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NGRef: TR 148578 OSMap: LR179, Roman & Medieval Canterbury. Type: Oppidum, Fort, Tribal Capital (Cantiaci). |
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NNE (9) to REGVLBIVM (Reculver, Kent) Watling Street: WNW (11) to DVROLEVVM (Ospringe, Kent) Watling Street: E (11) to RVTVPIAE (Richborough, Kent) SE (14) to PORTVS DVBRIS (Dover, Kent) S (14) to PORTVS LEMANIS (Lympne, Kent) | |
The Romano-British town covered about 100 acres. Evidence has been found of Roman military timber buildings, and also of a large Gallo-Belgic oppidum on the same site as the later Romano-British town. The military buildings were probably part of a fort built by governor Aulus Plautius in the face of the first signs of British resistance, and was built to cover his rear before attempting to cross the Stour.
"Next to these,¹ but farther eastward, are the Canti² among whom are the towns: Londinium³ 20*00 54°00 Daruernum³ 21*00 54°00 [and] Rutupie³ 21*45 54°00."
Another classical geography to mention the ancient capital of the Cantiaci is the Antonine Itinerary of the late-second century. The same name, Durovernon, occurs in three separate itinera in the British section of this document; in Iter II, 12 miles from Durolevum (Ospringe, Kent) and 12 miles from the southern terminus at Portus Ritupis (Richborough, Kent); in Iter III, 25 miles from Durobrivae (Rochester, Kent) and 13 miles from Portus Dubris (Dover, Kent); and in Iter IV, again 25 miles from Rochester and 16 miles from Portus Lemanis (Lympne, Kent).
The last classical work to mention Canterbury is the seventh-century Ravenna Cosmology, where the entry Duro auerno Cantiacorum (R&C#72) is listed between Dubris (Dover, Kent) and Ritupis (Richborough, Kent). The Ravenna prefix confirms the Antonine spelling and stems from a native British word *Duromeaning 'stronghold, fortified enclosure'. The suffix is from another native word *verno, related to the Welsh gwern 'a swamp, particularly of Alder trees'. The trailing title 'of the Cantiaci' confirms Canterbury as the Romanized civitas capital of the tribe, and the derivation of its name from purely Celtic roots also confirms the antiquity of the site. The Romano-British name for canterbury then, could be translated as 'the Enclosed Settlement of the Cantiaci near the Alder Swamp'.
Nennius, writing in the ninth? century, names the town Cair Ceint 'The Stronghold of Kent'. The Saxon Chronicle of the late-twelfth century refers to the town variously as either Cantwaraburh, Cantwarabyrig or Cantwareberi, all various forms of its modern name, meaning 'The Town of the Men of Kent'.
There are five inscriptions on stone recorded at Canterbury in the R.I.B., all but one being heavily damaged. The only (almost) complete text is a tombstone (RIB 43 infra), and another testamentary text reads ... VLPIAE FILIAE ... A MATER ... "[...] to the daughter of Ulpia [...] from her mother [...]" (RIB 41; tombstone). The remaining texts are too fragmentary to be of much use.
| D M MATERNA¹ ANN XIV |
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| "To the shades of the departed Materna,¹ fourteen years [of age]." (RIB 43; tombstone) |
