TheOrdovices (fromLatin:Ordovīcēs;[pronunciation?]Common Brittonic: *Ordowīces)[citation needed] were one of theCeltic tribes living in Great Britain before theRoman invasion. Their tribal lands were located in present-day NorthWales and England, between theSilures to the south and theDeceangli to the north-east. Unlike the latter tribes that appear to have acquiesced to Roman rule with little resistance, the Ordovices fiercely resisted the Romans. They were eventually subjugated by theRoman governorGnaeus Julius Agricola in the campaign of 77–78CE when the Romans overran their final strongholds onAnglesey.
The Celtic name*ordo-wik- hammer fighters,cognate with theproto-celtic words for 'hammer':Irish:ord,Welsh:gordd (with aprotheticg-) andBreton:horzh (with a prothetich-) and "fight":Old Irish:fichid- (cf.Lemovices,Eburovices),middle Welsh:gwyth.[1]John Edward Lloyd suggested that the name of this tribe is preserved as the element-orwig,-orweg in the place nameDinas Dinorwig ("Fort of the Ordovices") in North Wales,[2] thoughMelville Richards rejected the idea.[3] It istransliterated toAncient Greek asὈρδούικες inPtolemy.[4]
In 1879 the pioneering English geologistCharles Lapworth named theOrdoviciangeological period after the Ordovices because the rocks he was studying were found in the tribe's former territories in North Wales.
South of theBrigantes, the geographerPtolemy reported three tribes whose territories stretched from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. The Ordovices occupied the westward lands and had two noteworthy cities,Branogenium which was located 195Roman miles from London, most likely atLeintwardine, andMediolanum which was located 200 Roman miles from London. Neither has been conclusively located.[5] The boundaries of the tribal territory are also unknown; they have been taken to extend through modernPowys into what is now the English Midlands, or alternatively to be limited to the land north of the rivers Dyfi and Dee.[6]
They were among the British tribes that resisted the Roman invasion. The initial resistance was mainly organised by the Celtic leaderCaratacus, exiled in their lands after the defeat of his tribe in theBattle of the Medway. Caratacus became a warlord of the Ordovices and neighbouring Silures, and was declared a Roman public enemy in the 50s AD. InCaratacus' last battle, governorPublius Ostorius Scapula defeated Caratacus and sent him to Rome as a prisoner.
In the 70s, the Ordovices rebelled against Roman occupation and destroyed a cavalry squadron. This act of war provoked a strong response from governorAgricola. According toTacitus, "He collected a force of veterans and a small body of auxiliaries; then as the Ordovices would not venture to descend into the plain, he put himself in front of the ranks to inspire all with the same courage against a common danger, and led his troops up a hill. The tribe was all but exterminated."[7] Agricola went on rapidly toconquer Anglesey. The location of this battle is unknown but the hill-fortDinas Dinorwig encloses a hectare of land about 3 km from the Menai Strait.[8]