The Cenimagni were a tribe of
Iron Age Britain
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ir ...
in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of
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 ...
. It has been suggested that the name is a variant of ''
Iceni
The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were an ancient tribe of eastern Britain during the British Iron Age, Iron Age and early Roman Britain, Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the ar ...
'' with the Latin adjective ''magni'', meaning "great". Others have suggested that they may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "four kings of that region" and in the archaeological record by distinct pottery assemblages.
During Julius Caesar's second invasion of Britain in 54 BCE, following Caesar's military success and restoration of King
Mandubracius
Mandubracius or Mandubratius was a king of the Trinovantes of south-eastern Britain in the 1st century BC.
History
Mandubracius was the son of a Trinovantian king, named Imanuentius in some manuscripts of Julius Caesar's '' De Bello Gallico' ...
to power over 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 ...
, opposition to the Romans coalesced around the figure of
Cassivellaunus which led to divided loyalties among the Britons, as Caesar records. Emissaries of five British tribes, including the Cenimagni (the others being the
Ancalites, the
Segontiaci, the
Bibroci and the
Cassi), arrived at the Roman camp to treat for peace, and agreed to reveal details of Cassivellaunus' stronghold. Caesar besieged him there and brought him to terms. When Caesar left Britain he took
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...
s from the Britons, although which tribes were compelled to give any is not specified.
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 ...
, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico
''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; ), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' (), is Julius Caesar's first-hand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it, Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine yea ...
'' 5.17-23
See also
*
Iron Age tribes in Britain
*
Iceni
The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were an ancient tribe of eastern Britain during the British Iron Age, Iron Age and early Roman Britain, Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the ar ...
*
Cantiaci
The Cantiaci or Cantii were an Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest of Britain, Roman conquest, and gave their name to a ''civitas'' of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern Englan ...
References
{{Britain-stub
Celtic Britons
Tribes involved in Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain
Historical Celtic peoples