Venta Belgarum

Venta Belgarum (incorrectly Venta Bulgarum ) is the ancient name of the Roman city of Winchester in England . The city was the capital of the Civitas Belgarum . The city ​​was connected to the sea by the small river Itchen . Clausentum was the seaport belonging to the city.

Venta Belgarum was already settled in the late Iron Age. From this period earth embankments date back to the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. To date. This settlement stopped around 50 BC. To start again about 100 years later. The Iron Age settlement probably belonged to the Celtic kingdom of the Atrebates . When this empire came under Roman rule, it was ruled by the vassal king Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus , who had his capital in Chichester .

Around 50 BC B.C. start building work in the area of ​​the later city. Mainly fortifications made of wood and earth were built. After the death of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, at the end of the 1st century AD, his small kingdom was reorganized and fully integrated into the Roman Empire. The place has now been expanded into a city that became the capital of the Civitas Belgarum and was named Venta Belgarum. During this time, the city was completely rebuilt and received a chessboard-like city map and a city wall, of which four gates are known so far. A forum and a basilica were built in the center. However, there is little evidence for other public buildings. There was a Celtic temple in the northwest of the city. So far there is also no evidence for thermal baths or theaters. With the exception of a large villa in the south-west of the city, little is known about connected residential developments, but numerous accidental finds of mosaics prove a relative prosperity.

Outside the city walls, which were reinforced in the 4th century, there were significant remains of suburbs and cemeteries. One of these was mainly in use in the 4th century, and the burials were rich in grave goods. These indicate the presence of a military unit at that time. In the Notitia Dignitatum a procurate gynaeci, Ventenisis (administrator of the weaving mills of Ventas) is called. The place seems to have produced clothing, and, based on later evidence, wool clothing, for the Roman military. However, there is no evidence from the city itself.

The city was apparently gradually abandoned in the 5th century. There is hardly any archaeological evidence of settlement continuity into the early Middle Ages.

literature

• John Wacher: The Towns of Roman Britain. 2nd edition, fully revised, paperback. Routledge, London et al. 1997, ISBN 0-415-17041-9 , pp. 291-301.

Web links

• Venta Belgarum (engl.)

Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 46.8 ″  N , 1 ° 19 ′ 1.2 ″  W.