Textoverdi

The Textoverdi were a group of ancient Britons whose name appears in the upper valley of the River South Tyne in present-day Northumberland.[1] One scholar calls them one of the “shadowy peoples of Lower Britain.”[2] The Textoverdi may have been a sub-tribe of the Brigantes, but according to Laurence and Berry, they could have been an independent group[2] who originally paid tribute to stronger neighbours but then managed to establish their own independent relationship with the Romans.[2]

In terms of archaeological evidence, there is an “enigmatic”[3] altar of the 2nd or 3rd century that records a dedication to Satiada (Sattada), a local goddess. It was dedicated by the senate of the Textoverdi (curia Textoverdorum).[3][4] The Textoverdi are believed[4] to have been the inhabitants of an area, with their capital at Beltingham near the site of Vindolanda or at Corbridge.[4]

One scholar states that “both the goddess and the people of the Textoverdi are otherwise unknown; and the exact meaning of curia is unclear, perhaps a latinization of a native British institution.”[3]

Curia may not refer to a local senate, “but, as the Celtic corie, to a local subdivision of the tribe equivalent to a pagus. Thus the Textoverdi are perhaps a pagus of the Brigantes.”[5]

The inscription reads:

DEAE / SAIIADAE / CVRIA TEX / TOVERDORVM / V•S•L•M
"To the goddess Satiada, the council of the Textoverdi willingly and deservedly fulfilled their vow."[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ The Ancient world, Volume 35, Issues 1-2 (Ares Publishers, 2004), 101.
  2. 1 2 3 Ray Laurence, Joanne Berry, Cultural identity in the Roman Empire. Classical studies : Archaeology/Ancient History (Psychology Press, 1998), 117.
  3. 1 2 3 Anthony Richard Birley, The Roman government of Britain (Oxford University Press, 2005), 14.
  4. 1 2 3 Guy De la Bédoyère, English heritage book of Roman towns in Britain (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992), pp. 101-2.
  5. 1 2 Peter Salway, The Frontier People of Roman Britain. Cambridge Classical Studies (CUP Archive, 1965), 209.
  6. ↑ B. Collingwood and R.P. Wright. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Oxford. RIB 1965. Quoted at www.roman-britain.org
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