Textoverdi

The Textoverdi (Common Brittonic: *Textowerdī) were a tribe of Celtic Britons whose name appears in the upper valley of the River South Tyne in present-day Northumberland.^[1] One scholar calls them one of the “shadowy peoples of Lower Britain.”^[2] The Textoverdi may have been a sub-tribe of the Brigantes, but according to Laurence and Berry, they could have been an independent group^[2] who originally paid tribute to stronger neighbours but then managed to establish their own independent relationship with the Romans.^[2]

In terms of archaeological evidence, there is an “enigmatic”^[3] altar of the 2nd or 3rd century that records a dedication to Satiada (Sattada), a local goddess. It was dedicated by the senate of the Textoverdi (curia Textoverdorum).^[3][4] The Textoverdi are believed^[4] to have been the inhabitants of an area, with their capital at Beltingham near the site of Vindolanda or at Corbridge.^[4]

One scholar^[who?] states that “both the goddess and the people of the Textoverdi are otherwise unknown; and the exact meaning of curia is unclear, perhaps a latinization of a native British institution.”^[3]

Curia may not refer to a local senate, “but, as the Celtic corie, to a local subdivision of the tribe equivalent to a pagus. Thus the Textoverdi are perhaps a pagus of the Brigantes.”^[5]

The inscription reads:

DEAE / SAIIADAE / CVRIA TEX / TOVERDORVM / V•S•L•M

"To the goddess Satiada, the council of the Textoverdi willingly and deservedly fulfilled their vow."^[5][6]