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103-665: The Boudican revolt was an armed uprising by native Celtic Britons against the Roman Empire during the Roman conquest of Britain . It took place circa AD 60–61 in the Roman province of Britain , and it was led by Boudica , the Queen of the Iceni tribe. The uprising was motivated by the Romans' failure to honour an agreement they had made with Boudica's husband, Prasutagus , regarding

206-525: A colonia for Roman military veterans. These veterans had been accused of mistreating the locals. A huge temple to the former emperor Claudius had also been erected in the city at great expense to the local population, causing much resentment. The future governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis , then commanding the Legio IX Hispana , attempted to relieve the city, but suffered an overwhelming defeat. The infantry with him were all killed and only

309-435: A military diploma dated 21 May 74 attests he was consul a second time, with Titus Clodius Eprius Marcellus as his colleague. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , " Tacitus says that he was a bold soldier rather than a careful general, and preferred to stake everything on the issue of a single engagement. He possessed natural eloquence of a kind that readily appealed to his soldiers. His loyalty to his superiors

412-576: A "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain". There was much less migration into Britain during the subsequent Iron Age, so it is more likely that Celtic reached Britain before then. Barry Cunliffe suggests that a branch of Celtic was already being spoken in Britain and that the Bronze Age migration introduced the Brittonic branch. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , which

515-472: A British goddess of victory . In an imaginary speech, the Roman historian Tacitus has Boudica addressing her army with these words: "It is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters," and concludes, "This is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves." Tacitus depicts Boudica as

618-528: A bard . The medieval Welsh form of Latin Britanni was Brython (singular and plural). Brython was introduced into English usage by John Rhys in 1884 as a term unambiguously referring to the P-Celtic speakers of Great Britain, to complement Goidel ; hence the adjective Brythonic refers to the group of languages. " Brittonic languages " is a more recent coinage (first attested in 1923 according to

721-640: A distinct Brittonic culture and language. Britonia in Spanish Galicia seems to have disappeared by 900 AD. Wales and Brittany remained independent for a considerable time, however, with Brittany united with France in 1532, and Wales united with England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 in the mid 16th century during the rule of the Tudors (Y Tuduriaid), who were themselves of Welsh heritage on

824-487: A force including his own Legio XIV Gemina , some vexillationes (detachments) of the XX Valeria Victrix , and any available auxiliaries. The prefect of Legio II Augusta at Isca (Exeter), Poenius Postumus , did not obey an order to bring his troops, but nonetheless Suetonius now commanded an army of almost 10,000 men. At an unidentified location, Suetonius took a stand in a narrow passage with

927-612: A man who drew creative inspiration from his inexhaustible capacity for self-deception", imaginatively "turned a collection of unrelated local landmarks" in this area "into the narrative of a desperate battle", in which, among other details, he cited as evidence a "Stone of the Grave of Vuddig". Boudica's last battle has also been placed on the Wyddelian road at Trelawnyd (previously Newmarket) in Flintshire . Morien suggests that Boudica

1030-691: A possible route from the south-west, the Cuttle Mill area near Paulerspury and Church Stowe in Northamptonshire, have been suggested as a site for the battle. In 2009, it was suggested that the Iceni may have been returning to their lands in Norfolk along the Icknield Way and encountered the Roman army in the vicinity of Arbury Banks, Hertfordshire . The area of King's Cross, London

1133-482: A profound genetic impact. Quintus Petillius Cerialis Because he probably succeeded Caesius Nasica as commander of Legio IX Hispana , and since brothers are often attested as serving in succession in the same post, Anthony Birley suggests that Cerialis was the younger brother of Nasica, and had been adopted by Petillius Rufus, who was known as praetor in AD 28. However, in his monograph of naming practices in

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1236-415: A seat of war, as he looked round on his scanty force of soldiers, and remembered with what a serious warning the rashness of Petillius had been punished, he resolved to save the province at the cost of a single town. Nor did the tears and weeping of the people, as they implored his aid, deter him from giving the signal of departure and receiving into his army all who would go with him. Those who were chained to

1339-611: A sub-kingdom of Calchwynedd may have clung on in the Chilterns for a time. Novant , which occupied Galloway and Carrick, was soon subsumed by fellow Brittonic-Pictish polities by 700 AD. Aeron , which encompassed modern Ayrshire , was conquered by the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria by 700 AD. Some Brittonic kingdoms were able to successfully resist these incursions: Rheged (encompassing much of modern Northumberland and County Durham and areas of southern Scotland and

1442-570: A thick red layer of burnt debris covering coins and pottery dating before AD 60 within the bounds of Roman Londinium; Roman-era skulls found in the Walbrook in 2013 may have been victims of the rebels. Excavations in 1995 revealed that the destruction extended across the River Thames to a suburb at the southern end of London Bridge . The municipium of Verulamium (modern St Albans ) was also destroyed. Archeological evidence for this event

1545-511: A victim of Roman slavery and licentiousness, her fight against which made her a champion of both barbarian and British liberty; and he portrays Boudica's actions as an example of the bravery of a free woman, rather than of a queen, sparing her the negative connotations associated with queenship in the ancient world. The first target of the rebels was the former capital of the Trinovantes, Camulodunum ( Colchester ), which had been made into

1648-432: A wedge-like formation. The auxiliaries charged in the same style; and the cavalry, with lances extended, broke a way through any parties of resolute men whom they encountered. The remainder took to flight, although escape was difficult, as the cordon of wagons had blocked the outlets. The troops gave no quarter even to the women: the baggage animals themselves had been speared and added to the pile of bodies. The glory won in

1751-424: A wood behind him that opened out into a wide plain. His men were heavily outnumbered: Dio says that, even if they were lined up one deep, they would not have extended the length of Boudica's line. By now the rebel forces they faced were said to have numbered 230,000–300,000, although modern historians say these numbers should be treated with scepticism. The sides of the passage protected the Roman flanks from attack and

1854-450: Is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves.' Tacitus also wrote of Suetonius addressing his legionaries. Although, like many historians of his day, he was given to inventing stirring speeches for such occasions, Suetonius's speech here is unusually blunt and practical. Tacitus's father-in-law, the future governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola , was on Suetonius's staff at the time and may have reported it fairly accurately. Ignore

1957-430: Is imagined by Tacitus, her daughters beside her, encouraging her troops with a stirring speech from her chariot . After providing a speech to the Roman troops by Suetonius, Tacitus describes the battle: At first, the legionaries stood motionless, keeping to the defile as a natural protection: then, when the closer advance of the enemy had enabled them to exhaust their missiles with certitude of aim, they dashed forward in

2060-410: Is on the side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are thinking anxiously of flight. They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much less our charge and our blows. If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die. This

2163-400: Is very limited. A major excavation by Mortimer Wheeler and his wife Tessa in the early 1930s found little trace of it, perhaps because they are now known to have been working away from the area which was settled in the early Roman occupation. Another excavation by Sheppard Frere between 1957 and 1961 revealed a row of shops alongside Watling Street which had been burned at around 60 AD, but

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2266-706: The Legio II Augusta at Exeter to rendezvous with the rest of Suetonius's forces if they had come as ordered. Also suggested has been a site near Virginia Water in Surrey, between Callow Hill and Knowle Hill, off the Devil's Highway . Fuentes argues that Paulinus, being a very cautious commander, would not have ridden through the enemy to London, then back through them again to fetch his army on Watling Street, additionally marching along Watling street with refugees from London would have slowed down his troops or left

2369-699: The Oxford English Dictionary ). In the early Middle Ages , following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain , the Anglo-Saxons called all Britons Bryttas or Wealas (Welsh), while they continued to be called Britanni or Brittones in Medieval Latin . From the 11th century, they are more often referred to separately as the Welsh , Cumbrians , Cornish , and Bretons , as they had separate political histories from then. From

2472-534: The British Isles , particularly Welsh people , suggesting genetic continuity between Iron Age Britain and Roman Britain, and partial genetic continuity between Roman Britain and modern Britain. On the other hand, they were genetically substantially different from the examined Anglo-Saxon individual and modern English populations of the area, suggesting that the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain left

2575-586: The Channel Islands . There they set up their own small kingdoms and the Breton language developed from Brittonic Insular Celtic rather than Gaulish or Frankish . A further Brittonic colony, Britonia , was also set up at this time in Gallaecia in northwestern Spain . Many of the old Brittonic kingdoms began to disappear in the centuries after the Anglo-Saxon and Scottish Gaelic invasions; Parts of

2678-670: The Farne Islands fell to the Anglo-Saxons in 559 AD and Deira became an Anglo-Saxon kingdom after this point. Caer Went had officially disappeared by 575 AD becoming the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia . Gwent was only partly conquered; its capital Caer Gloui ( Gloucester ) was taken by the Anglo-Saxons in 577 AD, handing Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to the invaders, while the westernmost part remained in Brittonic hands, and continued to exist in modern Wales. Caer Lundein , encompassing London , St. Albans and parts of

2781-597: The Home Counties , fell from Brittonic hands by 600 AD, and Bryneich, which existed in modern Northumbria and County Durham with its capital of Din Guardi (modern Bamburgh ) and which included Ynys Metcaut ( Lindisfarne ), had fallen by 605 AD becoming Anglo-Saxon Bernicia. Caer Celemion (in modern Hampshire and Berkshire) had fallen by 610 AD. Elmet, a large kingdom that covered much of modern Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire and likely had its capital at modern Leeds,

2884-806: The Old English of the Anglo-Saxons, and Scottish Gaelic , although this was likely a gradual process in many areas. Similarly, the Brittonic colony of Britonia in northwestern Spain appears to have disappeared soon after 900 AD. The kingdom of Ystrad Clud (Strathclyde) was a large and powerful Brittonic kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (the 'Old North') which endured until the end of the 11th century, successfully resisting Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots and later also Viking attacks. At its peak it encompassed modern Strathclyde, Dumbartonshire , Cumbria , Stirlingshire , Lanarkshire , Ayrshire , Dumfries and Galloway , Argyll and Bute , and parts of North Yorkshire ,

2987-694: The Pretanoí or Bretanoí . Pliny 's Natural History (77 AD) says the older name for the island was Albion , and Avienius calls it insula Albionum , "island of the Albions". The name could have reached Pytheas from the Gauls . The Latin name for the Britons was Britanni . The P-Celtic ethnonym has been reconstructed as * Pritanī , from Common Celtic * kʷritu , which became Old Irish cruth and Old Welsh pryd . This likely means "people of

3090-438: The Roman empire . One such tribe was the Iceni in what is now Norfolk . Their king, Prasutagus , thought he had secured his independence by leaving his lands jointly to his daughters and to the Roman emperor , Nero , in his will. However, when he died, in 61 or shortly before, his will was ignored. Tacitus describes the Romans as seizing lands, enslaving Icenians and of violently humiliating his family; his widow, Boudica ,

3193-779: The Scottish Borders ) survived well into the 8th century AD, before the eastern part peacefully joined with the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia – Northumberland by 730 AD, and the west was taken over by the fellow Britons of Ystrad Clud . Similarly, the kingdom of Gododdin , which appears to have had its court at Din Eidyn (modern Edinburgh ) and encompassed parts of modern Northumbria , County Durham , Lothian and Clackmannanshire , endured until approximately 775 AD before being divided by fellow Brittonic Picts, Gaelic Scots and Anglo-Saxons. The Kingdom of Cait , covering modern Caithness , Sutherland , Orkney , and Shetland ,

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3296-611: The indigenous Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages , at which point they diverged into the Welsh , Cornish , and Bretons (among others). They spoke Common Brittonic , the ancestor of the modern Brittonic languages . The earliest written evidence for the Britons is from Greco-Roman writers and dates to the Iron Age. Ancient Britain

3399-588: The 20th century. Celtic Britain was made up of many territories controlled by Brittonic tribes . They are generally believed to have dwelt throughout the whole island of Great Britain , at least as far north as the Clyde – Forth isthmus . The territory north of this was largely inhabited by the Picts ; little direct evidence has been left of the Pictish language , but place names and Pictish personal names recorded in

3502-480: The 2nd century AD and the 4th century AD during the period of Roman Britain . Six of these individuals were identified as native Britons. The six examined native Britons all carried types of the paternal R1b1a2a1a and carried the maternal haplogroups H6a1a , H1bs , J1c3e2 , H2 , H6a1b2 and J1b1a1 . The indigenous Britons of Roman Britain were genetically closely related to the earlier Iron Age female Briton, and displayed close genetic links to modern Celts of

3605-547: The Ancient British seem to have had generally similar cultural practices to the Celtic cultures nearest to them on the continent. There are significant differences in artistic styles, and the greatest period of what is known as the "Insular La Tène" style, surviving mostly in metalwork, was in the century or so before the Roman conquest, and perhaps the decades after it. The carnyx , a trumpet with an animal-headed bell,

3708-516: The Atrebates. With the rebellion, alliances would have been fragile, so abandoning the Atrebates to the oncoming rebels would potentially lead to another tribe switching sides, and Atrebates troops could be used in battle. The confrontation with Boudica would have to take place near to London. The existence of burnt arhecological layers in Brentford and Staines (Pontes) from this time suggests that

3811-567: The British Isles after arriving from the continent in the 7th century BC. The language eventually began to diverge; some linguists have grouped subsequent developments as Western and Southwestern Brittonic languages . Western Brittonic developed into Welsh in Wales and the Cumbric language in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain (modern northern England and southern Scotland), while

3914-432: The Britons went so far as to include a map showing the positions of the opposing armies. A travel writer in the 18th century, Thomas Pennant, suggested that a hill named "Bryn Paulin", on which the north Wales town of St Asaph stood, may have been so called because Paulinus and his troops had made a camp on their way to or from Mona (Anglesey). A later writer, Richard Williams Morgan , described as "patriotically fanatical,

4017-414: The Britons and Caledonians in the north remained unconquered and Hadrian's Wall became the edge of the empire. A Romano-British culture emerged, mainly in the southeast, and British Latin coexisted with Brittonic. It is unclear what relationship the Britons had with the Picts , who lived outside of the empire in northern Britain, however, most scholars today accept the fact that the Pictish language

4120-479: The Britons had no interest in taking or selling prisoners, only in slaughter by gibbet , fire, or cross. Dio's account gives more detail; that the noblest women were impaled on spikes and had their breasts cut off and sewn to their mouths, "to the accompaniment of sacrifices, banquets, and wanton behaviour" in sacred places, particularly the groves of Andraste. While the Britons continued their destruction, Suetonius regrouped his forces. According to Tacitus, he amassed

4223-409: The Brittonic state of Kernow . The Channel Islands (colonised by Britons in the 5th century) came under attack from Norse and Danish Viking attack in the early 9th century AD, and by the end of that century had been conquered by Viking invaders. The Kingdom of Ce , which encompassed modern Marr , Banff , Buchan , Fife , and much of Aberdeenshire , disappeared soon after 900 AD. Fortriu ,

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4326-605: The Cumbrians of the Hen Ogledd ("Old North") in southern Scotland and northern England, and the remnants of the Pictish people in northern Scotland. Common Brittonic developed into the distinct Brittonic languages: Welsh , Cumbric , Cornish and Breton . In Celtic studies , 'Britons' refers to native speakers of the Brittonic languages in the ancient and medieval periods, "from the first evidence of such speech in

4429-601: The Iceni and other tribes had been disarmed some years before the rebellion and it is thought they may have been poorly equipped. They placed their wagons at the far end of the field, from where their families could watch what they may have expected to be an overwhelming victory. Two Germanic leaders, Boiorix of the Cimbri and Ariovistus of the Suebi , are reported to have done the same thing in their battles against Gaius Marius and Caesar, respectively. As their armies deployed,

4532-474: The Iron Age individuals were markedly different from later Anglo-Saxon samples, who were closely related to Danes and Dutch people . Martiano et al. (2016) examined the remains of a female Iron Age Briton buried at Melton between 210 BC and 40 AD. She was found to be carrying the maternal haplogroup U2e1e . The study also examined seven males buried in Driffield Terrace near York between

4635-709: The Isles of Scilly and Brittany are Brittonic, and Brittonic family and personal names remain common. During the 19th century, many Welsh farmers migrated to Patagonia in Argentina , forming a community called Y Wladfa , which today consists of over 1,500 Welsh speakers. In addition, a Brittonic legacy remains in England, Scotland and Galicia in Spain, in the form of often large numbers of Brittonic place and geographical names. Examples of geographical Brittonic names survive in

4738-596: The Midlands , possibly along the Roman road between Londinium and Viroconium ( Wroxeter ) which became Watling Street. A site near Manduessedum ( Mancetter ), near the modern town of Atherstone in Warwickshire , was suggested by archaeologist Graham Webster . Kevin K. Carroll suggests a site close to High Cross, Leicestershire , at the junction of Watling Street and the Fosse Way , which would have allowed

4841-595: The Roman Empire invaded Britain. The British tribes opposed the Roman legions for many decades, but by 84 AD the Romans had decisively conquered southern Britain and had pushed into Brittonic areas of what would later become northern England and southern Scotland. During the same period, Belgic tribes from the Gallic-Germanic borderlands settled in southern Britain. Caesar asserts the Belgae had first crossed

4944-588: The Southwestern dialect became Cornish in Cornwall and South West England and Breton in Armorica. Pictish is now generally accepted to descend from Common Brittonic, rather than being a separate Celtic language. Welsh and Breton survive today; Cumbric and Pictish became extinct in the 12th century. Cornish had become extinct by the 19th century but has been the subject of language revitalization since

5047-434: The ancestry of subsequent Iron Age people in this area, but not in northern Britain. The "evidence suggests that rather than a violent invasion or a single migratory event, the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between mainland Britain and Europe over several centuries, such as the movement of traders, intermarriage, and small-scale movements of family groups". The authors describe this as

5150-510: The battle, and were thus robbed of a share of the glory, killed himself by falling on his sword. After the battle, Boudica is said by Tacitus to have poisoned herself, though in the Agricola , which was written almost twenty years before the Annals , he mentions nothing of suicide and attributes the end of the revolt to socordia ("complacency"). Cassius Dio says Boudica fell ill, died and

5253-568: The camp, and was saved by its fortifications." As the son in law of Vespasian , being the husband of Domitilla the Younger , Cerialis was made a hostage by Vitellius in 69, during the civil wars of the Year of Four Emperors . Cerialis managed to escape disguised as a peasant and joined the Flavian army. He was one of the cavalry leaders that conquered Rome for the approaching Vespasian. His role

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5356-517: The channel as raiders, only later establishing themselves on the island. 122 AD, the Romans fortified the northern border with Hadrian's Wall , which spanned what is now Northern England . In 142 AD, Roman forces pushed north again and began construction of the Antonine Wall , which ran between the Forth–Clyde isthmus, but they retreated back to Hadrian's Wall after only twenty years. Although

5459-474: The city to save the province and withdrew to regroup his forces. Alarmed by this disaster and by the fury of the province which he had goaded into war by his rapacity, the procurator Catus crossed over into Gaul. Suetonius, however, with wonderful resolution, marched amidst a hostile population to Londinium, which, though undistinguished by the name of a colony, was much frequented by a number of merchants and trading vessels. Uncertain whether he should choose it as

5562-478: The commander and some of his cavalry escaped. The location of this battle is unknown. The Roman inhabitants sought reinforcements from Catus Decianus , but he sent only two hundred auxiliary troops . Boudica's army attacked the poorly defended city and destroyed it, besieging the last defenders in the temple for two days before it fell. Archaeologists have shown that the city was methodically demolished. After this disaster, Catus Decianus, whose actions had provoked

5665-494: The course of the day was remarkable, and equal to that of our older victories: for, by some accounts, little less than eighty thousand Britons fell, at a cost of some four hundred Romans killed and a not much greater number of wounded. The figures quoted for the campaign in ancient sources are regarded by modern historians as extravagant. The Roman slaughter of women and animals was unusual, as they could have been sold for profit. Poenius Postumus, whose legion had not marched to join

5768-425: The defeat of the 60/61 rebellion led by Queen Boudica of the Iceni , Cerialis suffered a serious defeat when attempting to relieve the city of Camulodunum ( Colchester ), which was taken by the Britons before he arrived. "The victorious enemy met Petilius Cerialis, commander of the ninth legion, as he was coming to the rescue, routed his troops, and destroyed all his infantry. Cerialis escaped with some cavalry into

5871-775: The early 16th century, and especially after the Acts of Union 1707 , the terms British and Briton could be applied to all inhabitants of the Kingdom of Great Britain , including the English , Scottish , and some Irish , or the subjects of the British Empire generally. The Britons spoke an Insular Celtic language known as Common Brittonic . Brittonic was spoken throughout the island of Britain (in modern terms, England, Wales, and Scotland). According to early medieval historical tradition, such as The Dream of Macsen Wledig ,

5974-465: The first centuries of the Roman Empire, Olli Salomies argues that Cerialis was actually the biological son of Petillius Rufus by a woman named Caesia, who may have been the daughter of a Caesius Cerialis, therefore Caesius Nasica would not have been his brother "but a close relative." His first important assignment was as legate of Legio IX Hispana (Ninth Iberian Legion) in the Roman province of Britannia , under governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus . In

6077-540: The first millennium BC, reaching Britain towards the end of this period. In 2021, a major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain during the Bronze Age , over a 500-year period from 1,300 BC to 800 BC. The migrants were "genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France" and had higher levels of Early European Farmers ancestry. From 1000 to 875 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain, making up around half

6180-676: The first millennium BC. More recently, John Koch and Barry Cunliffe have challenged that with their 'Celtic from the West' theory, which has the Celtic languages developing as a maritime trade language in the Atlantic Bronze Age cultural zone before it spread eastward. Alternatively, Patrick Sims-Williams criticizes both of these hypotheses to propose 'Celtic from the Centre', which suggests Celtic originated in Gaul and spread during

6283-420: The forest impeded approach from the rear. These precautions would have prevented Boudica from bringing her considerable forces to bear on the Roman position other than from the front, and the open plain would have made surprise attack impossible. Suetonius placed his legionaries in close order, with auxilia infantry on the flanks and cavalry on the wings. Although the Britons were gathered in considerable force,

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6386-427: The formerly Brittonic ruled territory in Britain, and the language and culture of the native Britons was thereafter gradually replaced in those regions, remaining only in Wales, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and Brittany , and for a time in parts of Cumbria, Strathclyde, and eastern Galloway. Cornwall (Kernow, Dumnonia ) had certainly been largely absorbed by England by the 1050s to early 1100s, although it retained

6489-418: The forms", and could be linked to the Latin name Picti (the Picts ), which is usually explained as meaning "painted people". The Old Welsh name for the Picts was Prydyn . Linguist Kim McCone suggests the name became restricted to inhabitants of the far north after Cymry displaced it as the name for the Welsh and Cumbrians . The Welsh prydydd , "maker of forms", was also a term for the highest grade of

6592-469: The full extent of the destruction remains unclear. Excavations in the centre of Verulamium the 1996 extension dig before the new museum entrance was built, went through thin layers of burning from the time of the early Roman construction thought to be from the time. The thickest layer only 2 centimetres down to just a half a centimetre. In the three settlements destroyed, between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed. Tacitus says that

6695-496: The largest Brittonic-Pictish kingdom which covered Strathearn , Morayshire and Easter Ross , had fallen by approximately 950 AD to the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba ( Scotland ). Other Pictish kingdoms such as Circinn (in modern Angus and The Mearns ), Fib (modern Fife ), Fidach ( Inverness and Perthshire ), and Ath-Fotla ( Atholl ), had also all fallen by the beginning of the 11th century AD or shortly after. The Brythonic languages in these areas were eventually replaced by

6798-420: The later Irish annals suggest it was indeed related to the Common Brittonic language . Their Goidelic (Gaelic) name, Cruithne , is cognate with Pritenī . The following is a list of the major Brittonic tribes, in both the Latin and Brittonic languages, as well as their capitals during the Roman period. The La Tène style , which covers British Celtic art , was late arriving in Britain, but after 300 BC

6901-465: The leaders would have sought to motivate their soldiers. Tacitus, who described the battle more than 50 years later, imagined Boudica's speech to her followers: 'But now,' she said, 'it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very persons, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven

7004-459: The location where Boudica died. Another legend suggests that she is buried under Platform 10 of London King's Cross railway station . The historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus writes that the crisis had almost persuaded Nero to abandon Britain, but with the revolt brought to a decisive end, the occupation of Britain continued. Fearing that Suetonius's punitive actions against the British tribes would provoke further rebellion, Nero replaced him with

7107-435: The male side. Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isles of Scilly continued to retain a distinct Brittonic culture, identity and language, which they have maintained to the present day. The Welsh and Breton languages remain widely spoken, and the Cornish language , once close to extinction, has experienced a revival since the 20th century. The vast majority of place names and names of geographical features in Wales, Cornwall,

7210-630: The mid 11th century AD when Cornwall was effectively annexed by the English, with the Isles of Scilly following a few years later, although at times Cornish lords appear to have retained sporadic control into the early part of the 12th century AD. Wales remained free from Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots and Viking control, and was divided among varying Brittonic kingdoms, the foremost being Gwynedd (including Clwyd and Anglesey ), Powys , Deheubarth (originally Ceredigion , Seisyllwg and Dyfed ), Gwent , and Morgannwg ( Glamorgan ). These Brittonic-Welsh kingdoms initially included territories further east than

7313-421: The modern borders of Wales; for example, Powys included parts of modern Merseyside , Cheshire and the Wirral and Gwent held parts of modern Herefordshire , Worcestershire , Somerset and Gloucestershire , but had largely been confined to the borders of modern Wales by the beginning of the 12th century. However, by the early 1100s, the Anglo-Saxons and Gaels had become the dominant cultural force in most of

7416-422: The more conciliatory Publius Petronius Turpilianus . While the defeat of Boudica consolidated Roman rule in southern Britain, northern Britain remained volatile. In AD 69 Venutius , a Brigantes noble, was to lead another less well documented revolt, initially inspired by tribal rivalry but soon becoming anti-Roman. Catus Decianus, who had fled to Gaul, was replaced by Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus . After

7519-591: The names of rivers, such as the Thames , Clyde , Severn , Tyne , Wye , Exe , Dee , Tamar , Tweed , Avon , Trent , Tambre , Navia , and Forth . Many place names in England and Scotland are of Brittonic rather than Anglo-Saxon or Gaelic origin, such as London , Manchester , Glasgow , Edinburgh , Carlisle , Caithness , Aberdeen , Dundee , Barrow , Exeter , Lincoln , Dumbarton , Brent , Penge , Colchester , Gloucester , Durham , Dover , Kent , Leatherhead , and York . Schiffels et al. (2016) examined

7622-499: The native Britons south of Hadrian's Wall mostly kept their land, they were subject to the Roman governors , whilst the Brittonic-Pictish Britons north of the wall probably remained fully independent and unconquered. The Roman Empire retained control of "Britannia" until its departure about AD 410, although parts of Britain had already effectively shrugged off Roman rule decades earlier. Thirty years or so after

7725-531: The post-Roman Celtic speakers of Armorica were colonists from Britain, resulting in the Breton language , a language related to Welsh and identical to Cornish in the early period, and is still used today. Thus, the area today is called Brittany (Br. Breizh , Fr. Bretagne , derived from Britannia ). Common Brittonic developed from the Insular branch of the Proto-Celtic language that developed in

7828-411: The pre-Roman Iron Age , until the central Middle Ages ". The earliest known reference to the inhabitants of Britain was made by Pytheas , a Greek geographer who made a voyage of exploration around the British Isles between 330 and 320 BC. Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the following centuries make frequent reference to them. The ancient Greeks called the people of Britain

7931-432: The racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers — they are not even properly equipped. We have beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they will crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about plunder. Just win and you will have everything. Boudica

8034-631: The rebels passed these places. The first location on the Devil's Highway that matches the description from Tacitus is Virginia Water. Local legends offer "The Rampart" near Messing , Essex and Ambresbury Banks in Epping Forest, although these accounts are not thought to hold a factual basis. More recently, a discovery of Roman artefacts in Kings Norton close to Metchley Camp has suggested another possibility. Considering Akeman Street as

8137-508: The refugees to the mercy of the Boudica's army - thus ruling out locations such as Mancetter. Paulinus was traveling from Wales and would have sent a messenger to Exeter to muster the 2nd Legion to rendezvous with him in London. On finding that the 2nd Legion was yet to arrive, he would choose to march down the Devil's Highway to meet them, this was also a move into the land of the client King of

8240-560: The regions of modern East Anglia , East Midlands , North East England , Argyll , and South East England were the first to fall to the Germanic and Gaelic Scots invasions. The kingdom of Ceint (modern Kent) fell in 456 AD. Linnuis (which stood astride modern Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire) was subsumed as early as 500 AD and became the English Kingdom of Lindsey. Regni (essentially modern Sussex and eastern Hampshire )

8343-524: The remains of three Iron Age Britons buried ca. 100 BC. A female buried in Linton, Cambridgeshire carried the maternal haplogroup H1e , while two males buried in Hinxton both carried the paternal haplogroup R1b1a2a1a2 , and the maternal haplogroups K1a1b1b and H1ag1 . Their genetic profile was considered typical for Northwest European populations. Though sharing a common Northwestern European origin,

8446-507: The southern half of Great Britain , a period that lasted until AD 410. Modern historians are dependent for information about the uprising and the defeat of Boudica on the narratives written by the Roman historians Tacitus and Dio Cassius , which are the only surviving accounts of the battle known to exist. In AD 43 Rome invaded south-eastern Britain. The conquest was gradual, and while some native kingdoms were defeated in battle and occupied, others remained nominally independent as allies of

8549-490: The spot by the weakness of their sex, or the infirmity of age, or the attractions of the place, were cut off by the enemy. — Tacitus The wealthy citizens and traders of Londinium had fled after the news of Catus Decianus defecting to Gaul. Suetonius took with him as refugees those citizens who wished to escape, and the rest of the inhabitants were left to their fate. The rebels burned Londinium, torturing and killing everyone who had not evacuated with Suetonius. Archaeology shows

8652-413: The succession of his kingdom upon his death, and by the brutal mistreatment of Boudica and her daughters by the occupying Romans. Although heavily outnumbered, the Roman army led by Gaius Suetonius Paulinus decisively defeated the allied tribes in a final battle which inflicted heavy losses on the Britons. The location of this battle is not known. It marked the end of resistance to Roman rule in most of

8755-567: The time of the Roman departure, the Germanic -speaking Anglo-Saxons began a migration to the south-eastern coast of Britain, where they began to establish their own kingdoms, and the Gaelic -speaking Scots migrated from Dál nAraidi (modern Northern Ireland ) to the west coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man. At the same time, Britons established themselves in what is now called Brittany and

8858-466: The uprising, Suetonius conducted widespread punitive operations among the Britons, but criticism of this by Classicianus led to an investigation headed by Nero's freedman Polyclitus . No historical records tell what had happened to Boudica's two daughters. The site of the battle was not identified by either classical historian, although Tacitus mentions some of its features; its location is unknown. Most modern historians favour potential location sites in

8961-467: The uprising, fled to Gaul . When news of the rebellion reached Suetonius, he hurried through hostile territory to Londinium, a relatively new settlement founded after the conquest of AD 43, which had grown to be a thriving commercial centre with a population of traders and probably Roman officials. Suetonius considered fighting the rebellious tribes there, but with his insufficient numbers of troops and chastened by Petillius's defeat, he decided to sacrifice

9064-577: The western Pennines , and as far as modern Leeds in West Yorkshire . Thus the Kingdom of Strathclyde became the last of the Brittonic kingdoms of the 'old north' to fall in the 1090s when it was effectively divided between England and Scotland. The Britons also retained control of Wales and Kernow (encompassing Cornwall , parts of Devon including Dartmoor , and the Isles of Scilly ) until

9167-695: Was accompanied by wholesale population changes is still debated. During this time, Britons migrated to mainland Europe and established significant colonies in Brittany (now part of France), the Channel Islands , and Britonia (now part of Galicia , Spain). By the 11th century, Brittonic-speaking populations had split into distinct groups: the Welsh in Wales, the Cornish in Cornwall, the Bretons in Brittany,

9270-523: Was again successful and received honours from Vespasian, which included his first consulate . In 71, Cerialis was appointed governor of Roman Britain , bringing the II Adiutrix with him to the province. He was supported by Gnaeus Julius Agricola , commander of XX Valeria Victrix . As governor, Cerialis campaigned against the Brigantes of northern England. In 74, Cerialis left Britain;

9373-426: Was closely related to Common Brittonic. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain during the 5th century, Anglo-Saxon settlement of eastern and southern Britain began. The culture and language of the Britons fragmented, and much of their territory gradually became Anglo-Saxon , while the north became subject to a similar settlement by Gaelic -speaking tribes from Ireland. The extent to which this cultural change

9476-416: Was conquered by Gaelic Scots in 871 AD. Dumnonia (encompassing Cornwall , Devonshire , and the Isles of Scilly ) was partly conquered during the mid 9th century AD, with most of modern Devonshire being annexed by the Anglo-Saxons, but leaving Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly ( Enesek Syllan ), and for a time part of western Devonshire (including Dartmoor ), still in the hands of the Britons, where they became

9579-416: Was conquered by the Anglo-Saxons in 627 AD. Pengwern , which covered Staffordshire , Shropshire , Herefordshire , and Worcestershire , was largely destroyed in 656 AD, with only its westernmost parts in modern Wales remaining under the control of the Britons, and it is likely that Cynwidion, which had stretched from modern Bedfordshire to Northamptonshire, fell in the same general period as Pengwern, though

9682-504: Was flogged and her daughters raped. According to Dio, Roman financiers called in their loans. In AD 60 or 61, while the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus , was leading a campaign against the island of Mona (modern Anglesey ) off the northwest coast of Wales, a refuge for British rebels and a stronghold of the druids , the Iceni conspired with their neighbours the Trinovantes , amongst others, to rise in revolt. Boudica

9785-483: Was given a lavish burial. Boudica's burial site is unknown, and is presumably somewhere in the south of Great Britain . Modern speculations about its location lack serious evidence and have not gained consensus among archaeologists or historians. One local tradition has associated it with Gop Hill Cairn at Trelawnyd in Flintshire, Wales. The imaginative Morien suggests that Bryn Sion in Flintshire may have been

9888-452: Was likely fully conquered by 510 AD. Ynys Weith (Isle of Wight) fell in 530 AD, Caer Colun (essentially modern Essex) by 540 AD. The Gaels arrived on the northwest coast of Britain from Ireland, dispossessed the native Britons, and founded Dal Riata which encompassed modern Argyll , Skye , and Iona between 500 and 560 AD. Deifr (Deira) which encompassed modern-day Teesside, Wearside, Tyneside, Humberside, Lindisfarne ( Medcaut ), and

9991-430: Was made up of many tribes and kingdoms, associated with various hillforts . The Britons followed an Ancient Celtic religion overseen by druids . Some of the southern tribes had strong links with mainland Europe, especially Gaul and Belgica , and minted their own coins . The Roman Empire conquered most of Britain in the 1st century AD, creating the province of Britannia . The Romans invaded northern Britain , but

10094-562: Was originally compiled by the orders of King Alfred the Great in approximately 890, starts with this sentence: "The island Britain is 800 miles long and 200 miles broad. And there are in the island five nations; English, Welsh (or British), Scottish, Pictish, and Latin. The first inhabitants were the Britons, who came from Armenia, and first peopled Britain southward" ("Armenia" is possibly a mistaken transcription of Armorica , an area in northwestern Gaul including modern Brittany ). In 43 AD,

10197-510: Was previously a village known as Battle Bridge, an ancient crossing of the River Fleet . The original name of the bridge was Broad Ford Bridge. The name "Battle Bridge" led to a tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Romans and the Iceni tribe led by Boudica, but this tradition is not supported by any historical evidence and is rejected by modern historians, although Lewis Spence 's 1937 book Boadicea – warrior queen of

10300-643: Was supported by Celts who were enraged at the killing of druids on Mona and moved towards the Roman force in North Wales, with battle possibly ensuing at Trelawnyd. A bronze head found in Suffolk in 1907, now in the British Museum , was probably struck from a statue of Nero during the revolt. Celtic Britons The Britons ( * Pritanī , Latin : Britanni , Welsh : Brythoniaid ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons , were

10403-500: Was their leader. According to Tacitus, the rebels drew inspiration from the example of Arminius , the prince of the Cherusci who had driven the Romans out of Germany in AD 9, and their own ancestors who had driven Julius Caesar from Britain. Cassius Dio says that at the outset Boudica employed a form of divination , releasing a hare from the folds of her dress and interpreting the direction in which it ran, and invoked Andraste ,

10506-522: Was to enter Rome via Sabine territory along the Via Salaria. This success and his brother-in-law's trust gave him the command of XIV Gemina , then stationed in the difficult province of Germania Inferior . Again, Cerialis had to deal with a local revolt, the Batavian rebellion , in which the local tribes, led by Julius Civilis , a romanized prince, besieged two Roman legions at Xanten. Cerialis

10609-467: Was used by Celtic Britons during war and ceremony. There are competing hypotheses for when Celtic peoples, and the Celtic languages, first arrived in Britain, none of which have gained consensus. The traditional view during most of the twentieth century was that Celtic culture grew out of the central European Hallstatt culture , from which the Celts and their languages reached Britain in the second half of

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