Roman Britain I → P → B B Hadrian s Wall Fort and Selement Birdoswald, Cumbria NGRef: NY615663 OSMap: Hadrian s Wall, OL43, LR87. Type: Wall Fort, Fort, Minor Selement Roads Hadrian s Wall: E (4.25) to Banks East Maiden Way: NNW (6.5) to Bewcastle (Bewcastle, Cumbria) Wall: E (3.25) to Magnis Carvetiorvm (Carvoran, Northumberland) Wall: W (7.5) to Camboglanna (Castlesteads, Cumbria) Hadrian s Wall: E (5) to Leahill Maiden Way: NNW (4) to Robin Hoods Bvs Banna - The Peak The name of the Birdoswald fort has been in dispute for some considerable time, the argument being compounded by discrepancies in the Roman maps of the period. The name of this fort was either Banna or Camboglanna, depending on which itinerary you used. The name now favoured by Roman historians is Banna, a word (Welsh/Gaelic) meaning peak or horn , related to the Old Welsh word ban and the Old Irish word benn. This topic is discussed further on the RBO page for Castlesteads. The Epigraphy of Banna There are sixty-two inscribed stones recorded in the RIB for Birdoswald, comprising: forty-four altars and other votive stones, ten building inscriptions, cohort and centurial stones, four tombstones and four other indesignated texts. These include fteen inscriptions all dateable to the third century. The Dateable Latin Inscriptions from Birdoswald RIB # Date Description (clickable) 1910 198-209AD B.I. of emperor Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla 1909 205-208AD B.I. of emperor Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum and Cohors I Thracum 1911 212-217AD altar to emperor Caracalla 1892 212-222AD? altar to I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum Antoniniana 1914 c.219AD B.I. of governor Modius Julius by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum 1896 235-238AD altar to I O M D by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum during Maximian s reign 1929a 235-238AD altar to I O M D by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum during Maximian s reign 1922 236AD damaged B.I. erected during the consulship of Maximinus and Africanus 1875 237AD altar to I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum during the consulship of Perpetuus 1893 238-244AD altar to I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum Gordiana 1883 260-268AD altar to I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum Postumiana 1886 260-268AD altar to I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum Postumiana 1885 271-274AD altar to Cocidius and I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum Tetricianorum 1929b 276-282AD altar to I O M by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum Probiana 1912 293-305AD B.I. of emperors Diocletian and Maximian Among the dateable inscriptions from Birdoswalds is the heavily damaged stone RIB 1922, which reads ...CM... ...IMVS DI... ...ES A SOLO FEC... MAXIMINO ET AFRICANO COS, and was evidently erected during the consulship of Imperator Caesar Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus Augustus and Marcus Pupienius Africanus, who were consules ordinarii for the year 236AD, a.u.c.989. Numismatic Evidence from Birdoswald Of the 58 coins recovered from Birdoswald, the majority (51) were recorded during excavations in 1929, the rest (7) are casual nds recorded either in 1860, 1931 or 1934. The coins range from 5 coppers of Trajan (inc. R.I.C. 489) to 3 copper coins dating post-375. The most notable are; 6 of Antoninus Pius (inc. a single R.I.C. 417 silver issue), 3 coppers of Constantinian and 3 of Constantius II also 3 Fel Temp Reparatio . Other coins were recovered during excavations 1987-1990 but details are not known. The Fort(s) at Birdoswald In 1928 it was found that the Vallum which curves round the southern side of the Birdoswald fort has a circuit which suggests that it was so shaped as to avoid a fort placed on the Wall which was considerably smaller than the later fort whose outline can nowadays be seen. This probably means that the fort was expanded in size sometime after the Vallum was built, during the construction of which, the Vallum appears to have been back- lled. This seems to have occurred very soon after the Vallum was originally completed. Centurial Stone from the Birdoswald Fort > CONGAONI CANDIDI P XXX The century of Congaonius Candidus [has built] thirty feet [of rampart]. (RIB 1917) Although the dimensions of the original cavalry fort at Birdoswald is unknown, the later infantry fort measures some 580 by 400 feet and covered an area of almost 5½ acres. The fort was placed on a prominent ridge looking across the Irthing Gorge towards the Stanegate in the south, and across the Midgeholme Moss to Fanum Cocidi (Bewcastle) in the north. The garrison was placed here to protect the Roman bridge across the River Irthing which lay only half a mile (0.8km) to the east. Building Inscription of Severus and Caracalla IMPP CAES L SEPTIMIO SEVERO PIO PERTINACI ET M AVREL ANTONIN PIO AVG For the emperors, Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax [Augustus] and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus.¹ (RIB 1910; dated: 198-209AD) 1. The emperor Septimius Severus and his eldest son Caracalla. Severus came to power in April 193AD and Caracalla joined him in power in January 198, whereupon he took the rank Augustus and later that year the title Pius. Both emperors adopted the victory title Britannicus Maximus in 209, which would surely have been included on a stone erected within the subject province. On this basis the stone is dated between 198AD and 209. Altarstone Dedicated to the Emperor Caracalla PRO SALVTE D N MAXIMI AC FORT IMP CAES M AVREL ANTON P F AVG ..OC ...V...VST ...O AEDIF For the health of our lord ?maximi ac fort? Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus¹ [...]² erected this altarstone. (RIB 1911; altarstone; dated: 212-217AD) 1. The emperor Caracalla became joint emperor with his younger brother Geta following the death of their father Septimius Severus at Eburacum in north-east England on 4th February 211AD. Geta is not mentioned on this stone so it must have been erected after his murder in December 211, and obviously before the murder of the fratricidal older brother Caracalla in April 217. 2. The boom of this stone is heavily damaged, and no aempt has been made to expand or translate this text. The rst fort in this area was built astride the turf wall and was itself of turf-and-timber construction, intended to house a force of 500 cavalry. By the time the Wall in this area was replaced in stone, the garrison had been changed to a cohort of infantry, and in consequence the Wall was realigned to incorporate the northern defences of the fort, to conform to the usual plan for an infantry fort on the Wall. This divergence from the original line has meant that a section of the original turf wall has been preserved for about 1½ miles (2km) to the west of Birdoswald. Record of the Reconstruction of the Praetorium, Principia and Balneum DD NN DIOCLETIANO ET MAXIMIANO INVICTIS AVGG ET CONSTANTIO ET MAXIMIANIO N N C C SVB V P AVR ARPAGIO PR PRAETOR QVOD ERAT HVMO COPERT ET IN LABE CONL ET PRINC ET BAL REST CVRANT FL MARTINO CENT P P C ... For our Lords Diocletian and Maximian, the Invincible Augusti, and for Constantius and Maximianus, our most noble Caesars,¹ under his Perfection Aurelius Arpagio the governor,² the commandant s house which was covered in earth and in a ruinous state, also the Headquarters Building and the Bath House,³ were restored under the direction of Flavius Martinus, centurion in command of the Cohort[...] (RIB 1912; restored inscription; dated: 297-305AD) 1. The emperors Diocletian and Maximian ruled jointly from April 286AD until Diocletian s abdication in May 305. Constantius I and Galerius were appointed to the rank of Caesar in March 293. 2. Based on the expansion PR[aeses], governor . Publius Aurelius Arpagio is known only from this single inscription. He governed Britain between 297-305AD. 3. Collingwood prefers ballistaria catapult-platforms to balneum bath-house (The Archaeology of Roman Britain, p.25, fn.2). A building inscription recovered from the interior of the fort in 1929 records restoration work undertaken at the turn of the fourth century by an unknown unit (vide RIB 1912 supra). This is a very important nd because it provides conclusive evidence that the praetorium or commanding o cer s house in an auxiliary fort was a separate and distinct entity from the principia or headquarters building. The Legionary Builders of the Birdoswald Fort LEG II VI VIC P F F The Second Legion and the Sixth, Loyal and Faithful, have made [this]. (RIB 1916) Legio Secundae Augusta - The Second Augustan Legion I O M COH I AEL DACOR C C A IVL MARCELLINVS > LEG II AVG For Jupiter Best and Greatest, the First Cohort of Aelian Dacians, under the supervision of Aulus Julius Marcellinus, centurion of the Second Augustan Legion. (RIB 1880; altarstone) The Second Legion is mentioned on only two stones from Birdoswalds, a building inscription shared with Leg VI Victrix (vide RIB 1916 supra), and on an altar to Iupier Optimus Maximus dedicated by Coh I Aelia Dacorum and a centurion of the Second (vide RIB 1880 etiam supra). It is probable that centurion Marcellinus was seconded to the Birdoswalds garrison in order to provide initial training or in some other advisory capacity, but the evidence of this altarstone to Jupiter, usually placed by the commander of the regiment, suggests the possibility that Marcellinus was placed in temporary command of the fort and it s garrison unit Cohors Primae Aelia Dacorum.