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 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]