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TABLES

Table i.i    The Roman percepdon of the social structure of tribes in

north-east Gaul and parts of Germany    _l2

Table 1.2 Propordon of principal animal bones from Danebury Table 4.1 The five most common silver coins north of the Alps

(Republic to Tiberius)    83

Table 4.2 The five most common bronze coin types north of the Alps

(Republic to Tiberius)    83

Table 4.3 The prevalence of the Roman ‘prototypes’ for Bridsh coin in

Italy and Germany    S8

Table 4.4 Key themes in Octavian/Augustus’ polidcal imagery (in

approńmate chronological order)    100

Table 4.5    Horseman imagery on gold    103

Table 4.6    The sphinx on Bridsh coins    107

Table 4.7    The imagery of Acdum    no

Table 4.8    The imagery of Apollo and sacrifice    114

Table 4.9 The imagery of plenty    116

Table 4.10 Images of Mars    117

Table 5.1 The occurrence of ‘Pegasus’ on Bridsh coin    13°

Table 5.2 Types with Medusa and Perseus    13°

Table 6.1 The use of monarchical titles in Britain    i7°

T able 6.2 Various legends on Cunobelin’s coinage    I7¹

Table 7.1 Małe'Romanised'portraits on Bridsh dynasdc coinage Table 7.2 Portraits and images related to Heracles and Zeus Ammon    i&3

T able 7.3 Coins portraying⁴ Cunobelin’ s throne’    ^

Table 7.4 Verica and the cult of Commius    ^

Table 7.3 Ritual enactment on Bridsh coin    ²⁰-

Table 7.6 The htuus on dynasdc coins    ^

PREFACE

Many years ago I saw a production of Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline set in Britain shortly before Britain was invaded by the Claudian Legions. The Brinsh court was filled with Roman officials, British princes travelled to and from Romę, and even the British soothsayer at the end had a vision of the Roman god Jupiter in his sleep instead of an ethereal Celtic deity. Ali of this jarred with the image ofLate Iron Age Britain I had grown up with, where Caesaris conąuest of 55/54 BC was but a sham. The Britons might have been beaten, but unlike the Gauls they soon stopped paying their tribute to Romę and a further century had to pass undl the Emperor Claudius invaded and Britain finally fell under Roman dominion. Now I am not so surę. I think Shakespeare was right, I think the British court was probably riddled with Romans and I think Cunobelin probably did worship Roman gods. In this book I set out to explain why.

I began to write this book with a numberof elear aims and values. First, I wanted to write a positive work of synthesis, not something which simply attacked and decon-structed the work of previous generations. Second, I believed that in this period where prehistory met history, the work had to be thoroughły interdisciplinary, combining the best of archaeological, historical and numismatic research. Finally, my interest in the past has derived from wondering what it was actually like to live tli en, to experience a very different world around oneself. That being the case, this book moves away from the discussion of ‘economy and society’; it avoids detailed discussions of pot typologies or setdement forms; instead it tries to look at the past from the point of view of the impact upon the individual. How was imagery scen and interpreted, how did people use language and speak to each other in a multi-lingual world? How did people use myths and stories to explain and legitimate the changes that were taking place in the world around them? In a recent book on the transform-ation of Gaul from the Late Iron Age into the Early Roman period, Greg Wolf described the Roman Empire as ‘a world of cities and of friends’. As readers of this book will discover, I certainly bdieve that Late Iron Age Britain cannot be under-stood without appreciaring the networks offiaendship within Britain and bcyond at that time.

Much within the book comprises solid argument prescntmg a vcry different view of this period to that commoniy givcn; but in certain area* 1 have also used informed and sometimes relativdy frec speculaoon to imaguic things for which we have very limited evidence. I hope 1 have flagged theae deariy enough so that the reader will be able to deariy disringuish betu eon the wu 1 hope readers will alao appreciate the

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