Regni facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Regni |
|
 |
|
| Geography | |
| Capital | Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester) |
|---|---|
| Location | Sussex (Also parts of Hampshire, Kent, Surrey) |
| Rulers | Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus |
The Regni, Regini, or Regnenses were a tribe based largely on Sussex and which occupied modern West Sussex, East Sussex, south-west Kent, eastern Surrey, and the eastern edges of Hampshire. Their tribal centre was at Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester in West Sussex), close to Trisantona Fluvius (the River Arun) which joined the English Channel at Littlehampton, a little way to the east of Noviomagus Reginorum. The tribe was bordered to the west by the Belgae, to the north by the Atrebates, and to the east by the Cantiaci, while much of their northern border was filled by the vast and near-impenetrable Weald Forest. Nevertheless, they were thinly scattered on either side of the Weald, and there were safe paths through the forest.
The Regni were probably one of the most Romanised of British tribes. They had established trading links with Rome, including a Roman trading post dating and limited Roman presence before the Roman invasion of AD 43. The Romans' extensive use of Chichester Harbour in the territory of the Regni shortly after AD 43 suggests that that the Regni's pro-Roman links provided the Romans with a route to supply the Roman legions campaigning in the south-west of Britain.
The people of King Cogidubnus
Before the Roman conquest, their land and capital appear to have been part of the territory of the Atrebates, possibly as part of a confederation of tribes. It has been suggested that, after the first phase of the conquest, the Romans maintained the Atrebates as a nominally independent client kingdom, acting as a buffer between the Roman province in the east and the unconquered tribes to the west. The ruler of the kingdom was Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus or Cogidumnus: Tacitus says "quaedam civitates Cogidumno regi donatae" ('certain civitates were given to King Cogidumnus') and remarks on his loyalty. A first century inscription found in Chichester supplies his Latin names, indicating he was given Roman citizenship by Claudius or Nero. Cogidubnus may have been a relative of Verica, the Atrebatian king whose overthrow was the excuse for the conquest. After Cogidubnus's death, the kingdom would have been incorporated into the directly ruled Roman province and divided into several civitates, including the Atrebates, Belgae, and Regni.
See also
In Spanish: Regnenses para niños
