A Round Peg Into A Square Hole

       A round peg into a square hole would not seem plausible. This task would certainly be difficult if you were to assume the pegs and squares of equal size. Now if the square hole is much larger than the round peg it would be possible to place the smaller peg into a much larger hole. It would seem that my Celtic ancestors faced conceptually the same sort of task. How would they fit their round family home into this new, much larger, Roman home? My ancestors had a couple of hundred years to sort things out.

      The following two figures demonstrate the actual dynamics that took place. The drawings are modified from another of my favorite references by Barri Jones and David Mattingly, p.242. [see post of June 3rd] The first figure shows the Celtic family farm as it existed with circular designed structures.

     This second figure shows the square [actually rectangular] Roman styled homes in the exact same family farm, some 200 years later.

      What a deal! Circular to square [actually rectangular] is the new way of living in this "Romanized" existence. You might even have a sturdy wall to lean against. 

Being a Boar

      Often during my many, many years of Jones surname tree climbing, which brought me to the northwestern area of Wales, which brought me to my distant Celtic ancestors, which brought me to wonder how these last folks managed to keep that Y-DNA flowing. After more than 100 years of fighting the Roman invaders, they (the Celts) seem to settle in the same area [World's End] and, kept the DNA moving down all the tree branches. Early in the tree branches it became known that the bronze boar occupied an important symbol on coins, helmets, shields, and even cooking pots. [p. 64, Heroes of The Dawn see post April 23] In addition, Laing in his text Celtic Britain, p.24 states "The original boar had been some kind of totem, designed to protect its owner." [see post April 19] Finally, and most significant, is the reference to a 2nd-century BC bronze cult wagon from Celtic Spain showing a rider and his hound chasseing a boar on horseback. [p. 68, Heroes of The Dawn]. Now imagine my surprise, when just this week, the following image came into focus.

      Could this connection [boar to boar] be answer to one of my Jones surname Y-DNA quandaries? 

      The 20th Legion (Valeria Victrix) was one of the four brought to the Island. It had service in Spain, and was one of the last Legions to leave Deva (Chester) at the withdrawal of Roman forces. Could some of the 20th be of Iberian Celtic descent, and share some of the same Y-DNA? They would certainly share the same totem. My Deceangli ancestors who occupied more than 400 years with these folks providing salt, iron, and a lot of beef! Maybe, they shared more than tribute.

See post May 10th for the reference to Invasion The Roman Conquest of Britain by Peddie, p.58, p.180.

New Neighbors

     So there goes the neighborhood, as some of my Celtic ancestors might have thought. All these thousands and thousands of men, 17 to 45 years of age, showing up at your doorstep at all times of the day and night. Our group of villages are no match for all these new stone ramparts. They even have new, fancy things like theaters, warm baths, and special ways to eat called banquets. Maintaining and securing their supply lines go right through the neighborhood with stone roads connecting the military bases. They even planned a civitas cornoviorum (Viroconium) to help my Cornovii ancestors adjust to all these new developments. It was to become a new capital city for these folks, which came to be called Wroxeter. Key to participation in the new Roman world was Latin. Learning this new language of law and public administration was necessary to survival of the family. Let's allow the kids to go to their schools and see which way the learning curve progresses. We might even learn how to write our thoughts. Our children may be the future to this complex world of new neighbors.

Camping Ground

       Around the time of Tiberius [42 BC - 37 AD] the military might of Rome consisted of 25 Legions totaling 400,000 men in arms. Essentially, the known world became the camping ground for these military units. Thus, the outlying provinces became the life blood of the Empire. Be plundered or pay tribute peacefully was the moto. 

      My Celtic ancestor's small geographic part of this world was remote and peripheral to the many other provinces administered by this military organization. Of the four military camps established by the Legions, where this world ended, two anchored the land bridge shared by my folks. Deva (Chester) to the north, and Viroconium (Wroxeter) to the south. The following map, first referenced June 3rd, shows the two stations associated with the military control established between my two Celtic family groups.

      The green arch around Deva (Chester) suggests the major control area of the Decenagli. Iron and salt were key elements produced here. The orange arch around Wroxeter shows the area involving the Celtic Cornovii tribe, where sheep and corn were major products. The next map shows the geographic relationship to Old Oswestry, which was the center of Celtic activity on the land bridge connecting the two kin groups.

      The green and orange colors follow the new, dynamic, structures called Roman roads, that became a way to transport all the things needed between the Legion's camp grounds. Old Oswestry, and its relationship to these forts, is colored pink. My Celtic ancestors had utilized this hill fort for all their regular life activities prior to the arrival of all this new, dynamic activity, called Roman administration. Their (my Celtic ancestors) camping ground would certainly change. 

Bread and Butter

      After all the meats from the sheep, pigs, calves, and oxen have been ordered, it would seem appropriate to augment the menu with some bread and butter. Now bread depended on a lot of wheat, and some good ovens. The Cornovii were specialist at growing wheat at their home base on the lowlands. This had been the location to the farms and plowed fields for generations of my Celtic ancestors.  Ovens (kiln) had been a steady part of this activity for many generations. This wheat growing had become such an important part of their livelihood that some of the earliest coins of the Celtic culture made its debut.

      Here it is! The gold coin of Cunobelinus. Used as a symbol on this coin, it is thought to represent the ear of barley. Wheat on the back of a coin. [Not sure I have seen this before?] It is discussed in both the book by Jones and Mattingly p.53, and the book by Salway p.32. The front side (heads)  shows the name belinus (CVNO) and a horse. The horse being one of the most prized possessions.

       Pass the butter please.

Where's The Meat

       What would be on your menu for 6,000 military folks coming for dinner from Deva? Oh yes, there would be an additional 6,000 empty stomachs just down the road from Wroxeter asking "Where's the meat?" Caesar's salad was a go some years back [post May 10 last month], but you would need some real meat to feed all these guys. This was one of the questions that I ask along the long trail of ancestor searching. How did my Celtic ancestors adjust to all these empty stomachs, and still survive to live another day?

      The last post gives a reference to a book that discusses many of the factors that came into play. Not just a few factors, but everything asked by me during my many, many years of Jones surname research. The following table is found on page 231, Map 6:48, in the comprehensive Atalas by Barri Jones (no known relationship), and David Mattingly. Just take a look from 50 AD through 350 AD to help answer the question, "Where's the meat?"

      Leg of lamb would be first on the menu starting around 50 AD. Probably from the fact that my Celtic ancestors keep a lot of sheep going from the highlands to the lowlands. The young of the domesticated cows kept around the farms were added to the menu by 100 AD. This was when the military assault into northwest Wales was completed, bring two Legions to the dinner table. [12 - 15 thousand men!] The Ox and pig also began showing their contributions.  Now horses were probably not to be eaten because of their value to all those men of the calvary. I guess they were kept in large numbers around those military bases when needed for rapid movement. The menu seems to be much the same after all the roads and military bases were formalized.

Maps, Maps, and More Maps

       The land of my Celtic ancestors underwent many, many changes after the invasion of those Roman folks. Beginning after the first 100 years of Roman conquest, the dust started to settle, giving 300 years of changes made to the surface anatomy of the land that my ancestors had occupied 500 years before. The book by Barri Jones and David Mattingly named An Atlas Of Roman Britain, gives all the maps that one could image showing the political and military story of these changes. Economic activity such as mining and pottery, in the context of life in the towns and country, are depicted. The Celts would face many new adventures. The cover of my copy is shown as follows:

      The illustration on the cover is a medieval copy of a Roman map of Britain. It is taken from the Notitia Dignitatum contained in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.

       To find a single map that summarizes most of the changes that occurred during the time of Roman occupation has been difficult to discover. However, the following map depicts many of the changes giving a "big picture". It comes from the book discussed last post by Peter Blair, p, 59.  Let's take a look.

    First, locate the two Celtic tribes that my Y-DNA seems to have its origin. The Deceangli on the highlands of the west side of the land bridge, and the Cornovii on the eastern side.  The dark square blocks represent the locations of the Roman forts that help occupy, control, and administrate the Roman world as it developed. Deva (Chester) was the fort that my Deceangli would have to interact, and Worxeter was the military base that the Cornovii would have to give their attention. Salt and iron production centered on Deva, and wheat and wool would focus around Worxeter. The Roman roads connected the two forts giving control of the waterways to the sea. [The Dee to the north, and the Severn to the south.] Old Oswestry is just about in the middle of things. This location served as the community center of my Celtic ancestors the 500 years before these Roman changes came into existence. This map helps understand the stage that was built during the 300 years that my Celtic ancestors had to dance.

Jones B., Mattingly D.: An Atlas Of Roman Britain, Oxbow Books, Park End Place, Oxford, 2002. [First published by Blackwell Publishers, 1990]

Blair, P.H.: Roman Britain and Early England, W.W. Norton & Company, N.Y., 1963.