- Roman client kingdoms in Britain
The Roman
client kingdom s in Britain were native tribes who chose to align themselves with theRoman Empire because they saw it as the best option for self-preservation or for protection from other hostile tribes. Alternately, 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 theTrinovantes , who had been de-throned byCassivellaunus and then aided Caesar's second invasion of Britain in 54BC. The system further developed in the following hundred years, particularly underAugustus '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 theCatuvellauni underCunobelinus in the southeast, and partly as a result of the invasion itself, and includedCogidubnus of the Regnenses or Regni,Prasutagus of theIceni andCartimandua of theBrigantes and, probably,Boduocus of theDobunni . 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 states , including theVotadini inNorthumberland .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.
Client Kingdoms
Atrebates, later Regnenses or Regni
Client status: "55 BC-70s AD"
Location: "Roughly modern-dayHampshire andWest Sussex (capitals nowSilchester andChichester )"After his defeat of the Belgic
Atrebates on the Continent,Julius Caesar had employed their kingCommius 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 theMorini . 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 theCatuvellauni 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 restoreVerica 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 theAtrebates . His people were now referred to as Regni or Regnenses (see theRegnenses article for discussion of the name). Cogidubnus was notably loyal to the Romans (see, e.g.,Tacitus ), and after his death, probably in the 70s AD, the kingdom became part of the Roman province of Britannia.Iceni
Client status: "c.47-60 AD"
Location: "Roughly modern-dayNorfolk "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.Votadini
Client status: "c.140s-c.410 AD"
Location: "SoutheastScotland and northeast England, including modern-dayNorthumberland "The Votadini were a
Brythonic people who lived under the direct rule of RomeHadrian's Wall and theAntonine 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 thePicts 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 theGododdin , and maintained a kingdom until their defeat by theAngles c.600 AD.References
* Suetonius, "
Claudius "
*Tacitus , Annals"
*Dio Cassius , "Roman History"
*Augustus , "Res Gestae Divi Augusti "
*Claudius Ptolemaeus , "Geographia"
* John Creighton (2000), Coins and power in Late Iron Age Britain, Cambridge University PressExternal links
* The History Files [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/MainBritainIndex.htm Kingdoms of Britain]
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