Attacotti

ATTACOTTI or ATTICOTTI, mentioned by Ammianus (27.28), as having, in conjunction with the Scots and Picts, harassed Britain. Mentioned, too, by St. Jerome (adv. Jovin. lib. ii.), as having been seen by him in Gaul, indulging in cannibalism; also that they had their wives in common. If so, these were not the Attacotti of their own proper British locality, but a detachment planted in Gaul. This we infer from the Notitia; where we have the Attacotti Honoriani Seniores, and the Attacotti Honoriani Juniores; the former in Gaul, and the latter in Gaul and Italy.

In the Irish annals, the Attacots (Aiteachtuath) take a far greater prominence. They appear as enemies to the native Irish as early as A.D. 56, and it is a suspicious circumstance, that in proportion as we approach the epoch of true history, they disappear; the same applying to the famous Fir-Bolgs.