Alauna Castle

Reconstruction drawing of the civil settlement building excavated in Maryport in 2013.
	Hadrian's Wall Trust , 2014
	Link to the picture; (please note copyrights )

Maryport Castle
Alternative name	a) Alauna [Carvetiorvm] ; b) Alone ; c) Alione
limes	Britain
section	Hadrian's Wall ( Cumbrian Coast Defense )
Dating (occupancy)	Hadrianic , ; 2nd to 4th century AD?
Type	a) Cavalry fort ; b) Cohort fort ; c) Supply depot ; d) Fleet station?
unit	a) Legio II Augusta (construction team) ; b) Legio XX Valeria Victrix (construction team) ; c) Cohors I Hispanorum ; d) Cohors I Delmatarum; e) Cohors I Baetasiorum; f) Cohors III Nerviorum; g) Classis Britannica ?
size	2 ha
Construction	a) Wood and earth fort. ; b) Stone fort
State of preservation	rectangular complex with rounded corners, not visible above ground
place	Maryport
Geographical location	54 ° 43 '12 " N , 3 ° 29' 34.8" W Coordinates: 54 ° 43 '12 " N , 3 ° 29' 34.8" W.
Previous	Bibra Fort (northeast)
Subsequently	Magis Castle (southwest)

Coin portrait of Hadrian

Findings sketch of the fort

The Ellen near the confluence with the Irish Sea

Building inscription of the II. And XX. Maryport Legion

Altar of Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus

Altar of Gaius Caballius Priscus, Tribune of the Coh. I Hispanorum

Altar of Gaius Caballius Priscus

Altar of Titus Attius Tutor

Altar of Lucius Caecilius Vegetus

Dedication of Postumius Acilianus for Iupiter Capitolinus

Drawing of a now lost tombstone fragment with Christian Chi-Rho symbol (around 1794)

Findings sketch of the mithraum (Maryport 1)

Senhouse Museum

Alauna was a Roman auxiliary forces fort near the port city of Maryport , Borough of Allerdale , county of Cumbria , England.

The fort and its civil settlement were an important part of the coastal defense on the Solway Firth on the north-western border of the Roman Empire for more than 300 years . This consisted of a number of forts , small forts and watchtowers and served as the western flank protection of Hadrian's Wall . The fort was probably the headquarters, as well as a supply port for the garrisons of the coastal fort and probably also a naval base. The Roman civilian settlement there is considered to be the largest that has so far been discovered in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall.

The Senhouse Museum, housed in a building erected by the Royal Navy in 1885 , has an extensive and internationally significant collection of Roman altars and other archaeological finds found in or around Maryport. Five of these altars were donated by the respective fort commanders. For some of them it was possible to partially reconstruct their curriculum vitae and careers and to trace their stations across the Roman Empire.

The area is now privately owned, but its remains can be viewed from the surrounding streets and paths. You can also combine your tour with a visit to the museum. At the museum building there is a viewing platform - modeled on a Limes tower - from where you can see the entire fort area.

Surname

To this day there are still legitimate doubts as to whether the Roman name for Maryport was actually Alauna . As Alauna also was in ancient times probably Ellen called, just south of flowed past the fort. He is only mentioned in this spelling in the Cosmographia of the geographer of Ravenna . The station is cited there between Gabrosentum (Moresby) and Bibra (Beckfoot). In the Antonini Itinerarium a station called Alone appears on the route from Ravenglass to Whitchurch, but it is likely either Watercrook ( Alavana on the Kent River near Kendal) or a station at what is now the Low Borrow Bridge (on the Lune River in near Tebay). In the troop list of the Late Antique Notitia Dignitatum, in turn, a fortress Alione is entered as the location of a Nervier cohort. Alauna is the feminine form of the Gallic god Alaunus or a Celtic water deity. It is also possible that the Roman place name is derived from the Celtic name for "beautiful, wonderful" (Gaelic alainn [e] ). An alternative to this would be, given the many altar stones that have been found in Maryport, that the name may also be derived from the word for "shrine" or "altar" (Welsh Allor , plural Allorau ). The suffix carvetiorum is often used as an adjunct to differentiate this remarkable archaeological site from others that were also called alauna in Roman times . In research circles today Alauna is predominantly equated with Maryport. The present city was founded in the eighteenth century and named after the wife of the landowner and industrialist Humphrey Senhouse, Mary.

location

The fort was situated on a 45 to 56 meter high sandstone ridge, over the west bank of the Ellen and near the coastal cliffs. From there one had a good view in all directions, especially of the Solway Firth , the Irish Sea , the Scottish shore 16 km away and the coastal hinterland. The fort and Senhouse Museum are between The Promenade and Camp Road on the north end of Maryport. To the east of this are the Camp Farm buildings. Road connections existed to Beckfoot ( Bibra ), Burrow Walls ( Magis ), probably also to Old Carlisle ( Maglona ) and Papcastle ( Derventio ). In the late 2nd century the coastal region belonged to the province of Britannia inferior , from the 4th century to the province of Britannia secunda and, after a further administrative reform, probably to the province of Valentia .

Research history

The earliest reports of Roman altars from Maryport are from William Camden in the late 16th century. Many of them have been bought up by the Lord of Ellenborough, John Senhouse, since 1570 and incorporated into his collection of antiquities at Netherhall. The first excavations were carried out at the end of the 18th century. In 1870, Humphrey Pocklington Senhouse discovered seventeen Iupiter altars in a series of pits near the fort. In 1880 the amateur archaeologist Joseph Robinson dug in the fields north of the fort and uncovered a Roman road that crossed the vicus coming from the north gate, as well as the remains of the mithraum, the adjoining round temple and altar fragments. Another excavation was carried out by Jarrett and Birley in 1966 in the northeast corner. There a single search cut was dug through the fort wall and a barracks block was also cut. Aerial photographs, taken between 1949 and 1977, revealed the remains of the vicus. The castle was surveyed by the Royal Commission of Historic Monuments in England between 1992 and 1993. In 1998, Joe Scott Plummer placed the Senhouse Collection in the care of the Senhouse Museum Trust, which now runs the Roman Museum in Maryport. Between May 2000 and September 2004 a team from the Time Scape Survey (led by Biggins / Taylor), supported by the Maryport Heritage Trust, carried out a geomagnetic survey on the grounds of the Camp Farm. With an area of 72.5 hectares, it was the largest geophysical survey that has ever been carried out on the former northern Roman border. Traces of the Roman civil settlement were discovered again. Further geophysical measurements by Kris Strutt (Southampton University), in which a team from Time Scape also took part, took place in 2010. These investigations uncovered a much more extensive vicus than previously suspected. In 2011, Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott (Newcastle University) investigated the place where numerous Iupiter altars had been found during excavation work in 1870. During excavations, an earlier wood and earth fort was also proven that was later built over by the stone fort. Between 2013 and 2014 a team led by Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott (Newcastle University) and the Senhouse Museum Trust again uncovered the two temples on the eastern edge of the vicus near the fort.

Find spectrum

The fort area has been owned by the Senhouse family since the 16th century. Their Roman artifacts, collected over the centuries, later formed the collection of the Senhouse Roman Museum, which has been exhibited in a former building of the Royal Naval Artillery since 1992. It is the oldest in Great Britain and has also gained international importance. The collection was founded by John Senhouse in the reign of Elizabeth I and was first mentioned in 1599 by William Camden in his Britannia. In Maryport, by far the greatest number of Roman Jupiter altars in England were recovered from the locally occurring red sandstone (St. Bees sandstone). When the fort was demolished in the 18th century, Colonel Humphrey Senhouse commissioned a servant in 1772 to sort out all the Roman inscription stones found during the demolition work in the fort and thus save them from being built on. They formed the basis of the Netherhall Collection.

In 1870, seventeen more Roman altars were found 300 meters northeast of the fort. The mystery of the buried Iupiter altars at Maryport has been debated in scholarship for decades. R. G. Collingwood assumed that they may have been buried in the reign of Emperor Commodus (176–192) on a kind of parade ground ( campus ) outside the camp, as there was also a supposed shrine or temple for Iupiter Optimus Maximus. The altars would have been symbolically buried there every year if the camp commandant had donated a new altar. This ceremony is said to have always taken place on January 3rd, when the troops renewed their oath of allegiance to the emperor and the state. It is also possible that such altars were donated on the occasion of the reigning emperor's birthday. Some also believed they were hidden there in 196 in the face of an impending barbarian invasion to prevent their desecration. However, the hilly terrain is hardly suitable for a campus. The investigation of the square in 2011 clearly showed, however, that the altars were simply reused ( spoilage ) and placed as filler material in the foundations of a late Roman timber post building from the 4th century (see section on early Christian church). Since the late third century, old tombstones, building inscriptions and altars have been reused to e.g. B. to repair Hadrian's Wall or to build foundations for ovens from it. But it could also indicate that the residents of Alaunas had largely already turned to Christianity in the final phase of the Roman occupation.

Another remarkable find from Maryport is a stone stele, the so-called serpent stone. It consists of a 1.2 meter high, octagonal column made of red sandstone, closed by a human head. On the back of the stele a snake is depicted that extends from the base of the stele to the head. This seems to be crowned with a ring. Perhaps a torque that the Celts often wore as jewelry or as a sign of their bravery. It may once have been part of a larger shrine or altar on the burial ground. Whether it is of Roman or Celto-British provenance is still a matter of dispute . The excavation teams have also recently been able to recover a large number of ceramic fragments that came from pottery workshops in Gaul and the Rhineland and testify to the extensive trade relations of Alauna . Many of them come from storage vessels in which products such as B. Spanish olive oil and Gallic wines were transported. Several shells of marine animals were also uncovered in the fort, including those of oysters, clams and snails. As a result, there were also fragments of glass vessels and several pieces of jewelry, including a finger ring and a fragment of an elaborately decorated glass bracelet.

development

The region around Maryport was settled at the earliest since the Iron Age and belonged to the settlement area of the Carvetii . During the archaeological investigations, remains of buildings from this period were observed. The mouth of the Ellen, southwest of the fort hill, presumably formed a natural harbor where ships could dock without any problems and were protected from storms. A passage in the Geographica of Claudius Ptolemaeus (early 2nd century) reports that the "Otalini / Otadini" ( Votadini ) are said to have lived in Alauna, Bremenium and Coria .

It is possible that the Romans built a wood-earth fortification in Alauna Carvetiorum as early as the end of the 1st century AD . Perhaps in the course of the campaigns of the governor Gnaeus Iulius Agricola , who advanced with his army to the northern end of Scotland in 80 AD. The stone fort was probably only founded under Emperor Hadrian around 122. Hadrian's Wall ended in Bowness-on-Solway ( Maia ), and a chain of small forts with watchtowers, connected by palisades and a patrol path, was laid out. However, it is not known how far down the Cumbrian coast it reached. This was to prevent the wall from being bypassed by landing on the west coast or wading through the two relatively flat Solway Fjords. The stone camp was probably built by soldiers of the Legio II and the Legio XX . Some of the construction is believed to have been carried out by the Hispanic cohort and possibly their immediate successors. Hadrian's Wall was largely abandoned around 138 when the Roman army occupied the Central Lowlands and built the Antoninus Wall as a new border barrier on the Clyde Firth of Forth Isthmus . Alauna should have been occupied at this time. The Hispanic cohort was replaced by a cohort established in Dalmatia . When the Antonine Wall was abandoned around 158, it was replaced by a Baetas unit. Alauna served the Romans for about 300 years as a supply port for the forts in Northern Great Britain and perhaps also as the base of the Classis Britannica . In the course of this time a larger civil settlement ( Vicus ) developed north-east of the camp - along the road to Beckfoot ( Bibra ). The fortress was also considerably larger than necessary to accommodate a cohort of auxiliary troops. It is believed that the residents of Alaunas were composed of indigenous British, immigrants from other provinces of the Roman Empire, including the soldiers and veterans stationed there. Some researchers believe it was the command and administrative center for all of the west coast defense. However, due to the lack of relevant findings, this theory has not yet been proven. The camp was extensively renovated in the early third century, perhaps as part of the large-scale campaign against the Picts under Septimius Severus . In the middle of the third century further construction or repair work was carried out, this time again through a vexillation of the Legio XX . The fort was probably manned by regular soldiers until around 409 or even a little longer. When the Romans finally withdrew their troops from Britain at the beginning of the 5th century, it was likely abandoned by the army. However, there is no evidence of this. Alauna lost its previous military function. The latest research suggests that the fort was perhaps inhabited until around 600 and that a church (or monastery) and a cemetery were built here. Only in the course of the following centuries it was almost completely removed by stone robbery and agricultural activity. In the late 16th century, John Senhouse laid the foundation for the Senhouse Museum's collection. In 1749, Humphrey Senhouse founded the present-day town of Maryport near Ellenfoot. The building material for it was u. a. also taken from the castle ruins. Work on the harbor began in 1762 and stones from the fort were again used. The stones from the passage arch of the north gate of the fort were recovered and installed in the choir of St. John's Church in Crosscanonby in 1880. This church was probably built in early Christian times.

Fort

All that remains of the fort is a slightly raised earth platform, right next to the Senhouse Museum. It had the rectangular floor plan with rounded corners (playing card shape) typical for mid-imperial fortresses. The northwest-facing facility measures 135 meters from north to south and 139 meters from east to west. The only remnant of the wall that is still visible is next to the north gate. The camp covered an area of 2.58 hectares. Its enclosing walls were 1.80 meters thick, and some are still 3.1 meters high. They were reinforced by internal, square intermediate towers and surrounded by several trenches as obstacles to approach (four on the north side, three on the south side, two on the west and east side). An earth ramp raised at the rear served as a battlement. The camp could be entered through four gates in the north, south, west and east. The corners were additionally reinforced with long rectangular towers attached to the inside. The intermediate and corner towers can still be seen as slight elevations in the ground. The stone fort probably also replaced the watchtower 23B .

Within the fortress, only the positions of the camp administration ( principia ) and the commandant's house ( praetorium ) could be precisely determined. Certainly it also had several granaries ( Horreum ), barracks blocks ( Contubernia ) and various functional buildings such as a bath ( Therme / Balineum ), bakeries and workshops ( Fabricia ). From excavations of the 18th century it is known that the camp headquarters and the praetorium were at the center of the camp. Their positions can only be recognized today by means of a few linear elevations. A magnetometric study carried out in 2000 made the outlines of the Principia visible. The basement under the flag shrine ( aedes ) in the back of the building was also clearly recognizable . Some trenches, dug by robbery graves on the south side of the fort, mark the remains of barracks blocks. During the excavations at the end of the 1960s, two construction phases could be identified at these barracks. According to the ceramic finds and a heavily worn coin from 164–167, phase I dates from the second century. At the eastern barracks a separate centurion's quarters were discovered. Similar buildings were found at Watercrook and on the Wall in Caernavon and Chester. These buildings were later replaced by two long, narrow stone houses, one of which was apparently used as a stable. A number of stone-lined post holes were also observed on the site, which were probably made at the end of the 4th century.

garrison

Alauna must have been occupied by regular Roman soldiers from the middle of the 2nd century at the earliest. Legionnaires may also have stayed in the camp temporarily. They were usually not assigned to garrison service on the border, but sent special forces for the more demanding construction projects on Hadrian's Wall. Which units were there, one knows from the numerous altar inscriptions found there. Their officers came from Italy, Provence (southern France), Noricum (Austria), North Africa and possibly also from Spain. Some of the camp commanders are also known by name. An altar dedicated to the Genius Loci , Fortuna, Roma and Fata Bona, now in the British Museum in London, was donated by Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus. Peregrinus was the commanding officer ( tribunus ) of the garrison of Alauna in the 2nd century , he later rose to decurion (councilor) of the North African city of Saldae (Bejaia, Algeria). The prefect Helstrius Novellus dedicated an altar to the god of fire and blacksmithing, Vulcanus . Julius Civilis, an Optio , donated an altar to Belatucadrus, a Celto-British god of war. It is not known to which units these officers belonged. The camp is also mentioned in one of the most important epigraphic sources for the late Roman army, the Notitia Dignitatum . In late antiquity, its crew was 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
2nd century AD	Legio secundae Augusta (the second legion of Augustus)	One of their vexillations was probably stationed here until construction work on the fort was completed, as a building inscription found in Maryport suggests.
2nd and 3rd centuries AD	Legio vicesimae Valeria Victrix Gordiana (the twentieth Valerian Legion, the victorious, the Gordians)	One of their vexillations was parked here for construction or repair work. She received her honorary name under the rule of Gordian III.
2nd century AD	Cohors primae Hispanorum equitata millaria (the first partially mounted cohort of Hispanics, 1000 strong)	It was the unit from which most of the inscriptions could be found in Maryport. During the reign of Trajan there were probably two Hispanic cohorts with ON I in Britain. One of these was increased to a Cohors milliaria at the beginning of Hadrian's reign and moved from Ardoch ( Alauna Veniconum ) in Scotland to Maryport. It probably provided the fortress' first garrison force and was stationed there for a longer period of time. At first it was a sub-unit ( quinquenaria ) of about five hundred men , which was recruited from the Iberian tribes of the Spanish provinces. According to the Notitia Dignitatum , the Hispanics were in Stanwix ( Uxelodunum ) at the turn of the 5th century . Four other inscriptions from this unit, dated between 213 and 222, were also discovered in the Netherby outpost fort ( Castra Exploratorum ). Of the twenty-three altars to Iupiter found at Maryport, ten were donated by this cohort. The earliest altar dates between the years 123-138. Some of these were also commissioned by their commanding officers: Gaius Caballius Priscus, tribune, Publius Cornelius Uṛ […], Marcus Maenius Agrippa, Tribune, Marcus Censorius Cornelianus, Prefect, Lucius Antistius Lupus Verianus, Prefect, Helstrius Novellus, Prefect, Lucius Cammius Maximus, Prefect. Marcus Maenius Agrippa came from the Roman nobility. His family was based in Camerinum , Umbria (Italy). He first commanded a partly mounted cohort of British in the fort of Sexaginta Prista ( Moesia inferior province ) on the southern bank of the Danube, today Bulgaria. At the time of Hadrian he was transferred to Britain and took over the Hispanic cohort in Maryport from 123 to 126. It seems that he then returned to Italy, where he presumably hosted the emperor in his estate when he visited Umbria in 127. His next military post he again took up in the Moesia inferior , where he commanded a unit of armored riders, an Ala catafractaria . He then served as the commander of the British fleet. In the second half of the 130s he was promoted to procurator of Britain and thus held the second most important position in the provincial administration after the governor. He was there u. a. responsible for collecting taxes, managing the state-run mines and properties and paying the army. Marcus Censorius Cornelianus was born in the Gallic city of Nemausus (Nîmes) and commanded the cohort in Maryport from 132 to 135 and was then transferred to the Legio X Fretensis in Judea . Lucius Antistus Lupus Verianus, came from Sicca Veneria ( Africa proconsularis , North Africa) and initially held the office of Decurio (councilor). He became 136 commander of the Hispanic unit.
2nd century AD	Cohors primae Delmatarum (the first cohort of the Dalmatians)	The second garrison unit identified for Maryport was a cohort of 500 men, made up of tribesmen settling on the Adriatic coast of today's Croatia (province of Dalmatia ). She donated several inscriptions, two of which could be dated between 138 and 161 AD. At that time, Antoninus Pius ruled the Roman Empire. Since the presence of the unit for Maryport is well documented, it is possible that a tombstone fragment from High Rochester ( Bremenium ) assigned to this unit must in fact be attributed to the Cohors I Dacorum . The names of two of their prefects are also known from the altar inscriptions: Lucius Caecilius Vegetus and Paulus Postumius Acilianus .
2nd century AD	Cohors prima Baetasiorum civium romanorum (the first cohort of the Baetasii, Roman citizens)	Another auxiliary cohort, evidenced by a total of five altar inscriptions from Maryport, was a unit made up of 500 Lower German soldiers. Their settlement area was between the Rhine and Maas in the west of Novaesium (Neuss) in the province of Germania Inferior (today's Westphalia ). Some altars were donated by their commanding officers, Prefects Titus Attius Tutor and Ulpius Titianus. Tutor grew up in Flavia Solva (province of Noricum , today's Austria). After his service in Maryport he served as a tribune in the Legio II Adiutrix in Budapest ( Aquincum ). Before he ended his military career in the rank of prefect of the Ala I Batavorum in Dacia (today's Romania), he was prefect of another cavalry unit there. In civil life, he rose to the Decurion of his hometown. The Baetasi unit was first in the forts of Old Kilpatrick and Bar Hill on Antonine Wall . It is believed to have been relocated to Maryport during the late Cantonese period and was probably stationed there from the mid-160s to the early 180s. Subsequently, it appears again in the middle of the 4th century on the Saxon coast ( Litus saxonicum ), in the Regulbium fort (Reculver in Kent).
3rd to 5th Century AD	Cohors tertiae Nerviorum (the third cohort of the Nervier)	Their soldiers were originally raised from the Belgian tribe of the Nervier , province of Gallia Belgica . The presence of the troops in Maryport is only known from an entry in the Notitia Dignitatum . In the troop list of the Dux Britanniarum , is for the Alione of the 4th century u. a. the rank of camp commandant, a tribune , has also been handed down. Since the Nervians still appear in this late antique document, they could have stood there until the dissolution of the provincial army in the 5th century.
2-4 Century AD	Classis Britannica (the British fleet)	Whether naval units or ships of the canal fleet were stationed in the port of the fort has so far been unproven due to the lack of relevant finds, but it is probable due to the location, size and function of the fort.

Temple precinct

During the excavations from 1880 and 2013 to 2014, the remains of two temples were discovered and examined northeast of the fort, on the eastern periphery of the vicus. They are likely to have originated at the same time as the altars excavated in 1877 and appear to be related to them. The location of the two temples was covered with a cobblestone pavement that covered an area of about 50 × 95 meters and marked the borders of the cult area to the north, west and south. The extent to the east could not be determined with absolute certainty, but possibly coincided with a natural cut in the terrain, about 1.5 meters deep, which separated the paved area from the hill where the altars were recovered in the 19th century. It is believed that the two temples were built by soldiers from the garrison. But they were almost certainly also visited by civilians.

Mithraeum (Maryport 1): The cult building was discovered and exposed about 150 meters east of the fortress. The falling positions of the roof tiles made it possible to reconstruct the building. A statue or altar base stood outside the temple. It was probably a temple, originally about 8.4 meters high, with walls made of red sandstone, which were decorated with yellow sandstone inlays, covered with a slate roof. It was consecrated to the Persian god of light Mithras, who was especially venerated by the soldiers. It was very similar to that of Carrawburgh ( Brocolitia , construction period II). The entrance was in the north, and pillars at the entrance to the building were also identified. A narthex led to a chamber, some of which was lined with stone slabs. This ended at a rectangular apse where the cult image of the deity was once placed. Overall, the building measured 14 × 7.6 meters and had an average of 0.75 meters thick stone walls. The west wall of the niche had collapsed over time and fallen outwards. A stone pedestal was right next to the entrance, an altar of Iupiter was right in front of the niche. Near the Mithraum, Joseph Robinson found stone fragments that resembled those of the altars that Humphrey Senhouse had uncovered 100 meters further north in the 1870s. In 2014, lamb and poultry bones were also found in the mithraium.

Round Temple (Maryport 2): This temple stood right next to the Mithraeum. It was a circular building with 0.7 meter wide walls and a diameter of 10.3 meters. Its roof was supported by a central support post and probably five beams set up along the edges. Three of them were still in situ (in the north and west) at the time of the excavation. The entrance was in the northeast. The excavations brought to light an altar with a badly weathered inscription, two stone heads, five Roman coins from the early and late second century, and a small group of figures of the mother goddesses ( matrons ). Perhaps an indication of who this temple might have been dedicated to.

Vicus and port

The extramural civil settlement ( vicus ), which spread north and northeast of the Roman fortress, is considered to be the largest that has so far been discovered in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall. Its location is known mainly from aerial photographs and geophysical surveys. It is believed that the built-up area of the settlement extended for a length of 420 meters along the road from the north gate. There must have been a larger port in Alauna , but its exact position is not known.

Collingwood believed that the vicus dates back to the third or fourth century and was built over the fort's earlier burial ground. The ground-penetrating radar surveys carried out in 2014 uncovered a kind of pier, the well-preserved foundations of a complex multi-period civil settlement and a street - which presumably led to a warehouse. The settlement was also surrounded by extensive fields and smaller garden plots. Some of them were also built on with buildings. The investigation carried out in 1880 showed that the road to Beckfoot in particular was flanked by numerous buildings ( strip house ). Most of these houses are believed to have been built around AD 200. In 2013, the remains of a Roman building were uncovered that were approximately 20 meters long and 5 meters wide and had three main rooms. Archaeologists are still unsure of what purpose it was used for. Such multifunctional buildings were mostly used as workshops, shops and for residential purposes at the same time. The coins and pottery shards found in the building indicate that it was not inhabited for more than 50 years and that it was abandoned in late Roman times. The large extent of the rubble and various finds indicated a considerable size of the civil settlement. During the investigations, an earth dam was also observed that encloses part of the vicus. It was later interpreted as an extension of the fort wall, but is probably nothing more than a relatively new field boundary.

Some of the names of its inhabitants are known from the altar inscriptions. Underneath an altar inscribed with Greek letters, which was dedicated to Ασκλεπιος (= Æsculapius ), the god of healing. Its founder was Aulus Egnatius pastor. The three names distinguish him as a Roman citizen. But he did not hold any administrative office or military rank. This indicates that he was a civilian ( privatus ), possibly he worked as a doctor ( medicus ). Two other altars found here were commissioned by a woman named ...] iana Hermionae, daughter of Quintus.

Burial ground

In 2011 ten cremations ( Ustrina ) were found on a Roman road that crosses the field (Deer Park) to the southeast in the direction of the southeast gate of the fort . The burial site is on a low, flat hill. Two of the burials located there were excavated, the remaining eight were left in situ. One was 0.5 meters in diameter and 0.1 meters deep. Inside, Roman pottery and fragments of burned bones were discovered along with charcoal. The second excavated tomb contained two Roman urns that also contained cremated bones. Probably the remains of a single adult. In addition, nails, charred hazelnut shells and grape seeds were recovered from it. The dead man was probably burned at a stake. Tombstones were also found in Maryport, attesting to the existence of another burial ground near the fort and vicus. Civilians were probably buried there as well as soldiers. From the inscriptions some names of the inhabitants of that time are known (e.g. Vireius Paulinus, Ingenuus, his father Julius Simplex and Luca). In addition to a Greek doctor, a woman of Greek descent probably also lived in Alauna . The freed Sotera put a tombstone for her husband, Iulius Senecianus, probably a Romanized Celt. Two early Christian tombstones are also known from Maryport, those of Rianorix and Spurcius, as well as a stone with a Chi-Rho monogram, which is lost today.

Early Christian Church

In 2011, the place northeast of the fort was re-examined where several Iupiter altars were found in 1870. The archaeologists came across the foundations of a long rectangular, multi-phase building from the 4th century. It can arguably also be seen as a prime example of the appearance and construction of most of the vicus buildings in Alauna . Its superstructure was made entirely of wood. From its north and south walls, only the stone-filled foundation pits of the support posts remained. The altar stones were packed around the base of the support posts to hold them in place. At least part of the floor was rammed earth. A sewer was lined with stone slabs. In the area surrounding the building, several graves from late antiquity were subsequently found. Judging by the findings and construction features ( apse ), it could be the remains of an early Christian church.

literature

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Michael Jarrett: Maryport, Cumbria: a Roman fort and its garrison. T. Wilson, 1976, pp. 15-16.
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Paul A. Holder: Auxiliary units entitled Aelia In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . Volume 122, 1998, pp. 253-263, here pp. 253, 260-261 ( PDF ).
RG Collingwood: The Archeology of Roman Britain. Methuen, London, 1930.
RG Collingwood, RP Wright: The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Vol. 1, Inscriptions on Stone, Oxford 1965.
MJT Lewis: Temples in Roman Britain. Cambridge 1966.
EJ Bickerman: Chronology of the Ancient World. Thames & Hudson, London, 1980.
Chris Scarre: Chronicle of the Roman Emperors. Thames & Hudson, London, 1995.
Eric Birley: Research on Hadrian's Wall. 1961.
Anthony Richard Birley: The People of Roman Britain. University of California Press, 1980.
Nick Hodgson: Hadrian's Wall 1999-2009. A summary of excavation and research prepared for the 13th pilgrimage of Hadrian's Wall, 8.-14. August 2009.
DJ Breeze: The Frontiers of Imperial Rome. Pen and Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley 2011.
DJ Breeze: Roman Forts in Britain. Shire Archeology, Oxford 2002.
DB Campbell: Roman Auxiliary Forts 27BC-AD378. Osprey, Oxford 2009.
An Archaeological Map of Hadrian's Wall, 1: 25,000 Scale. English Heritage, London 2010.
Timothy Potter: The Biglands milefortlet and the Cumberland coast defences, 1977.
David Shotter: The Roman Frontier in Britain. Carnegie Publishing Ltd., London 1998.
J. Waite: To Rule Britannia. The History Press, Stroud 2011.
Martin Henig, Graham Webster: Roman Sculpture from the North West Midlands. British Academy, 2004.
Pete Wilson: Britannia, Vol. 47, Chapter 4, Northern England, Cumbria (2) Maryport, 2016.

Remarks

RIB = Roman inscriptions in Britain

↑ Ravenna No. 118, Rivet / Smith 1979, 244-245.
↑ Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, No. 5, 1881, pp. 237-255, Jarrett / Stephens 1987-2000, p. 61, Birley 1961, pp. 216-222, Biggins / Taylor 2004, p 102-133, William Camden, 1586.
↑ Article from Current Archeology: Jupiter, best and greatest - Revisiting Maryport's ritual pits. Ian Haynes / Tony Wilmott, Newcastle University and the Senhouse Museum Trust. August 14, 2012.
↑ Davies 1971, pp. 122-142, Henig / Webster 2004, p. 63.
^ Maryport Roman settlement: Dig unearths 'lost harbor' on BBC News May 27, 2014, accessed September 19, 2014
↑ Jarrett / Stephens 1987, p. 61, Britannia 2001, XXXII, pp. 337-339, Jarret 1978, p. 493.
↑ RIB 809 , RIB 812 , RIB 846
↑ RIB 852
↑ RIB 854
↑ Holder 1998, pp. 253, 260-261, RIB 814 , RIB 816 , RIB 817 , RIB 821 , RIB 822 , RIB 823 , RIB 827 , RIB 828 , RIB 829 and RIB 855 .
↑ RIB 810 , RIB 831 (138-161), RIB 832 , RIB 847 , RIB 850 (138-161).
↑ RIB 830 , RIB 837 , RIB 838 , RIB 842 , RIB 843 , inscription from Flavia Solva: CIL 3, 5331
↑ distress. Dign. Occ. Xl 53.
↑ RIB 2057 , RIB 2058 , RIB 2062 , RIB 2055 , Bruce / Richmond 1966, pp. 209-211, Potter 1973, p. 51, Wilmott / Austen 2000, p. 398.
↑ Lewis 1966, pp. 106-107, Wilson 2016, pp. 303, J. Robinson: Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, No. 5, 1881, pp. 256 and 274 and RG Collingwood, No. 36 , 1936, p. 92.
↑ Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, No. 5, 1881, pp. 237-255, No. 23, 1923, pp. 142-153 and No. 36, 1936, pp. 85-99, Jarret 1997 , P. 107, AR Birley 1980, p. 111, RIB 808 , RIB 813 , RIB 845 .
↑ RIB 859 , RIB 860 , RIB 862 , RIB 863 , RIB 867 , RIB 856 , Gravestone of Senecianus: RIB 3222 , A. Birley 1980, p. 111.

Web links

[1] Ravenna No. 118, Rivet / Smith 1979, 244-245.

[2] Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, No. 5, 1881, pp. 237-255, Jarrett / Stephens 1987-2000, p. 61, Birley 1961, pp. 216-222, Biggins / Taylor 2004, p 102-133, William Camden, 1586.

[3] Article from Current Archeology: Jupiter, best and greatest - Revisiting Maryport's ritual pits. Ian Haynes / Tony Wilmott, Newcastle University and the Senhouse Museum Trust. August 14, 2012.

[4] Davies 1971, pp. 122-142, Henig / Webster 2004, p. 63.

[5] Maryport Roman settlement: Dig unearths 'lost harbor' on BBC News May 27, 2014, accessed September 19, 2014

[6] Jarrett / Stephens 1987, p. 61, Britannia 2001, XXXII, pp. 337-339, Jarret 1978, p. 493.

[7] RIB 809 , RIB 812 , RIB 846

[8] RIB 852

[9] RIB 854

[10] Holder 1998, pp. 253, 260-261, RIB 814 , RIB 816 , RIB 817 , RIB 821 , RIB 822 , RIB 823 , RIB 827 , RIB 828 , RIB 829 and RIB 855 .

[11] RIB 810 , RIB 831 (138-161), RIB 832 , RIB 847 , RIB 850 (138-161).

[12] RIB 830 , RIB 837 , RIB 838 , RIB 842 , RIB 843 , inscription from Flavia Solva: CIL 3, 5331

[13] stress. Dign. Occ. Xl 53.

[14] RIB 2057 , RIB 2058 , RIB 2062 , RIB 2055 , Bruce / Richmond 1966, pp. 209-211, Potter 1973, p. 51, Wilmott / Austen 2000, p. 398.

[15] Lewis 1966, pp. 106-107, Wilson 2016, pp. 303, J. Robinson: Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, No. 5, 1881, pp. 256 and 274 and RG Collingwood, No. 36 , 1936, p. 92.

[16] Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, No. 5, 1881, pp. 237-255, No. 23, 1923, pp. 142-153 and No. 36, 1936, pp. 85-99, Jarret 1997 , P. 107, AR Birley 1980, p. 111, RIB 808 , RIB 813 , RIB 845 .

[17] RIB 859 , RIB 860 , RIB 862 , RIB 863 , RIB 867 , RIB 856 , Gravestone of Senecianus: RIB 3222 , A. Birley 1980, p. 111.