View source for Cantiaci

{{Short description|Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox Celts of England
|Name         = Cantiaci
|fullname          = Cantiaci
|map               = [[Image:Map of the Territory of the Cantiaci.svg|220px|Territory of the Cantiaci]]
|name          = Cantiaci
|capital           = ''[[Durovernum Cantiacorum]]'' <small>([[Canterbury]])</small>
|location      = [[Kent]]<br />[[East Sussex]]
|rulers             = [[Dubnovellaunus]], [[Vosenius]], [[Eppillus]], [[Cunobelinus]], [[Adminius]]
}}

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 England. Their capital was ''[[Durovernum Cantiacorum]]'', now [[Canterbury]].

They were bordered by the [[Regni]] to the west, and the [[Catuvellauni]] to the north.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

[[Julius Caesar]] landed in Cantium in 55 and 54&nbsp;[[Common era|BCE]], the first [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] expeditions to Britain. He recounts in his ''[[De Bello Gallico]]'' v.&nbsp;14:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caesar |first1=Gaius Julius |title=C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, chapter 14 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |edition=1st |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0001%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D14}}</ref>


{{blockquote|{{lang|la|Ex his omnibus longe sunt humanissimi qui Cantium incolunt, quae regio est maritima omnis, neque multum a Gallica differunt consuetudine.}} }}
{{blockquote|Of all these [British tribes], by far the most civilised are they who dwell in Kent, which is entirely a maritime region, and who differ but little from the [[Gaul]]s in their customs.}}

==Rulers==

===Pre-Roman Iron Age===
Julius Caesar named five Celtic tribes inhabiting the land that would become the "heartland of the [[Catuvellauni]]": the [[Ancalites]], the [[Bibroci]], the [[Cassi]], the [[Cenimagni]], 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]] with whom they were close&nbsp;– the invasion of Britain may have been triggered by the Britons' supply of arms to the Gauls, who were being subjugated by the Romans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sargent |first=Andrew |date=2013 |title=The Story of the Thames |publisher=Amberley Publishing |isbn=9781445611945 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1AfwngEACAAJ }}{{page needed|date=October 2018}}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2018}}

Caesar mentions four kings, [[Segovax]], [[Carvilius]], [[Cingetorix (Briton)|Cingetorix]], and [[Taximagulus]], who held power in Cantium at the time of his second expedition in 54&nbsp;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]] (starting in 43&nbsp;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]] of the Catuvellauni, or a son of [[Addedomarus]] of the [[Trinovantes]]; presented himself as a supplicant to [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]] {{circa}}&nbsp;7&nbsp;BCE.
*[[Vosenius]], ruled until c.&nbsp;15&nbsp;CE.
*[[Eppillus]], originally king of the [[Atrebates]]: Coins indicate he became king of the Cantiaci c.&nbsp;15&nbsp;CE, at the same time as his brother [[Verica]] became king of the Atrebates.
*[[Cunobelinus]], 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.&nbsp;30&nbsp;CE. [[Lives of the Twelve Caesars|Suetonius]] tells us he was exiled by Cunobelinus c.&nbsp;40&nbsp;CE, leading to [[Caligula]]'s aborted invasion of Britain.
*Anarevitos, known only from a coin discovered in 2010, probably a descendant of [[Eppillus]] and ruling c.&nbsp;10&nbsp;BCE&nbsp;– 20&nbsp;CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rudd |first=Chris |title=New Iron Age King Found in Kent |journal=The Searcher |date=2011 |pages=50–51 |url= http://www.celticcoins.com/pages/New%20iron%20age%20king.pdf |access-date=30 October 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110928080958/http://www.celticcoins.com/pages/New%20iron%20age%20king.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-28 }}</ref>

===Sub-Roman period===
According to [[Nennius]], [[Gwrangon]] was King of Kent in the time of [[Vortigern]], until Vortigern took away the kingdom and gave it to [[Hengist]]; 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".<ref>Wade-Evans 1938{{full citation needed|date=October 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Iron Age tribes in Britain]]
*[[List of Celtic tribes]]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

==Bibliography==
{{More footnotes needed|date=September 2021}}
*[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[De Bello Gallico]]''
*[[Lives of the Twelve Caesars|Suetonius]], ''Lives of the Twelve Caesars''
*John Creighton (2000), ''Coins and power in Late Iron Age Britain'', Cambridge University Press
*{{cite book|last1=Detsicas|first1=Alec|title=The Cantiaci|date=1983|publisher=Sutton Publishing Ltd.|isbn=978-0862991173}}

==External links==
*[http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/cantiaci/ Cantiaci] at [http://www.roman-britain.co.uk Roman-Britain.co.uk] 
*The History Files: [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/BritainCantii.htm Cantiaci / Cantii]
{{Iron Age tribes in Britain}}

[[Category:Tribes involved in Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain]]
[[Category:History of Kent]]