Cunobelinus

Cunobelinus Romano-British Rulers, is probably the most famous British king before the Roman occupation. He was a son of Tasciovanus, and succeeded his father in the early first century, reigning until c.AD 40. His first capital was Verulamium (St Albans) but he subsequently moved it to Colchester. Though his power base was the Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes, his influence extended over a wide area, and his coins, of high quality, are found in north-east Kent, north Berkshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire. Most of them carry on the obverse an ear of corn. Geoffrey of Monmouth, not the most reliable of sources, claimed that he was brought up by Augustus Caesar, and Suetonius called him ‘rex Brittonorum’. He seems to have been assertive in Britain but took care not to antagonize the Romans. A quarrel with his son Adminius, however, may have given the emperor Claudius the pretext for an expedition, which arrived in AD 43 after Cunobelinus's death. In Shakespeare's Cymbeline the historical background, borrowed mainly from Holinshed, is sketched in lightly. It has been suggested that the great tumulus at Lexden, near Colchester, might be his burial-place.

The Kings and Queens of Britain. John Cannon and Anne Hargreaves. Oxford University Press, 2001.