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The Silures were the most ancient inhabitants of Britain. (The Theosophical Path, vol. 3 by Katherine Tingley, California: The New Century Corporation, 1912, pg. 136) The Silures possessed south Wales and western England, and their chief cities were Sariconium, Magna, Gobabeum, and their capital city, Venta. The land of the Silures was only thirty miles from Ireland.
That the Silures were black does not need to be questioned. They were described as short in stature, with brown complexions, and black curled hair and dark eyes. In the second century A.D., the Roman historian Pliny described the Britons complexions as “Ethiopian.” (African Presence in Early Europe by Ivan Van Sertima, ed. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2007, pg. 225) In his book, Memoirs of the Celts of Gauls, Joseph Ritson gives this assessment regarding the Silures origins:
“The swarthy complexion of the Silures, and their hair, which is generally curled, with their situation opposite to the coast of Spain, furnished ground to believe, that the ancient Iberians had arrived from thence, and taken possession of the territory.” (Memoirs of the Celts or Gauls by Joseph Ritson, London: Payne and Foss, 1827, pg. 114)
The Silures were identical with the small, dark, long-headed Basque-speaking people found in the western Pyrenees, who were a fragment of the Iberians. (Our Earliest Ancestors in Britain by Boyd Dawkins, London: John Heyward, 1879, pg. 104) The Iberians were the early inhabitants of Spain. Wesley John Gaines insists that the Iberians came from North Africa. (The Negro and the White Man by Wesley John Gaines, Philadelphia: A.M.E. Publishing House, 1897, pg. 11) It is important to note that Iberia and North Africa are separated by a mere thirteen kilometers at the narrowest point of the Strait of Gibraltar. Pliny described the Iberians complexion as aethiopium, i.e. black as an Ethiopian. (Ancient and Modern Britons: a retrospect, Vol. 3 by David MacRitchie, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1884, pg. 45)
The Roman historian Tacitus also noted that the Silures were a dark complexioned people. (The Anthropological Review, Vol. 8 by Anthropological Society of London, London: Asher & Co., 1870, pg. 202) J.A. Rogers believed they were very likely of Phoenician or Egyptian descent. (Nature Knows No Color Line by J.A. Rogers, St. Petersburg: Helga M. Rogers, 1980, pg. 71)
The Silures were the strongest and most organized state in Britain. They were considered “one of the bravest of the ancient British nations, and defended their country and their liberty against the Romans, with the most heroic fortitude.” (A New History of Great Britain from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Present Time by Rev. John Adams, London: T.N. Longman & O. Rees, and T. Hurst, 1802, pg. 13) They were known to be “stubbornly independent.” (The Foundation of England, Vol. I by Sir James H. Ramsay, London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. LTD, 1898, pg. 57) It was because they refused to be dominated by outsiders that they fought so hard for their freedom. Julius Caesar led a Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC. It took the Romans more than thirty years to subdue the Silures.” (Origins of English History by Charles Isaac Elton, London: Bernard Quaritch, 1890, pg. 138)
