Ordovices

Who were the Ordovices?

The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes that lived in Great Britain long ago, before the Romans came. Their home was in what we now call North Wales and some parts of England. They lived between two other tribes, the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east.

Their Name and Land

The name Ordovices might mean "hammer fighters" in an old Celtic language. Some people think their name is still part of a place called Dinas Dinorwig in North Wales. The Ordovices lived far from the sea, in western areas. Two of their important towns were Branogenium and Mediolanum, but we do not know exactly where they were. Their land may have covered parts of what we now call Powys.

Why We Remember Them

A scientist named Charles Lapworth named a very old time period—the Ordovician—after the Ordovices. He did this because the old rocks he studied were found in the area where this tribe once lived in North Wales. Even though they had some hard times with the Romans, the Ordovices are remembered for the special name they gave to this ancient time.