The Roman Fort of Carpow was situated at the confluence of the rivers Tay and Earn in what is now

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

.The site record for the Carpow fort at RCAHMS
/ref> It was a large fortress with an area of thirty acres occupied by two legions at different times, Legio II Augusta and Legio VI Victrix, and thus of solid, permanent construction using stone, brick and tiles. The fort was occupied from the late second century AD until the early third century AD. The site of the fort has not been comprehensively excavated but it is believed to have served as a naval supply depot for Roman forces in the central lowlands. Its occupation also coincided with the campaigns of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

in the area. However, its site on the southern side of the Tay estuary is incompatible with its use as a base for Severan offensive operations to the north and, along with other evidence, it is more likely that the fortress was built under

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

in 185 to support his campaigns. It has been suggested that the Carpow fort was the place named as "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis" in the '' Ravenna Cosmography''.A summary of the excavation of 1961-1962. (Society of Antquaries of Scotland)
/ref>

Location

The Carpow fort was situated on a coastal plain on the southern bank of the river Tay approximately one kilometre east of the Tay's confluence with the River Earn. The Firth of Tay lay eastward of the fort and provided access to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. Prior to the era of the fort's occupation, the Gask Ridge system of limes lay to the north and west. During the era of the fort's occupation, the Antonine Wall lay to the south and the vicinity was inhabited by the people referred to in Roman sources as either Caledonians or Caledones. In subsequent decades the Romans would refer to the local people as

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

. The significant Pictish site of Clatchard Craig lay to the immediate east of the Carpow fort.

Description of the Modern Site

Modern Carpow is a rural hamlet, consisting of several residences, immediately eastward of the mouth of the river Earn. The fort is partially obscured by these buildings and its only visible remnant is its northern rampart. This survives as a ridge of approximately 1.6m height. Other structures can be discerned by crop marks. They include the full quadrilateral outline of the fort's ramparts and the remains of a building which seems to have been a typical Roman military headquarters known as a "principia".

Archeological Excavations

Archeological excavations were conducted at the site of the Carpow fort between 1964 and 1979. These excavations discovered numismatic evidence which suggested that the fort was occupied between the late second century AD and the early third century AD. The earliest coin found was heavily worn and dated to the rule of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

. The latest coin found was in mint condition and dated to the reign of

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

. The excavations also identified a Principia, a Praetorium, a bath house and a granary. Inscriptions of the Legio II Augusta and the Legio VI Victrix were found on fragments of masonry and on a rooftile, respectively.The date of the award of the Britannica cognomen to Legio VI Victrix, 2006, Peter Warry https://www.academia.edu/38754312

Identification with Horrea Classis

The '' Ravenna Cosmography'', a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

geographical text compiled in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

during the eighth century AD, names a site called either "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis", which seems to have been located in the east lowlands of Scotland. "Poreo Classis" makes no obvious sense and so seems to represent a scribal error, although it might have been a Latinised version of a pre-existing Brittonic place name which might better explain the modern name element "Pow". "Horrea Classis", however, may be translated from Latin as "Naval Storehouses". Several commentators have postulated that the Carpow fort, with its maritime setting and large granary, was "Horrea Classis".

References

{{Scotland during the Roman Empire Former buildings and structures in Scotland Archaeological sites in Perth and Kinross 2nd century in Scotland 3rd century in Scotland Roman legionary fortresses in Scotland Scheduled monuments in Perth and Kinross