Deceangli

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Tribes of Wales at the time of the Roman invasion. Exact boundaries are conjectural.

The Deceangli or Deceangi were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Isles, prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. The tribe lived in north Wales, though it is uncertain whether their territory covered only the modern counties of Flintshire and Denbighshire in the north-east of Wales or whether it extended further west.

The first attack on the Welsh tribes was made under the legate Publius Ostorius Scapula who attacked the Deceangli about 48 AD. They appear to have surrendered with little resistance, unlike the Silures and the Ordovices who put up a long and bitter resistance to Roman rule. No Roman town is known to have existed in the territory of this tribe, though the auxiliary fort of Canovium (Caerhun) was probably in their lands and may have had a civilan settlement around it.

The name "Deceangli" is probably preserved in the Welsh name of "Tegeingl" for the cantref which covered much of modern Flintshire.