TheSilures (/saɪˈljʊəriːz/sy-LURE-eez or/ˈsɪljəriːz/SIL-yər-eez)[1] were a powerful and warlike tribe or tribal confederation ofancient Britain,[2] occupying what is nowsouth-east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas. They were bordered to the north by theOrdovices, to the east by theDobunni, and to the west by theDemetae.
According toTacitus's biography ofAgricola, the Silures usually had a dark complexion and curly hair. Due to their appearance, Tacitus believed they had crossed over from Spain at an earlier date.
The dark complexion of the Silures, their usually curly hair, and the fact that Spain is the opposite shore to them, are an evidence that Iberians of a former date crossed over and occupied these parts.[3]
Jordanes, in hisOrigins and Deeds of the Goths, describes the Silures.
The Silures have swarthy features and are usually born with curly black hair, but the inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies. They are like the Gauls or the Spaniards.
TheIron Agehillfort atLlanmelin nearCaerwent has sometimes been suggested as a pre-Roman tribal centre.[4] But some archaeologists[who?] believe that the people who became known as the Silures were a loose network of groups with some shared cultural values, rather than a centralised society.[citation needed] Although the most obvious physical remains of the Silures are hillforts such as those at Llanmelin andSudbrook, there is also archaeological evidence ofroundhouses atGwehelog,Thornwell (Chepstow) and elsewhere, and evidence of lowland occupation notably atGoldcliff.[5]
The Latin wordSilures is of Celtic origin, perhaps derived from theCommon Celtic root*sīlo-, "seed". Words derived from this root inCeltic languages (for exampleOld Irishsíl,Welshhil) are used to mean "blood-stock, descendants, lineage, offspring", as well as "seed" in the vegetable sense.Silures might therefore mean "kindred, stock", perhaps referring to a tribal belief in a descent from an originating ancestor.[original research?]Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel hypothesises that the Silures were originally referred to assilo-riks, "rich in grain".[6]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Silures" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Silures fiercely resisted Roman conquest about AD 48, with the assistance ofCaratacus, a military leader and prince of theCatuvellauni, who had fled from further east after his own tribe was defeated.
The first attack on the Welsh tribes was by the legatePublius Ostorius Scapula about AD 48. Ostorius first attacked theDeceangli in the north-east of what is now Wales, however little else is known or recorded of this conflict. He spent several years campaigning against the Silures and theOrdovices. Their resistance was led by Caratacus, who had fled from the south-east (of what is now England) when it was conquered by the Romans. He first led the Silures, then moved to the territory of the Ordovices, where he was defeated by Ostorius in AD 51.
The Silures were not subdued, however, and waged effective guerrilla warfare against the Roman forces. Ostorius had announced that they posed such a danger that they should be either exterminated or transplanted. His threats only increased the Silures' determination to resist. They surrounded and attacked a large legionary force occupied in buildingRoman forts in their territory; it was rescued by others only with difficulty and considerable loss. The Silures also took Roman prisoners as hostages and distributed them amongst their neighbouring tribes in order to bind them together and encourage resistance.
Ostorius died with the Silures still unconquered. After his death, they defeated theSecond Legion. It remains unclear whether the Silures were militarily defeated or simply agreed to come to terms, but Roman sources suggest rather opaquely that they were eventually subdued bySextus Julius Frontinus in a series of campaigns ending about AD 78. The RomanTacitus wrote of the Silures:non atrocitate, non clementia mutabatur – the tribe "was changed neither by cruelty nor by clemency".
To aid theRoman administration in keeping down local opposition, a legionary fortress (Isca, laterCaerleon) was planted in the midst of tribal territory.
The town ofVenta Silurum (Caerwent, six miles west ofChepstow) was established in AD 75. It became a Romanized town, not unlikeCalleva Atrebatum (Silchester), but smaller.[2] An inscription shows that, under theRoman Empire, it was the capital of the Silures, whoseordo (local council) provided local government for the district.[2] Its massive Roman walls still survive, and excavations have revealed aforum, atemple, baths,amphitheatre, shops, and many comfortable houses with mosaic floors, etc.[2] In the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, the Silures were given some nominal independence and responsibility for local administration. As was standard practice, as revealed by inscriptions, the Romans matched their deities with local Silurian ones, and the local deityOcelus was identified withMars, the Roman god of war.[5]
Caerwent seems to have continued in use in the post-Roman period as a religious centre. The territory of the Silures later developed as the 5th-century Welsh kingdoms ofGwent,Brycheiniog, andGwynllŵg. Some theories concerningKing Arthur make him a leader in this area. There is evidence of cultural continuity throughout the Roman period, from the Silures to the kingdom of Gwent in particular, as shown by leaders of Gwent using the name "Caradoc" in remembrance of the British heroCaratacus.[5]
Reference is occasionally made to this period ofCeltic history by the use of terms such as "Silurian". The poetHenry Vaughan called himself a "Silurist", by virtue of his roots inSouth Wales.
Thegeological periodSilurian was first described byRoderick Murchison in rocks located in the original lands of the Silures, hence the name. That period postdates theCambrian andOrdovician periods, whose names are also derived from ancientWales.
