Welsh Journals

THE TRIBES OF WALES* THE object of this article is to assemble the relevant evidence to indicate approximately the areas occupied by the various tribes of Wales recorded by Roman authors, and the areas assignable to the civitates which, in some cases at least, succeeded them. This seems the more necessary because it has not been attempted before, and because various assumptions are commonly made without any evidential justification. It is a depressing fact that our evidence is far less, both in quantity and precision, than we could wish. If it becomes clear that only limited inferences can be drawn, we hope that this article will at least have the value of indicating the limits of legitimate inference. I. SOURCES The principal sources are Tacitus and Ptolemy, the only classical writers to name any of the tribes of Wales. Cornelius Tacitus (c. 60-120) was, on the evidence of surviving writings, the greatest historian produced by the Roman world. As a senator (and consul in 97), writing for a cultured audience at Rome, he was much con- cerned in his writing with prominent men and events of significance or interest to his readers. The two works which concern us are the Agricola and the Annales.1 The former is a biography of the author's father-in-law, Cn. Iulius Agricola (40-c. 93), governor of Britain from (probably) 78 to 84-85. Written at the earliest in 96, it was not published in its final form until after the death of Nerva in January 98. The information relevant to our theme is contained in chapter 18, dealing with the campaigns of Agricola's first season; it presumably derives from Agricola himself, though Tacitus may also have used official reports. The Annales is a chronicle history of Rome from 14 to 68. It was the last work of Tacitus and was probably written c. 115-20.2 The section with which we are concerned is book 12, chapters 32 to 39; it concerns the years 49 to 51. The sources are uncertain, but would certainly have included official archives. It is a pleasure to record the assistance of Mr. Leslie Alcock and Mr. Jeffrey L. Davies. who have discussed a number of points with us and were kind enough to read and comment upon a draft of this paper. Mr. Gwynedd O. Pierce and Mr. J. Gwynfor Jones have been of assistance with place names. 1 There are various editions of Tacitus available. We have used the Oxford Classical Texts: C. D. Fisher (ed.), Annales (1906); H. Furneaux (ed.). Agricola (1900). For Tacitus as a historian, see R. Syme. Tacitus (1958). 2 Syme. op. cit., pp. 465-80.