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Armorica (Celts)

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The Roman name for the peninsula of land which protrudes from modern France into the Atlantic Ocean was Armorica. Now far better known as Brittany, Armorica was the Latinised form of a Celtic word or name: Aremorio. The Romans had already coined the name 'Gaul' to describe the Celtic tribes of what is now central, northern, and eastern France.

The Gauls were divided from the Belgae to the north by the Marne and the Seine, but Belgic tribes had followed the English Channel coastline to occupy and settle areas of Armorica too, probably in or around the fifth century BC.

Aremorio means 'ar' ('at', or 'before', or 'next to'), plus 'mor/mare', which means 'sea' or 'ocean'. In other words it means 'next to the sea', or perhaps more colloquially 'beside the seaside'. The name was certainly in use to describe the entire region of Brittany by the fifth century AD, when migrants from Britain began to take over, but it is less clear when it began to be used as such an umbrella term. (It may also have been used for other coastal locations such as Aquitaine.)

Armorica provided a home to quite a bundle of Celtic tribes, all of which were in place by the first century BC. These included the powerful Veneti tribe which dominated the other tribes, and also the Abrincates, Ambiliati, Boiocasses, Diablintes, Lexovii, Menapii, Morini, Namniti, Nannetes, Osismii, and Redones.

Once defeated by Rome (after a season of extremely hard campaigning), elements of the defeated tribes under the leadership of the Veneti may have fed to Britain and Ireland where they formed two tribes of Venicones, one in what became Pictland and the other in County Donegal as the Venicnii, where both were attested by Ptolemy by AD 140.

Julius Caesar's own claim to have killed or enslaved all of the Veneti was clearly self-serving propaganda aimed at his Roman constituency. Families with access to boats would have gone to sea at night and sailed to Britain or Ireland to escape him, both of which were outside Roman control. Families unable to escape to sea would have fled inland into the highland (arden) forest of Armorica. From hiding there they were able to re-emerge once the legions had departed, and were able to re-inhabit their 'Vannetais'.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson, from The La Tene Celtic Belgae Tribes in England: Y-Chromosome Haplogroup R-U152 - Hypothesis C, David K Faux, from On the Ocean, Pytheas of Massalia (work lost, but frequently quoted by other ancient authors), from Geography, Ptolemy, from Roman History, Cassius Dio, from Research into the Physical History of Mankind, James Cowles Pritchard, from Geography, Strabo, translated by H C Hamilton Esq & W Falconer, M A, Ed (George Bell & Sons, London, 1903), and from External Link: The Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars.)

c.325 BC

Pytheas of Massalia undertakes a voyage of exploration to north-western Europe, becoming the first scholar to note details about the Celtic and Germanic tribes there. One of the tribes he records is the Ostinioi - almost certainly the Osismii - who occupy Cape Kabaïon, which is probably pointe de Penmarc'h or pointe du Raz in western Brittany.

The details recorded by Pytheas were interpreted by Ptolemy in the second century AD, and this 1490 Italian reconstruction of the section covering the British Isles and northern Gaul shows Ptolemy's characteristically lopsided Scotland at the top

This means that the tribe has already settled the region by the mid-fourth century, probably alongside their neighbours of later years, the Veneti, Cariosvelites, and Redones (see feature link for more on Pytheas).

57 BC

The Belgae enter into a confederacy against the Romans in fear of Rome's eventual domination over them. They are also spurred on by Gauls who are unwilling to see Germanic tribes remaining on Gaulish territory and are unhappy about Roman troops wintering in Gaul.

An army is collected against the Romans, but Caesar marches ahead of expectations and, in a single campaigning season, the Belgic tribes are defeated or surrender to Rome.

According to Caesar, the Aulerci, Cariosvelites, Osismii, Redones, Sesuvii, Venelli, and Veneti, all of whom are located along the Atlantic coast, are subdued by the legion of Publius Licinius Crassus. With this action, northern Gaul has been brought under Roman domination.

Many Belgic groups showed marked Germanic influences, so were they Celts with German words and warriors, or Germans with Celtic words and warriors? The truth probably lies somewhere in between

56 BC

War flares up again, triggered by Publius Licinius Crassus and the Seventh Legion in the territory of the Andes. With supplies of corn running low, he sends scavenging parties into the territories of the Cariosvelites, Esubii, and the highly influential Veneti. The latter revolt against this infringement of their lands and possessions, and the neighbouring tribes rapidly follow their lead, including the Ambiliati, Diablintes, Lexovii, Menapii, Morini, Namniti, Nannetes, and Osismii.

The campaign by Caesar against the Veneti is protracted and takes place both on land and sea. Veneti strongholds, when threatened, are evacuated by sea and the Romans have to begin again.

Eventually the Veneti fleet is cornered and defeated in Quiberon Bay by Legate Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. The Veneti strongholds are stormed and - reputedly - much of the Veneti population is either captured and enslaved or butchered. The confederation is destroyed and Roman rule is firmly stamped upon the region.

Elements of the Veneti tribe may flee to Britain and Ireland. When the Veneti military falls, it is most likely the rich Veneti who climb aboard every ship or boat they can find, perhaps taking some servants with them, or perhaps not if there isn't enough room. Noble women, children, old men, and very young men/older boys, and some surviving warriors are the occupants of these ships.

Roman auxiliaries in the form of the Aeduii on board a Gaulish-built ship attack a Veneti vessel in Morbihan Bay on the French Atlantic coast during the campaign of 56 BC

Once safe, the Veneti survivors form two tribes of Venicones, one in what becomes Pictland and the other in County Donegal (the Vennicones or Vennicnii), where both are attested by Ptolemy by AD 140. This split may be due to there being two factions of Veneti.

Those Veneti who do not manage to flee by water, mostly serfs, remain in Armorica. Many of these are enslaved and sent to Rome to be sold. But Caesar exaggerates wildly when he claims to capture or enslave the entire population.

Armorica is hilly and wooded - one of several places in Britain and Gaul with a 'Coed Arden' (Forest of Arden) which means 'high forest', a forest on high ground (not in valleys). Large numbers of Veneti will have fled into the forest to hide until it is safe to come out.

mid-300s AD

The Aremorio ('seaside') people (in whatever form they now take) probably still occupy their ancestral lands, but their long domination by Rome and integration into Roman society has left them unable to provide for their own defence.

The peninsula which bears their name begins to receive refugees from Britain, which is undergoing a period of disruption. Links which had been established prior to the coming of Rome between south-western Britain and Armorica seem to have been maintained. Migration from Britain into Armorica appears to pick up noticeably in the mid-fourth century.

The Roman city of Venta Belgarum in Britain was refortified in the fourth century, and Germanic mercenaries were brought in to improve the defences, suggesting an increasing lack of Roman soldiery fitted to the task

4th century

The arrival of greater numbers of Britons in the late fourth century establishes first a British colony and then a kingdom which divides Armorica from Roman control. It also protects the Gaulish tribes of Armorica from absorption by the incoming Franks.

Even today, there are people living in this region who still claim to be from a Gaulish family. These people have a very non-Mediterranean and non-Nordic appearance. Instead they look as though they have more in common with the stockier Irish, and the central Welsh of Powys. They retain their Gaulish ethnicity intermingled with a Breton national identity.