The Cantiaci or Cantii were an Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain before the
Roman conquest, and gave their name to a ''
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...
'' of
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caes ...
. They lived in the area now called
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, in south-eastern England. Their capital was ''
Durovernum Cantiacorum
Durovernum Cantiacorum was a town and British hillforts, hillfort () in Roman Britain at the site of present-day Canterbury in Kent. It occupied a strategic location on Watling Street at the best local crossing of the River Stour, Kent, Stour, wh ...
'', now
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
.
They were bordered by the
Regni to the west, and 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 thei ...
to the north.
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
landed in Cantium in 55 and 54
BCE, the first
Roman expeditions to Britain. He recounts in his ''
De Bello Gallico'' v. 14:
Rulers
Pre-Roman Iron Age
Julius Caesar named five Celtic tribes inhabiting the land that would become the "heartland of 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 thei ...
": the
Ancalites, the
Bibroci, the
Cassi, the
Cenimagni
The Cenimagni were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. It has been suggested that the name is a variant of ''Iceni'' with the Latin adjective ''magni'', ...
, and the
Segontiaci, each with their own "king" or chieftain. He found their way of life to be very similar to their cousins in
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
with whom they were close – the invasion of Britain may have been triggered by the Britons' supply of arms to the Gauls, who were being subjugated by the Romans.
Caesar mentions four kings,
Segovax,
Carvilius,
Cingetorix, and
Taximagulus, who held power in Cantium at the time of his second expedition in 54 BCE. The British leader
Cassivellaunus, besieged in his stronghold north of the Thames, sent a message to these four kings to attack the Roman naval camp as a distraction. The attack failed, a chieftain called
Lugotorix was captured, and Cassivellaunus was forced to seek terms.
In the century between Caesar's expeditions and the conquest under
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
(starting in 43 CE), kings in Britain began to issue coins stamped with their names. The following kings of the Cantiaci are known:
*
Dubnovellaunus: May have been an ally or sub-king of
Tasciovanus
Tasciovanus (died c. 9 AD) was a historical king of the Catuvellauni tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain.
History
Tasciovanus is known only through Numismatics, numismatic evidence. He appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni c. ...
of the Catuvellauni, or a son of
Addedomarus of the
Trinovantes
The Trinovantēs (Common Brittonic: *''Trinowantī'') or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes of Pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, and included land ...
; presented himself as a supplicant to
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
7 BCE.
*
Vosenius, ruled until c. 15 CE.
*
Eppillus, originally king of the
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 Ca ...
: Coins indicate he became king of the Cantiaci c. 15 CE, at the same time as his brother
Verica
Verica (early 1st century AD) 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 probably Belgic Atrebates tribe and a son of Commius. T ...
became king of the Atrebates.
*
, king of the Catuvellauni: Expanded his influence into Cantiaci territory.
*Adminius, son of Cunobelinus: Seems to have ruled on his father's behalf, beginning c. 30 CE. Lives of the Twelve Caesars">Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...
tells us he was exiled by Cunobelinus c. 40 CE, leading to Caligula's aborted invasion of Britain.
*Anarevitos, known only from a coin discovered in 2010, probably a descendant of
; but Nennius is regarded as an untrustworthy source, and "Gwrangon seems to have been transported by the story-teller into Kent from Gwent" and "is turned into an imaginary King of Kent, secretly disposed of his realm in favour of Hengist, whose daughter Vortigern wished to marry".
, ''Lives of the Twelve Caesars''
*John Creighton (2000), ''Coins and power in Late Iron Age Britain'', Cambridge University Press
*