Atrebates
The Atrebates (
After the tribes of Gallia Belgica were defeated by Caesar in 57 BC, 4,000 Atrebates participated in the Battle of Alesia in 53, led by their chief Commius. They revolted again in 51 BC, after which they maintained a friendly relationship with Rome, as Commius received sovereignty over the neighbouring Morini.[1][2] The quality of their woollens is still mentioned in 301 AD by Diocletian's Price Edict.[2]
An offshoot of the Belgic tribe probably entered Britain before 54 BC, where it was successively ruled by kings Commius, Tincommius, Eppillus and Verica. After 43 AD, only parts of the area were still controlled by king Claudius Cogidubnus, after which they fell under Roman power.[3]
Name
They are mentioned as Atrebates by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Pliny (1st c. AD),[4] Atrebátioi (Ἀτρεβάτιοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),[5] Atribátioi (Ἀτριβάτιοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[6] Atrébas (Ἀτρέβας) by Cassius Dio (3rd c. AD),[7] and as Atrabatis in the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).[8][9]
The
The city of Arras, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Atrabatum ('civitas of the Atrebates'; Atrebatis in 881, Arras in 1137), the region of Artois, attested in 799 as pago Atratinse ('pagus of the Abrates'; Atrebatense castrum in 899, later Arteis), and the Arrouaise Forest , attested ca. 1050 as Atravasia silva ('forest of the Atrebates'; Arwasia in 1202), are all named after the Belgic tribe.[11]
Geography
Territory
The Belgic Atrebates dwelled in the present-day region of Artois, in the catchment area of the Scarpe river.[12][1] They commanded two hill forts: a large and central one near Arras, and a frontier one on the Escaut river.[12] The Atrebates were separated from the Ambiani by the Canche river.[12]
In the mid-first century BC, an offshoot of the tribe lived in Britain, where they occupied a region stretching between the Thames, the Test, and West Sussex.[3]
Settlements
During the
Before 54 BC, an offshoot of the Gallic tribe probably settled in Britain.[3] After the Roman invasion of Britain, three civitates were created in the late 1st c. BC: one of the Atrebates, with a capital in Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester); one of the Belgae with its capital at Venta Belgarum (Winchester); and one of the Reg(i)ni, with a capital at Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester).[3]
History
Gaul
In 57 BC, they were part of a Belgic military alliance in response to Julius Caesar's conquests elsewhere in Gaul, contributing 15,000 men.[14] 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.[citation needed] 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
Britain
Atrebates | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Capital | Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) |
Location | Hampshire West Sussex Berkshire |
Rulers | Commius Tincomarus, Eppillus, Verica |
Commius soon established himself as king of the British Atrebates, a kingdom he may have founded. Their territory comprised modern Hampshire, West Sussex and Berkshire, centred on the capital Calleva Atrebatum (modern Silchester). They were bordered to the north by the Dobunni and Catuvellauni; to the east by the Regni; and to the south by the Belgae.
The settlement of the Atrebates in Britain was not a mass population movement. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe argues that they "seem to have comprised a series of indigenous tribes, possibly with some intrusive Belgic element, given initial coherence by Commius".[citation needed] 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. 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.[citation needed] After this time, the Atrebates were recognized as a client kingdom of Rome.[citation needed]
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, some have concluded that there were two kings, father and son, of the same name.[citation needed]
Three later kings of the British Atrebates name themselves on their coins as sons of Commius: Tincomarus, Eppillus and Verica. 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). Numismatic and other archeological evidence suggests that 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 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, of either the Trinovantes or the Cantiaci). 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
After the Roman conquest, part of the Atrebates' lands were organized into the pro-Roman kingdom of the Regni under Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, who may have been Verica's son. The tribal territory was later organised as the civitates (administrative districts within a Roman province) of the Atrebates, Regni and possibly the Belgae.
However it is possible that the Atrebates were a family of rulers (dynasty), as there is no evidence for a major migration from Belgium to Britain.[citation needed]
List of kings of the Atrebates
- Commius, 57 - c. 20 BC
- Tincomarus, c. 20 BC - AD 7, son of Commius
- Eppillus, AD 8 - 15, brother of Tincomarus
- Verica, 15 - 40, brother of Eppillus
- Claudius Cogidubnus
- Full Roman annexation.
See also
- List of Celtic tribes
- List of peoples of Gaul
- Celtic tribes in the British Isles
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Schön & Todd 2006.
- ^ a b c Drinkwater 2015.
- ^ a b c d Frere & Millett 2015.
- ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 2:4; Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:106.
- ^ Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:3:5.
- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:9:4.
- ^ Cassius Dio. Rhōmaïkḕ Historía, 40:43.
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, oc 42:40.
- ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Atrebates.
- ^ Lambert 1994, p. 35; Delamarre 2003, pp. 59, 301–302; Busse 2006, p. 198; Matasović 2009, pp. 46, 388; see Lambert 1997, p. 398 for Atrebas/Atrebatis.
- ^ Nègre 1990, pp. 152, 424.
- ^ a b c Wightman 1985, p. 29.
- ^ a b Delamarre 2003, pp. 114, 233.
- ^ Caesar, De Bello Gallico, 2.4
Bibliography
- Busse, Peter E. (2006). "Belgae". In ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.
- ISBN 9782877723695.
- ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
- Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
- ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
- ISBN 978-2-87772-089-2.
- S2CID 162600621.
- ISBN 9789004173361.
- ISBN 978-2-600-02883-7.
- Schön, Franz; Todd, Malcolm (2006). "Atrebates". Brill's New Pauly. .
- ISBN 978-0-520-05297-0.
Primary sources
- Augustus, Res Gestae Divi Augusti
- Dio Cassius, Roman History
- Sextus Julius Frontinus, Strategemata
- De Bello Gallico
- Ptolemy, Geography
Further reading
- Bean, Simon C. (1994). The coinage of Atrebates and Regni (Ph.D. thesis). University of Nottingham.
- John Creighton, Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain, Cambridge University Press, 2000
- ISBN 0713471840
- Sheppard Frere, Britannia. 1967, revised 1978, 3rd ed. 1987