Verica

Verica was a Celtic prince who ruled the Atrebates in southern England in the first decades AD and was a client of the Romans .

Verica is best known for numerous coins on which the legends COMMI F or CF appear next to his own name, which are probably to be added as Commii Filius - son of Commius . Commius was an important Celtic ruler who is also known from Roman sources. The abbreviation VAR appears on some coins, which may mean the capital of Verica, which has not yet been able to be located with certainty, but may have been at Selsey or Chichester . Archaeologists were able to show that the people here had already adopted the Mediterranean way of life before the conquest of Britain by the Romans. His territory was increasingly threatened by the Catuvellaunen , who managed to conquer more and more parts of the Verica's sphere of influence. Verica's dominion was reduced to the south of England in Sussex . Verica fled to Rome, where Cassius Dio (60, 19) recorded the arrival of a certain Berikos under Emperor Claudius , who in turn asked for help, which gave the Romans a welcome opportunity to invade and conquer Britain in 43 AD. Verica disappears from the sources. His successor was probably Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus , whose magnificent Roman villa near Fishbourne was discovered in 1960 and uncovered by archaeologists. It is quite possible, but not proven by sources, that Verica was installed there as a client king after the Roman conquest of Britain, before Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus took office.

literature

• Alec Down: Roman Chichester , Chichester 1988, ISBN 0850334357 , pp. 1-5