The Last Stand of the Druids

The Druids are some of the most enigmatic figures of ancient Britain, and perhaps in all of ancient history. Scarcely mentioned, never writing their own records, and with no archaeological evidence to verify them, they have left historians puzzled for millennia.

However... Tacitus, a Roman historian, once made a very bold and unusual claim: that the Roman Empire once came face-to-face with a horde of these mystical men during their invasion of Mona (Ynys Mon/Anglesey).

So, is there any truth to this?

Written by: Chloe Bilson
Edited by: Cambrian Chronicles

Chapters:
0:00 - Ynys Môn
0:52 - The First Invasion
2:27 - Crossing the Menai Strait
4:43 - Boudicca
7:17 - The Second Invasion
9:41 - Tacitus
12:37 - The Druids
14:13 - Llyn Cerrig Bach
16:02 - The Last Stand of the Druids?

Sources:
Primary Sources:
Caesar, De Bello Gallico tr. W. A. McDevitte & W. S. Bohn, Harper’s New Classical Library (1869).
Cassius Dio, Roman History tr. E. Cary & H. B. Foster, Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press, 1925).
Euripides, Bacchae, tr. E. Wilson, in: M. Lefkowitz & J. Romm (eds.) The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (Modern Library, 2016).
Pliny the Elder, Natural History, tr. J. Bostock & H. T. Riley, Taylor & Francis (Taylor & Francis, 1855).
Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, tr. C. Edwards, Oxford World Classics (Oxford University Press, 2000).
Tacitus, Agricola tr. H. Mattingly, Penguin Classics (Penguin Books, 1948).
Tacitus, Annals tr. C. Damon, Penguin Classics (Penguin Books, 2012).

Secondary Scholarship
Breeze, D. J. & Guest, P. Frontiers of the Roman Empire: The Roman Frontiers in Wales (Archaeopress, 2022).
Crummy, N. “Boudica Britannia. Rebel, War-leader and Queen. By M. Aldhouse-Green” Review of: Boudica Britannia. Rebel, War-leader and Queen by M. Aldhouse-Green. In: Britannia, vol. 40 (2009) 370-1.
Dyson, S. L. “Native Revolts in the Roman Empire.” Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte, vol. 20, no. 2, (1971) 239–74.
Fernández-Götz, M. & Roymans, N. Archaeology of the Roman Conquest: Tracing the Legions, Reclaiming the Conquered (Cambridge University Press, 2024).
Green, M. & Howell, R. A Pocket Guide: Celtic Wales (University of Wales Press, 2000).
Hanson, W. S. The Fort at Elginhaugh and its implications for Agricola’s role in the conquest of Scotland in: D. J. Breeze, L. M. Thoms, D. W. Hall (eds.) First Contact: Rome and Northern Britain (Tayside & Fife Archaeological Committee, 2009) 49-58.
Hutton, R. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain’ (Yale University Press, 2009).
Niblett, R. “Images of Boudicca” Review of: Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen by R. Hingley, C. Unwin; Boudicca: the Warrior Queen by M.J. Trow; Queen Boudicca’s Battle of Britain by R. Hunt. in: Britannia, Vol. 37 (2006) 489-492.
Ross, A. & Robins, D. The Life and Death of a Druid Prince: The Story of Lindow Man, An Archaeological Sensation (Summit Books, 1989).
Rutledge, S. H. ‘The Roman Destruction of Sacred Sites’ Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte Vol. 56. No. 2 (2007) 179-195.
Sailor, D. “The Agricola” in: V. E. Pagán (ed.) A Companion to Tacitus (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) 23-45.

Websites:
Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, ‘Valley (Rhosneigr)’
Amgueddfa Cymru, ‘Iron Age Copper Alloy Plaque’
Coflein, ‘Llyn Cerrig Bach votive lake’ https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/401097/
DIO & A. Carbs DSO OBE MC MP, ‘Veterans and Personnel Uncover Iron Age Treasures at RAF Airfield’
Hoffmann, B. ‘Agricola Vs Tacitus: Archaeology Versus Tacitus’ Agricola, A First Century Worst Scenario’
Royal Air Force, ‘RAF Valley’
Visit Anglesey, ‘Menai Strait’

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Music courtesy of the YouTube Audio Library:
Under The Rug - Density & Time
Torture - Coyote Hearing
Namaste, Touchpoint by Audionautix are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Lucid Haze - Amulets
The Halloween Dawn by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Source: http://www.twinmusicom.org/song/248/t...
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org
The Path Starts Here - Cooper Cannell
Whole Tone Limbo - Godmode
Your Suggestions - Unicorn Heads
Fortress Europe - Dan Bodan

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Images of, and from:
Messerchmit: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-377-2801-013 / Jakobsen [Jacobsen] / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Armenia: Sémhur, CC-BY-SA-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Shipping container: USGS/Bruce Jaffe, Public domain
Bronze Plaque Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0
Llyn Cerrig Bach: Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Porius1, CC BY-SA 3.0
via Wikimedia Commons

Linch pin, Bridle Bit, Harness Fitting: CC BY-SA 4.0
Bridle bit, Sword, Harness Fitting: CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
via the Portable Antiquities Scheme