Durobrivae

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Silver mug from the Water-Newton treasure

Durobrivae was a Roman city in Britain , the remains of which are east of today's Water Newton near the city of Peterborough . Durobrivae was on Nene and Ermine Street , one of the most important Roman roads in Britain, and thus at the intersection of two important traffic routes. The city was inhabited from the first to fourth centuries AD, but was completely abandoned afterwards. There are only a few remains from the time of the Anglo-Saxons . Since the city was never built on again, the site and its structure is relatively well known through excavations that began around 1820 and through aerial photographs.

Durobrivae was walled and the enclosed area was approximately 18 hectares . The city wall had at least three gates. But there were extensive suburbs, so that the city was once about 2 km in length. The walled area does not show a regular city map. There are many small residential buildings, but also two larger ones with an inner courtyard, although the function of these buildings is unknown. One of these buildings was next to a temple area. Evidence of pottery and iron processing was found. There was also a military camp outside the city , which up to now could only be localized on aerial photographs and its date is therefore unknown.

The name of the city appears in the Antonini Itinerary , the geographer of Ravenna and on brick stamps that were found on site and thus confirm the identification.

The status of the city is uncertain; on the bricks it is also called the vicus , which is why it was assumed that the place developed as a settlement next to the military camp. However, it is not certain whether the term vicus referred to the whole city or to part of it. In the city one was found in 1785 milestone , the one mile noted. It is generally assumed that milestones always related to the capital of a civitas , i.e. Durobrivae was the capital of a civitas in the third century.

The Water Newton Treasure was found in town, silver objects from the 4th century that may have been part of a church inventory.

literature

  • Barry C. Burnham, John Wacher: The Small Towns of Roman Britain . Berkeley and Los Angeles 1990, ISBN 0-520-07303-7 , pp. 81-91.

Coordinates: 52 ° 33 '32.4 "  N , 0 ° 20' 53.6"  W.