Carpow Roman Fort

Last updated

Carpow Roman Fort
Mugdrum - geograph.org.uk - 675365.jpg
The Tay estuary showing the area around the Roman Fort
Scotland relief location map.jpg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Scotland showing the site
Alternative name"Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis"
Region Perth and Kinross
Coordinates 56°20′48.3454″N003°17′03.9177″W / 56.346762611°N 3.284421583°W / 56.346762611; -3.284421583
TypeRoman Fort
Area11 hectares (27 acres)
History
Builder Legio II Augusta, Legio VI Victrix
FoundedAD 210
AbandonedAD215
Periods Romano-British
Cultures Roman
Satellite of Ancient Rome
Associated with Legio II Augusta, Legio VI Victrix
Site notes
Excavation dates1961-1979
ArchaeologistsD R Easson, P R Wright, J Leach and J Wilkes
ConditionUpstanding scarp to 1.6m
Website canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/30081/details/carpow/

The Roman Fort of Carpow was situated at the confluence of the rivers Tay and Earn in what is now Scotland. [1]

Contents

It was a large fortress with an area of thirty acres occupied by two legions at different times, Legio II Augusta and Legio VI Victrix, and thus of solid, permanent construction using stone, brick and tiles. [2]

The fort was occupied from the late second century AD until the early third century AD. The site of the fort has not been comprehensively excavated but it is believed to have served as a naval supply depot for Roman forces in the central lowlands. Its occupation also coincided with the campaigns of Septimius Severus in the area. [1]

However, its site on the southern side of the Tay estuary is incompatible with its use as a base for Severan offensive operations to the north and, along with other evidence, it is more likely that the fortress was built under Commodus in 185 to support his campaigns. [3]

It has been suggested that the Carpow fort was the place named as "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis" in the Ravenna Cosmography . [4]

Location

The Carpow fort was situated on a coastal plain on the southern bank of the river Tay approximately one kilometre east of the Tay's confluence with the River Earn. The Firth of Tay lay eastward of the fort and provided access to the North Sea. [4]

Prior to the era of the fort's occupation, the Gask Ridge system of limes lay to the north and west. During the era of the fort's occupation, the Antonine Wall lay to the south and the vicinity was inhabited by the people referred to in Roman sources as either Caledonians or Caledones. In subsequent decades the Romans would refer to the local people as Picts. The significant Pictish site of Clatchard Craig lay to the immediate east of the Carpow fort.

Description of the Modern Site

Modern Carpow is a rural hamlet, consisting of several residences, immediately eastward of the mouth of the river Earn. The fort is partially obscured by these buildings and its only visible remnant is its northern rampart. This survives as a ridge of approximately 1.6m height.

Other structures can be discerned by crop marks. They include the full quadrilateral outline of the fort's ramparts and the remains of a building which seems to have been a typical Roman military headquarters known as a "principia". [1]

Archeological Excavations

Archeological excavations were conducted at the site of the Carpow fort between 1964 and 1979. These excavations discovered numismatic evidence which suggested that the fort was occupied between the late second century AD and the early third century AD. The earliest coin found was heavily worn and dated to the rule of Hadrian. The latest coin found was in mint condition and dated to the reign of Caracalla. [1] [4]

The excavations also identified a Principia, a Praetorium, a bath house and a granary. Inscriptions of the Legio II Augusta and the Legio VI Victrix [5] were found on fragments of masonry and on a rooftile, respectively. [1] [4] [6]

Identification with Horrea Classis

The Ravenna Cosmography , a Byzantine geographical text compiled in Ravenna during the eighth century AD, names a site called either "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis", which seems to have been located in the east lowlands of Scotland.

"Poreo Classis" makes no obvious sense and so seems to represent a scribal error, although it might have been a Latinised version of a pre-existing Britonnic place name which might better explain the modern name element "Pow". "Horrea Classis", however, may be translated from Latin as "Naval Storehouses".

Several commentators have postulated that the Carpow fort, with its maritime setting and large granary, was "Horrea Classis". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legio XIV Gemina</span> Roman legion

Legio XIV Gemina was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. The cognomen Gemina (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrength legion after the Battle of Actium. The cognomen Martia Victrix was added following their service in the Pannonian War c. AD 9 and the defeat of Boudicca in AD 61. The emblem of the legion was the Capricorn, as with many of the legions levied by Caesar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legio VI Victrix</span> Roman legion

Legio VI Victrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inchtuthil</span>

Inchtuthil is the site of a Roman legionary fortress situated on a natural platform overlooking the north bank of the River Tay southwest of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isca Dumnoniorum</span> Roman legionary fortress in Devon, England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardknott Roman Fort</span> Archeological site in Cumbria, England

Hardknott Roman Fort is an archeological site, the remains of the Roman fort Mediobogdum, located on the western side of the Hardknott Pass in the English county of Cumbria. The fort was built between 120 and 138 on a rocky spur, and was initially garrisoned by a detachment of the Cohors IV Delmatarum from the Dalmatian coast. It was abandoned around a decade later, then reoccupied circa 200 and remained in use for much of the next two centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glevum</span> Roman fort, predecessor to Gloucester, UK

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legio VI Ferrata</span> Roman legion

Legio VI Ferrata was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. In 30 BC it became part of the emperor Augustus's standing army. It continued in existence into the 4th century. A Legio VI fought in the Roman Republican civil wars of the 40s and 30s BC. Sent to garrison the province of Judaea, it remained there for the next two centuries.

Alchester is the site of an ancient Roman town. The site is not included in any ancient references; hence, the Roman name is not known. However, Eilert Ekwall contended that it appears as Alavna in the Ravenna Cosmography, with the addition of the Old English ceaster to signify a Roman fort. It lies about 2 miles (3 km) south of Bicester, in the northwest corner of the civil parish of Wendlebury in the English county of Oxfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deva Victrix</span> Roman fort, Mid 70s AD

Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix in the 70s AD as the Roman army advanced north against the Brigantes, and rebuilt completely over the next few decades by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix. In the early 3rd century the fortress was again rebuilt. The legion probably remained at the fortress until the late 4th or early 5th century, upon which it fell into disuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castleshaw Roman Fort</span> Roman camp in Greater Manchester, England

Castleshaw Roman fort was a castellum in the Roman province of Britannia. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it has been suggested that Castleshaw Roman fort is the site of Rigodunum, a Brigantian settlement. The remains of the fort are located on Castle Hill on the eastern side of Castleshaw Valley at the foot of Standedge but overlooking the valley. The hill is on the edge of Castleshaw in Greater Manchester. The fort was constructed in c. AD 79, but fell out of use at some time during the 90s. It was replaced by a smaller fortlet, built in c. 105, around which a civilian settlement grew. It may have served as a logistical and administrative centre, although it was abandoned in the 120s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isca Augusta</span> Former roman site in Caerleon, Wales

Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or vicus, the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban town of Caerleon in the north of the city of Newport in South Wales. The site includes Caerleon Amphitheatre and is protected by Cadw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bremetennacum</span> Ruins of a Roman fort in Ribchester, England

Bremetennacum,, or Bremetennacum Veteranorum, was a Roman fort on the site of the present day village of Ribchester in Lancashire, England. The site is a Scheduled Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portus Lemanis</span>

Portus Lemanis, also known as Lemanae, was the Latin name of a Roman Saxon Shore fort, settlement and port in southern Kent. The modern village of Lympne derives its name from the ancient port. The site, known locally as Stutfall Castle, is on private land which is accessible by public footpath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gobannium</span>

Gobannium was a Roman fort and civil settlement or Castra established by the Roman legions invading what was to become Roman Wales and lies today under the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cramond Roman Fort</span> Roman fort in Edinburgh, Scotland

Cramond Roman Fort is a Roman-Era archaeological site at Cramond, Edinburgh, Scotland. The settlement may be the "Rumabo" listed in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpow</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Carpow is a diffuse hamlet in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated immediately to the east of the confluence of the River Tay and River Earn, 2 km north east of Abernethy.

Trawscoed fort is a Roman auxiliary fort in Ceredigion, Wales, located near the modern settlement of Trawsgoed and is cut through by the modern B4340 road. It was first built in the 70s AD. and was occupied until around 130 AD, housing up to 800 infantry in rows of barracks within the 2.1 hectares banked enclosure. At its height it could have had a total population of around 2,000 people living at the fort and its extramural vicus. It overlooks the Roman bridge over the River Ystwyth, which is where the road from Pen-Ilwyn to Llanio crosses. In 1959, this site was initially identified via aerial photography revealing a series of parchmarks covering an area of around 20,000 square metres (2 ha). Later explorations increased the knowledge of this site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germisara (castra)</span>

It was a fort in the Roman province of Dacia, in modern day Romania, in the village area of Cigmău, in the municipality of Geoagiu, Hunedoara county in the Romanian region of Transylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clatchard Craig</span>

The fort of Clatchard Craig was located on a hill of the same name by the Tay. A human presence on the site has been identified from the neolithic period onward and the fort itself was occupied from the sixth century AD until at least the eighth century. It stood close to several places which were centres of secular and religious power during the early Middle Ages including Abernethy, Forteviot, Scone and Moncreiffe. As such it seems to have been an important stronghold of the Picts.

Whitley Castle (Epiacum) is a large, unusually shaped Roman fort north-west of the town of Alston, Cumbria, England. The castrum, which was first built by the Roman Army early in the 2nd century AD, was partly demolished and rebuilt around 200 AD. It appears to have been sited to protect lead mining in the area as well as to support the border defences of Hadrian's Wall.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The site record for the Carpow fort at RCAHMS
  2. Dore, J N & Wilkes, J J 1999, Excavations directed by J D Leach and J J Wilkes on the site of a Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire, 1964-79, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 129, 481-575
  3. The date of the award of the Britannica cognomen to Legio VI Victrix, 2006, Peter Warry https://www.academia.edu/38754312r%5B%5D
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 A summary of the excavation of 1961-1962. (Society of Antquaries of Scotland)
  5. "A chemical analysis of the Carpow rooftile" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  6. The date of the award of the Britannica cognomen to Legio VI Victrix, 2006, Peter Warry https://www.academia.edu/38754312