Iceni
Geography
Capital	Venta Icenorum (Caistor St. Edmund)
Location	Norfolk Suffolk
Rulers	Canduro[...], Aesu[...], Saemu[...], Antedi[...] Prasutagus Boudica

The Iceni ( /aɪˈsiːnaɪ/) or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. They were bordered by the Corieltauvi to the west, and the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes to the south.

The Cenimagni, who surrendered to Julius Caesar during his second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, may have been a branch of the Iceni ^[1] or it could be a corruption of Iceni Magni meaning "Great Iceni".

Archaeology[link]

Iceni coin

Archaeological evidence of the Iceni includes torcs — heavy rings of gold, silver or electrum worn around the neck and shoulders. The Iceni began producing coins circa 10 BC. Their coins were a distinctive adaptation of the Gallo-Belgic "face/horse" design, and in some early issues, most numerous near Norwich, the horse was replaced with a boar. Some coins are inscribed ECENI, making them the only coin-producing group to use their tribal name on coins. The earliest personal name to appear on coins is Antedios (ca. 10 BC), and other abbreviated names like AESU and SAEMU follow.^[2]

Sir Thomas Browne, the first English archaeological writer, said of the Roman occupation, Boudica and Iceni coins:

Iceni coin.

That Britain was notably populous is undeniable, from that expression of Caesar. That the Romans themselves were early in no small Numbers, Seventy Thousand with their associates slain by Bouadicea, affords a sure account... And no small number of silver pieces near Norwich; with a rude head upon the obverse, an ill-formed horse on the reverse, with the Inscriptions Ic. Duro.T. whether implying Iceni, Durotriges, Tascia, or Trinobantes, we leave to higher conjecture. The British Coyns afford conjecture of early habitation in these parts, though the city of Norwich arose from the ruins of Venta, and though perhaps not without some habitation before, was enlarged, built, and nominated by the Saxons.^[3]

The Icknield Way, an ancient trackway linking East Anglia to the Chilterns, may be named after the Iceni.

The Roman invasion[link]

While the meaning of the name Iceni is unknown, it is tempting to see it as derived from a Proto-Celtic adjective cognate with Latin picea ‘pine tree,’ the Italic tribal name Piceni, English picene, and with the English hydronym Itchen. Icenian coins dating from the 1st century AD use the spelling ECEN [1], which probably suggests a different etymology.

Tacitus records that the Iceni were not conquered in the Claudian invasion of AD 43, but had come to a voluntary alliance with the Romans. However, they rose against them in 47 after the governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula, threatened to disarm them. The Iceni were defeated by Ostorius in a fierce battle at a fortified place, but were allowed to retain their independence.^[4] The site of the battle may have been Stonea Camp in Cambridgeshire.

Statue of Boudica by Thomas Thornycroft near Westminster Pier, London, with her two daughters upon a chariot

A second and more serious uprising took place in AD 61. Prasutagus, the wealthy, pro-Roman Icenian king, had died. It was common practice for a Roman client king to leave his kingdom to Rome on his death, but Prasutagus had attempted to preserve his line by bequeathing his kingdom jointly to the Emperor and his own daughters. The Romans ignored this, and the procurator Catus Decianus seized his entire estate. Prasutagus's widow, Boudica, was flogged, and her daughters were raped. At the same time, Roman financiers called in their loans. While the governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was campaigning in Wales, Boudica led the Iceni and the neighbouring Trinovantes in a large-scale revolt, destroying and looting Camulodunum (Colchester), Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) before finally being defeated by Suetonius Paulinus and his legions. Although the Britons outnumbered the Romans greatly, they lacked the superior discipline and tactics that won the Romans a decisive victory.^[5] The battle took place at an unknown location, probably in the West Midlands somewhere along Watling Street.^[6] Today, a large statue of Boudica wielding a sword and charging upon a chariot can be seen in London on the north bank of the Thames by Westminster Bridge.

Bronze coins of the Iceni. Museum of London.

The Iceni are recorded as a civitas of Roman Britain in Ptolemy's Geographia,^[7] which names Venta Icenorum as a town of theirs. Venta, which is also mentioned in the Ravenna Cosmography,^[8] and the Antonine Itinerary,^[9] was a settlement near the village of Caistor St. Edmund, some five miles south of present-day Norwich, and a mile or two from the Bronze Age Henge at Arminghall.

After the Romans left Britain, it is possible that some of the Iceni migrated west away from the Angles into the inhospitable marshlands around The Wash known as the Fens. The possibility of this occurrence is supported by the Life of Saint Guthlac - a biography written about the East Anglian religious hermit who lived in the Fens during the early 8th century - it is stated that Saint Guthlac was attacked by people he believed were Britons living in the Fens at that time, 200 years after the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, although Bertram Colgrave in the introduction to The Life of Saint Guthlac states that is very unlikely due to the lack of evidence for British survival in the region and the fact that British placenames in the area are "very few".^[10]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Tom Williamson (1993), The Origins of Norfolk, Manchester University Press

External links[link]

• Iceni at Roman-Britain.org

Jonny Smith (born 7 August 1979 in Brigg, North Lincolnshire) is a motoring journalist and television presenter. He is currently one of the presenters on motoring programme Fifth Gear. He first worked for a custom and vintage VW magazine, becoming the editor after three years. He went on to work for magazine publisher EMAP, where he wrote features for magazines such as Max Power. Smith appeared on Sky One's 'Movies Greatest Cars', where he was noticed by Fifth Gear producers, and subsequently asked to attend a screentest.^[1] He also hosts a British documentary television series, called Industrial Junkie.^[2]

He is six feet and three inches tall.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fifth Gear Biography
• Jonny's Site - Car Pervert

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Nathan Fake is an English electronic music artist from Norfolk, who has released numerous singles as well as two album releases on the label Border Community Recordings. His music has been used in soundtracks for TV shows and an advertisement.

In 2006, his debut album Drowning in a Sea of Love was released on Border Community. The album received very good reviews in the music press.^[1] He released a six track mini-album Hard Islands in 2009.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Drowning in a Sea of Love (2006) - Border Community
• Hard Islands (2009) - Border Community

EP[link]

• Outhouse (2003) - Border Community
• Watlington Street EP (2004) - Saw Recordings
• The Sky Was Pink (2004) - Border Community
• Dinamo EP (2005) Traum Schallplatten
• Silent Night (2005) - Border Community 7" release
• Drowning in a Sea of Remixes (Remix EP) (2006) - Border Community
• You Are Here (2007) - Border Community

Remixes[link]

• Avus - "Real (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Border Community (2004)
• Perc - "Closer (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Premier Sounds (2004)
• DJ Remy - "Scrambled (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Additive Records (2004)
• Steve Lawler - "Out at Night (Nathan's Night In)" - Subversive Records (2004)
• Tiefschwarz - "Isst (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Fine Records (2005)
• Shocking Pinks - "Dressed To Please (Nathan Fake Remix)" - DFA Records (2008)
• Vincent Oliver - "Cluods in The Haeds (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Lo Recordings (2008)
• Grasscut - "Muppet (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Ninja Tune (2010)
• Jon Hopkins - "Wire (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Double Six Recordings (2010)
• Walls - "Gaberdine" - Kompakt (2010)
• PVT - "Light Up Bright Fires (Nathan Fake Remix)" - Warp Records (2010)
• Radiohead - "Morning Mr Magpie (Nathan Fake RMX)" (2011)

Compilation appearances[link]

• Numb Chance (2006) - Elektronische Musik: Interkontinental 5 - Traum Schallplatten

Collaborations[link]

• "Lava Flow" (collaboration with Milky Globe) (2006) - LoEB

Television[link]

• The track "Grandfathered" was used in an ad for the Motorola Pebl phone and in the television programme Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe.
• The track "You Are Here" was used in the CSI: Miami episode "Miami Confidential". The FortDax remix is used as the theme tune to BBC Four's Newswipe with Charlie Brooker.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nathan Fake Official Site
• Border Community
• Nathan Fake feature on BBC Collective
• Nathan Fake discography at Discogs
• Video tutorial on composing by Nathan Fake
• Nathan Fake Mixtape on Andrew Meza's BTS Radio

This article about an English musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e