Pre-Roman Celtic Kingdoms

Tribe of the Iceni

Made famous by their uprising against the Romans, the Iceni were a Celtic tribe based in what is now Norfolk and north-west Suffolk. They may also be identified with the tribe of the Cenimagi, who sided with Caesar during his invasion of 54 BC, perhaps signalling the beginnings of the Iceni's pro-Roman policy.

In the first century BC, the Wash, on their western border, may have had its coast much further south than has been previously thought, in which case the Catuvellauni may have extended to that virtually uninhabited Fenland coast, dividing the Iceni from their westerly Coritani neighbours.

(Additional information taken from The Oxford History of England: Roman Britain, Peter Salway.)

fl 10 BC

Antedios

Aesu

Abbreviated name found on coins.

Saemu

Abbreviated name found on coins.

43/44

The Iceni welcome the Romans, probably being quite happy to see the fall of their over-powerful neighbours, the Catuvellauni.

47

While handling an attack by hostile northern tribes immediately following his appointment, the second Roman governor of Britannia, Publius Ostorius Scapula,  tries to disarm the Iceni, but his heavy-handed tactics cause a serious uprising. Once this is put down, after a stiff fight, the Iceni officially become a client kingdom.

47 - 59

Prasutagus

May have ruled before the revolt.

59 - 61

Queen Boudicca (Boadicea)

Wife. Died by her own hand.

59 - 61

Once Prasutagus dies, the Romans begin to ignore the terms of the Iceni's client-statehood. Stirred up by Roman heavy-handedness, Boudicca leads a powerful Celtic uprising that results in the loss to the Romans of lower Eastern Britannia. After sacking and burning Campulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium (St Albans), the Celts are confronted by a fresh Roman army under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus and are defeated. Boudicca's fate is unknown, but she is presumed to have committed suicide rather than allow herself to fall into Roman hands.

The Iceni do not fully re-emerge as a Post-Roman kingdom in the fifth century; instead whatever  administration remains quickly falls to the invading Angles.