Eboracum
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox ancient site Template:RomanMilitary Eboracum ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimately developed into the present-day city of York, in North Yorkshire, England.
Two Roman emperors died in Eboracum: Septimius Severus in 211 AD, and Constantius Chlorus in 306 AD.
The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated Template:Circa, and is an address containing the settlement's name, Eburaci, on a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda in what is now Northumberland.<ref name="Hall">Template:Harvnb</ref> During the Roman period, the name was written both Eboracum and Eburacum (in nominative form).<ref name="Hall">Template:Harvnb</ref>
The name Eboracum comes from the Common Brittonic *Eburākon, which means "yew tree place".<ref>Template:Harvnb; the wholly fictitious king Ebraucus (derived from the Old Welsh spelling of the place name, (Cair) Ebrauc), ruling in the days of biblical King David, was an invention of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.</ref>Template:Failed verification The word for "yew" was *ebura in Proto-Celtic (cf. Old Irish ibar "yew-tree", Template:Langx (older iobhar), Template:Langx, Template:Langx "alder buckthorn", Template:Langx "alder buckthorn"), combined with the proprietive suffix *-āko(n) "having" (cf. Welsh -og, Gaelic -ach)<ref name="DELAMARRE 159">Xavier Delamarre, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, éditions errance 2003, p. 159.</ref> meaning "yew tree place" (cf. efrog in Welsh, eabhrach/iubhrach in Irish Gaelic and eabhrach/iobhrach in Scottish Gaelic, by which names the city is known in those languages). The name was then Latinized by replacing the Celtic neuter nominative ending -on by its Latin equivalent -um, a common use noted also in Gaul and Lusitania (Ebora Liberalitas Julia). Various place names, such as Évry, Ivry, Ivrey, Ivory and Ivrac in France would all come from *eburacon / *eburiacon; for example: Ivry-la-Bataille (Eure, Ebriaco in 1023–1033), Ivry-le-Temple (Evriacum in 1199),<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> and Évry (Essonne, Everiaco in 1158).<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="DELAMARRE 159"/>
Peter Schrijver has instead counter-argued that "eburos did not mean yew tree" and that the derivation from Latin ebur (ivory) instead refers to boar's tusks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
OriginsEdit
The Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 AD, but advance beyond the Humber did not take place until the early 70s AD. This was because the people in the area, known as the Brigantes by the Romans, became a Roman client state. When Brigantian leadership changed, becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman general Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the Ninth Legion north from Lincoln across the Humber.<ref name=Willis35>Template:Harvnb</ref> Eboracum was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress (castra) on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. In the same year, Cerialis was appointed Governor of Britain.<ref name="Hall-27">Template:Harvnb</ref>
A legion at full strength at that time numbered some 5,500 men, and provided new trading opportunities for enterprising local people, who doubtless flocked to Eboracum to take advantage of them. As a result, permanent civilian settlement grew up around the fortress especially on its south-east side. Civilians also settled on the opposite side of the Ouse, initially along the main road from Eboracum to the south-west. By the later 2nd century, growth was rapid; streets were laid out, public buildings were erected and private houses spread out over terraces on the steep slopes above the river.
MilitaryEdit
From its foundation the Roman fort of Eboracum was aligned on a north-east/south-east bearing on the north bank of the River Ouse. It measured 1,600 × 1,360 pedes monetales (474 × 403 m)<ref name="Roman York4">Template:Harvnb</ref> and covered an area of Template:Convert.<ref name="Roman York4" /> The standard layout of streets running through the castra is assumed, although some evidence exists for the via praetoria, via decumana and via sagularis.<ref name="Roman York4" /> Much of the modern understanding of the fortress defences has come from extensive excavations undertaken by L. P. Wenham.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Wenham, L. P. 1965 'The South-West defences of the Fortress of Eboracum' in Jarrett, M. G. and Dobson, B. (eds.) Britain and Rome. pp. 1–26</ref>
The layout of the fortress also followed the standard for a legionary fortress, with wooden buildings inside a square defensive boundary.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> These defences, originally consisting of turf ramparts on a green wood foundation, were built by the Ninth Legion between 71 and 74 AD. Later these were replaced by a clay mound with a turf front on a new oak foundation, and eventually, wooden battlements were added, which were then replaced by limestone walls and towers.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The original wooden camp was refurbished by Agricola in 81, before being completely rebuilt in stone between 107 and 108. The fortress was garrisoned soon afterwards by the Sixth Legion, possibly as soon as 118.<ref name="EB1911">Template:Cite EB1911</ref>
Multiple phases of restructuring and rebuilding within the fortress are recorded. Rebuilding in stone began in the early second century AD under Trajan, but may have taken as long as the start of the reign of Septimius Severus to be completed; a period of over 100 years.<ref name="Roman York5">Template:Harvnb</ref> Estimates suggest that over 48,000 m3 of stone were required,<ref name="Roman York5"/> largely consisting of Magnesian Limestone from the quarries near the Roman settlement of Calcaria (Tadcaster).<ref>Template:PastScape</ref>
Visiting emperorsEdit
There is evidence that the Emperor Hadrian visited in 122 on his way north to plan his great walled frontier. He either brought, or sent earlier, the Sixth Legion to replace the existing garrison. Emperor Septimius Severus visited Eboracum in 208<ref name="Roman York3">Template:Harvnb</ref> and made it his base for campaigning in Caledonia. (The fortress wall was probably reconstructed during his stay and at the east angle it is possible to see this work standing almost to full height.) The Imperial court was based in York until at least 211, when Severus died and was succeeded by his sons, Caracalla and Geta.<ref name="Roman York3" /> A biographer, Cassius Dio, described a scene in which the Emperor utters the final words to his two sons on his death bed: "Agree with each other, make the soldiers rich, and ignore everyone else."<ref>Dio, Cassius. Historia Romana 76.15.2</ref> Severus was cremated in Eboracum shortly after his death.<ref name="Roman York3" /> Dio described the ceremony: "His body arrayed in military garb was placed upon a pyre, and as a mark of honour the soldiers and his sons ran about it and as for the soldier's gifts, those who had things at hand to offer them put them upon it and his sons applied the fire."<ref name="Roman York3" /> (The location of the cremation was not recorded. A hill to the west of modern York, known as Severus Hill, is associated by some antiquarians as the site where this cremation took place,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> but no archaeological investigation has corroborated this claim.)
In the later 3rd century, the western Empire experienced political and economic turmoil and Britain was for some time ruled by usurpers independent of Rome. It was after crushing the last of these that Emperor Constantius I came to Eboracum and, in 306, became the second Emperor to die there. His son Constantine was instantly proclaimed as successor by the troops based in the fortress. Although it took Constantine eighteen years to become sole ruler of the Empire, he may have retained an interest in Eboracum and the reconstruction of the south-west front of the fortress with polygonally-fronted interval towers and the two great corner towers, one of which (the Multangular Tower) still survives, is probably his work. In the colonia, Constantine's reign was a time of prosperity and a number of extensive stone town houses of the period have been excavated.
GovernmentEdit
For the Romans, Eboracum was the major military base in the north of Britain and, following the 3rd century division of the province of Britannia, the capital of northern Britain, Britannia Inferior. By 237 Eboracum had been made a colonia, the highest legal status a Roman city could attain; there were only four coloniae in Britain, and all but Eboracum had been founded for retired soldiers.<ref name="Hall 31">Template:Harvnb</ref> This mark of Imperial favour was probably a recognition of Eboracum as the largest town in the north and the capital of Britannia Inferior. At around the same time Eboracum became self-governing, with a council made up of rich locals, including merchants and veteran soldiers.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> In 296 Britannia Inferior was divided into two provinces of equal status with Eboracum becoming the provincial capital of Britannia Secunda.
CultureEdit
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As a busy port and a provincial capital Eboracum was a cosmopolitan city with residents from throughout the Roman Empire.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
DietEdit
Substantial evidence for the use of cereal crops and animal husbandry can be found in Eboracum.<ref name=RomanYorkshire1>Template:Harvnb</ref> A first-century warehouse fire from Coney Street, on the North bank of the Ouse and outside the fortress, showed that spelt wheat was the most common cereal grain used at that time, followed by barley.<ref name=RomanYorkshire1 /> Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were the major sources of meat.<ref name=RomanYorkshire1 /> Hunting scenes, as shown through Romano-British "hunt cups",<ref name=FortressPottery>Monaghan, J. 1993. Roman Pottery from the Fortress (Archaeology of York 16/7). York: York Archaeological Trust</ref> suggest hunting was a popular pastime and that diet would be supplemented through the hunting of hare, deer and boar. A variety of food preparation vessels (mortaria) have been excavated from the city<ref name=FortressPottery /> and large millstones used in the processing of cereals have been found in rural sites outside the colonia at Heslington and Stamford Bridge.<ref name=RomanYorkshire1 />
In terms of the ceremonial use of food; dining scenes are used on tombstones to represent an aspirational image of the deceased in the afterlife, reclining on a couch and being served food and wine.<ref name=DiningStele>Template:Cite journal</ref> The tombstones of Julia Velva, Mantinia Maercia and Aelia Aeliana each depict a dining scene.<ref name=DiningStele /> Additionally, several inhumation burials from Trentholme Drive contained hen's eggs placed in ceramic urns as grave goods for the deceased.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
ReligionEdit
A range of evidence of Roman religious beliefs among the people of Eboracum have been found including altars to Mars, Hercules, Jupiter and Fortune. In terms of number of references, the most popular deities were the spiritual representation (genius) of Eboracum and the Mother Goddess.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> There is also evidence of local and regional deities. Evidence showing the worship of eastern deities has also been found during excavations in York. For example, evidence of the Mithras cult, which was popular among the military, has been found including a sculpture showing Mithras slaying a bull and a dedication to Arimanius, the god of evil in the Mithraic tradition.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The Mithraic relief located in Micklegate<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> suggests the location of a temple to Mithras right in the heart of the Colonia.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Another example is the dedication of a temple to Serapis a Hellenistic-Egyptian God by the Commander of the Sixth Legion, Claudius Hieronymianus.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Other known deities from the city include: Tethys,<ref name="RCHME 1962">Template:Harvnb</ref> Veteris,<ref name="RCHME 1962"/> Venus,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>Silvanus,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Toutatis, Chnoubis and the Imperial Numen.
There was also a Christian community in Eboracum although it is unknown when this was first formed and in archaeological terms there is virtually no record of it. The first evidence of this community is a document noting the attendance of Bishop Eborius of Eboracum at the Council of Arles (314).<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The Episcopal see at Eboracum was called Eboracensis in Latin and Bishops from the See also attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Serdica, and the Council of Ariminum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name is preserved in the abbreviated form Ebor as the official name of the archbishop of York.<ref name="EB1911"/>
Death and burialEdit
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The cemeteries of Roman York follow the major Roman roads out of the settlement; excavations in the Castle Yard (next to Clifford's Tower), beneath the railway station, at Trentholme Drive and the Mount<ref name="textile"/> have located significant evidence of human remains using both inhumation and cremation burial rites. The cemetery beneath the railway station was subject to excavations in advance of railway works of 1839–41, 1845, and 1870–7.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Several sarcophagi were unearthed during this phase of excavations including those of Flavius Bellator<ref name=RIB674>Template:Harvnb</ref> and Julia Fortunata.<ref name=RIB687>Template:Harvnb</ref> Inhumation burial in sarcophagi can often include the body being encased in gypsum and then in a lead coffin. Variations on this combination exist. The gypsum casts, when found undisturbed, frequently retain a cast impression of the deceased in a textile shroud<ref name=textile>Template:Harvnb</ref> – surviving examples of both adults and children show a selection of textiles used to wrap the body before interment, but usually plain woven cloth.<ref name=textile /> The high number of sarcophagi from Eboracum has provided a large number of these casts, in some cases with cloth surviving adhered to the gypsum.<ref name=textile /> Two gypsum burials at York have shown evidence for frankincense and another clear markers of Pistacia spp. (mastic) resin used as part of the funerary rite.<ref name=GypsumBurials>Template:Cite journal</ref> These resins had been traded to Eboracum from the Mediterranean and eastern Africa, or southern Arabia, the latter known as the "Frankincense Kingdom" in antiquity<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Page needed This is the northernmost confirmed use of aromatic resins in mortuary contexts during the Roman period.<ref name=GypsumBurials />
An excavation in advance of building work underneath the Yorkshire Museum in 2010 located a male skeleton with significant pathology to suggest that he may have died as a gladiator in Eboracum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
EconomyEdit
The military presence at Eboracum was the driving force behind early developments in its economy. In these early stages, Eboracum operated as a command economy with workshops growing up outside the fortress to supply the needs of the 5,000 troops garrisoned there. Production included military pottery until the mid-3rd century, military tile kilns have been found in the Aldwark-Peasholme Green area, glassworking at Coppergate, metalworks and leatherworks producing military equipment in Tanner Row.<ref name="Hall 31"/>
In the Roman period, Eboracum was the major manufacturing centre for Whitby Jet. Known as gagates in Latin, it was used from the early 3rd century as material for jewellery<ref name="Jet1">Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Page needed and was exported from here throughout Britain and into Europe.<ref name="Roman York1">Template:Harvnb</ref> Examples found in York take the form of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and pendants depicting married couples and the Medusa.<ref name="Jet1" /> There are fewer than 25 jet pendants in the Roman world,<ref name="Jet2">Template:Harvnb</ref> of which six are known from Eboracum. These are housed in the Yorkshire Museum.
RoadsEdit
The true paths of all original Roman roads leading out of Eboracum are not known,<ref name="RCHME Eboracum1">Template:Harvnb</ref> although eleven have been suggested.<ref name="RCHME Eboracum1" /> The known roads include Dere Street leading North-West from the city through Clifton towards the site of Cataractonium (modern Catterick), Cade's Road Towards Petuaria (modern Brough), and Ermine Street towards Lindum (modern Lincoln).<ref name="RCHME Eboracum1" /> A road bypassing the south wall of the fortress, between the fortress and the River Ouse has not been formally planned, although its path is conjectured to run beneath the York Museum Gardens.<ref name="RCHME Eboracum1" />
RiversEdit
The River Ouse and River Foss provided important access points for the importation of heavy goods. The existence of two possible wharves on the east bank of the River Foss<ref name="RCHME Eboracum2">Template:Harvnb</ref> support this idea. A large deposit of grain, in a timber structure beneath modern-day Coney Street, on the north-east bank of the River Ouse<ref name="Roman York2">Template:Harvnb</ref> suggests the existence of storehouses for moving goods via the river.
Late Roman YorkEdit
The decline of Roman Britain in early fifth century AD led to significant social and economic changes all over Britain. Whilst the latest datable inscription referencing Eboracum dates from 237 AD, the continuation of the settlement after this time is certain.<ref name=RomanYork5>Template:Harvnb</ref> Building work in the city continued in the fourth century under Constantine and later Count Theodosius.<ref name=RomanYork5 /> The locally produced Crambeck Ware pottery<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> arrived in Eboracum in the fourth century—the most famous form being intricately decorated buff-yellow "parchment ware" painted with bright shades of red. The effect of Constantine's religious policy allowed the greater development of Christianity in Roman Britain—a bishop of York named "Eborius" is attested here and several artifacts decorated with chi-rho symbols are known.<ref name=RomanYork5 /> Additionally, a small bone plaque from an inhumation grave bore the phrase {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("Hail sister may you live in God").<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Changes in the layout of both the fort and colonia occurred in the late fourth century AD, suggested as representing a social change in the domestic lives of the military garrison here whereby they might have lived in smaller family groups with wives, children or other civilians.<ref name=RomanYork5 />
Rediscovery of Roman YorkEdit
The rediscovery and modern understanding of Eboracum began in the 17th century. Several prominent figures have been involved in this process. Martin Lister was the first to recognise that the Multangular Tower was Roman in date in a 1683 paper with the Royal Society.<ref>Lidster, M. 1683. 'Some Observations upon the Ruins of a Roman Wall and Multangular-Tower at York'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Vol 13. pp. 238–242.</ref> John Horsley's 1732 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, or "The Roman Antiquities of Britain", included a chapter on Roman York and at least partly informed Francis Drake's 1736 Eboracum<ref name="RCHME Eboracum3">Template:Harvnb</ref>—the first book of its kind on Roman York. Drake also published accounts in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.<ref name="RCHME Eboracum2" />
The Rev. Charles Wellbeloved was one of the founders of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and a curator of the antiquities in the Yorkshire Museum until his death in 1858. He published a systematic account of Roman York titled Eboracum or York under the Romans in 1842,<ref name="RCHME Eboracum2" /> including first hand records of discoveries during excavations in 1835.<ref name="RCHME Eboracum2" /> William Hargrove brought many new discoveries to the attention of the public through published articles in his newspaper the Herald and the Courant<ref name="RCHME Eboracum2" /> and published a series of guides with references to casual finds.Template:Fact
The first large-scale excavations were undertaken by S. Miller from Glasgow University in the 1920s<ref name="RCHME Eboracum2" /> with a focus on the defences.
Archaeological remainsEdit
Substantial physical remains have been excavated in York in the last two centuries<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> including the city walls, the legionary bath-house and headquarters building, civilian houses, workshops, storehouses and cemeteries.
Visible remainsEdit
- Remains of the Roman Basilica building, at the north side of the Principia are visible in the undercroft of York Minster. A column found during excavations and a modern statue of Constantine the Great are located outside.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- The multangular tower of York city walls is a multi-period structure based on the south-west corner tower of the Roman Legionary Fortress. It is within the York Museum Gardens.
- The Roman Bath pub and museum (St Sampson's Square) displays remains of the military bath-house.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- A fragment of foundations of the western curtain wall is visible through a glass floor in a cafe near Bootham bar.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- A large number of Roman finds are now housed in the Yorkshire Museum.<ref name="YORKMUS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The York Museum Gardens have Roman sarcophagi on open display.Template:Fact
See alsoEdit
- History of York
- Roman Britain
- Seal of New York City which is inscribed {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
BibliographyEdit
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- Wellbeloved, c. 1852 (1st edition). A descriptive account of the antiquities in the grounds and in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
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ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- The Romans in West Yorkshire
- Roman collections in the Yorkshire Museum
- York Minster Undercroft
- Roman Bath Museum Template:Webarchive
Template:Major towns of Roman Britain Template:Roman visitor sites in the UK Template:Authority control