandubracius as a friendly...
, the first
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
expeditions to Britain. He recounts in his
De Bello Gallico v. 14:
- "Ex his omnibus longe sunt humanissimi qui Cantium incolunt, quae regio est maritima omnis, neque multum a Gallica differunt consuetudine."
- "Of all these (British tribes), by far the most civilised are they who dwell in Kent, which is entirely a maritime region, and who differ but little from the Gauls in their customs".
Pre-Roman Iron Age
Caesar mentions four kings,
SegovaxSegovax was one of the four kings of Kent during Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, alongside Cingetorix, Carvilius and Taximagulus. The four were allies of the British leader Cassivellaunus, and attacked the Roman naval camp in an attempt to relieve him when he was besieged by Caesar...
,
CarviliusCarvilius was one of the four kings of Kent during Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, alongside Cingetorix, Segovax and Taximagulus. The four were allies of the British leader Cassivellaunus, and attacked the Roman naval camp in an attempt to relieve him when he was besieged by Caesar...
,
CingetorixCingetorix was one of the four kings of Kent during Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, alongside Segovax, Carvilius and Taximagulus. The four were allies of the British leader Cassivellaunus, and attacked the Roman naval camp in an attempt to relieve him when he was besieged by Caesar...
and
TaximagulusTaximagulus was one of the four kings of Kent during Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, alongside Cingetorix, Carvilius and Segovax. The four were allies of the British leader Cassivellaunus, and attacked the Roman naval camp in an attempt to relieve him when he was besieged by Caesar...
, who held power in Cantium at the time of his second expedition in
54 BCYear 54 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:*Consuls: Appius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.*Gallic Wars**July—Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain: receives nominal submission from the chieftain Cassivellaunus and installs Mandubracius as a friendly...
. The British leader
CassivellaunusCassivellaunus was a historical British chieftain who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. The first British person whose name is recorded, Cassivellaunus led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was...
, besieged in his stronghold north of the Thames, sent a message to these four kings to attack the Roman naval camp as a distraction. The attack failed, a chieftain called
LugotorixLugotorix was a British chieftain who was captured after a failed attack by the four kings of Kent on Julius Caesar's naval camp in 54 BC. His name may mean "mouse-king".-References:*Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico...
was captured, and Cassivellaunus was forced to seek terms.
In the century between Caesar's expeditions and the conquest under
ClaudiusTiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 24 January AD 41 to his death in AD 54...
, kings in Britain began to issue coins stamped with their names. The following kings of the Cantiaci are known:
- Dubnovellaunus
Dubnovellaunus or Dumnovellaunus was the name of at least one, and possibly several kings of south-eastern 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....
. May have been an ally or sub-king of TasciovanusTasciovanus was a historical king of the Catuvellauni tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain.-History:Tasciovanus is known only through numismatic evidence. He appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni ca. 20 BC, ruling from Verlamion...
of the CatuvellauniThe Catuvellauni were a Belgic tribe or state of south-eastern Britain before the Roman conquest.The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through numismatic evidence and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Dio Cassius, who...
, or a son of AddedomarusAddedomarus was a king of south-eastern Britain in the late 1st century BC. His name is known only from his inscribed coins, the distribution of which seem to indicate that he was the ruler of the Trinovantes....
of the TrinovantesThe Trinovantes or Trinobantes were one of the tribes that lived in pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex and Suffolk, and included lands now located in Greater London...
. Presented himself as a supplicant to Augustus ca. 7 BCYear 7 BC was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.-Births:* Possible birthdate of Jesus, according to appearance of a very bright triple conjunction of the royal star Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Pisces in May until December of that year since 854 years, with a...
.
- Vosenius, ruled until ca. 15 BC
Year 15 BC was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.-Rome:* Vienna becomes a frontier city guarding the Roman Empire against the German tribes to the north....
.
- Eppillus
Eppillus was the name of a Roman client king 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.After Commius's death in about 20 BC, based on...
, originally king of the AtrebatesThe Atrebates were a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain before the Roman conquests. According to Alexander MacBain, the name Attrebates is related to the Irish aitreibh, ‘building,’ Early Irish aittreb, ‘building,’ and Welsh adref, ‘homewards,’ going on to state that the Celtic root treb corresponds...
. Coins indicate he became king of the Cantiaci ca. 15 BC, at the same time as his brother VericaVerica 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 Atrebates tribe and a son of Commius. He succeeded his elder brother Eppillus as king in about 15 AD, reigning at Calleva Atrebatum,...
became king of the Atrebates.
- Cunobelinus
Cunobelinus was a historical king in pre-Roman Britain, known from passing mentions by classical historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and from his many inscribed coins...
, king of the Catuvellauni who expanded his influence into Cantiaci territory.
- Adminius
Adminius, Amminius or Amminus was a son of Cunobelinus, ruler of the Catuvellauni, a tribe of Iron Age Britain. His name can be interpreted as Celtic *ad-mindios, "to be crowned"....
, son of Cunobelinus. Seems to have ruled on his father's behalf, beginning ca. 30Year 30 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.-Religion:* The Sermon on the Mount...
AD. SuetoniusDe vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius, at...
tells us he was exiled by Cunobelinus ca. 40Year 40 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* The emperor Caligula is consul without colleague.* Caligula embarks on a campaign to conquer Britain, and fails miserably...
AD, leading to CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
's aborted invasion of Britain.
Sub-Roman period
According to
NenniusNennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century who is chiefly known today as the author of the Historia Brittonum, an attribution contained in the prologue affixed to that work though David Dumville and others have cast doubt upon the ascription and upon the antiquity of the prologue...
, Gwrangon was King of Kent in the time of
VortigernVortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Britain as mercenaries, only to see...
, until Vortigern took away the kingdom and gave it to Hengist; but Nennius is regarded as an untrustworthy source, and “Gwrangon seems to have been transported by the story-teller into Kent from Gwent” and “is turned into an imaginary King of Kent, secretly disposed of his realm in favour of Hengist, whose daughter Vortigern wished to marry” (Wade-Evans 1938).
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