In AD 43, the Roman general Aulus Plautius invaded Britain with his legions of well-drilled and efficient soldiers. It was this seismic event that dominated Cartimandua’s life. Her origins are, like so much at this time, shrouded in mystery. We don’t even know that Cartimandua was her Celtic name; the Romans very often ignored ‘barbarian’ names and simply gave people Roman ones. She survives only in the writings of the Romans, as the Brigantes themselves had no written language or culture. We are therefore forced to rely on archaeological evidence and the words of Rome when we search for Cartimandua.
Cartimandua: Ruler in her own right
It is in these Roman writings, flowing from the stylus of Tacitus, that Cartimandua first appears in AD 51. Tacitus tells us that she ruled the Brigantes, that her rule was well established, and that she was a member of a noble and powerful Iron Age lineage.
The British Isles at this time were ruled by numerous Iron Age tribes – the Romans gave their number at 33 at the time of the Roman conquest – but these tribes would have been fluid and fragmented, constantly forming different alliances and changing depending on the political situation. Within each tribe there would have been a social hierarchy, and each would have been ruled by a leader like Cartimandua.
Cartimandua ruled in her own right
