The Ordovices (from Latin: Ordovīcēs; Common Brittonic: *Ordowīces) were a Celtic tribe that lived in Great Britain before the Romans arrived. Their lands were in what is now North Wales and England, between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the northeast. Unlike the Deceangli, who accepted Roman rule without much fighting, the Ordovices strongly resisted the Romans. In 77–78 CE, the Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola conquered the Ordovices. He took control of their last strongholds on Anglesey during this campaign.

Etymology

The Celtic tribe known as the Ordovices had a name connected to the word for "hammer" in early Celtic languages. This is seen in Irish as "ord," Welsh as "gordd" (with an added "g-"), and Breton as "horzh" (with an added "h-"). The word for "fight" appears in Old Irish as "fichid" and in Middle Welsh as "gwyth." In 1879, the English geologist Charles Lapworth named the Ordovician geological period after this tribe because the rocks he studied were found in the area where the Ordovices once lived in North Wales. Some scholars, like John Edward Lloyd, believed the tribe's name might be part of the place name "Dinas Dinorwig" in North Wales, meaning "Fort of the Ordovices." However, another scholar, Melville Richards, disagreed. The name "Ordovices" was written in Ancient Greek letters as Ὀρδούικες by the writer Ptolemy.

Territory

South of the Brigantes, the geographer Ptolemy described three tribes whose lands extended from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. The Ordovices lived in the western areas and had two important cities: Branogenium, which was 195 Roman miles from London, possibly near Leintwardine, and Mediolanum, which was 200 Roman miles from London. The exact locations of these cities are still unknown. The edges of the tribe’s land are also unclear. Some believe their territory covered parts of modern Powys and the English Midlands, while others think it was limited to the area north of the Dyfi and Dee rivers.

History

They were part of the British tribes that fought against the Roman invasion. The early resistance was led by the Celtic leader Caratacus, who was in their lands after his tribe was defeated in the Battle of the Medway. Caratacus became a leader of the Ordovices and nearby Silures tribes and was declared a public enemy by the Romans in the 50s AD. In Caratacus' final battle, the Roman governor Publius Ostorius Scapula defeated him and sent him to Rome as a prisoner.

In the 70s, the Ordovices rebelled against Roman rule and destroyed a group of Roman cavalry. This action led to a strong response from the Roman governor Agricola. According to Tacitus, Agricola gathered a group of veteran soldiers and a small number of auxiliary troops. Since the Ordovices avoided fighting in open areas, Agricola placed himself at the front of the line to encourage everyone to show equal bravery against the enemy. His forces led the attack up a hill, and the tribe was almost completely destroyed. Agricola then quickly conquered the island of Anglesey. The exact location of the battle is unknown, but the hill-fort Dinas Dinorwig is located about 3 kilometers from the Menai Strait and covers an area of one hectare.