BROCAVVM

Roman Fort & Marching Camp
Minor Settlement

Brougham, Cumbria

NGRef: NY5328 OSMap: LR90 Type: Roman Fort, Minor Settlement, Marching Camp.
Roads
NNW (7) to VOREDA (Old Penrith, Cumbria) via Plumpton Head E (7) to BRAVONIACVM (Kirkby Thore, Cumbria) S (18) to Low Borrowbridge (Cumbria) SW (20) to GALAVA (Ambleside, Cumbria)

The ancient name for the Brougham fort has been identified from two ancient geographical references; the Brocavo item of the Antonine Itinerary is listed 20 miles from VERTERIS (Brough Castle, Cumbria) and 22 miles from LVGVVALIVM (Carlisle, Cumbria) at the terminus of Iter V, also the Brocara of the Ravenna Cosmology (R&C#156), which occurs between the entries for FANVM COCIDI (Bewcastle, Cumbria) and the inidentified station Croucingo.

The Brocavum Fort

The fort is sited in a field adjacent to Brougham Castle Farm, just off the A66 trunk road about two miles south of Penrith. There is a small marching camp on the opposite side of the A66 about 400 yards north-east of the fort, sited on a bluff overlooking the confluence of the Rivers Eamont and Lowther. Another temporary camp is situated about three miles to the north-east on Langwathby Moor.

The Garrison Units

Cohors Gallorum?

This fragmentary inscription is possibly an altar, but unfortunately, both the name of the god and the name of the dedicator have been obliterated. All that remains legible is the latter part of the dedicator's curriculum vitae, which tantalizingly dangles the possibility of a Gallic Cohort being stationed in the Brocavum fort at some time.

The Eighth Legion were present during the initial invasion of Britain in AD43, very likely acting as escort to the Emperor Claudius, who is documented to have stayed for only sixteen days on the island before leaving for the continent. Vexillations of this legion are known to have been stationed in the province during the early part of the second century and possibly also during the Carausian revolt at the end of the third century, though the context of the inscription means that the legion need not have been in Britain at the time the stone was commissioned.

Numerus Equitum Stratonicianorum?

This altarstone, though undated, was very likely commissioned during the third century AD by Syrian cavalrymen stationed at the Brougham fort. Stratonice or Stratonicea was a town in the Caria region of Asia Minor, near the modern town of Yatagan in south-western Turkey, which became a Macedonian colony in the third century BC and was later beautified and adorned under the influence of the kings of Syria.

Other Inscribed Stones

Of all the stone altars recovered from Brocavum over half are dedicated to Belatucader, a Germanic war god often identified with the Roman god of war, Mars. The other gods represented at Brougham are Mars, Victory and Jupiter, all martial gods ideally suited to fulfill the religious needs of a Roman auxiliary soldier.

Several tombstones and altars were found in the area to the south of the fort, some of which provide evidence for the existence of a civilian settlement or vicus wherein lived the close relatives of the garrison.

1. The emperor Constantine, son of Constantius I, was proclaimed Caesar in AD306 and became Augustus in July the following year. This emperor became a Christian himself in 312 and made Christianity the official Roman religion in 324, at the same time forbidding all pagan sacrifice. He died of illness near Nicomedia in May 337 and was buried at Constantinople.

Probable Fortlet at Lightwater Bridge

Sited upon an old river scarp on the south bank of the Eamont only 1,300 feet (c.395m) from the Brocavum fort but better situated to observe long stretches of the river, a rectangular ditched enclosure with rounded corner-angles measuring 200 feet by at least 120 feet (c.60 x 36+ m) and covering an area of about ½ acre (c.0.22 ha) has been identified as a Roman fortlet (St. Joseph, 1961).

If this small site east-north-east of the main fort indeed proves to be a fortlet, it is very unlikely that the two were occupied at the same time, and although it is probable, due to its superior position, that the fortlet post-dates the fort, this supposition cannot be proved without further investigation.

Other Roman Finds in the Area

1. This unit may be Coh I Vangionum, or less likely, Cohors Primae [Fida] Vardullorum, both of which are attested elsewhere in northern Britain until at least the mid-3rd Century, and are placed in Britain on military diplomata from the late-1st to the mid-2nd Century. Both of these units nominally contain one-thousand men.

See: Chronicle of the Roman Emperors by Chris Scarre (Thames & Hudson, London, 1995);
The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965);
Air Reconnaissance of North Britain by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. xli (1951) pp.52-65;
All translations, including any inherent mistakes, are my own.

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