chiefdom · British Isles

Epidii

100 CE – 200 CE (approx.)

People of Kintyre in western Scotland recorded by Ptolemy, whose name means 'horse people' and whose land later became the heart of Dál Riata.

Origins

Ptolemy's Geography of about 150 places the Epidii in the Kintyre peninsula and neighbouring islands of Argyll, with the Mull of Kintyre named Epidion Akron after them. Their name comes from the Brittonic word for horse, suggesting a people who honoured horses or a horse deity.

Rule and society

Nothing is known of their rulers or institutions. Kintyre and the islands were a land of duns, crannogs and small forts, with the sea as the main highway. The peninsula lies only about 20 kilometres from Antrim, and contact with Ireland was constant across the North Channel.

Decline and legacy

The Epidii disappear from the record after Ptolemy. By the 6th century their region was ruled by the Gaelic kings of Dál Riata, whose territory spanned Argyll and north Antrim, and Kintyre was held by its leading kindred, the Cenél nGabráin.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻