Durotriges

Territory: Dorset, with extensions in South Wiltshire, South Somerset and Devon Tribal (Roman) Capital: Durnovaria (modern Dorchester, Dorset)

The Durotriges were more a tribal confederation than one tribe, as they were governed by numerous monarchies who were reigning simultaneously. They were among the few tribes of Celtic Britain who used coinage before the Roman conquest, but these coins were rather simple and had no inscriptions. That means we have no record about their monarchs or rulers.

The Durotriges were an organized society, based in the farming of lands surrounded and controlled by numerous strong hill forts. Maiden Castle is an example of one of these hill forts. It is not surprising that the Durotriges resisted Roman invasion, although by 70CE the tribe was fullt Romanised and securely included in the Roman province of Brittania.

Despite their organized society, the Durotriges didn’t have a (pre-Roman) tribal centre. Durnovaria is the accepted civitas capital of the Durotiges. The only other walled town was Lindinis and was possibly the centre of a seperate tribal civitas of the Northern Durotriges.

An ancient trading centre of the Durotriges on the south coast of Dorset was Hengistbury Head and believed to be the site of one of the first Celtic mints in Britain.

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