FIG. 75.--Tascio (Hercules) coin of Ricon ruling Briton clan.
(After Poste, and see E.C.B., 8, 6-8.)
Note the pentad "spears" as Tascio's sacred cup-mark number.

 

APPENDICES

I

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EARLY BRITON KINGS, FROM BRUTUS-THE-TROJAN, ABOUT 1103 B.C., TO ROMAN PERIOD

Compiled from Early British Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth
and Supplemented by Records of Dr. Powel, etc.1

THE fact that these complete and systematic chronological lists of the Early Briton kings, from the advent of Brutus downwards without a break, have been fully preserved by the Britons, implies familiarity with the use of writing from the earliest period of Brutus. And we have seen that King Brutus-the-Trojan and his Brito-Phoenicians were fully equipped with the knowledge and use of writing.

These chronological king-lists record the names and lengths of reign of the several paramount kings of Early Britain in unbroken, continuous succession from Brutus down to the Roman period of well-known modern history.

Their authenticity is attested not only by their own inherent consistency and the natural length of each reign in relation to the events recorded in the Chronicles, and by their general agreement with the few stray references by Roman writers to some of the later kings, and with the royal names stamped upon Early Briton coins, but also by their being confirmed by the royal names on several Early Briton coins, which names are unknown to Roman and other history; and these ancient coins had not yet been unearthed, and thus were unknown, at the period of Geoffrey and other early editors of these Chronicle lists of the Early Briton kings. Thus we shall see that they supply the key to the "RVII" name stamped on some of the Briton coins, the identity of which name has not hitherto been recognized, but which is now disclosed as the "ARVI" title of Caractacus as recorded in the ancient Chronicles of Geoffrey and others, and in Roman contemporary literature and disclosing coins of Caractacus and other kings hitherto supposed to have no coinage. And they supply the date and position of two famous Ancient Briton sovereigns whose Codes of Laws were translated by King Alfred for the benefit of the Anglo-Saxons. These lists were also reputed sources of Tudor genealogy.2

The dates of reign are recorded, as is usual, with only few exceptions, in ancient dynastic lists, not in a special era, but merely in the line of consecutive years of the successive reigns. In order, therefore, to equate those regnal years to the Christian era (as there is no fixed or even approximate date known for the Homeric Fall of Troy to determine the initial date of Brutus), I have started from the datum point fixed by the tradition that Christ was born in the 22nd year of the reign of Cuno-belin3 (No. 71 on list), a well-known Briton king whom both the Chronicles and his very

1 Powel and Harding's dated lists are respectively detailed by Borlase, op. cit., 404, etc., and are compared with others by Poste, Britannic Researches, 227, etc.
2 Powel, cited by Borlase, op. cit., 405, with reference to Henry VII.
3 Tradition recorded by Powel, see Borlase, op. cit., 406.

385

p.386: PHOENICIAN ORIGIN OF BRITONS & SCOTS

numerous coins place as the contemporary and protege of the Roman emperor Augustus who reigned 27 B.C.-14 A.D., and thus included the epoch of the birth of Christ.1 This datum point, moreover, agrees fairly well with another fixed date, Caesar's second invasion of Britain in 54 B.C., in regard to which Geoffrey's Chronicle records that Cassibellan died "seven years" after that event,2 that is, in 47 B.C., which the Chronicle chronology, as now equated, places at 45 B.C., that is a variation of only two years, and there is this variation in the estimated birth-date of Christ.

I have adopted the length of reigns recorded by Geoffrey as far as they go, as they are usually identical with those of Dr. Powel's lists, and for the remainder I have adopted Powel's regnal years in preference to those of Harding, as the latter presumably included as regnal years those years during which crown-princes acted as co-regents with their fathers, although the sum total of years between the accession of Brutus down to the period of Cassibellan in Powel and Harding respectively differs only by two years.3

It is noteworthy that all the lengths of reign are perfectly natural terms of years, and the lists contain no supernatural lengths of reign such as disfigure some ancient chronologies which nevertheless are generally accepted as "historical." It will also be seen that the Early Britons had already a highly-civilized king ruling in London before the Israelites had yet obtained a king.

ABBREVIATIONS:   G  = Geoffrey                r  = reigned
k  = king                       s  = son
m = married                  w = wife
P = Powel

 

 

No.

Date of Accession B.C.
(approxi-mate).

 

Name.

 

Length of
Reign
in Years.

 

Events
and
Remarks.

 

Contemporary
Historical Events
B.C.

1

1103

Brutus, great grand- son of AEneas, m. Ignoge, daughter of King Parnassus of Greece.

24
(P. 15)

Conquers Britain and founds Tri- Novantum or London.  

Assyrian massacring in- vasion of Hittite Asia Minor and Syria by Tiglath Pileser I. 1120.  Saul 1st k. of Israel 1095.

2

1079

Locrinus, s. of 1.  

10
(P. 20)

Invasion of Huns on Humber repelled.

 

3

1069

Guendolen regent,
w. of 2, and
daughter of Duke
Corineus.

15

 

 

4

1054

Madan, s. of 2 and 3.

40

 

David becomes k. of Jerusalem 1047; and Hiram Phoenician k. of Tyre.

5

1014

Mempricius, s. of 4.

20
(omitted by P.)

 

 

6

994

Ebrauc, s. of 5.

40

Founded York and Dun- Barton and invaded Gaul.

Solomon builds temple 1012-991.
(Sylvius Latinus r. in Alba Longa in Italy.)

7

954

Brutus II. or Grene shylde, s. of 6.

12

His brothers con- quered and ruled Germany.

 

 

8

942

Leyle or Leir, s. of 7.

25

Founded Car- lisle.

(Sylvius Epitus r. in Alba Longa.)

9

917

Rudhebras or Hudi- bras, s. of 8.

39
(P. 29)

Built Canterbury and Caer Guen or Winchester.

(Capys, s. of Epitus r. in Italy.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 The date for the birth of Christ introduced into the later versions of the British Chronicles by their earlier Christian editors was, of course, the traditional date for the beginning of the Christian era, and not the actual date of that event in 4 B.C. as estimated by modern historians.
2 Geoffrey op. cit., 4, 11.                                               3 See Borlase. op. cit. 406.

p.387: KING LIST OF ANCIENT BRITONS

 

 

No.

Date of Accession B.C. (approxi-mately).

 

Name.

 

 

Length of Reign in Years.

 

Events
and
Remarks.

 

Contemporary
Historical Events
B.C.

10

878

Bladud, s. of 9.

20

Built Bath with Fire-Temple and public baths.

Syria-Phoenicia under Assyrians 877-633.

11

858

Leir II., s. of 10, with 3 daughters and no son. Regan m. Henuinus, duke of Cornwall.

60

Built Caer Leir or Leicester. Is Shakespeare's "King Lear."

Homer lived (Herodot. 2, 53).  

12

798

Cordeilla, youngest daughter, m. Aganippus, k. of Gaul.

5

 

 

13

793

Cunedagus or Con- dage, s. of Henui- nus and grands.
of 11.

33

 

 

14

760

Riveal or Rivalo. s. of 13.

46

 

Traditional founding of Rome about 750.
Isaiah the prophet, 740.

15

714

Gurgustius, s. of 14.  

37

   

Fall of last king of Hitt- ites at Car-Chemish by Assyrian Sargon II., 717.

16

677

Sisilius or Scicilius.

49

 

Scythian invasion of Assyria frees Phoenicia, 635

17

628

Jago, nephew of 15.

28

 

Probable founding of Athens.

18

600

Kymar or Kyn- marcus, s. of 16.

54

   

Israelites carried into captivity by Nebu- chadnezzar, 587.

19

546

Gor-bogudo or Gor- bodus.

63
(Harding 11)

At end of reign civil war and both sons killed.

Cyrus the Mede takes Asia Minor and Baby- lon, 546-538.

20

483

Cloten, duke of Cornwall, inherits.

10
(Harding)

 

Hanno, Phoenician ad-miral, circumnavigates N.W. Africa before 500 B.C.
Phoenicia furnishes 300 ships to Xerxes' fleet in 480. (Herodot., 7, 89 f.)

21

473

Dunwallo Molmutius or Moduncius, s. of 20.

40

Restored para-mount rule and enacted Mol- mutian Laws and Law of Sanctuary.

Herodotus, about 450.

22

433

Belinus, s. of 21, with brother Brennus.

26
(Harding 41)

Brennus rules jointly with Belinus, then with the latter for 5 years and conquers Gaul and afterwards sacks Rome and conquers Dacia in Goth- land.

Media (including E. Cappadocia) revolted from Persia 414.

23

407

Gurgwin, Gorbonian or Gurgwintus Barbtrucus, s. of 22.

19

Meets Part-olon as kinsman and agrees to his occupying part of British Isles.

Spartan Greeks invade and annex Asia Minor and Cilicia, 399. Phoenician naval fight against Spartans, 394. PART-OLON arrives in Britain about 395 B.C.(?)

24

388

Guytelin or Gui- thelin Batrus.

27

 

 

 

p.388: PHOENICIAN ORIGIN OF BRITONS & SCOTS

 

 

 

No.

Date of Accession B.C. (approxi-mate).

 

Name.

 

Length of Reign in Years.

 

Events
and
Remarks.

 

Contemporary
Historical Events
B.C.

25

361

Sisilius or Scicilius II., s. of 24, under regency of mother Martia.

7

Queen Martia is author of book on "Martian Law," trans-lated by King Alfred.

Phoenician fleet defeats Spartans and regains Asia Minor and Cilicia for Persians, 387.

26

354

Kymar II., s. of 25.

3

 

Philip of Macedon, 359.

27

351

Danus or Elanus,
s. of 25.

8

 

Pytheas, Ionian navi- gator, circumnavigates and surveys British Isles.

28

343

Morvyle or Morin- dus, s. of 27.

3

Invasion of Northumbria by Marini from Gaul.

 

29

335

Gorbonian II., s. of 28.

10

  

Alexander in Syria- Phoenicia-Cilicia, 332.

30

325

Arthegal or Argallo, s. of 28.

1

Deposed for tyranny.

 

31

324

Eledure "the Pious," brother of latter.

3

 

 

32

321

Arthegal restored.

10

Buried at Leir in Leicester.

Syria-Phoenicia and Asia Minor under the Greeks, 323-265.

 

311

Eledure again.

1

 

 

33

310

Jugen or Vigein with Peredour, brothers of latter.

11
(Hard. P. 8) 

 

Seleucus (Nikator), k. of Asia Minor and Syria- Phoenicia, 312.

 

299

Eledure again.

4

 

 

34

to

295

to

Gorbonian III., s. of 29 and 32 suc- cessors reigning 185 years; details in Geoffrey, 3, 19; and length of each reign in Harding and Borlase.

 

 

185

 

 

1st Punic War against Carthage, 264-241. Hannibal, Phoenician general, invades Italy, 221. Romans wrest Spain from Carthage, 211.

67

110

Beli II. or "Belinus the Great" or 'Hely.' Had 3 sons, Lud, Cassibellan and Nennius.

40

Appears to be the "Cuno-belin" or "King Belin" of the older Briton coins.

 

68

70

Lud or Ludus, s. of 67. Had 2 sons, Androgeus and Tenuantius, under age when he died, hence succeeded by his brother.

11

Altered name of Tri-Novantum to Lud-dun or "London."

Roman period in Pales- tine begins.

69

59

Cassi-belan, s. of 67.

15
(Hard. 33)

Is "Cassi- vellaunus" of Caesar.

Caesar's invasion, 55-54 B.C.

70

44

Tenuantis (or Theo- mantius), s. of 68, and in Cassi-bellan's reign, Duke of Cornwall.

22
(Hard. 17)

Supposed "Im- anuentis," k. of Tri-Novantes of Caesar who was killed by Cassivellaunus, and whose son was Mandu- bratius.

Cleopatra dies and Egypt becomes a Roman province, 30.
Roman Empire begins under Augustus, 27.

71

22

Kymbelin or Cuno- belin, s. of 70. Had 2 sons, Guiderius and Arvi-ragus.

29
(Hard. 10)

Christ born in "22nd year" of his reign. (P.). Is Shakespeare's "Cymbeline."

Christ born in 4 B.C.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.389: KING LIST OF ANCIENT BRITONS

 

 

 

No.

Date of Accession B.C. (approxi- mate.)

 

Name.

 

 

Length of Reign in Years.

 

Events
and
Remarks.

 

Contemporary Historical Events
B.C.

72

7 A.D.

Guiderius, eldest s. of 71.

28

 

 

73

35 A.D.

Arvi-ragus or Agrestes or Cate- racus, Cara-docus or Carataeus, 2nd s. of 71.

28

The "Carata- cus" or "Ca- ractacus" of Romans, be- trayed to Ro- mans by queen of Brigantes in 51 A.D.

Claudius conquers Britain, 43-52 A.D. Last independent para- mount Briton king, stated, in the Chroni- cles, to have married Genuissa, sister of Claudius, on conclusion of peace.

The following identifications of kings in these Chronicle lists, not already specially noted in the foregoing text, call for remark.

Brennus (or Bryan), brother of King Belinus (No. 22 on list) is reported in the Chronicles to be the famous Brennus who led the Gauls in the sack of Rome, placed in 390 B.C. But this Briton tradition, along with the rest of the Chronicles, has been summarily thrust aside by modern writers, the one following the other without serious consideration, as being preposterous and an anachronism as well. Seeing, however, that Rome and Roman civilization and traditional history are of so much later origin than London and British civilization and traditional history, and that the Roman date of 390 B.C. for that event appears to rest merely upon a tradition, and that the British tradition appears to be circumstantial and authentic, and otherwise in agreement with the Roman account of that event, the evidence for the Roman date of 390 B.C., as opposed to the British date of "before 407 B.C." requires re-examination. The Roman tradition states that the Gauls were led by Brennus in that raid in retaliation for Roman opposition to the Senones, or Seine tribe of the Gauls, in their siege of Clusium in Etruscany of the Tyrrheni, in which country they wished to establish a colonial settlement. Now the British Chronicles relate with circumstantial detail that between 420 and 408 B.C. the Briton prince Brennus, who had married the heiress-daughter of the Gallic Duke of the Allobroges, had, upon the death of the latter and with the assistance of his brother King Belinus, conquered Gaul and "brought the whole kingdom of Gaul into subjection."1 The Senones tribe of Gauls occupied the left bank of the middle Seine, below whom, as we have seen, were the coastal provinces of the Casse or Cassi; whilst significantly on the adjoining eastern bank were the Catalauni tribe of the Marne Valley. And the Chronicle account also states that Brennus led the Senones to Rome "in revenge on the Romans for their breach of treaty."2 This raid appears to have been analogous to that later one by their kinsmen Goths under Alaric in the fifth century A.D., and, like it, was also for the breach by the Romans of their treaty.

Cassibellan (No. 69 on list), the "Cassivellaunus" of the Romans, although nowhere credited in the British Chronicles nor in Roman history with any son, is nevertheless given a son "Tascio-vanus" by modern numismatists,3 on the mere assumption that three coins of Cunobelin (No. 71 on list) which bear the legend "Tascio-vani F." and "Tasc F"4 designate him thereby as "Son of Tascio-vanus," in which the F is regarded as being a contraction for the Latin filius, "a son." The third coin, which is slightly defaced, bears the legend "Tasc. FI," with a final letter of which only

1 Geoffrey, op. cit., 3, 8.                                 2 Ibid., 3, 9.
3 Birch, Numismat. Chronicle, 7, 78; and J. Evans, Anc. Brit. Coins, 220, etc.
4 Evans, op. cit., Pl. 10, 7; Pl. 12, 1.

p.390: PHOENICIAN ORIGIN OF BRITONS & SCOTS

the vertical stroke | remains,1 and which they suppose was an L and read the word as "Fil," which would represent the Latin Filius. "a son." But this incomplete end-word has also been read "Fir";2 and so uncertain is its reading as "Fil," that even the numismatists who use that reading admit that "we have to wait for better specimens of this type before the reading "Tasc. Fil" can be regarded as absolutely and indisputably proved."3 Yet they nevertheless systematically use it as if it were established, and everywhere call Cunobelin "the son of Tascio-vanus." But "Tascio-vani," as the word is really written, has, as we have seen, quite another and a divine significance.

This supposititious king "Tascio-vanus" is attempted to be supported by the fact that a final F occurring on a few of the later coins of the sons of Commius as "Corn. F.," clearly designate them in Roman fashion as "The Son of Commius." But both Commius and his sons were non-Britons. They were Gallic chiefs and latinized proteges of Caesar imported by the latter into South Britain and established there for the political purpose of breaking up the power and resistance of Cassivellaunus and the Britons. On the other hand Cunobelin was also doubtless romanized to a considerable extent, as he is referred to in the British Chronicles as having been "brought up by Augustus Caesar,"4 and the Roman influence on the designs of his later coins is obvious. But it by no means follows that the addition of F or Fi on three of his very numerous coins designates him as the son of a human king named "Tascio-vanus," wholly unknown to history.

Further, this "Tascio-vanus" is assumed to be the equivalent of "Tenuantis" (No. 70 on list), who, in the Chronicle, was the father of Cunobelin, and whose name is also variously spelt as Tenantius and Theomantius, as if "Ten" or "Theom" could ever become "Tascio." Then, altogether disregarding the Chronicle records, this Tascio-vanus is arbitrarily made to be not only the father of Cunobelin, but also the son of Cassibellan or Cassi-vellaunos, instead of the latter's brother King Lud (No. 68 on list), as is recorded in all versions of the Chronicles. In accordance with this forced identification all the numerous different mintages of coins inscribed Tascio, Tasc, Tas, Tasciov, Dias, etc. (28 in number) although not bearing Cunobelin's name are then thrust on to this supposititious "Tasciovanus," the supposed father of Cunobelin, and the supposed son of Cassivellaunus.

But the Chronicles, in their different versions, are quite clear upon the point that Cassibellan was the uncle, and not the father, of Cunobelin (see List, Nos. 69 to 71). Moreover, as a fact, the very numerous coins stamped Tascio, Tasc, Tas, Taxi and Tascia, which are widely distributed, are all of the Catti type, and nearly all of them contain the Corn or Ear of Barley which is sometimes arranged in the form of the Cross as the St. Andrew's Cross of the Corn Spirit, whom we have found to be Tascio, with numerous superadded small Crosses and also circles, symbolizing, as we have seen, the Sun. This Corn also appears in many or perhaps most of the "Tascio" coins of Cunobelin, and in several is figured the warrior Hercules, who, we have seen, is Tascio, and the winged Sun horse or horseman. And we have seen that Tascio was the Corn Spirit and arch-angel of the Barat Britons. No doubt the divine name "Tascio," like that of Bel, was piously taken by some kings and men of the Sun-cult as a personal name. And, as we have seen, it was a common practice with the early Hittite Barat Aryans, as the "discoverers" of the idea of God, to call themselves, as the chosen people, the "Sons of God." Thus, even should it be found that the doubtful letter on the solitary Cunebelin coin makes the reading "Tasc. Fil" or "Son of Tasc" or "Tascio," it will merely show that Cunobelin called himself

1 Evans, Pt. 12, 4 and p. 331.                          2 Poste, Coins of Cunobelin, 214.
3 Evans, Coins, 331.                                        4 Geoffrey, 4, 11.

p.391: TASCIO HERCULES ON BRITON COINS

"Son of God," or "Son of the archangel Tascio"; and analogous to the Divine Caesar title of the Roman emperors. The reason why no Briton coins bearing obvious kings' names prior to or of the period of Cassibellan presumably is that the Britons, like the Phoenicians in their early coins, (e.g., of Syracuse and other earlier settlements) impressed on their earlier coins not the name of their sovereign but of their tutelary (or Bel).

This divine sense of the title "Tascio" on these Briton coins appears also clearly evidenced by its form as "Tascio Ricon" (Fig. 75) and "Tasci Riconi" on four different kinds of coins with the Sun horseman and wheel and Sun circles and a design which seems to be a Sheaf of Corn,1 and which admittedly have no connection with Cunobelin. The Ric element in this name is clearly the Gothic Rig, or Rik or Reik, "a king" (from Rik, "mighty" or "rich") and cognate with the latin Rex, Regis; and it thus suggests the great Ancient Briton city-port in Sussex called by the Romans "Regnum," the modern Chichester, and its people, "the Regni," a title applied broadly to the men of Sussex, and presuming a Briton form of Ricon. These coins, so far as I am aware, have not been actually found at Chichester; but coins are made to circulate and these coins are found in Essex, Hants and Norfolk. Now it is significant that the great Ancient Briton arterial paved highway called " Stine Street " ran directly from Regnum or Chichester to the Wash, and connected these three counties. This title of "Tascio Ricon" would mean "Tascio of the Regni (confederate slate)." It is thus obviously analogous to the numerous coins of Tarsus bearing the legend "Bal Tarz"2 (with figures of the warrior Father-god) as "Bel of Tarsus."

Similarly, the Briton coin stamped "Tascio Sego" (sec Fig. 43A, p. 261) equally unconnected with Cunobelin,3 and bearing the Sun-horseman and wheel and Crosses and circles (of the Sun) is now seen to be obviously of the same tutelary kind. The Segonti-aci were a tribe of Britons mentioned by Caesar, alongside the Cassi tribe, as submitting to him at his crossing of the Thames at Kew.4 This tribe occupied North Hants, presumably up to the Thames, with their capital at Silchester (north of Winchester), where, significantly, in addition to numerous early Roman coins and other Roman inscriptions, was found a votive inscription in the foundations of an altar to the Phoenician god "Hercules of the Saegon"5 and Hercules, as we have seen, was the warrior type of Tascio. And this inscription discloses that he was still at the Roman period the recognized local tutelary of that Briton tribe. This coin legend thus obviously means "Tascio of the Segonti (confederate state)." Similarly, again, the coins stamped "Tascia Ver," "Tasc Vir" and "Tas V,"6 obviously mean "Tascio of the Verulam (or St. Alban confederate states)."

In the light of this tutelary use of this prefixed title of "Tascio" it now becomes evident that the legends on several coins of Cunobelin, reading Tasci-iovantis,7 Tasci-iovanii,8 Tasci-ovan,9 etc., are possibly contractions for "Tascio of the Tri-Novantes (or Londoners' confederate state)" and Cunobelin's capital was at "Tri-Novantum," or London, though minting also at Verulam. This now discloses the divine tutelary meaning of the title "Tasciiovanti" and "Tasciovani," the hitherto supposititious so-called "Tasciovanus, son of Cassivellaunus."

All this strikingly attests the widespread prevalence in Ancient Britain

1 See Evans, op. cit., Pl. 8, Nos. 6-9.
2 Hill, Greek Coins of Cilicia, Pl. 28, etc.; and Ramsay, Cities of St. Paul, 128, etc.
3 The coin is in the Hunterian Museum of Glasgow University, see for Fig. Evans, op. cit., Pl. 8, 11. Several other Briton coins with the legend "Sego" are known.
4 Caesar, De B. Gall., 5, 21.
5 Camden, Britannia, Gough's second ed., 1, 204. The inscription reads "Deo Her[culi] Saegon[-tiacorum]," etc. See Gough for full text and translation.
6 Evans, op. cit., Pl. 7, Nos. 1, 7 and 11.
7 Ibid., Pl. 12, 3.                8 Ibid., Pl. 10, Nos. 12 and 13.                       9 Ibid., Pl. 10, No. 10.

p.392: PHOENICIAN ORIGIN OF BRITONS & SCOTS

of the Sun-cult of the Hitto-Phoenician archangel Taxi or Tascio, with its Sun-Crosses and Corn emblems, which cult we have already found in the Don Valley of the Texali tribe, and in the neighbourhood of the Phoenician Barat Part-olon's votive Cross to Bel at Newton and elsewhere.

Androgens, again, the eldest son of King Lud (No. 68 on list) and nephew of Cassibellan, and who, the Chronicle tells us, was duke of Kent,1 is disclosed by the Chronicle to be obviously the Andoc, Ando, And,2 Antd, Anted,3 Antedrigv,4 and Avnt,5 stamped upon various Briton coins, and thus further establishing the historicity of the British Chronicles.

Guiderius (No. 72 on list), the eldest son of Cunobelin, is, I find, clearly the minter of the coins bearing the legend CAV-DVRO, i.e., "Cau-duro."6

And lastly, the last independent Briton king "Arvi-ragus" of Geoffrey's Chronicle (No. 73 on list), and the "Cate-racus" or "Cara-dog" of the Welsh records, "Caratacus" (erroneously called "Caractacus " by the Romans), the famous younger son of Cunobelin, whose virtues and bravery are so highly extolled by Tacitus, is now disclosed by the Chronicles to be the author of the Briton coins stamped "RVII" and "RVI'S."7 This name was suggested by Evans to represent a hypothetical king " Rufus or Rufinus."8 But this RVI of the coins now clearly identifies their minter with "Arvi-ragus" or Caratacus of the Chronicles. The form Rvii appears to be the latinized genitive and Rvi's the corresponding Briton Gothic genitive of is, the source of our English 's, and thus giving us a bilingual form of that legend in Latin and British Gothic. Indeed, the identity of the title "Arvi-ragus" with Caratacus was well known to and used by contemporary Roman writers. Thus Juvenal (born about 55 A.D.), in reflecting the love and respect or fear of the Romans and his suzerainty over the kinglets of Britain, in regard to their once captured Briton king, Caratacus, relates how a certain blind man, speaking of a turbot that was taken, said:

"Arviragus shall from his Britan chariot fall,
Or thee his lord some captive king shall call."9

This title "Arvi-ragus" appears to be probably a latinized form of the earlier racial title of the "Arri" or Aryans, as the "Plough-men"--Arvi being the Latin for "ploughed" from the Latin and Greek Aro or Aroo, "to plough." And ragus is presumably a latinized dialectic spelling of the British Gothic Rig or Reiks, "a king" and cognate, as we have seen, with Latin Rex-Regis and "Raja."10 This would give the title of "King of the Plough-men (or Arri)," and the prominence of agriculture in Britain is attested by such frequent representations of ears of Corn on the Briton coins.

This alternative title of "Arvi-ragus" for Caratacus clearly shows that the Briton kings, like the other Early Aryan and Phoenician kings, and like the well-known instances of Early Egyptian kings, were in the habit of using more than one title.

Now this dropping out of the initial letter of Caratacus' name of "Arvi" in his coins suggests that certain other Briton coins, previously ascribed to him by Camden and others, but latterly erected by Evans into coins of an otherwise unknown Briton king of the name "Epaticcus," do really belong to Caratacus after all. The coins inscribed C V EPATIC (see Fig. 61, p. 339) were read by Camden as "Cearatic" and identified by

1 Geoffrey, 3, 20.                             2 Evans, op. cit., Pl. 5, Nos. 5 and 6.
3 Ibid., Pl. 1, No. 8; and Pl. 15, Nos. 9-11.                  4 Ibid., Pl. 1, No. 7.                          5 Ibid., Pl. 17, No. 8.
6 Ibid., Pl. 15, 14.                             7 Ibid., Pl. 7, Nos. 12 and 14; and Pl. 8, No. 1.
8 Ibid., 262 and 263. The legend is there read "RVFI ?" and "RVFS," but no sign of an F is seen in any of the figures of these coins in the plates.
9 Juvenal Satires, 4, 26: Regem aliquem capies, aut de temone Britanno decidet Arviragus.
10 There is, perhaps, a pun on this Raja or Reiks in Juvenal's above cited satire, as Raja in Latin is the flat turbot-like Ray fish.

p.393: COINS OF CARATACUS

him as of Caratacus.1 But Evans, by adding the two detached prefixed (?) letters C V to the end of the group EPATI equated them to the EPATI and EPAT2 legends on other coins, which do not bear obvious or legible prefixed letters, and thus obtained a king's supposititious name, Epaticcus.

The objections raised by Evans against ascribing these coins to Caratacus, and objections which are still accepted, are firstly that the letter P is not used in its Greek value of R, but as the Roman letter P; and secondly, that in the series of coins with the head of Hercules, taking the place of the "Tascio" legend, and bearing the letters EPATI and EPAT, there is no preceding letter, and therefore the name cannot be read " Ceratic."

It seems rather remarkable to find that those numismatists who believe that the Ancient Britons copied their coinage from the Greeks should yet deny the possibility that the Britons knew or may have used to some extent "Greek" letters. Especially so is this the case with regard to the letter P which the Greeks admittedly borrowed from the later Phoenician letter P along with its value of R. On the contrary, Caesar tells that the Druids who had their chief stronghold in Britain in his day, "use the Greek letters."3 And, as a fact, the Briton coins themselves testify the use of so-called "Greek" letters occasionally. Thus Cunobelin, the father of Caratacus, on two different mintages of coins, uses the Greek letter [capital-lambda] for the Roman L in spelling his own name,4 implying that Caratacus' father used some Greek letters in writing and that his people understood it, just as Ulfils, the Goth used some Greek letters in his writings for the Goths, though this particular "Greek" letter for L is essentially identical with the Runic Gothic sign for that letter. Again, Androgeus, the uncle of Cunobelin, in writing his name "Antedrig-v,"5 uses the Greek [capital-gamma] for the letter G therein. Moreover, in one at least of his coins, in spelling his name he uses the Greek letter [capital-theta] or Th for D;6 and this substitution of that Greek letter for the Roman D frequently occurs in the coins with the legend "Addedomarios,"7 the form of which name also is "Grecian."

In view of this positive evidence for the use of Greek letters occasionally on the Briton coins of the father of Caratacus and other predecessors, there is no improbability in Caratacus himself using them occasionally. There is thus no longer any valid objection to reading the P in the above series of coins with its Greek value of R, which gives us in the first case "Cueratic" (see Fig. 61, a);8 and this fairly equates with the Roman "Caratacus" and the Welsh "Caradog." In the other two coins of this series with the contracted form of the name (b and c of same Fig.) the scroll behind the head of Hercules (or Tascio) which is seen in complete form in b of that Fig. represents, I venture to suggest, the Greek letter [zeta] or Z, a letter which, we have seen, was used by Part-olon. This would give the reading of "Zerati" or "Zerat" as the contracted form of the king's name, and we have seen that "Zet-land" is a dialectic form of "Catti or Ceti-land" or Goth-land. But be this Z initial as it may, there is no doubt whatever that these coins belong to the self-same king whose name is spelt "Cueratic" in the first. Even without this initial letter it would still remain his coin, for we have seen his dropping of the initial letter in his "Arvi" title, and we have also seen the dropping of the cognate initial letter G of "Gioln" to form "olon," of "Gwalia" to form "Wales," and in "Guillaime" to form "William." It is thus evident that these three different coins belong to Caratacus, alias Arvi-ragus.

Thus the testimony of the Briton coins establishes clearly and positively the historicity of the traditional Ancient British Chronicles as authentic historical records.

1 Camden, Brit., ed, 1637, p. 98; omitted by Gough, as location of coin was temporarily lost.
2 Evans, Coins, Pl. 8, Nos. 12-14.                 3 De Bel. Gallico, 6, 14.
4 Evans, Coins, Pl. 10, Nos. 2 and 3.             5 See above.                        6 Evans, Coins, Pl. 15, 11.
7 Ibid., Pl. 14, 2, 5 and 9.
8 The initial letters C and V are above the warrior horseman (Tascio).