The Phœnician origin of Britons, Scots & Anglo-Saxons : discovered by Phœnician & Sumerian inscriptions in Britain, by preroman Briton coins & a mass of new history : with over one hundred illustrations and maps

COINS OF CARATACUS 393

him as of Caratacus.‘_ But Evans, by adding the two detached prefixed (?) letters C V to the end of the group EPATI equated them to the EPAT] and EPAT* legends on other coins, which do not bear obvious or legible prefixed letters, and thus obtained a king's supposititious name, Epaticcus.

The objections raised by Evans against ascribing these coins to Caratacus, and objections which are still accepted, are firstly that the letter P is not used in its Greek value of R, but as the Roman letter P; and secondly, that in the series of coins with the head of Hercules, taking the place of the ** Tascio”’ legend, and bearing the letters EPATI and EPAT, there is no preceding letter, and therefore the name cannot be read “ Ceratic.”’

Tt seems rather remarkable to find that those numismatists who believe that the Ancient Britons copied their coinage from the Greeks should yet deny the possibility that the Britons knew or may have used to some extent “ Greek" letters. Especially so is this the case with regard to the letter P which the Greeks admittedly borrowed from the later Phcenician letter P along with its value of R. On the contrary, Cesar tells that the Druids who had their chief stronghold in Britain in his day, “‘ use the Greek lelteys.”* And, as a fact, the Briton coins themselves testify the use of so-called “ Greek ’’ letters occasionally. Thus Cunobelin, the father of Caratacus, on two different mintages of coins, uses the Greek letter A for the Roman LF in spelling his own name,‘ implying that Caratacus’ father used some Greck letters in writing and that his people understood it, just as Ulfils, the Goth used some Greek letters in his writings for the Goths, though this particular Greek ” letter for 1. is essentially identical with the Runic Gothic sign for that letter. Again, Androgeus, the uncle of Cunobelin, in writing his name “ Antedrig-v,’5 uses the Greek [ for the letter G therein. Moreover, in one at least of his coins, in spelling his name he uses the Greek letter 9 or Th for D:® and this substitution of that Greek letter for the Roman D frequently occurs in the coins with the legend “ Addedomarios,’”’? the form of which name also is “ Grecian.’’

In view of this positive evidence for the use of Greek letters occasionally on the Briton coins of the father of Caratacus and other predecessors, there is no improbability in Caratacus himself using them occasionally. There is thus no longer any valid objection to reading the P in the above series of coins with its Greek value of I, which gives us in the first case _ Cueratic” (see Fig. 61, a) ;8 and this fairly equates with the Roman Caratacus’ and the Welsh “ Caradog.”’ In the other two coins of this series with the contracted form of the name (6 and c of same Fig.) the scroll behind the head of Hercules (or Tascio) which is seen in complete form in 4 of that Fig. represents, I venture to suggest, the Greek letter ¢ or Z, a letter which, we have seen, was used by Part-olon. This would give the reading of “ Zerati’’ or ‘‘ Zerat’’ as the contracted form of the king’s name, and we have seen that “ Zet-land ” is a dialectic form of . Catti or Ceti-land ’ or Goth-land. But be this Z initial as it may, there is no doubt whatever that these coins belong to the self-same king whose name is spelt ““Cueratic’’ in the first. Even without this initial letter it would still remain his coin, for we have seen his dropping of the initial letter in his “ Arvi”’ title, and we have also seen the dropping of the cognate initial letter G of “‘ Gioln’’ to form “ olon,” of ‘‘ Gwalia"’ to form ‘ Wales,”’ and in ‘‘ Guillaime ’’ to form “ William.” It is thus evident that these three different coins belong to Caratacus, alias Arvi-ragus.

Thus the testimony of the Briton coins establishes clearly and positively the historicity of the traditional Ancient British Chronicles as authentic historical records.

‘Camden, Brit., ed. 1637, p. 98; omitted by Gough, as location of coin was temporarily lost.

* Evans, Coins, Pl. 8, Nos. 12-14, * De Bel. Gallice, 6, 14.

* Evans, Coins, Pl. 10, Nos, 2 and 3. * See above. * Evans, Coins, Pl.t5, 11,

* Thid., Pl. 14,2, 5 and 9.

* The initial letters € and V are above the warrior horseman (Tascio).