Roman client kingdoms in Britain
Encyclopedia
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. Alternatively, the Romans created (or enlisted) some client kingdoms when they felt influence without direct rule was desirable.
The beginnings of the system are to be found in Caesar
's re-enthroning of Mandubracius
as king of the Trinovantes
, who had been de-throned by Cassivellaunus
and then aided Caesar's second invasion of Britain
in 54BC. The system further developed in the following hundred years, particularly under Augustus
's influence, so that by the time of the Roman invasion
in 43 AD several Roman client kingdoms had become established in the south of Britain. These were also partially due to the expansion of the Catuvellauni
under Cunobelinus
in the southeast, and partly as a result of the invasion itself, and included Cogidubnus of the Regnenses
, Prasutagus
of the Iceni
and Cartimandua
of the Brigantes
and, probably, Boduocus of the Dobunni
. The antecedents of the Regnenses, the Atrebates
, had (in their Gallic and British forms) been client kingdoms of Rome since Caesar's first invasion in 55 BC.
In the north of Britain, ongoing border struggles across the defensive walls led to the establishment of buffer state
s, including the Votadini
in Northumberland
.
Client kings would adopt Romanised names and titles, although the influence of Roman culture meant that these traits were exhibited to some degree by non-client kings also.
Location: Roughly modern-day Hampshire
and West Sussex
(capitals now Silchester
and Chichester
)
After his defeat of the Belgic
Atrebates
on the Continent, Julius Caesar
had employed their king Commius
in his unsuccessful invasion of Britain in 55 BC. Caesar left Commius as a client (i.e., nominally independent) king in Gaul, giving him additionally rule over the Morini
. Commius maintained his loyalty through the events of 54 BC, but later began to conspire against the Romans, and fled to Britain, where he established himself as a king. He ruled through roughly 20 BC, although there may have been a second king named Commius.
Commius was succeeded by three of his sons. First, Tincomarus
, from 25/20 BC to 7/8 AD. He was more sympathetic to Rome than his father had been, and based on numismatic evidence styled himself rex, implying client kingship status under the Empire. He was expelled in 7/8 AD, seeking refuge with the Romans.
After Tincomarus, the emperor Augustus
chose to recognize his brother, Eppillus
, as the next client king. After ruling jointly with Tincomarus, he apparently became sole ruler c.7 AD, and may have been the one who drove out Tincomarus.
Eppillus was succeeded by another of Commius' sons, Verica
, who reigned from Silchester. During his rule, the Atrebates were under pressure from the Catuvellauni
to the east. After fifteen years of war, Caratacus
of the Catuvellauni conquered the whole kingdom, and Verica was driven out of Britain in roughly 40 AD. As a Roman ally, it has been argued that the nominal goal of the Roman conquest
of 43 AD to restore Verica to power.
Following the Roman conquest, Cogidubnus, who was at some point given the Roman names Tiberius Claudius, ruled what had been the lands of the Atrebates
. His people were now referred to as Regni or Regnenses (see the Regnenses
article for discussion of the name). Cogidubnus was notably loyal to the Romans (see, e.g., Tacitus
), and after his death, probably in 73 AD, the kingdom became part of the Roman province of Britannia
.
Location: Roughly modern-day Norfolk
Prasutagus
was possibly installed as king after the revolt of the Iceni
in 47 AD. The Iceni were allowed quasi-independence, with the expectation that the kingdom would revert to Roman control on Prasutagus' death. The king instead tried to leave control of the region, at least in part, to his children. When he died in 60 AD, the Romans seized control, prompting a second Iceni rebellion under Prasutagus' wife Boudica
. Following suppression of Boudica's revolt, the Romans simply administered the territory as part of Britannia.
Location: Southeast Scotland
and northeast England, including modern-day Northumberland
The Votadini
were a Brythonic
people who lived under the direct rule of Rome between Hadrian's Wall
and the Antonine Wall
from 138-162 AD. When the Romans withdrew behind Hadrian's Wall in 164 AD, they left the Votadini as a client kingdom, a buffer zone against the Picts
in the north. They maintained client status until the Romans pulled out of Britain in 410 AD. Through a series of linguistic changes, the Votadini became known as the Gododdin
, and maintained a kingdom until their defeat by the Angles
c.600 AD.
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
because they saw it as the best option for self-preservation or for protection from other hostile tribes. Alternatively, the Romans created (or enlisted) some client kingdoms when they felt influence without direct rule was desirable.
The beginnings of the system are to be found in Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's re-enthroning of Mandubracius
Mandubracius
Mandubracius or Mandubratius was a king of the Trinovantes of south-eastern Britain in the 1st century BC.-History:Mandubracius was the son of a Trinovantian king, named Imanuentius in some manuscripts of Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, who was overthrown and killed by the warlord Cassivellaunus...
as king of the Trinovantes
Trinovantes
The Trinovantes or Trinobantes were one of the tribes of 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. They were bordered to the north by the Iceni, and to the west by the Catuvellauni...
, who had been de-throned by Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus was an 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...
and then aided Caesar's second invasion of Britain
Caesar's invasions of Britain
In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as a full invasion or a reconnaissance-in-force expedition...
in 54BC. The system further developed in the following hundred years, particularly under Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
's influence, so that by the time of the Roman invasion
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
in 43 AD several Roman client kingdoms had become established in the south of Britain. These were also partially due to the expansion of the Catuvellauni
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni were a 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 implies...
under Cunobelinus
Cunobelinus
Cunobeline or 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...
in the southeast, and partly as a result of the invasion itself, and included Cogidubnus of the Regnenses
Regnenses
The Regnenses, Regni or Regini were a British Celtic kingdom and later a civitas of Roman Britain. Their capital was Noviomagus Reginorum, known today as Chichester in modern West Sussex....
, Prasutagus
Prasutagus
Prasutagus was king of a British Celtic tribe called the Iceni, who inhabited roughly what is now Norfolk, in the 1st century AD. He is best known as the husband of Boudica....
of the Iceni
Iceni
The Iceni or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area of East Anglia corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD...
and Cartimandua
Cartimandua
Cartimandua or Cartismandua was a queen of the Brigantes, a Celtic people in what is now Northern England, in the 1st century. She came to power around the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, and formed a large tribal agglomeration that became loyal to Rome...
of the Brigantes
Brigantes
The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
and, probably, Boduocus of the Dobunni
Dobunni
The Dobunni were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions. The latter part of the name possibly derives from Bune, a cup or vessel...
. The antecedents of the Regnenses, the Atrebates
Atrebates
The Atrebates were a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain before the Roman conquests.- Name of the tribe :Cognate with Old Irish aittrebaid meaning 'inhabitant', Atrebates comes from proto-Celtic *ad-treb-a-t-es, 'inhabitants'. The Celtic root is treb- 'building', 'home' The Atrebates (singular...
, had (in their Gallic and British forms) been client kingdoms of Rome since Caesar's first invasion in 55 BC.
In the north of Britain, ongoing border struggles across the defensive walls led to the establishment of buffer state
Buffer state
A buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...
s, including the Votadini
Votadini
The Votadini were a people of the Iron Age in Great Britain, and their territory was briefly part of the Roman province Britannia...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
.
Client kings would adopt Romanised names and titles, although the influence of Roman culture meant that these traits were exhibited to some degree by non-client kings also.
Atrebates, later Regnenses or Regni
Client status: 55 BC-70s ADLocation: Roughly modern-day Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and 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 county until 1974 and the coming...
(capitals now Silchester
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....
and Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
)
After his defeat of the Belgic
Belgae
The 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, and possibly even Ireland...
Atrebates
Atrebates
The Atrebates were a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain before the Roman conquests.- Name of the tribe :Cognate with Old Irish aittrebaid meaning 'inhabitant', Atrebates comes from proto-Celtic *ad-treb-a-t-es, 'inhabitants'. The Celtic root is treb- 'building', 'home' The Atrebates (singular...
on the Continent, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
had employed their king Commius
Commius
Commius was a historical king of the Belgic nation of the Atrebates, initially in Gaul, then in Britain, in the 1st century BC.-Ally of Caesar:...
in his unsuccessful invasion of Britain in 55 BC. Caesar left Commius as a client (i.e., nominally independent) king in Gaul, giving him additionally rule 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. Zosimus mentioned the Low Germanic character of the city...
. Commius maintained his loyalty through the events of 54 BC, but later began to conspire against the Romans, and fled to Britain, where he established himself as a king. He ruled through roughly 20 BC, although there may have been a second king named Commius.
Commius was succeeded by three of his sons. First, Tincomarus
Tincomarus
Tincomarus was a king of the Iron Age Belgic tribe of the Atrebates who lived in southern central Britain shortly before the Roman invasion...
, from 25/20 BC to 7/8 AD. He was more sympathetic to Rome than his father had been, and based on numismatic evidence styled himself rex, implying client kingship status under the Empire. He was expelled in 7/8 AD, seeking refuge with the Romans.
After Tincomarus, the emperor Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
chose to recognize his brother, Eppillus
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...
, as the next client king. After ruling jointly with Tincomarus, he apparently became sole ruler c.7 AD, and may have been the one who drove out Tincomarus.
Eppillus was succeeded by another of Commius' sons, Verica
Verica
Verica 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,...
, who reigned from Silchester. During his rule, the Atrebates were under pressure from the Catuvellauni
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni were a 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 implies...
to the east. After fifteen years of war, Caratacus
Caratacus
Caratacus was a first century British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest....
of the Catuvellauni conquered the whole kingdom, and Verica was driven out of Britain in roughly 40 AD. As a Roman ally, it has been argued that the nominal goal of the Roman conquest
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
of 43 AD to restore Verica to power.
Following the Roman conquest, Cogidubnus, who was at some point given the Roman names Tiberius Claudius, ruled what had been the lands of the Atrebates
Atrebates
The Atrebates were a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain before the Roman conquests.- Name of the tribe :Cognate with Old Irish aittrebaid meaning 'inhabitant', Atrebates comes from proto-Celtic *ad-treb-a-t-es, 'inhabitants'. The Celtic root is treb- 'building', 'home' The Atrebates (singular...
. His people were now referred to as Regni or Regnenses (see the Regnenses
Regnenses
The Regnenses, Regni or Regini were a British Celtic kingdom and later a civitas of Roman Britain. Their capital was Noviomagus Reginorum, known today as Chichester in modern West Sussex....
article for discussion of the name). Cogidubnus was notably loyal to the Romans (see, e.g., Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
), and after his death, probably in 73 AD, the kingdom became part of the Roman province of Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
.
Iceni
Client status: c.47-60 ADLocation: Roughly modern-day Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
Prasutagus
Prasutagus
Prasutagus was king of a British Celtic tribe called the Iceni, who inhabited roughly what is now Norfolk, in the 1st century AD. He is best known as the husband of Boudica....
was possibly installed as king after the revolt of the Iceni
Iceni
The Iceni or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area of East Anglia corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD...
in 47 AD. The Iceni were allowed quasi-independence, with the expectation that the kingdom would revert to Roman control on Prasutagus' death. The king instead tried to leave control of the region, at least in part, to his children. When he died in 60 AD, the Romans seized control, prompting a second Iceni rebellion under Prasutagus' wife Boudica
Boudica
Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
. Following suppression of Boudica's revolt, the Romans simply administered the territory as part of Britannia.
Votadini
Client status: c.140s-c.410 ADLocation: Southeast Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and northeast England, including modern-day Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
The Votadini
Votadini
The Votadini were a people of the Iron Age in Great Britain, and their territory was briefly part of the Roman province Britannia...
were a Brythonic
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
people who lived under the direct rule of Rome between Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
and the Antonine Wall
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles and was about ten feet ...
from 138-162 AD. When the Romans withdrew behind Hadrian's Wall in 164 AD, they left the Votadini as a client kingdom, a buffer zone against the Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
in the north. They maintained client status until the Romans pulled out of Britain in 410 AD. Through a series of linguistic changes, the Votadini became known as the Gododdin
Gododdin
The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
, and maintained a kingdom until their defeat by the Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
c.600 AD.
External links
- The History Files Kingdoms of Britain