Attacotti, Deisi and Magnus Maximus: The Case for Irish Federates in Late Roman Britain

Abstract

Scholars of late Roman Britain will be familiar with the name of the Attacotti, who appear in several fourth- and fifth-century Roman texts. Ammianus refers to this mysterious people attacking the British diocese in the second half of the fourth century. In the same period the promiscuous marriage customs and, more so, the ferocious cannibalism of this ‘British race’ shocked a young St Jerome. It is somewhat surprising therefore that the Notitia Dignitatum lists a number of Attacotti units among the auxilia palatina stationed in Gaul, Italy, and Illyricum, and in the last instance their presence is also attested in epigraphic sources. Scholarly consensus has been content to regard the Attacotti as just one among the many minor and otherwise unknown tribes of Ireland or north Britain. It is interesting to note, however, that for a brief period Ammianus ranks the Attacotti alongside the Scots, Picts, and Saxons as a threat to the north-western frontiers of the Empire. It is also to be noted that the recruitment of the Attacotti into the Roman army, seemingly in considerable numbers, is apparently unique among the peoples of the British Isles beyond Roman rule. The writer's purpose is to assess the fourth- and fifth-century evidence for the Attacotti and to examine the problems of their identification and origins, together with their relationship to other peoples hostile to the late Roman diocese of Britain. The results of this examination will demonstrate that the character of the Attacotti and the location and nature of the threat they posed have been misunderstood. This study will suggest circumstances for their recruitment and transfer into the continental comitatus, set in the wider context of the on-going debate concerning the presence of barbarian troops in later Roman Britain, and the size and nature of the British garrison in general. Furthermore, at a time when there are many studies of the mutual relations between the Roman Empire and its neighbours, this contribution seeks to shed new light on the interaction between Roman Britain and Ireland, a subject relatively neglected by Roman historians, despite considerable advances in the fields of early Irish history and literature.