chiefdom · British Isles

Selgovae

80 CE – 400 CE (approx.)

People of the Scottish Borders recorded by Ptolemy, whose lands around the Eildon Hills were held by the Roman fort of Trimontium.

Origins

The Selgovae are known from Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography, which places them in southern Scotland, usually located in the upper Tweed valley and the hills of the central Borders. Their name may mean 'the hunters'. They grew from Iron Age communities whose landscape contained many hillforts, including the large enclosure on Eildon Hill North.

Rule and society

No rulers, coins or written records survive. The heavy Roman military presence around their land, especially the fort of Trimontium at Newstead under the Eildon Hills, has led historians to suggest they were hostile to Rome, in contrast to their neighbours the Votadini. Their society was rural, based on cattle and small farms.

Decline and legacy

Roman control of southern Scotland ebbed and flowed between the 80s and the 2nd century, after which the region lay beyond Hadrian's Wall. The Selgovae disappear from the record, their lands later forming part of the British kingdoms of the north.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻