Ordovices

Ordovices
Tribes of Wales at the time of the Roman invasion. The modern Anglo-Welsh border is also shown, for reference purposes.

The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain, before the Roman invasion of Britain. Its tribal lands were located in present day Wales and England between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east. The Ordovices were conquered by the Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola in the campaign of AD 77/78.

The Celtic name ordo-wik- could have a meaning in some way related to the word for "hammer"; Irish 'Ord', Welsh 'Gordd' (with a G- prothetic) and Breton 'Horzh' (with a H- prothetic), all of which mean "hammer."

The Ordovices farmed and kept sheep and built fortified strongholds and hillforts. They were among the few British tribes that resisted the Roman invasion. The resistance was mainly organized by the Celtic leader Caratacus, exiled in their lands after the defeat of his tribe in the Battle of the Medway. Caratacus became the warlord of the Ordovices and neighbouring Silures, and a Roman public enemy in the decade of 50. Following the Battle of Caer Caradoc, where governor Publius Ostorius Scapula defeated Caratacus, the Ordovices stopped being a threat to Rome, probably due to heavy losses.

In the 70s, the Ordovices rebelled against Roman occupation and destroyed a cavalry squadron. This act of war provoked an equally strong response by Agricola, who, according to Tacitus, exterminated the whole tribe. No other mention of the tribe appears in the historical records, but in view of the terrain of the area occupied by the Ordovices it is questionable whether Agricola could have wiped out the entire population. The name of this tribe appears to be preserved in the place name Dinorwig ("Fort of the Ordovices") in North Wales.

The Ordovician geologic period was first described by Charles Lapworth in 1879 based on rocks located in the original lands of the Ordovices and was named after them.

See also

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ordovĭces — Ordovĭces, Volk Britanniens, im Norden des j. Wales u. auf Anglesey; ihre Stadt hieß Mediolanum u. lag beim j. Ellesmeere …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • ORDOVICES — populi Albionis, quos Lhuydus Cestrienses, et Salopienses in Angliae Walliaeque confinio, ac Lancastrenses esse putat. Aliis sunt in Comitatu Montis Gomerici, in Mervinia et Arvonia, in agro Deubighensi et Flintensi. Quibus addit Camdenus Monam… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Ordovices — Peuples celtes de l’actuel Pays de Galles lors de l invasion romaine. Délimitations territoriales approximatives. Les Ordovices étaient un puissant peuple celte brittonique de l’île de Bretagne (actuelle Grande Bretagne), avant l’occupation… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ordovice — Ordovices Peuples celtes de l’actuel Pays de Galles lors de l invasion romaine. Délimitations territoriales approximatives. Les Ordovices étaient un puissant peuple celte brittonique de l’île de Bretagne (actuelle Grande Bretagne), avant… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ОРДОВИКИ —    • Ordovīces,          Όρδούϊκες, британский народ, живший в северной части нынешнего Валлиса, против острова Mona. Tac. ann. 12, 33. Tac. Agr. 18 …   Реальный словарь классических древностей

  • History of Wales — The country of Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years, though continuous human habitation dates from the period after the end of the last Ice age, around 9,000 BC. Wales has many remains from the… …   Wikipedia

  • Roman Wales — Up to and during the Roman occupation of Britain, the native inhabitants of Roman Britain spoke Brythonic languages (a sub family of the Celtic languages) and were regarded as Britons (or Brythons). The area of modern Wales was divided among a… …   Wikipedia

  • Carataco — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Carataco (Caratacus, Καράτακος, Caractacus, Caradawc) fue un caudillo de los catuvellani, hijo del rey Cunobelinus, y principal líder de la resistencia contra la invasión romana. Contenido 1 La conquista 2… …   Wikipedia Español

  • ORDOVICIEN — L’Ordovicien est une période d’une soixantaine de millions d’années qui s’étend de la fin du Cambrien au début du Silurien. Le terme «Ordovicien» (emprunté à la tribu des Ordovices qui vivait dans le nord du pays de Galles) a été créé par C.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Ordovizium — Or|do|vi|zi|um 〈[ vi: ] n.; s; unz.; Geol.〉 Formation des Paläozoikums (zw. Kambrium u. Silur) vor 460 410 Mio. Jahren mit beginnender kaledonischer Gebirgsbildung u. erstem Auftreten von Kephalopoden [nach dem kelt. Volksstamm der Ordovizier… …   Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”