Silures

The Silures (UKsai'lu@ri:z , US'sIlj@ri:z ) were a powerful and warlike tribe or tribal confederation of ancient Britain, occupying what is now south east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas. They were bordered to the north by the Ordovices; to the east by the Dobunni; and to the west by the Demetae. According to Tacitus's biography of Agricola, the Silures usually had a dark complexion and curly hair. Due to their appearance, Tacitus believed they had crossed over from Spain at an earlier date."... the swarthy faces of the Silures, the curly quality, in general, of their hair, and the position of Spain opposite their shores, attest to the passage of Iberians in old days and the occupation by them of these districts; ..." (Tacitus Annales Xi.ii, translated by M. Hutton) Jordanes, in his Origins and Deeds of the Goths, describes the Silures. "The Silures have swarthy features and are usually born with curly black hair, but the inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies. They are like the Gauls or the Spaniards." The Iron Age hillfort at Llanmelin near Caerwent has sometimes been suggested as a pre-Roman tribal centre. But most archaeologists believe that the people who became known as the Silures were a loose network of groups with some shared cultural values, rather than a centralised society. Although the most obvious physical remains of the Silures are hillforts such as those at Llanmelin and Sudbrook, there is also archaeological evidence of roundhouses at Gwehelog, Thornwell (Chepstow) and elsewhere, and evidence of lowland occupation notably at Goldcliff. The Latin word Silures is of Celtic origin, perhaps derived from the Common Celtic root *sīlo-, "seed". Words derived from this root in Celtic languages (e.g. Old Irish síl, Welsh hil) are used to mean "blood-stock, descendants, lineage, offspring", as well as 'seed' in the vegetable sense. Silures might therefore mean "kindred, stock", perhaps referring to a tribal belief in a descent from an originating ancestor.