Free The Mammoth Book of King Arthur by Mike Ashley

at Lincoln, and the first (from the archaeological record) under major threat from the Saxon settlers; and Britannia Prima, which included Wales. North Wales was
uncertain territory, not unlike Northern Britain. It was primarily a militarized zone with minimal Roman settlement, despite the legionary fortress at Chester and another major fort at Segontium
(Caernarvon). This had been the area of the Deceangli and Ordovices tribes, both of whom, like the Brigantes in northern Britain, had been hostile to Rome. South-west Wales, the area of the
Demetae, was the main focus for Irish settlement, and it is evident that with the withdrawal of troops by Magnus Maximus the Irish had succeeded in settling in Demetia and had established what
became the kingdom of Dyfed. It is interesting that the name in the pedigrees at about the time of the Roman withdrawal is Tryphun, a Brythonic version of “tribune”, which may have been
a rank and not a name.
    This arc, from Demetia through west and north Wales, rapidly shifted away from centralised Roman control. When Cunedda came down from Manau Gododdin to North Wales in the
420s, he was able to establish various territories for himself and his sons, that subsequently became the kingdoms of Gwynedd (Venedotia), Ceredigion and Meirionydd plus the smaller chiefdoms of
Rhos and Dunoding. The tables at the end of this chapter show the emergence of these kingdoms and attempt to provide a chronology of their rulers.
    South Wales was another matter. Despite the original hostility of the Silures to the Romans, south Wales had become heavily Romanized as had the area later known as the Welsh Marches. This
territory included the Severn basin and was the rich heartland of Roman Britain. Here were the towns of Gloucester, Worcester and Wroxeter, plus Cirencester, the biggest city in Britain after
London.
    Just what happened here, both within this territory and between it and Maxima Caesariensis, is not entirely clear but, according to the accounts left by Gildas and Nennius, there was discord
between various factions. Two names become prominent, Vitalinus and Ambrosius. Vitalinus, according to Nennius’s genealogies, came from the city of Gloucester, but is described by Geoffrey of
Monmouth as the archbishop of London. Whether Geoffrey meant archbishop or someone in a senior magisterial role is not clear, but it may well be that Vitalinus made himself head of the province of
Maxima Caesariensis, whilst Ambrosius took control of parts of Britannia Prima. Vitalinus, though, may have belonged to the Cornovii civitas as his grandson, whom we shall come to know as
Vortigern, was regarded as the ancestor of the rulers of Powys, the kingdom that grew out of that civitas. Ambrosius, on the other hand, may have belonged to the Dobunni tribe which occupied
the Severn estuary and parts of Somerset and Wiltshire. Their power struggle seems to have had consequences for both the provinces of Britannia Prima and Maxima Caesariensis and, in due course, for
Arthur.
    The leading official in the civitas of Caerwent, out of which would emerge the kingdoms of Gwent and Glywysing, was probably Owain Finddu, another of the sons of MagnusMaximus. His name is given in one of the Welsh Triads, ancient triplets of verse used to memorise people and events ( see Chapter 8). Triad 13 lists the “Three Chief
Officers of the Island of Britain”:
    Caradawg son of Bran
    And Cawrdaf son of Caradawg
    And Owain son of Macsen Wledig.
    Owain was not Maximus’s eldest son – that was Victor, who was murdered soon after Maximus’s death in 388. Owain was Victor’s younger brother and, though
we do not know his age, he may still have been quite young at the time of his father’s death, perhaps only in his early teens. This means he would have been in his thirties around the year
410 and, because of his parentage and seniority, may well have been appointed as deputy by Constantine III when he left for Gaul. The very phrase