chiefdom · British Isles

Trinovantes

54 BCE – 43 CE (approx.) · capital Camulodunum (Colchester)

Essex people whose alliance with Julius Caesar made them Rome's first British treaty partners, and who later rose with Boudica against Camulodunum.

Origins

The Trinovantes first appear in Caesar's account of 54 BCE, when their prince Mandubracius, whose father had been killed by Cassivellaunus, fled to Caesar in Gaul. Caesar restored him and forbade Cassivellaunus to harm them, making the Trinovantes the earliest British people bound to Rome by agreement.

Rule and society

Their land in Essex and southern Suffolk was rich farmland with close links to the Continent. Rulers such as Addedomarus and Dubnovellaunus issued gold coins, and Camulodunum grew into a vast oppidum defended by long dykes, with burials like the Lexden tumulus holding Roman luxury goods. Around 10 CE the Catuvellaunian king Cunobelinus took Camulodunum and made it his capital.

Decline and legacy

After the Claudian invasion of 43, Camulodunum became the first capital of Roman Britain and from 49 a colony of veterans who seized Trinovantian land. Resentment led the Trinovantes to join Boudica of the Iceni in 60 or 61, when Camulodunum was burned. Afterwards they formed a civitas in the Roman province.

Lineage

TrinovantesRoman Britain 43 CE – 410 CE

Connections (3)

Catuvellauni was conquered by Trinovantes10 CE
Trinovantes was conquered by Catuvellauni10 CE
Trinovantes was conquered by Roman Empire43 CE

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Cite this page

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻