As I argued in a recent post that regarded Roman Londinium, the first component ‘Lond-‘ in the name recommends a potential Germanic and more likely Frisian influence so poses the question whether the Romans actually deployed Germanic troops in their military campaigns over Britain.
The Romans were known to have already drafted in good numbers of Germanic troops by the late first century BC and early first century AD in their campaigns against Germania, a trend that increased with time.
As it turns out, the Romans indeed employed Frisian mercenaries as cavalry along their invasion of Britain (43 – 87 AD) so there is a possibility that some might have been stationed in Londinium during early Roman occupation.
Later on, the presence of Frisian auxiliary units (Cuneus Frisionum) is attested at Vercovicium(1), Housesteads in Hexham, between at least 222 and 235 AD and the Vinovia, near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, potentially starting even earlier among others in nowadays northeast England.
Cavalry units of the ala Vettonum, a Frisian cohort, could have also been stationed at the latter fort whilst the finding of terp Tritzum, trademark earthenware(2) fashioned in fourth century Frisia, in Kent suggests the settling of Frisian laeti(3) therein.
(1) The mention of Tuihanti, Germanic people likely settled around nowadays Twente (Netherlands), on two memorial stones has them apparently as part of the formation of the Frisian force stationed there.
(2) Pottery made of baked clay.
(3) People from outside the Roman Empire allowed to settle within Roman territory on condition that they would provide recruits for the Roman army.
Let’s drift way down memory lane to track and unlock the etymology of the name of London, the capital of Britain and a major cosmopolitan hub of modern world.
To begin with, Londinium, the long ancestor of London, was established by the Romans on the site of modern City of London at a key ford on River Thames shortly after they gained a firm foothold and started expanding their rule over Britain between 47 and 50 AD, during the reign of emperor Claudius.
Following the suppression of the Iceni(1) revolt under Boudica (c. 61 AD), when razed to the ground, the Roman city was quickly rebuilt on a grid accompanied by an ever-present garrison in a built-in fort northwest (nowadays Cornhill) to grow rapidly as a major port and road hub(2).
By the next century, further arrivals saw population figures rise sharply between 30000 and 60000 whilst the city obtained a forum, a basilica, a sizeable palace and other public buildings to eventually supplant Camulodunum, modern Colchester (Essex), as provincial capital.
The name Londinium itself, yet, is of uncertain to even unknown origin and etymology where the reconstructed suggested Brythonic form Londinjon as ‘place that floods’ looks as though guided more by patriotic feelings among British linguists and very shaky.
On the one hand, the suffix ‘-jon’(3) looks either (Vulgar) Latin- (-giō, -jō) or even more so Franconian/Frankish-descended (-jǭ) spelling ‘fortification, castle’ while, on the other hand, ‘Lond’ looks as though Germanic and more likely Frisian in origin carrying also the nuance of ‘state, realm’ along with an intermediate suffix ‘-in’ that is an alternate of ‘-en’ in Norse with a likely Latin root again.
There were also other Latin variations of the name such as Lundinium, Londonium, Lundonium, Londonum or Londinum that show an interchange of ‘u’ and ‘o’ in the first and ‘o’ with ‘i’ in the second syllable – while Lundin is a Swedish name where ‘lund’ spells ‘grove’ and ‘-in’ adds a sense of ‘of, pertaining to.’
Therefore, the ancient name looks like Roman with a likely Germanic influence so, since the arrival of Germanic peoples and Norse took place only centuries later, an intriguing new question may arise: Did the Romans deploy Germanic troops in their military campaigns over Britain, with some potentially stationed in Londinium?
The Romans were known to have already drafted in good numbers of Germanic troops by the late first century BC and early first century AD in their campaigns against Germania, a trend that increased with time.
Following the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain, Londinium largely declined and by the end of the fifth century was all but deserted ruins.
Summing up, the closest rendering to the name of Londinium in modern English I feel would probably be ‘State Fortified City.
The name definitely strikes one at first sight due to the well-known fictional hero Conan the Barbarian, a Cimmerian mainly portrayed on the big screen by Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Conan Meriadoc was actually a legendary Briton leader considered to have lived roughly around the second half of the 4th century AD.
He was apparently a prince or king of the early Brythonic (Briton) kingdom of Dumnonia, southwest nowadays England, under Roman rule and authority while he was reckoned to have established Brittany (meaning ‘Little Britain’), northwest nowadays France, across the Channel at the orders of Roman ruler Magnus Maximus after the latter was proclaimed Caesar (emperor) by his own troops in 383 AD.
Medieval Sources
Conan is associated so in both main sources of his story which are the Welsh text known as ‘The Dream of Macsen Wledig (the Welsh name of Magnus Maximus, wledig meaning ‘Lord’)’ and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’ that appeared much later, with primary evidence afforded in the slightly preceding ‘Life of Saint Gurthiern,’ in the 12th century.
A historical character, Magnus Maximus eyed greater power and rule over the whole Western Roman Empire so when he felt that circumstances were favourable he crossed the Channel with the bulk of his Roman legions and plenty of British troops, apparently stationing many of them with Conan at the helm in what became Brittany, and went on to confront rightful emperor Gratian whom he defeated near Paris to take over as Caesar himself.
Name Etymology
As a name, ‘Conan’ appears to be of Irish roots apparently spelling ‘little wolf,’ in the form of ‘Konan’ in Breton, yet ‘Meriadoc’ seems to carry a Latin element since the first component ‘Meria-‘ is almost identical and carries the same sense as ‘Maria’ to the effect of ‘of the sea,’ the latter definitely Latin in origin.
‘Meriadoc’ is interpreted as ‘Sea Brow (gangway, dock)’ and the second component ‘-doc,’ or its variation of ‘-dawc,’ looks like a Welsh/Celtic rendering of ‘dock,’ which has either a root in Low German ‘docke’ or Frisian ‘dok.’
Bear in mind that either ‘The Dream of Macsen Wledig’ or ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’ were written long after the Germanic invasion of the Saxons, Angles, Frisians and Jutes along with their dialects so many words would have been incorporated into the Celtic tongues.
Eudaf Hen or Octavius
Furthermore, his apparent father Eudaf Hen (Eudaf the Old) is also called Octavius by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who further identifies him as brother of Constantine the Great, so there is a profound suggestion that Conan was of Roman lineage which wouldn’t be a surprise in a wide Romano-British state of affairs over the land.
After all, Eudaf Hen could simply be the Welsh/Brythonic appellation assigned to Octavius, as was an apparent practice of the native Britons, who could have taken advantage of the departure of Constantine the Great as new Roman emperor, since there was no military ruler but only a proconsul left in charge behind, to rebel and proclaim himself lord of Britannia.
The argument, actually, that ‘Octavius’ is simply a corruption and faux-Latinization of Old Welsh/Breton Outham looks ‘lame,’ let alone the latter definitely looks Anglo-Saxon with an apparent Frisian or High German earlier root that may have found its way into Welsh/Breton instead.
Thereby, the attempted presentation of Eudaf Hen’s coup d’état as a British uprising against the Roman rule feels rather implausible as it looks more likely to have been yet another revolt within the high ranks of a turbulent Roman empire at the time.
Conan’s Kin
Conan’s sister was Elen Luyddog, as appears in Welsh, or Saint Helen who was apparently the wife of Magnus Maximus while he was married himself to Romano-British princess Saint Ursula, a Latin name, by the way.
(The picture is a detail of Saint Auta Altarpiece, fashioned by an unknown Portoguese painter between 1522 and 1525, that depicts the wedding of Conan Meriadoc to Saint Ursula)
I’d like to say that in the case of Don-caster, spelling ‘Fort on River Don,’ I don’t think that the first component that doubles as the river’s name (Don) derives on the ancient Irish goddess Danu, it doesn’t quite add up.
On the contrary, I feel that it is actually Scythian in origin where ‘don’ means ‘river’ and most likely came along with the cavalry of about 5500 Sarmatians that were stationed in central and north nowadays England, many of whom in the area of modern Yorkshire, by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 175 AD.
These Sarmatians apparently stayed there for whole generations while there is also the more known River Don, among the longest in Europe, that lay in the eastern reaches of their homeland (Sarmatia) in what is nowadays Russia.
Breaking through History 