Dobunni (Celtic tribe)
Nation | Defunct
100 BCE to 100 CE
The Dobunni are one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman invasion of Britain.
There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions.
The latter part of the name possibly derives from Bune, a cup or vessel.
The name seems to have had a similar meaning to the later tribal name Hwicce; both being related to the recognizable cult of a Romano-British goddess.
Various historians and archaeologists have examined the Dobunni, including Stephen J. Yeates in his book The Tribe of Witches (2008).
Worlds
The Atlantic Lands
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Dio Cassius referred to the Dobunni tribe as "Bodunni", probably a misspelling.
Tributary to the Catuvellauni, they had capitulated to the invading Romans when Caratacus and Togodumnus withdrew.
Unlike the Silures, their neighbors in what will later become south east Wales, they are not a warlike people and submitted to the Romans even before they reached their lands.
Afterwards they readily adopted the Romano-British lifestyle.
Even though the Dobunni in CE 43 were incorporated into the Roman Empire, txprobably not until CE 96-98 is their territory formed into Roman political units.
The tribal territory is divided into a civitas centered on Cirencester, and …
…the Colonia at Gloucester.
The Colonia was established during the reign of the emperor Nerva.
The Britons had, in about CE 48, established a market center on the site of Gloucester, in west central England on the River Severn, about thirty-five miles (fifty-six kilometers) northwest of present Bristol.
Initially, there was a Roman fort established at Kingsholm.
Twenty years later, a larger replacement fortress was built on slightly higher ground nearby, centered on Gloucester Cross, and a civilian settlement had grown around it.
The Roman Legion based here was the Legio II Augusta as they prepared to invade Roman Wales between 66 and 74 CE, later being based at Burrium (Usk) and Isca Augusta (Caerleon) in South Wales.
The whole area is designated a colonia in 97 by the Emperor Nerva.
The Romans establish Glevum (or, more formally, Colonia Nervia Glevensium) where they bridge an important crossing of the River Severn near to the Fosse Way, one of the important Roman roads in Britain.
As the residence of retired legionaries, the colonia enjoys the highest status in the Empire.
The legionaries are given farmland in the surrounding district and can be called upon as a Roman auxiliary armed force.