Condercum

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Benwell Fort
Alternative name a) Condercum ,
b) Conderco ,
c) Condecor
limes Britain
section Hadrian's Wall
Dating (occupancy) Hadrianic ,
2nd to early 5th centuries AD
Type Alen and cohort fort
unit a) Legio II Augusta (building vexillation ),
b) Legio XX Victrix (building crew),
c) Cohors I Vangionum milliaria equitata ,
d) Ala I Hispanorum Asturum
size Area: 2.4 hectares
Construction Stone construction
State of preservation Square system with rounded corners, not visible above ground, covered by a water reservoir in the north, southern overhang of the moat still visible
place Benwell
Geographical location 54 ° 58 '33.6 "  N , 1 ° 39' 46.8"  W Coordinates: 54 ° 58 '33.6 "  N , 1 ° 39' 46.8"  W. hf
Previous Fort Pons Aelius (east)
Subsequently Vindobala Castle (west)
Fortresses North Great Britain.png
Coin portrait of Hadrian
Location of the Roman buildings
Sketch plan by William Hutton, 1802
Findings plan (1926–1937)
Residential houses in the northern part of the fort area
Remains of the southern moat, view from the west
Attempt to reconstruct the Vallum Gate, view from the east. The arch was possibly decorated a little more elaborately than shown here
Pivot stone of a gate wing
Roman auxiliary cavalryman in the equipment of the 1st and 2nd centuries, figurine in the Het Valkhof museum in Nijmegen (Gelderland)
Drawing of the ruins of the Temple of Antenociticus from 1884
Remains of the temple as it was in 2008
Attempted reconstruction
Diagnosis plan
Sketch of the Roman bathhouse based on the findings from 1751

Condercum was a Roman equestrian fort of the auxiliary troops and stood in the area of Benwell / Condercum Estate, a district of Newcastle upon Tyne ( Metropolitan County ), Tyne and Wear , England .

It belonged to the chain of fortresses of Hadrian's Wall ( per lineam valli ) consisting of a total of 16 forts and secured its eastern section. The camp was used by the military for about 300 years, probably from 122 to 400 AD. The archaeological site has become known nationwide through the passage on the southern moat of the rampart secured with a gate and a temple of Antenociticus.

Surname

Condercum means: "viewpoint" or "the place from which you can see far into the country". It is made up of the Celtic words " com " (= with) and " derco " (= panorama) and is only known from a single ancient written source, the Notitia Dignitatum . In the Ravenna Cosmography of the 7th century, the place is called Condecor , which means "steep hill". Probably the original name of the place.

location

Condercum was the third link in the fortress chain of Hadrian's Wall ( vallum aelium ). The remains of the fort are located about four kilometers west of Newcastle city center on Benwell Hill, 127 m high. From here you could u. a. the river valley of the Denton Burn in the west and the confluence of the Derwent in the Tyne ( Tinea ) in the south and monitor the traffic on the river. In the late 2nd century the region around Condercum belonged to the province of Britannia inferior , from the 4th century to the province of Britannia secunda .

Research history

Knowledge of the full extent of the Roman fortress and its internal structures has remained incomplete due to the modern overbuilding. The antiquarian John Horsley reported that his ruins were still clearly visible until 1732. From 1751 a paved military road from Newcastle to Carlisle was laid along Hadrian's Wall. In the same year, hypocausts in the commandant's house and the bathhouse were also located. By 1789, the remnants of the fort north of West Road had been completely removed. At the end of the 18th century, the last visible remains of the camp wall had also disappeared. In 1851 John Collingwood Bruce first examined the southern area of ​​the fort. The first archaeological excavations at the fort began in the 1860s. In 1862 the Antenociticus Temple was discovered or excavated by George Wightwick Rendel and has been visible ever since.

Between 1926 and 1929, parts of the commandant's house, the headquarters of the eastern team barracks, the southeast corner tower, the bathhouse and the temple could be located and examined. In the late 1920s and 1930s, rescue excavations were carried out on the southernmost section by the North of England and Durham University Excavation Committees. The southern corner towers could be located and measured. Parts of the granaries, the team barracks and stables and a large part of the hospital were also examined. The moat crossing was discovered in 1932 and excavated by archaeologists from the University of North of England by 1933. In 1935, two brooches from the 6th or early 7th century and a glass vessel, probably from Anglo-Saxon graves, were recovered just west of the temple . From 1937 to 1938, some buildings in the civil settlement on the Südgraben were examined. In 1937, the west side gate, a hypocaust heater and a sandstone altar at Benwell Park were uncovered. During the excavations of 1958, further knowledge about the internal structure of the camp was gained.

In 1970 the area near the southwest corner of the fort (Pendower Hall) was examined, as it was assumed that it still belonged to the vicus . However, no evidence of Roman building fabric could be found; it was probably completely removed as early as the 19th century. When a water pipe was built in 1990, part of the double warehouse discovered in the late 1930s was cut. In 2013, a section of the military road was found on the grounds of Pendower Hall and Hadrian School, 300 m west of the fort. Their remains were still in good condition and were only half a meter below today's ground level. A Roman bronze coin came to light as an accompanying find. In the same year, exploratory excavations revealed that the vicus extended even further south than previously assumed. The finds are on display in the Great North and Black Gate Museum in Newcastle.

development

In 122 the 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 stationed in Britain and the classis Britannica .

An inscription found in 1937 in the portico of the Doppelhorreum in Benwell tells of marines of the Canal Fleet who built the warehouses in Condercum under Hadrian . A previous settlement was probably at the foot of Benwell Hill. Around 296 the civil settlement fell victim to a major fire, but was then rebuilt. The fort was probably used until the early 5th century. It is not known when the vicus was abandoned. The northern part of the fort ( praetentura ) was destroyed in the mid-1860s during the construction of the Benwell High Reservoir. The southern remainder ( raetentura ) fell victim to a semi-detached house between 1926 and 1937.

Fort

Today nothing can be seen of the fort or Hadrian's Wall. Only the raetentura of the camp is relatively well researched . It was probably built between 122 and 124 and was believed to have been in use until the late 4th or early 5th centuries. Today its northern third is covered by a water tank, the rest with residential houses and the West Road / A186, which connects Newcastle with Carlisle. However, soundings have shown that extensive remains of the fortress, often only 0.4 meters underground, have been preserved. The camp had a north-facing, square floor plan with rounded corners (playing card shape). It measured an estimated 170 m from north to south and 120 m from west to east and covered an area of ​​two hectares (including the rear earth ramp).

Enclosure

The surrounding wall was supported by a rear earth ramp, which also served as a battlement. The south gate and the two side gates on the west and east walls were examined. The fort could probably be entered through a total of six gates, four main gates ( portae principales ) and two side gates ( portae quintanae ). The military road led through the two side gates straight through the fort and formed the west-east main camp road, the via quintana . These gates only had one passage. The southern gate was flanked by two towers attached to the inside and provided with two passageways that were separated from each other by two pillars (spina). The second main camp road running from NE to SW, the via decumana , led through this gate . From there you got to the wall crossing. All four corners of the fort were probably reinforced by towers. The towers on the south-west and south-east corners have been archaeologically proven. It is not known whether the camp had any other intermediate towers. Traces of a double ditch could be observed on the west and east sides, but there was probably only one on the south wall. It is believed that the position of Hadrian's Wall at Benwell essentially corresponds to the course of the West Road. In this case it would have hit its east or west wall in the central area of ​​the fort. The praetentura of the camp would have protruded far beyond the wall. The West Road almost certainly also covers the west-east camp road, the via principalis .

Indoor building

During the excavations, the commandant's house ( Praetorium ), the headquarters ( Principia ), two warehouses ( Horrea ), workshops ( Fabrica ), crew quarters ( Contubernium) with separate horse stables ( Stabula ) and a hospital (Valetudinarium ) were found. The first three of the above Buildings stood in the center of the fort, south of the via principalis .

Praetorium: The commandant's house stood at the eastern side gate, was probably designed in the form of a perystyle house with an inner courtyard and had several heated rooms.

Principia: The camp headquarters joined the praetorium in the west. It consisted of four administration rooms ( tabularium ) with a basement carved into the rock for the storage of the troop coffers, a vestibule open to the north and an inner courtyard surrounded by further chambers. The basement was to the east of the flag sanctuary ( sacellum ). It was illuminated through a slanted window on the south wall and was lined with stone wall panels. In the forecourt there was a water basin that was fed by a pipe.

Horreum: West of the Principia there was a double horreum of type B - free-standing inside the fort - for storing grain. The warehouse, which was rectangular in plan, was 34.75 m long. In the south there was probably a canopy supported by six square pillars. Steps led up to the two entrances. The outer walls were reinforced with pilasters . The building was otherwise similar to the Haltonchesters and Rudchester .

Fabrica: There was a workshop building directly at the west gate. On the east wall of this one came across a heap of rubbish from a forge.

Barracks: To the south of the workshop building stood a large double barracks assembled on the rear walls. In the west it had two larger head buildings in which the officers were quartered. The remaining part consisted of 18 smaller chambers that served as accommodation for the common soldiers. There was room for about 128 men in the building. This corresponds to the crew level of approx. Four towers of the smallest tactical unit of a cavalry squadron.

Valetudinarium / Veterinarium: To the east of it stood a house with an unknown function (possibly an animal hospital) and the camp hospital. It probably consisted of up to twelve rooms, which were grouped around an inner courtyard.

Stabula: The rest of the raetentura was occupied by two stable buildings, which stood to the west and east of the via decumana .

garrison

The vexillations of the two British legions were stationed here for construction work. The following units are known to be crewed for Condercum or may have been there for a limited time:

Time position Troop name description
2nd century AD Legio secundae Augusta (the second legion of Augustus ) A building inscription found in Benwell names the Legio II Augusta as the founder . Your soldiers probably built the fort.
2nd century AD Legio XX Valeria Victrix (the twentieth legion, the strong and victorious) The Legion soldiers were likely responsible for the construction of additional buildings and repairs in the late 2nd century. An altar in the Temple of Antenociticus was dedicated to the god and the ruling emperor by one of their centurions, Aelius Vibius. Presumably he was interim (Latin = "meanwhile, meanwhile") commander of the crew in Benwell.
2nd century AD Classis Britannica (the British fleet) The fort's two warehouses were built by members of the canal fleet stationed at Arbeia Fort (South Shields).
2nd century AD Cohors primae Vangionum Milliaria Equitata (the first cohort of Vangions , partly mounted, 1000 men strong) It was originally dug in Upper Germany . Probably only about half of them, 500 men, were housed in the fort. The second altar of the Temple of Antenociticus was donated by the prefect of the cohort, Tineius Longus, in gratitude for his upcoming promotion to quaestor , the first step on the way to senator. A unit vexillation may have been stationed at Chesters Castle .
3rd to 4th century AD Ala Primae Hispanorum Asturum (the first squadron of Hispanic Asturians) Between 205 and 209, the Vangions were replaced by 500 Asturian riders, originally from northern Spain. This unit is also mentioned in a funerary inscription from Arbeia Castle. It could be that she was stationed there before. The gravestone was not set for a cavalryman, but for a former slave (freedman) who was in the service of a soldier of this unit. The last inscription from Benwell, in which the Asturians are mentioned, comes from the year 238. Otherwise, a tombstone ( Inscriptiones Latinae selectae 2712) from Ilipa ( Alcalá del Río ) in southern Spain is known in this context . The inscription reports that the deceased did his military service in Britain with the ala I Asturum , but it is unclear when. After the military reforms of Diocletian and Constantine I , the garrisons on the Wall were part of the limitanei . From the Notitia Dignitatum , troop list of the Dux Britanniarum , the rank of its commanding officer, a Praefectus , is known for the 4th century Conderco . Since the troops still appear in this late antique document, they could well have stood there until the dissolution of the provincial army in the 5th century. Its sister unit, the ala II Asturum , was located in the fort Cilurnum (Chester) further to the west .

Trench crossing

The multi-phase transition, consisting of a stone dam and the remains of the gate, is located in a cordoned off area in Denhill Park. The six meters wide and three meters deep southern moat ( vallum ) had existed since 122 and accompanied the wall along its entire length, except for the section between Newcastle and Wallsend. Today it is only half of its former depth. It ran roughly parallel to the southern fence around the camp. At Benwell he was led in a wide arc around the fort, about 55 meters from the south gate. At both edges of the trench, an earth wall had been raised with the excavation. If the rainwater rose too high, it could be drained through an overflow channel east of the ditch crossing. At the end of the 2nd century it was leveled and then partially built over by buildings from the civil settlement.

The still well-preserved stone dam over the moat was originally spanned by an arch construction that could be closed with wooden gate wings. Some massive blocks of the western base and swell stones can still be seen from it. John Collingwood Bruce, one of the earliest explorers of Hadrian's Wall, described these blocks as one of the highest quality from Hadrian’s time that he had seen on the wall. The side walls of the dam were lined with rectangular blocks. From the way the gate was built, the archaeologists concluded that the wooden gate wings could only be opened from the north, so that access to the fortress could be better controlled. The passage was built in the time of Hadrian. Pivot stones for the gates were only found in layers 1 (Hadrianic) and 5 (Severan). The wooden gates are likely to have been removed during the time of the governor Lollius Urbicus (138–144). They were later reattached. The pivot bearing block found at the crossing had a chiseled groove and was apparently removed from the entablature (horizontal strips above the gate) of the archway. The re-use of this block could mean that the arch, although probably already partly ruinous, was equipped with wooden gates until the late 3rd century. The crossing was almost certainly used during the entire period of Roman occupation.

The access road was graveled with rubble stones and rose in steps in the north to the fort hill. The road surface had been renewed six times over the years, which indicates a heavy traffic load. The top layer contained a coin from around 270. It is believed that the gate, the moat and its side walls marked not only a military exclusion zone, but also a legal or administrative boundary. Obviously the Benwell moat was not the only one on the wall. Such stone dams have also been seen south of the castles at Housesteads, Great Chesters, and Birdoswald.

Vicus

The camp village was concentrated along the arterial road to the south and at the moat crossing. The first buildings of the civil settlement were made entirely of wood and were built during the reign of Severus. In the first half of the 3rd century they were replaced by stone buildings. Traces of the camp village ( vicus ) could be observed on both sides of the Vallum. The remains of several civil buildings were found there. Stone structures had also been erected on the east and west sides of the moat crossing. Based on ceramic finds, they could be dated to the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd century. A dedicatory inscription to the mother goddesses found in Benwell in 1789 reports of the restoration of a temple. Its location is unknown.

In addition to the temple of the Antenociticus, two other buildings are worth mentioning for the vicus:

Balineum: The bath house, which was obligatory for a Roman settlement, stood about 274 meters southwest of the fort. It was probably used jointly by the soldiers and civilians. The cold bath and the changing room could be proven. Before it was demolished in 1751, its walls were marked on a map. According to this plan, it consisted of eight rooms. Their layout was vaguely similar to the Wallsend bathhouse . The last traces of the building were erased by subsequent construction work, so that its exact location can no longer be determined.

Mansio: South of the rampart crossing, the remains of a somewhat larger building consisting of nine rooms were found; it was presumably used as a hostel for travelers passing through. Its room layout was also reportedly recorded on a plan before it was destroyed. However, further details about this building were not published.

Antenociticus temple

100 meters east of the fort (Broomridge Avenue) there was a small temple on the floor of the civil settlement, which was dedicated to the Celto-British god Antenociticus / Anocitius. It measured 15.3 meters (west-east) × 18.80 meters (north-south). Its southern end was closed by a 5.4 meter wide apse . The temple could be entered via the entrance east of the apse, but the main entrance was probably originally in the north. Temples of this size were usually not intended for worship services for the entire cult community, rather they were the place of worship for those people who probably founded them on the basis of a vow. The last datable coin found there comes from the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161–180). Finds of burned beams and roof tiles suggest that it was destroyed again by a fire in the late 2nd century. Three skeletons were found in the apse of the temple. After that, its area - still in Roman times - was obviously used as a cemetery.

A life-size statue of the deity was placed in the apse. The head with curly hair and horns, with a neck ring ( torques ) around the neck, and fragments of an arm and a lower leg were recovered from her. But it was probably made mostly of wood. In addition to the statue, there were three consecration altars of the Antenociticus. Replicas of two were made and placed on the show grounds. One of the altar inscriptions names a prefect of the Vangionen cohort (see above). It also mentions the consular governor of Britain, Ulpius Marcellus . This suggests that the temple must have been built between 178 and 180. The second altar was dedicated to the Antenociticus and the deified emperor by a centurion of Legio XX . Artifacts of the Antenociticus cult were not found in any other Roman archaeological site. No other sculptures of the deity were found either. Related inscriptions or dedications that appeared elsewhere in the Roman Empire are not known.

The "three lamias"

In addition to the temple of Antenociticus, a large number of other consecrations to various deities were found in Condercum . A consecration stone to the "three lamias" ( lamiis tribus ) is also unique ; The "lamias" of this consecration stone could be an interpretatio Romana of figures from Celtic mythology, as they are well attested in Ireland as the Bodbs or Morrígains.

Burial grounds

Archaeological research indicates the presence of a burial ground near the vicus (temple). It was apparently used until the early Anglo-Saxon period. Another Roman burial ground is known between the fort of Benwell and the mile fort 6 to the east (Benwell Grove, south of Hadrian's Wall).

See also

literature

  • John Collingwood-Bruce: Handbook to the Roman Wall. Harold Hill & Son, 1863, ISBN 0-900463-32-5 .
  • John Collingwood-Bruce: Handbook to the Roman Wall. 8th edition, 1927, p. 49.
  • John Collingwood-Bruce: Handbook to the Roman Wall. 12th edition, 1966.
  • John Collingwood-Bruce: Handbook to the Roman Wall. 14th edition, pp. 154-155.
  • Ronald Pemberton, Frank Graham: Hadrian's Wall in the Days of the Romans. Frank Graham 1984, ISBN 0-85983-177-9 .
  • Guy de la Bédoyère : Hadrian's Wall: history and guide. Tempus, 1998, ISBN 0-7524-1407-0 .
  • Eric Birley: Research on Hadrian's Wall. 1961, pp. 164-165.
  • Matthias Egeler: “Condercum: Some Considerations on the Religious Life of a Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall and the Celtic Character of the lamiae tres of the Dedication Stone CIL VII, 507,” in: Studi Celtici 7 (2008–2009), p. 129-176.
  • Peter Salway: The Frontier People of Roman Britain. Cambridge classical studies, 1967.
  • David J. Breeze, Brian Dobson: Hadrian's Wall. 1987, p. 195.
  • David J. Breeze: The Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain. 1982, p. 195.
  • Stephen Johnson: Hadrian's Wall 1989, p. 58
  • Neil Holbrook: A watching brief at the Roman fort of Benwell / Condercum 1990. In: Archaeologia Aeliana: or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity. No. 19, 1991.
  • Nick Hodgson: Hadrian's Wall 1999-2009. 2009.
  • Tony Wilmott (Ed.): Hadrian's Wall: archaeological research by English Heritage. 1976-2000, 2009.
  • DJ Smith: Council for British Archeology Group 3: Archaeological newsbulletin for Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Westmorland and Lancashire-north-of-the-sands. No. 3, 1972.
  • Ancient Monuments in England, 1978, Vol. 1, p. 72.
  • The Roman Fort at Benwell and its Environs: a survey of the extent and preservation of the archaeological deposits, Tyne and Wear Museums, 1991.
  • Robert George Collingwood, RP Wright: The Roman inscriptions of Britain. 1. Inscriptions on stone, 1965.
  • MJT Lewis: Temples in Roman Britain. Cambridge classical studies 1966.
  • David Divine: The Northwest Frontier of Rome: a military study of Hadrian's Wall. Macdonald & Co., London 1969, ISBN 0-356-02361-3 .
  • Madeleine Hope Dodds: A History of Northumberland, Vol. XIII.

Remarks

  • RIB = Roman inscriptions in Britain
  1. ↑ Guy de la Bedoyere 1998, p. 44, R & C No. 144.
  2. ↑ Guy de la Bedoyere 1998, pp. 44-45
  3. ↑ DJ Smith: 1972, p. 10, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia: a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies, No. 10, 1979, p. 280, P. Brewis: 'A cruciform brooch from Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne ', Archaeologia Aeliana, Series 4, No. 13, 1936, pp. 117-121; G. Jobey / D. Maxwell: 'A square-headed brooch from Benwell', Archaeologia Aeliana, Series 4, No. 35, 1957, pp. 282-284.
  4. ↑ RIB 1340, building inscription of the CB
  5. ↑ J. Collingwood Bruce 1966, pp. 48-56, Neil Holbrook 1991, pp. 41-45, Nick Hodgson 2009, pp. 90-91, Tony Wilmott 2009, p. 12.
  6. ^ RIB 1329
  7. ^ ND Occ. 11, 19, RIB 1064, grave inscription from Arbeia , RIB 1337, inscription from the Asturian cohort .
  8. ↑ George Collingwood Bruce 1966, p. 51, Eric Birley 1961, p. 165, Peter Salway 1965, pp. 71-72, Guy de la Bedoyere 1998, pp. 45-46.
  9. ↑ Collingwood-Brice 1966, pp. 53-55, Peter Salway 1965, p. 76, RIB 1334, Matroneninsschrift , R. G. Collingwood / R. P. Wright 1965, pp. 441-442.
  10. ↑ RIB 1328, inscription of the Prefect Cassianus , RIB 1327, Altar des Aelius Vibus , RIB 1329, Altar des Tineius Longus , Guy de la Bedoyere 1998, pp. 44-45, M. J. T. Lewis 1966, p. 120, G. W. Rendal: 'The Benwell discoveries'. Archaeologia Aeliana, Series 2, No. 6, 1865, p. 170, EJ Phillips (Ed.), Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Vol. 1, fascicule 1: Corbridge, Hadrian's Wall East of the North Tyne, Oxford 1977, No. 232.
  11. ↑ Matthias Egeler 2008/09.

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