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[German version] Harbour town in far southeastern Britannia, modern Richborough (Kent), on the now silted-up channel between the island of Tonatis (modern Isle of Thanet) and the mainland of Kent [1]. The settlement, captured by the invading army of the emperor Claudius [III 1] in AD 43, was used as a central military supply base until the late 1st cent. AD. Between AD 80 and 90, a triumphal arch was erected here, probably to celebrate the northern conquests of the Flavian governors [1. 40-73]. Th…

[German version] British tribe who inhabited the region between Snowdonia and the Severn valley (Ptol. 2,3,18); a site of principal settlement is unknown. They opposed the Roman invasion under Nero (AD 50), but were defeated by Julius Frontinus and Julius [II 3] Agricola between AD 74 and AD 79 (Tac. Ann. 12,33). According to Tac. Agr. 18,2, they were annihilated by Agricola. Nevertheless their name survives: e.g. in Dinorwig and Rhyd Orddwy (Wales). Britannia (with map: the indigenous tribes) Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography M.G. Jarrett, J.C. Mann, The Tribes of Wales, in: W…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: | Britannia | Britannia (modern Silchester). An Iron Age oppidum, main centre of the Atrebates [2], it developed from 100 BC into a significant political centre. Through its links with  Commius, the settlement boomed in the mid 1st cent. BC. It is likely that, after AD 43, Calleva Atrebatum (CA) was incorporated into Cogidubnus' empire. The early Roman town was established within the Iron Age fortifications [1]. From its very beginnings, CA's developmen…

[German version] Roman fort near Manchester, on the road from Deva to Eboracum, first occupied in the Flavian period (AD 69-96), probably under Cn. Iulius [II 3] Agricola. Renovated in the early 2nd cent. [1]. An inscription on a Severan building suggests a further extension in the 3rd cent. [2. 581]. In the 4th cent., M. gained considerable strategic importance, before being abandoned after AD 370. A large vicus surrounded the fort. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography 1 G. D. B. Jones, S. Grealey, Roman Manchester, 1974 2 R. G. Collingwood, R. P. Wight, The Roman Inscriptions of Brita…

[German version] Roman fort about 40 km to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne, modern Chesterholm, founded in the Flavian period (AD 69-96) [1]. The fort was renovated under Hadrian; Hadrian's Wall runs 3 km to the north of it (Limes II, with map). The fort was also renovated a century later. A large vicus developed to the west of it in the 2nd and 3rd cents. [2. 1700; 3]. The most significant find from V. is the Vindolanda Writing Tablets. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography 1 P. Bidwell, The Roman Fort of V. at Chesterholm, 1985 2 R. G. Collingwood, R. P. Wright, The Roman Inscriptions …

[German version] (Καττιτερίδες; Kattiterídes, ‘tin islands’). The C. were probably the regions and islands of the Atlantic coast of both Gaul and Britain; C. also generally referred to the south-west of Britain and the offshore islands. Most ancient authors had but little specific knowledge of this region. Thus Pliny reports that the Greek Midacritus was the first to import tin from the island of Cassiteris ( Midacritus, Plin. HN 7,197), without providing exact topographical details. Hdt. 3,115 doubted the very existence of these tin islands, probably because …

[German version] Settlement in the valley of the North Tyne, modern Corbridge. During the conquest by Agricola (AD 77-84) a large base was erected here, subsequently replaced by a camp further to the east (destroyed by fire c. 125). After Hadrian's Wall was erected 7 km to the north, C. was extended to become a supply base. In the early 3rd cent. C. played a decisive role in connection with the campaigns of Septimius Severus. An important city adjoining the base arose here in the 3rd and 4th cents. [1].  Limes;  Britannia Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography 1 M. Bishop, J. N. Dore, Corbridg…

[German version] In one of the burial mounds at SH near Woodbridge in Suffolk a wooden ship was found with a rich treasure (Gaulish, Scandinavian and Eastern English goods, Byzantine silver bowls, including one with the stamp of Anastasius [1] I, also Frankish coins of the period around AD 625). It is presumably the tomb of Rædwald (6th/7th cent. AD), a king of East Anglia. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography R. Bruce-Mitford, The S. H. Ship-Burial, 3 vols., 1975-1983.

(Ireland). [German version] A. Ancient knowledge Ancient geographers report little of the north-west coasts of Europe and the islands off this coast. The first knowledge regarding the island of Ireland, Ierne or H. was probably only obtained during the exploratory journey of Pytheas ( c. 320 BC [1; 2]). Pytheas probably did not visit H. himself and his reports were only second-hand, but Strabo, Diodorus and Mela probably had access to his information (Str. 4,5,4; Diod. Sic. 5,32; Mela 3,6). Some elements of this tradition are pure fantasy…

[German version] Celtic tribe in Southeast Wales from the coast to the Wye, especially in the coastal plain of present-day Glamorgan. The S. resisted the Romans from AD 44, at first under Caratacus (Tac. Ann. 12,32 f.; 12,38-40; 14,29), but were finally subdued in AD 74-76 by Frontinus (Tac. Agr. 17). In the 2nd cent., possibly under Hadrian, the S. were organised as civitas Silurum with the capital of Venta Silurum (present-day Caerwent). Modest villae were built in the coastal plain. In the end, the S. came to be the most Romanised tribe in Wales. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography V. E. …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: | Coloniae | Britannia The region around Gloucester, located at the lowest lying crossing-point over the Severn, was first occupied by the Roman army in c. AD 50. A legion base was erected in Kingsholm, probably by the legio XX Valeria Victrix [1]; this was abandoned in c. AD 60 and replaced towards the end of the rulership of Nero by a fortress on the ground of modern Gloucester, which itself was abandoned in c. AD 74/5. On the grounds of the fortress, the colonia Glevum was founded using the fortress' building materials, appa…

[German version] Celtic people, settled in the region of modern Essex in the late Iron Age. In the middle of the 1st cent. BC they were under pressure from the neighbouring Catuvellauni (Caes. Gall. 5,20) and for some time were dependent on them. Under their king Cunobellinus ( c. 10-40 AD) they were again independent and dominant in southern Britain. Their largest oppidum was Camulodunum. Britannia (with map) Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography R. Dunnett, The T., 1975  S. S. Frere, Britannia, 31987.

[German version] The Roman invasion of eastern Scotland under Iulius [II 3] Agricola brought Roman troops across the isthmus between the Forth and Clyde in AD 82 or 83 (Tac. Agr. 29,2-38,2; [1]). In contrast to the tribes of southern Scotland, the Caledonii to the north of the isthmus were very much more dangerous opponents. They were led against the Romans by Calgacus, who had probably been elected commander by the clans. He first evaded the legions, but, when the Roman advance made progress acro…

[German version] On the great Roman road of the Fosse Way between Lincoln and Leicester lay various Roman settlements; one of the largest was M., near East Bridgeford, Nottinghamshire. Originally a Roman fort (late Claudian/early Neronian period), abandoned in around AD 70 [1; 2]. M. probably served as a military supply base, since the local iron ore was intensively smelted. After the end of the military occupation, the civilian settlement continued on both sides of the Fosse Way, possibly in conjunction with a mansio (or mutatio). Residential and other buildings were modest. Th…

[German version] One of a line of Roman outposts north of Hadrian's Wall near the modern High Rochester. Established by Agricola (AD 77-84), the camp was renovated by Lollius Urbicus (AD 139-142), and again restored under Septimius Severus and Diocletian [1. 242-244]. CIL VII p. 178f.  Limes Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography 1 E. B. Birley, Research on Hadrian's Wall, 1961. D. J. Breeze, The Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain, 1961, 138f.

[German version] British island connected to the mainland at low tide where, according to Diod. Sic. 5,22,2, the inhabitants of Belerion (Land's End in south-west-Britain) sold Tin from their mines - this was the beginning of the tin trade between Britannia and the Mediterranean region. The location of I. is still under debate. Possibilities include St. Michael's Mount in Mounts Bay, Cornwall [1. 176], which is connected to the mainland at low tide, and Mount Batten in the Plymouth Sound, Devon, w…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | | Britannia | Britannia Modern Canterbury; arose in the form of an Iron Age oppidum on the Stour in the late 1st cent. BC. The Roman city developed shortly after AD 43, perhaps revealing the pre-Roman character of the tribes of Cantion (Kent). Public buildings were erected in the late 1st and early 2nd cents. A large theatre was added in the late 2nd cent. [1]; defensive works were built in the late 3rd cent. An extra muros Christian church, probably from the 4th cent., survived until c. AD 700 (Bede, Hist. Eccl. 1,26). A…

[German version] (or Magni). Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall in northern England (Not. Dign. Occ. 40,43; Geogr. Rav. 107,11), probably dating to the Flavian period (AD 69-96), modern Carvoran, identified because of epigraphical evidence ( numerus Magn(c)es(ium) [1. 1825]). In the early 2nd cent., before M. became part of the Hadrianic Limes after AD 122, it may have been part of Trajan's border line [2. 192-196]. The fort was not integrated into the vallum as was usually the case, but remained situated to the south. Under Hadrian and after him, the cohors I Hamiorum was stationed there unt…

[German version] Tribe in the area of Kent and East Sussex. Its name is derived from the region of Cantium. Caes. B Gall. 5,22,1 tells of four indigenous kings; this account allows the conclusion that there were a number of sub-tribes. The tribal centre was  Durovernum, also important was Durobrivae (modern Rochester). Numerous villae were built in C. in the early Imperial Age, especially in eastern and southern Kent. In the 3rd cent.,  Rutupiae,  Dubrae, Regulbium (modern Reculver) and  Portus Lemanae (modern Lympne) were garrisons of the classis Britannica. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bib…

[German version] Modern Dover, was of great importance during the period of Roman occupation of  Britannia, as a port and coastal fortress. The first-rate port may well have been used during the invasion of AD 43. A fort was built in the late 2nd cent. to accommodate a unit of the classis Britannica [1]. The fort was replaced in the late 3rd cent. by a coastal fortress as protection against the Saxons. Parts of the docks and the moles have been discovered in the port area of Dover. A well preserved Roman lighthouse on East Hill, octagonal in the …