Camboglanna

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Castlesteads Castle
Alternative name a) Camboglanna ,
b) Amboglanna ,
c) Camboglans ,
d) Cammoglana
limes Britain
section Hadrian's Wall
Dating (occupancy) Hadrianic ,
2nd to early 5th centuries AD?
Type Equestrian and cohort fort
unit a) Legio XX Valeria Victrix (building vexillation ),
b) Legio VI Victrix (building vexillation ),
c) Cohors I Batavorum ,
d) Cohors IV Gallorum ,
e) Cohors II Tungrorum
size Area: 114 × 114 meters, 1.2 ha
Construction Wood, earth and stone fort
State of preservation square floor plan with rounded corners,
not visible above ground
place Walton / Castlesteads
Geographical location 54 ° 57 '48.6 "  N , 2 ° 45' 49.3"  W Coordinates: 54 ° 57 '48.6 "  N , 2 ° 45' 49.3"  W. hf
Previous Banna Fort (east)
Subsequently Uxelodunum Fort (west)
Fortresses North Great Britain.png
Aerial view of the fort area
Webaviation

Link to the picture
(please note copyrights )

Coin portrait of Hadrian
Findings plan excavations from 1934
Castle sketch by William Hutton, 1802
Drawing of the fort area by Henry McLauchlan, 1857, the fort is mistakenly referred to as Petrianis
Iupiter Altar of the Cohors II Tungrorum
Building inscription from the east gate of Fort Birdoswald, which attests to the presence of the cohors I Dacorum there . 1852
Altar of the Disciplina

Camboglanna was a Roman auxiliary fort in north-west England , County Cumbria , District Carlisle , Parish Walton .

It was part of the chain of fortresses on Hadrian's Wall ( per lineam valli ), which consisted of 16 forts, and secured its western section and a crossing over the Cam Beck river . It is unusual that, although it is classified as a wall fort, it was not built directly onto it. The camp was used by the Roman military for about 300 years, probably from the middle of the 2nd to the early 5th century AD. Nothing is left of the fort and the wall today.

Surname

There are several ancient sources that name this fort: the Notitia Dignitatum and two Roman drinking vessels ( "Rudge Cup" and Amiens patern ). Camboglanna probably means “river bend” or “curved valley”. This is probably because from the fort location one has a good view of a loop of the Cam Beck, a tributary of the River Irthing . At first it was not possible to assign the ancient place name exactly (see also Banna ). In the Notitia Dignitatum , the Cohors I Dacorum , which is epigraphically attested for Birdoswald, is given as a garrison unit of Castlesteads ( Amboglanna ). For a long time it was believed that Camboglanna meant the neighboring Birdoswald. However, it seems to be a transcription error by the medieval copyists. In the relevant entry in the Ravenna cosmography of the geographer of Ravenna , Banna is located between Esica (Great Chester) and Uxelludamo (Stanwix). From excavations we know that between Stanwix and Great Chester, directly on the wall, there were two forts. But even from cosmography it is not clear which of these two fortresses can be identified as Banna . However, it is now widely recognized in research as the Roman name for Birdoswald. For a long time the fort was equated with the Uxelodunum / Petrianis equestrian camp further west .

location

Camboglanna was the twelfth link in the fortress chain of Hadrian's Wall ( vallum aelium ). It was located 12.8 km east of Stanwix ( Uxelodunum / Petrianis ) and 11 kilometers west of the Birdoswald ( Banna ) fort on a steep hill that dominates the Cam Beck valley. From here one overlooked a passage through a moor to the northwest, over which the road from Brampton to Longtown now runs, and the east bank of the river. The walled garden of Castlestads House marks the location of the fort, which covers about half of the camp area. 500 meters northwest of the fort is Cambeckhill Farm, the site of a mile fort in Roman times. In the late 2nd century the ramparts belonged to the province of Britannia inferior , from the 4th century to the province of Britannia secunda .

Research history

Knowledge of the appearance of the Roman camp is very poor. William Hutchinson first mentioned some details of the fort in 1794 in his "History of the County of Cumberland". Its area was excavated in the second half of the 18th century by landowner William Ponsonby Johnson. He was also able to find some altars and other antiques. In 1741 the remains of a bathhouse were partially uncovered outside the fort, approx. 200 meters north. The exact location and its floor plan are not known today. Haverfield dug exploratory trenches in 1898, 1901 and 1902 to determine the exact course of the south trench. The fort was partially excavated by Richmond and Hodgson in 1934. In particular, short sections of the enclosing walls, apart from the destroyed north-east wall and the east and west gates, were uncovered. The southwest corner tower could also be cut. Traces of a defensive moat were also found that surrounded the camp. Several consecration altars were also recovered during the excavations. In 1991 the Royal Commission of Heritage Memorials in England, Section Newcastle (Royal Commission of Historic Monuments in England, RCHME) carried out soundings on the fort grounds. In geophysical surveys that were carried out between 1999 and 2001, the course of the Vallum could be confirmed again. They also showed some details of the civil settlement ( vicus ) on the southern slopes of the fort hill. The same investigations also revealed traces of Roman field boundaries in the area immediately east of the settlement. In 2007 a geophysical survey was carried out to clarify the extent of the vicus in the south of the fortress.

Inscriptions

The first known Roman inscription from Castlesteads was discovered in 1690 and was dedicated to the British deity Maponus by four irregular Germanic fighters. In the course of the landscaping in the 18th century and the subsequent excavations, another 40 inscriptions from Roman times were recovered. Those that could be dated were made between 128 and 244. Some of them are in the lapidarium of the summer house on the west side of the rose garden. Three of the altars were dedicated to the Persian god Mithras , ten to the highest Roman state gods.

Among them: seven for Iupiter Optimus Maximus, one with Numen Augusti ; one for the genius loci ; three for the undefeated sun god ( Sol Invictus ) and Mithras ; two for the god Belatucader, including one also dedicated to Minerva ; two for the god of war Mars, including one with the one with Numen Augusti ; two for the mother goddesses ( matrones ). Other altars were dedicated to the deities Neptune, Victoria, Vanauntis, the Disciplina of Augusti and an unknown god.

development

In 122, Emperor Hadrian ordered a barrier wall to be built in northern Britain, reinforced by watchtowers and forts, from the Tyne to the Solway Firth, to protect the British provinces from the constant incursions of the Picts from the north. Most of the wall was built by soldiers from the three legions and men of the Classis Britannica stationed in Britain .

Little is known about the history of the fort. Presumably a Roman wood-earth fortification stood on the hill above the Cam Beck before the Hadrianic stone fort was built. Perhaps it replaced the warehouse at Brampton / Old Church , one of the Stanegate fort . Around the middle of the 2nd century, the Hadrianic stone warehouse was built over it. His crew, together with the crew of Mile Fort 57, probably secured a rampart crossing and monitored the eastern bank of the Cam Beck in order to be able to quickly repel attacks by the northern tribes from the area of ​​Bewcastle ( Fanum Cocidi ). The fort was probably abandoned in the late 4th or early 5th century and then fell victim to the stone robbery. I.a. its building material was used from 1169 by Robert de Vaux for the construction of the nearby Augustinian monastery of Lanercost Priory. The fort area was purchased by W. P. Johnson in 1789 to build a mansion on it. It was to replace an earlier house (Walton House) of the Dacre family, which was built with stones from Hadrian's Wall. The last remains of the stone fort were destroyed or leveled in 1791 in the construction of the manor house (Castlesteads House) and its gardens. The vallum was also completely filled in.

Fort

About 60 meters northeast of the stone fort, in 1934 another elevation - 0.4 meters high and 3 meters wide - came to light in the forest, probably the remains of an earth wall. It could still be followed to the edge of the plateau, where it turned at a right angle to the southwest. There his tracks were lost after about 10 meters. In 1991 the RCHME again observed about 0.4 meter high remains of this earth wall on the east wall. In 1934 traces of a moat and the earth wall (1.5 meters high) were found on the southeast corner. It belonged either to an earlier wood and earth fort or to a provisional annex that was later added to the stone fort in the east (see also Onnum Fort ). If a wood and earth fort actually stood here, it would have to have been considerably larger than the stone fort that followed.

The stone fort was built at the time of Hadrian , had the square floor plan with rounded corners (playing card shape), typical of mid-imperial camps, and measured approximately 114 × 114 meters. It covered an area of ​​1.2 hectares, its longitudinal axis was oriented from northwest to southeast. The northern wall ran parallel to Hadrian's Wall, about 350 meters away. The entire north-west side of the camp was washed away over the centuries by the Cam Beck, around 30 meters of the fort area may have been lost. The remaining 50% is now covered by the mansion's walled garden, the rest is planted with deciduous trees. Part of the southwest wall and possibly remnants of the northeast wall can be seen in the forest as an elevation up to 1.2 meters high. There is another elevation on the south-eastern garden wall. The best preserved section of the fort wall can be seen in the southern corner of the rose garden, where it still reaches a height of 1.6 meters. It was also severely mutilated in landscaping in the 18th century. The fort was also surrounded by a 4.8 meter wide weir ditch. The width of the berm was about 3 meters. Of the four warehouse gates - one on each side - none are visible today. According to the medieval standard, they are likely to have had a double passage and were flanked by two towers. Due to the west-east orientation of the camp and its proximity to the steeply sloping embankment above the Cam Beck, it is very likely that the east gate served as the main gate ( porta praetoria ) instead of the north gate. The wall was presumably supported by an earth ramp raised at the rear, which also served as a battlement. The fort probably also had the interior buildings that were standard for auxiliary troop camps during the Middle Imperial period: in the center a headquarters ( principia ), one or two granaries ( horrea ) and team barracks ( centuria ). The main street of the camp ( via principalis ) connected the west and east gates.

Presumably 300 meters north of the camp, south of the location of the watchtower 57b , there was a parade ground. Three altars were found there, donated by soldiers from the garrison.

Hadrian's Wall

At Castlesteads the wall ran from east-north-east to west-south-west. The stone fort was still north of the south ditch ( vallum ), i. H. within the military exclusion zone , but - like Fort Magnis - was not directly connected to the wall. It seems that it was more important for the Roman engineers to lead the wall at the most favorable point over the Cam Beck and then along the northwestern edge of the plateau. For the fort they naturally chose the most suitable vantage point, i. H. also at the highest and therefore easiest to defend location. Mile fort 57 was 500 meters away - directly on the wall .

In the Castlesteads section, nothing can be seen of the southern moat. It led around the stone fort in a wide southeastern arc. Presumably it was built at the same time as an earlier and somewhat larger wood and earth fort. In front of the south gate, the vallum could be crossed on an earth dam.

garrison

Camboglanna was presumably occupied by regular Roman soldiers from the 2nd to the early 5th centuries. During its existence it housed several cohorts of auxiliary troops ( auxilia ). A cavalry officer, the Decurio Aurelius Armiger, donated an altar to the god Vanauntus there. It is not known in which unit he served. Legionaries were usually not assigned to garrison service on the border, but sent special forces for the more demanding construction projects on Hadrian's Wall. During the construction of the fort - according to a building inscription found there in the 19th century - the garrison was commanded by a legionary centurion named Marcianus, who had the rank of Hastatus Posterior . According to a reused altar stone from the east gate, the centurion Gaius Julius Cupitianus had a temple restored. At this time he also seems to have temporarily commanded the garrison, as the sequence of letters P [rae] P [ositus] (= the first) suggests. The inscriptions do not reveal to which legions the two belonged. In late antiquity, the crews on the Wall were part of the Limitanei .

The following units either provided the fort's crew or may have stayed there for a limited time:

Time position Troop name description
3rd century AD Legio sextae Victrix ("the sixth legion, the victorious") The presence of members of this legion in Castlesteads is confirmed by a building inscription. It was discovered near the east gate in 1732. The Legion's headquarters were in Eburacum (York).
3rd century AD Legio vicesimae Gordiana ("the twentieth legion, the Gordians") The presence of the Legion is known from an inscription found in a hypocaust complex . Your honorary name Gordiana should be in a campaign under Gordian III. (238–244). The inscription also mentions a Tungrian auxiliary unit (see below).
2nd century AD Cohors quartae Gallorum equitata ("the fourth cohort of the Gauls , partly mounted") The presence of this unit is known from two consecration altars from Castlesteads. They probably provided the first garrison of the fort. It was a mixed unit of infantrymen and horsemen. She was recruited from members of various Gallic tribes who were resident in what is now central France. The texts on the altars contain no clues as to when they were donated. But it is believed that they were made in Hadrianic times. An altar - dedicated to Iupiter - was commissioned by the Prefect Volcacius Hospes. The cohort is mentioned on several other altars from Britain, dating to the third and fourth centuries. According to the Notitia Dignitatum , it was in Vindolanda (Chesterholm) at the end of the 4th century .
2nd century AD? Cohors primae Batavorum ("the first cohort of the Batavians") The Germanic Batavi tribe , from which this troop was recruited, settled on an island between the Waal and the Rhine, in the Roman province of Gallia Belgica . They possibly replaced the Gaul cohort as garrison troops from Castlesteads during the 2nd century. It is also known from two building inscriptions from Carvoran .
3rd century AD Cohors secundae Tungrorum Gordiana milliaria equitata coram laudata ("the second cohort of Tungrians , 1000 strong, partly mounted, publicly praised") The unit was originally recruited from a Lower Germanic tribe that settled in the Ardennes and around the town of Tongeren in the Gallia Belgica . It is known from several inscriptions from Castlesteads. Their prefect Tiberius Claudius Claudianus donated an altar for Iupiter, dated January 1, 241. Two more Iupiter altars were commissioned by the prefects Albius Severus and Aurelius Optatus. The auxiliary unit is also mentioned on the building inscription from the east gate. Presumably she carried out construction work in the fort and was under the supervision of a centurion of Legio XX . Certainly not all 1000 men of the unit were stationed here.
3rd century to 5th century AD? Cohors prima Aelia Dacorum ("the first Aelian cohort of the Dacians ") In the Notitia Dignitatum this auxiliary troop cohort is given as the garrison of " Amboglanna ". Either the Dacer cohort was moved to this camp in the late 4th or early 5th century, for which there is no evidence whatsoever, or it is a copyist error made by the medieval copyists. According to the Notitia, its commanding officer was then in the rank of tribune. His immediate superior was the Dux Britanniarum , the commander in chief of the border troops in Northern Britain.

Vicus

As with most of the fortifications, a civil settlement ( vicus ) probably developed over time near Camboglanna . However, it was never excavated or scientifically investigated. Remnants are no longer visible above ground. Traces of extensive settlement are mentioned in a letter from Richard Goodman to Samuel Gale in 1727. He writes that he wanted to have observed this on the slope on the southeast side of the fort. Goodman saw wall foundations and streets there, but all of them were removed as a result of the construction of new buildings and the agricultural development of the area.

The last remains of the vicus are believed to be under the fields to the south and east of the Castlesteadsfarm. In 2007, its buildings were found to be lined up on an 11-meter-wide street that ran east-west. Another road, about 200 meters west of the vicus, apparently led to the southeast, in the direction of the Irthing and Stanegate . However, the main road did not lead directly to the stone fort. This could mean that the earlier wood and earth fort was a little further west of the stone fort. The buildings all stood south of the vallum and another ditch. Four stone buildings were found between them, the largest of which had a square floor plan, was about 8 m² in size and divided into several rooms. Cobbled streets ran between the buildings. Some houses may also have stood between the vallum and the fort.

It is likely that the vicus extended into the forest areas east and west of the fort. To the east of the Roman vicus was a number of Romano-British dwellings that had gone through two phases of construction, including traditional round huts of the indigenous British. This change in architectural style could mark the eastern boundary of the vicus or indicate a different land use or allocation. A temple or cult area in the south-east, which was renovated at least once, is likely to have belonged to the fort settlement, as can be seen from an inscription on the east gate.

Burial ground

The burial ground of the fort and the civil settlement could not yet be located. From Castlesteads only four gravestones are known so far. One was too badly damaged that its inscription could no longer be reconstructed. One example is the name of the armorer Gemellus ( custos armorum ), his heir, the centurion Flavius ​​Hilario, had the stone made. Aurelia placed a tombstone for her deceased husband, and another for a woman whose name was unknown.

See also

literature

  • William Hutchinson: A History of Cumberland. Vol. 2, 1794.
  • Daniel Lysons, Samuel Lysons: Roman Antiquities, in Magna Britannia, Volume 4, Cumberland, London, 1816.
  • Guy de la Bédoyère : Hadrian's Wall: history and guide, Tempus, 1998, ISBN 0-7524-1407-0 .
  • John Collingwood Bruce: Roman Wall, Harold Hill & Son, 1863, ISBN 0-900463-32-5 .
  • John Collingwood Bruce: The Roman Wall: A Description of the Mural Barrier of the North of England, 3rd Edition; Longmans, London 1867.
  • RG Bruce, I. Richmond: Handbook to Roman Wall, 12th Edition, 1966.
  • Frank Graham: The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide, 1979, pp. 169-171, ISBN 0-85983-140-X
  • Ronald Embleton, Frank Graham: Hadrian's Wall in the Days of the Romans. Newcastle, 1984.
  • RG Collingwood, RP Wright: The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, Oxford 1965.
  • Eric Birley: Research on Hadrian's Wall. 1961, pp. 203-205.
  • Francis John Haverfield: TCWAAS in Report of the Cumberland Excavation Committee 1901, Vol. 2, Series 2, 1902, pp. 22. and 1902, Vol. 2, Series 3, 1903, pp. 328-349.
  • I. Richmond, B. Hodgson: TCWAAS in Excavations at Castlesteads, Vol. 2, Series 34, 1934.
  • Madeleine Hope Dodds: A History of Northumberland. Vol. XIII, p. 521.
  • Albert Rivet, Colin Smith: The Place names of Roman Britain. Batsford, London 1978.
  • Eric Birley: Research on Hadrian's Wall. 1961.
  • J. Alan Biggins, David JA Taylor: Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. The Roman fort at Castlesteads, Cumbria: a geophysical survey of the vicus', No. 7, 2007.
  • Nick Hodgson: Hadrian's Wall 1999-2009.
  • MWC Hassall: Aspects of the Notitia Dignitatum, British Archaeological Reports, supplemental series No. 15, Oxford 1976.
  • J. Heurgon: Découverte à Amiens d'une patère de bronze émaillée avec une inscription relative au mur d'Hadrien. Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, 93/2, 1949.
  • J. Heurgon: The Amiens patera. Journal of Roman Studies, No. 41, 1951.

Remarks

  • RIB = Roman inscriptions in Britain
  1. Notitia Dignitatum Occ. XL, 28, Rivet / Smith 1979, pp. 293-294.
  2. Guy de la Bedoyere 1998, p. 112, JC Bruce 1966, p. 187.
  3. Biggins / Taylor 2007, p. February 2007
  4. Eric Birley 1961, pp. 203–205, JC Bruce 1966, p. 187, selection of inscriptions: building inscription from the time of Hadrian (128-138) RIB 1978 , altar fd discipline (212-217) RIB 1978 , altar of the Legio XX and the Cohors II Tungrorum (238-244) and RIB 1999 , Altar of Iupiter Optimus Maximus from the Cohors II Tungrorum (January 1, 241), RIB 1984 ; Altar f. Mithras RIB 1992 ; Altar fd Genius Loci; Belatucadrus RIB 1977 ; Altar f. Belatucadrus / Minerva RIB 1976 , altar f. Mars Sanguinus RIB 1986 , Altar f. Mars / Num.Aug. RIB 1987 , Mother Gods RIB 1988 , RIB 1989 , Altar f. Neptune RIB 1990 , altar fe unknown god RIB 1996 , RIB 1997 , altar for Victoria RIB 1995 , altar for Vanauntis and the NA RIB 1991 .
  5. ^ W. Hutchinson, History of Cumberland, 1794, Vol. I, p. 118, Guy de la Bedoyere 1997, p. 112, Bruce / Richmond 1966, pp. 185-187, Richmond / Hodgson 1934, pp. 159-165 .
  6. RIB 1979 , RIB 1981 and RIB 1991 , Eric Birley 1961, pp. 203-205, JA Biggins / DJA Taylor 2007, pp. 15-30.
  7. ^ RIB 1991 , RIB 2001 , RIB 1988
  8. RIB 2000
  9. ^ RIB 1999
  10. ^ RIB 1979 , RIB 1980
  11. RIB 1981 , RIB 1982 , RIB 1983 , RIB 1999 , RIB 2000 , JC Bruce 1966, p. 186.
  12. ^ Notitia Dignitatum Occ .: XL, 28, John Collingwood Bruce 1867; P. 259; MWC Hassall 1976, p. 113.
  13. ^ Letter from Richard Goodman dated Nov. 9, 1727, Hutchinson 1794, pp. 102-119, Biggins / Taylor 2007, pp. 15-30, N. Hodgson 2009, pp. 136-139, Tempel building inscription: RIB 1988, Peter Salway 1965, p. 98.
  14. RIB 2003 , RIB 2004 , RIB 2005 , RIB 2006

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