chiefdom · British Isles

Dobunni

50 BCE – 43 CE (approx.) · capital Bagendon; later Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester)

Cotswold kingdom whose coins name a string of rulers, and whose Roman town at Cirencester became the second largest in Britain.

Origins

The Dobunni held Gloucestershire, north Somerset, Worcestershire and parts of Oxfordshire and Wiltshire in the late Iron Age. By the 1st century BCE they were minting coins, and a large oppidum developed at Bagendon near Cirencester, with Roman imports reaching it before the conquest.

Rule and society

Their gold and silver coins carry the names of rulers such as Corio, Bodvoc, Anted and Eisu, sometimes thought to mark a divided kingdom with northern and southern halves. The economy rested on sheep and cereal farming in the Cotswolds and on the salt springs of Droitwich. Cassius Dio records that part of the Bodunni, probably the Dobunni, had been subject to the Catuvellauni.

Decline and legacy

In 43 part of the Dobunni surrendered to Aulus Plautius, and the region came under Roman control without major recorded conflict. A fort was built at Cirencester, and the town of Corinium Dobunnorum grew into the civitas capital and second largest town of Roman Britain.

Lineage

DobunniRoman Britain 43 CE – 410 CE

Connections (1)

Dobunni was conquered by Roman Empire43 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Dobunni. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dobunni
MLA: “Dobunni.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dobunni. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Dobunni.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dobunni.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Dobunni’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dobunni (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻