Roman Britain / Learning resources

Peoples and communities

The Catuvellauni

Explore a powerful southern group through rulers, coins and the struggle over Roman conquest.

Power before AD 43

The Catuvellauni are associated with a powerful political network in southern and eastern Britain. Verlamion, near modern St Albans, was an important centre. Coins bearing rulers’ names provide evidence for authority and connections that can be compared with later written accounts.

Cunobelinus and Camulodunum

Under Cunobelinus, Camulodunum became a major centre of power. This development links Catuvellaunian history with that of the Trinovantes, without making the two names interchangeable. Changes in coin production and distribution are part of the evidence, not a complete account of how every community was governed.

Caratacus and the invasion

Caratacus, a son of Cunobelinus, resisted the invasion and continued fighting in what is now Wales. His story connects southern dynastic power with a wider coalition against Rome. It should not turn him into a permanent ruler of every group that opposed the army.

Context and evidence

A map of tribal names is a reconstruction made from several kinds of evidence. Keep its boundaries approximate, and distinguish the movements of a ruler or a coin from the borders of a modern state.

Sources and further reading

  1. University of Warwick: the Catuvellauni before Rome
  2. University of Warwick: Iron Age tribes and the evidence for their territories

Romans in Britain · People · Places · Learning resources