| Corieltauvi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Geography | |
| Capital | Ratae Corieltauvorum(Leicester) |
| Location | East Midlands of England |
| Rulers | Volisios Dumnocoveros,Dumnovellaunus,Cartivelios |
TheCorieltauvi (also theCoritani, and theCorieltavi) were a Celtic tribe living inBritain prior to theRoman conquest, and thereafter acivitas ofRoman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the EnglishEast Midlands. They were bordered by theBrigantes to the north, theCornovii to the west, theDobunni andCatuvellauni to the south, and theIceni to the east. Their capital was calledRatae Corieltauvorum, known today asLeicester.
The Corieltauvi were a largely agricultural people who had few strongly defended sites or signs of centralised government. They appear to have been a federation of smaller, self-governing tribal groups. From the beginning of the 1st century, they began to produce inscribed coins: almost all featured two names, and one series had three, suggesting they had multiple rulers. The names on the earliest coins are so abbreviated as to be unidentifiable. Later coins feature the name ofVolisios, apparently the paramount king of the region, together with names of three presumed sub-kings,Dumnocoveros,Dumnovellaunus andCartivelios, in three series minted ca. 45 AD. The Corieltauvi had an important mint, and possibly a tribal centre, atSleaford.
| Pale gold stater of the Corieltauvi | |
|---|---|
  | |
| O: Horse icon and lettering | R: sheaf-of-wheat icon |
| A stater found nearWalkington now in theYorkshire Museum | |
The discovery in 2000 of theHallaton Treasure more than doubled the total number of Corieltauvian coins previously recorded. In 2014 26 gold and silver Corieltauvian coins were found in Reynard's Kitchen Cave inDerbyshire.[1] Coins attributed to the Corieltavi have been unearthed inLlangoed on Anglesey in Wales; fifteen goldstaters were found by metal detectorists between July 2021 and March 2022.[2]
There is little evidence that the Corieltauvi offered resistance toRoman rule: Ratae was captured c. AD 44, and it may have had a Roman garrison.[citation needed]
TheFosse Way, aRoman road, passed through their territory.
Their name appears asCoritani andCoritavi inPtolemy's 2nd centuryGeography. However, theRavenna Cosmography gives the name of their capital, in apparently corrupt form, asRate Corion Eltavori, and an inscribed tile found inChurchover calls the administrative districtCivitas Corieltauvorum, indicating that the true form should beCorieltauvi.[3][4]
Manley Pope, author of an early English translation of the Welsh chronicleBrut y Brenhinedd, associated the Coritani of the Roman writers with the magical race called theCoraniaid in the medieval Welsh taleLludd and Llevelys,[5] however this is not supported by modern historical linguistics.
The name has been adopted by the athletics club,Leicester Coritanian A.C.
A detectorist found a small figure of a woman riding a bull in a field inBarnetby le Wold, Lincolnshire in 2016. The piece was handed over to the British Museum'sPortable Antiquities Scheme, and experts declared it to be of regional importance. Adam Staples, from Essex Coin Auctions, said it was thought to be the only recorded example of a figure riding a bull and probably dated from the early 1st century AD.[6] The figure was auctioned for £7,800 on 9 November 2022.[7]