Sand In The Carburetor

      In 293 A.D. "The Tetarchy"  began the  rule of four. Everything became the ruler's property, and this laid the foundation for the many conflicts between the four distinct geographical regions. At this time, most folks were told the supreme deity was considered the Emperor. Now there were four? Lots of trouble here to try and sort all this out. Now a new sect, first called Christian, at Antioch in the province of Syria, had some real problems with all this deity stuff. The Roman governor of this city resided here, and can you believe it, all this developed right under the nose of the Roman's administration. It was Diocletian some 250 years later from these early days of this movement, that decided the Empire needed to get rid of all these folks. Feeling that the growing sect was not following the dogma of  Roman theology, he commanded all were to persecuted. This persecution included ordering their meeting places (churches) to be razed to the ground, and their writings (Scriptures) destroyed by fire. All those in high places would loose their place, and any household folks who continued to profess Christianity would be deprived of their liberty. Ironically, some 37 years later, under a new ruler called Constantine, this persecuted sect became the new Religion of the State. A contemporary of Constatine, named Eusebius, wrote his account of all this turmoil. Sort of like having sand in the carburetor. The cover to my copy follows:

    In his book, he describes the ordeals of 146 martyrs, and the teaching of 47 heretics. Translated by G.A. Williamson and published by Dorset Press, N.Y., 1965, it has a helpful introduction p. 7 - p.29. The appendixes include A.) Emperors and Bishops, B.) Bishoprics, C.) Martyrdoms, D.) Heretics, and E.) Sources Quoted or Summarized, pp.415-424.  The last appendix E. is a good source for those who are interested in references of the day. 

Too Big For Their Britches (Toga)

       Starting halfway through their military interest in the homeland of my Celtic ancestors, the Roman world recognized they had finally gotten much too fat and sassy as the new world order. Civil wars, invasions, multiple changes in Caesars, and a new religion called Christianity, became more and more involved in the change of clothes being worn around the 28 provinces. When a fellow called Diocletian was named Emperor in 285 A.D., he promoted another to become a Caesar, thus dividing their world into a western and eastern empire. Not long after, in 293 A.D., two more officers were added, and "The Tetrarchy" [rule of four] was established. The Roman world would never be the same. Can you imagine, four courts, four Imperial armies, and four military governments. Everything became the ruler's property, and the Courts and Officials consumed all private wealth. Spain, Gaul, and Britain formed one of these provinces, and began revising its education and culture. Starting 303 A.D., persecution of the growing Christian order began in earnest.

The Villas

      Moving about in a brand new world took an abundance of caution, and a lot of adjustments. Tacitus [55 AD-117 AD] writes:

      "The Britons themselves bear cheerfully the conscription, the taxes, and the other burdens imposed on them by the Empire, if there be no oppression. Of this they are impatient; they are reduced to subjection, not as yet to slavery." [Mellor (ed.), p.400]

      Wow, not as yet to slavery, but more like subjection! The definition is one under authority, and it was the Roman military administration that dished out the authority. By the time of Tacitus, the Island was settled with all kinds of rectangular structures called Villas. The Legions had produced thousands of retirees, and many decided to settle down with their families about them. The following map shows the distribution of the Roman Villas as discovered. [Jones and Mattingly, p.241]

         The round dark circles represent the Villas, and their geographic locations. The orange line shows the demarcation along central Britain.  To the east, The Romans seemed to feel safe enough to settle down and live their lives. To the west, and northwest of this orange line, my Celtic ancestors hid out in the hills. The Dee and Severn rivers are outlined in blue, and the land bridge between. My Celtic world (the subjected) exchanged their salt, iron, meat, bread, and all things needed by the Romans (the authority). The Romanization of my Celtic ancestors would be dramatically different on both sides of the orange line.

      Here again is the map which shows the Celtic tribes on the western side of the orange line. My direct Celtic (Jones) kin groups, the Deceangli (Vale of Clwyd and Dee) and the Cornovii (the Shopshire plain) are positioned.

      Deva (Chester) was the main authority for my Deceangli, and Wroxeter for my Cornovii ancestors. Not many Villas here!

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.