chiefdom · British Isles

Novantae

80 CE – 400 CE (approx.)

People of Galloway in south-west Scotland, named by Ptolemy, whose peninsula and towns faced the Irish Sea.

Origins

Ptolemy lists the Novantae in south-western Scotland, giving their name to a peninsula, the Novantarum Promontorium, usually identified with the Rhins of Galloway, and naming two towns, Locopibia and Rerigonium. They grew from Iron Age communities living in duns, crannogs and small forts along the coast and inland valleys of Galloway.

Rule and society

No rulers or written records survive. Agricola's campaigns of about 81 probably brought Roman troops into Galloway, and forts were built at Glenlochar and Gatehouse of Fleet. Their position on the Irish Sea gave them close contact with Ireland and the Isle of Man, and their society was rural and pastoral.

Decline and legacy

Roman control of the region was brief, and the Novantae disappear from the written record after Ptolemy. Their territory later formed part of British kingdoms of the north, possibly Rheged, before Northumbrian expansion into Galloway in the 7th and 8th centuries.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻