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.
[R.G.L]