Verica (early 1st century AD) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

client king A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

in the years preceding the Claudian invasion of 43 AD. From his coinage, he appears to have been king of the, probably Belgic,

Atrebates The Atrebates (Gaulish: *''Atrebatis'', 'dwellers, land-owners, possessors of the soil') were a Belgic tribe of the Iron Age and the Roman period, originally dwelling in the Artois region. After the tribes of Gallia Belgica were defeated by ...

tribe and a son of

Commius Commius (Commios, Comius, Comnios) was a king of the Belgic nation of the Atrebates, initially in Gaul, then in Britain, in the 1st century BC. Ally of Caesar When Julius Caesar conquered the Atrebates in Gaul in 57 BC, as recounted in his ...

. The distribution of his coins also shows that Verica's kingdom was centred on modern

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

and east

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, and its capital would have been in or close to what became the Roman

Noviomagus Reginorum Noviomagus Reginorum was Chichester's Roman heart, very little of which survives above ground. It lay in the land of the friendly Atrebates and is in the early medieval-founded English county of West Sussex. On the English Channel, Chichester ...

(modern

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

). He succeeded his elder brother Eppillus as king in about 15 AD, and may also have reigned over the northern Atrebatic kingdom at

Calleva Atrebatum Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain. The modern villa ...

, today called

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. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of ...

. He was recognised as '' rex'' by Rome and appears to have had friendly trade and diplomatic links with the empire. His territory was pressed from the east by the

Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their ...

, led by Epaticcus, brother of

Cunobelinus Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_ ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c'' ...

, who conquered Calleva in about 25 AD. After Epaticcus's death ca. 35 AD Verica regained some territory, but Cunobelinus's son Caratacus took over and conquered the entire kingdom some time after 40 AD. According to Welcher, by 42AD when Verica was expelled, his kingdom had been reduced to a core area around Chichester and the Manhood peninsula, perhaps contained within the dykes of the Chichester entrenchments. Dio Cassius records that "Bericus" (almost certainly Verica) was expelled from Britain around this time during a revolt. Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Suetonius refers to demands by the Britons that Rome return "certain deserters". As ''rex'', Verica was nominally an ally of Rome, so his exile gave Claudius an excuse to begin his invasion. Verica's relationship with Rome has been used to argue for the site of the

Roman invasion of Britain The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Stan ...

as being along the south coast to assist him, rather than being at the traditional spot at

Richborough Richborough () is a settlement north of Sandwich on the east coast of the county of Kent, England. Richborough lies close to the Isle of Thanet. The population of the settlement is included in the civil parish of Ash. Although now some dist ...

in Kent. Verica's southern Atrebatic kingdom of what is now Sussex and east Hampshire, had maintained a good relationship with Rome for many years. Verica is likely to have been seen by the Romans as an ally and a counter-balance to the powerful Catuvellaunian tribe to the north. This may have led to Roman military intervention to support Verica against the Catuvellauni who were becoming a threat to the Roman Empire's north-west frontier. Unlike other nearby areas, the

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

s in the core of Verica's kingdom show no sign of refortification and show the apparently pro-Roman attitude of the area's inhabitants. After the invasion, Verica may have been restored as king, but this is not attested in the historical or archaeological record. In any case a new ruler for the region,

Cogidubnus Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus, Togidumnus or similar; see naming difficulties) was a 1st-century king of the Regni or Regnenses tribe in early Roman Britain. Chichester and the nearby Roman villa at Fishbourne, believed by some t ...

, soon appeared. Cogidubnus may have been an heir of Verica who by this time would have been very elderly indeed.

Bibliography

References

External links

Atrebates
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Roman-Britain.co.uk
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Romans in BritainCoinage of Verica
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{{authority control Briton rulers Celtic warriors 1st-century monarchs in Europe