Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum
Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Reconstructed gateway
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum is located in Tyne and Wear
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum
Location in Tyne and Wear
Coordinates55°00′14″N 1°25′48″W / 55.004°N 1.430°W / 55.004; -1.430
Grid referenceNZ365679

Arbeia was a large Roman fort in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England, now ruined, and which has been partially reconstructed. It was first excavated in the 1870s and all modern buildings on the site were cleared in the 1970s. It is managed by Tyne and Wear Museums as Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum.

Original fort

The fort stands on the Lawe Top, overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne. Founded c. AD 129, the Roman Fort guarded the main sea route to Hadrian's Wall.[1][2] It later became the maritime supply fort for Hadrian's Wall, and contains the only permanent stone-built granaries yet found in Britain.[3] It was occupied until the Romans left Britain in the 5th century.

"Arbeia" means the "fort of the Arab troops"[4][5][6][7] referring to the fact that part of its garrison at one time was a squadron of Mesopotamian boatmen from the Tigris, following Emperor Septimius Severus securing the city of Singara in 197.[8] From archaeological evidence, such as the gravestone of Victor, described below, it is known that a squadron of Spanish cavalry, the First Asturian, was stationed there. It was common for forts to be manned by units originally from elsewhere in the empire, though often enough these would assimilate and end up recruiting locally.

Through the course of history of Arbeia, the fort has had several guises, from a busy cosmopolitan port to being the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus's HQ for a Scottish invasion for which the fort was heavily rebuilt in c. 208.[1] It was a huge supply base for the Roman army, having hosted 600 Roman troops, and is said to be the birthplace of the Northumbrian King Oswin.[9]

Museum

Two monuments in the museum at Arbeia testify to the cosmopolitan nature of its shifting population. One commemorate Regina, a British woman of the Catuvellauni tribe (approximately modern Hertfordshire).[10] She was first the slave, then the freedwoman and wife of Barates, an Arab merchant from Palmyra (now part of Syria) who, evidently missing her greatly, set up a gravestone after she died at the age of 30 in the second half of the second century.[11] (Barates himself is buried at the nearby fort at Corbridge in Northumberland.) The second commemorates Victor, another former slave,[12] freed by Numerianus of the Ala I Asturum, who also arranged his funeral ("piantissime": with all devotion) when Victor died at the age of 20. The stone records that Victor was "of the Moorish nation".

The museum also holds an altarpiece to a previously unknown god and a tablet with the name of the Emperor Severus Alexander (died 235) chiselled off, an example of damnatio memoriae.

Recreated wall painting at Arbeia.

Reconstruction

Arbeia Roman Fort reconstructed barracks

The West Gate of the fort was reconstructed in 1986 to give an impression of the place. The Reconstruction of the fort has been accomplished using research which was undertaken following excavations, standing where it had originally existed during the Roman occupation of Britain.

A Roman gatehouse, barracks and Commanding Officer's house have been reconstructed on their original foundations. The gatehouse holds many displays related to the history of the fort, and its upper levels provide an overview of the archaeological site.[13]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arbeia Roman fort.

References

  1. 1 2 Forty, Simon (June 2018). Hadrian's Wall From Construction to World Heritage Site. Yeovil, Somerset: Haynes Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 9781785211898.
  2. ↑ "About Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort | Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort". arbeiaromanfort.org.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "Feeding the army". Archaeology. 70 (3): 33. May–June 2017. ISSN 0003-8113. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Archaeologia Aeliana: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquities. Sarah Hodgson. 2005.
  5. ↑ Hallowell, Michael J. (15 November 2008). The House That Jack Built: The True Story Behind the Marsden Grotto and the Search for Roman Treasure. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-3147-9.
  6. ↑ Kirkup, Rob (5 May 2009). Ghostly Tyne & Wear. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5241-5.
  7. ↑ Bruce, John (2006). Handbook to the Roman Wall. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Society of Antiquaries.
  8. ↑ Bowersock, Glen (1983). Roman Arabia. Harvard University Press.
  9. ↑ "About Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort | Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort". arbeiaromanfort.org.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Britain: Back to barracks in Roman Tyne and Wear". 23 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Carroll, Maureen (2012). "' The Insignia of Women ': Dress, Gender and Identity on the Roman Funerary Monument of Regina from Arbeia". Archaeological Journal. 169 (1): 281–285. doi:10.1080/00665983.2012.11020916. ISSN 0066-5983.
  12. ↑ "Britain: Back to barracks in Roman Tyne and Wear". 23 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Arbeia Roman Fort development boosted by £150,000". BBC News. 22 January 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.