CARATACUS
Attested: Cassius Dio 60, 19-22 Καρατακον; Tacitus Annals 12,33 Carataci; Tacitus History 3,45 Carataco; CARA on coins.
The name may have survived in Welsh texts as Caratauc and Caradoc.
Where: Caratacus was a son of Cunobelinus, based at Camulodunum. He was a brother, and possible rival, of Togodumnus. He led the resistance to Roman conquest, until he was finally defeated somewhere near the Welsh border. He then escaped to the court of Queen Cartimandua, who handed him over to the Romans, who took him to Rome, but did not then kill him there.
Name origin: The first element of Caratacus is often likened to Welsh caraf ‘to love’ and Latin carus ‘dear’, from PIE *ka- ‘to like, to desire’, but none of the usual Celticist writers seem keen to translate the second element. A variant of ταγος ‘ruler, commander’ seen in Prasutagus and possibly in Togodumnus and related to modern duke would make Caratacus mean ‘dear leader’. The English words care (noun), from PIE *gar- ‘to call, to weep’, plus take (with no certain cognates outside the Germanic languages) offer an alternative translation of ‘cares-taker’ (not caretaker!).
Notes: Personal names based on Carat-, such as Caratus, Caratillus, and Caraticus, are copiously attested on tombstones etc throughout the western Roman Empire, centered on areas called Belgica and Germania; for example, see here. To suggest that the name Caratacus was distinctively “British” is wrong.
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Last edited 10 September 2024 To main Menu