Did the Trojans Migrate to Britain After the Trojan War?

Tapestry depicting Brutus leaving the Temple of Diana and journeying towards Gaul. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0

According to medieval legends, determination was a Trojan migration to Britain respective generations aft the Trojan War. For centuries, the British believed this fable wholeheartedly. Today, astir scholars disregard it arsenic medieval fiction. However, a caller publication presents an statement that this fable really has a steadfast ground successful fact.

The fable of Brutus and the Trojan migration to Britain

The fable that determination was a migration of Trojans to Britain archetypal appears successful afloat successful the Historia Brittonum. This is simply a substance astir the past of the Britons. It was written by a Welshman astir the twelvemonth 830.

According to this document, Aeneas of Troy and his household migrated to Italy aft the Trojan War. This portion of the fable besides appears successful ancient Greek and Roman records. After Aeneas came Ascanius and Silvius, some of whom besides look successful past sources.

However, according to the Historia Brittonum, Aeneas’ grandson oregon great-grandson was named Brutus. After tragically being liable for the deaths of his parents, helium was exiled. He traveled astir portion of the Mediterranean for a while, but past helium and his set of followers arrived successful Britain and settled there, founding a caller kingdom. His descendants were named Britons successful his honor, and the land was called Britain for the aforesaid reason.

The Trojan kings of Britain: Myth oregon history?

April 2024 saw the merchandise of a caller publication which examines this legend, entitled The Trojan Kings of Britain: Myth oregon History? This publication makes the lawsuit that the cardinal crushed wherefore astir scholars contiguous disregard this fable arsenic fabrication is due to the fact that of a chronological mistake concerning Brutus.

Based connected the information that Brutus supposedly lived lone a fewer generations aft Aeneas, this would seemingly spot him astir 1100 BCE. Modern sources regularly assertion Brutus does not look successful immoderate grounds anterior to the Historia Brittonum, making it evident that helium is fictional.

However, determination are immoderate issues with this conclusion. As The Trojan Kings of Britain highlights, the Historia Brittonum really calls Brutus a Roman consul. In fact, it describes him straight arsenic the “first to clasp the consulship.” This would place him arsenic Lucius Junius Brutus, a fig who appears successful galore past Roman records.

Confirming this is the information that the Historia Brittonum provides an alternate genealogy for Brutus. This alternate contented places Brutus respective generations aft Numa Pompilius, a king who apt lived successful the seventh period BCE.

The humanities Brutus of Troy

What this means is that the Brutus who appears successful the Historia Brittonum was not invented by the writer of that document. Rather, helium is simply a distorted mentation of the humanities Lucius Junius Brutus. This Brutus truly was the archetypal to clasp the consulship, and helium truly did unrecorded a fewer generations aft Numa Pompilius.

This would mean that the supposedly fictional Brutus of Troy was not fictional astatine all. He truly existed, and, successful fact, helium is precise good attested to successful the past Roman sources. He lived successful the 2nd fractional of the sixth period BCE.

How does this harmonise with the contented that Brutus lived conscionable a fewer generations aft Aeneas? The book The Trojan Kings of Britain points retired that galore genealogies successful medieval British documents are demonstrably abbreviated. Therefore, determination is nary crushed wherefore this could not besides beryllium the lawsuit with Brutus.

More significantly, however, the publication highlights however modern research and discoveries enactment the decision that the Trojan War occurred centuries aft the accepted date. In fact, the earliest records connected the founding of Rome really spot Aeneas conscionable a fewer generations earlier Lucius Junius Brutus, too.

Capitoline Brutus, an past bust traditionally held to beryllium a representation of Lucius Junius Brutus. Credit: Public Domain

The Trojan migration to Britain

Having established that the legendary Brutus of Troy was truly thing much than the humanities Lucius Junius Brutus, the publication The Trojan Kings of Britain investigates whether oregon not determination is immoderate grounds for a migration from Italy to Britain astir 500 BCE.

To beryllium clear, the fable does not assertion that Trojans migrated straight from Troy to Britain aft the autumn of their city. As we person seen, the assertion is that Brutus and his men traveled from Italy to Britain. The Trojan transportation lone exists inasmuch arsenic the Romans believed themselves to beryllium Trojan descendants.

Furthermore, the fable of Brutus besides states that helium settled successful Gaul (France) for immoderate clip earlier moving connected to Britain. With this successful mind, we would expect to spot grounds of Italics settling successful Gaul astir 500 BCE. Sometime soon after, we would expect to spot grounds of immoderate caller Italo-Gallic civilization resulted from that migration spreading crossed to Britain.

Evidence of Italics successful Gaul

The book The Trojan Kings of Britain highlights grounds that Italics (alleged Trojan descendants) did settee successful Gaul astir 500 BCE. This was precisely erstwhile the La Tène civilization emerged among the Celts successful Gaul. Scholars admit that the benignant which characterizes the La Tène civilization is based connected Etruscan art.

Furthermore, the La Tène Celts utilized Etruscan chariots. They besides buried the chariots successful the graves of the elite people conscionable similar the Etruscans did. In addition, they created statues successful the Italic benignant and placed them supra oregon extracurricular elite graves, arsenic per an aboriginal Etruscan custom.

The graves themselves were quadrate oregon rectangular successful signifier successful opposition to the circular mounds utilized successful the pre-La Tène era. This whitethorn subordinate to the information that the houses of the Gallic Celts were rectangular, and it was an Etruscan customized to benignant tombs connected the houses of the living.

This is conscionable immoderate of the grounds for an Italic migration to Gaul astir 500 BCE that The Trojan Kings of Britain highlights. There is besides grounds from the culture, language, and religion of the La Tène Celts.

Across to Britain

Shortly aft the La Tène civilization emerged successful Gaul, determination is grounds it dispersed to Britain. For example, the fifth-century BCE saw the accomplishment of La Tène artifacts successful Britain. More significantly, the signifier of elite chariot burials dispersed to Britain by astatine slightest arsenic aboriginal arsenic 450 BCE. Most scholars hold this was a effect of a migration of a warrior elite people from Gaul, though determination continues to beryllium statement implicit the size of the migration.

In immoderate case, the book The Trojan Kings of Britain highlights grounds that a warrior elite people traveled from Italy and settled successful Gaul circa 500 BCE and past continued connected from determination to Britain soon after. In this way, it tin beryllium argued that the archaeology confirms the fable of Trojan descendants migrating to Gaul and past Britain successful the clip of Lucius Junius Brutus.