Aesica
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Aesica (modern name Great Chesters) was a
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
, north of the small town of Haltwhistle in
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
, (not be confused with Chesters fort 'Cilurnum''">Cilurnum.html" ;"title="'Cilurnum">'Cilurnum''. It was the ninth fort on Hadrian's Wall, between Vercovicium (Housesteads) to the east and Banna (Birdoswald) to the west. Its main purpose was to guard the Caw Gap where the Haltwhistle Burn crosses the Wall.*


Name

During the Roman period the fort was known as ''Æsica'' or ''Esica''. The name ''Æsica'' may be derived from the
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
god ''Æsus''. If so then the name might be interpreted as: * " being of the kind of " ''Æsus'' * " association with " ''Æsus'' * " abounding in " ''Æsus'' ''Æsus'' is known to have been associated with water and river systems; the name might have been related to a remarkable aqueduct system that drew water from the Haltwhistle Burn – Caw Burn directly into the fort.


Description

It is believed that the fort was completed in the year 128 AD, later than most of the wall forts as it was an afterthought to the original plan in which Milecastle 43 was built where the later north-west corner of the fort was constructed, and had to be demolished. The fort was rectangular in plan with towers at each corner and measuring north to south by east to west, occupying a comparatively small area of . The fort had three main gates; south, east and west, with double portals with towers. At some time the west gate was completely blocked up. Remarkably there are "broad wall" foundations of Hadrian's Wall a few metres north of the later proper "narrow gauge" wall which, unlike elsewhere, did not use the earlier foundations. This indicates the fort was started after the initial wall construction after which the later wall was used as the north wall of the fort. In addition, notably there are four ditches outside the western wall of the fort, but only a single ditch on the southern and eastern sides which indicates that the flat approach from the west was a defensive concern, while on the southern side the ditch alone interfered with the Vallum structure which clearly existed before the fort was built. The Roman Military Way entered by the east gate and left by the west gate. A branch road from the Roman
Stanegate The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road and early frontier built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbr ...
entered by the south gate which crossed the Vallum south of the fort. A
vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
lay to the south and east of the fort and several tombstones have been found there.


Roman aqueduct

The fort was supplied with water by a remarkable aqueduct system that drew water from the Haltwhistle Burn – Caw Burn directly into the fort. The aqueduct wound from the head of ''Caw Burn'', north of the Wall, although the direct distance was only about .


Garrison

The 2nd-century garrisons were the Sixth Cohort of Nervians, followed by the Sixth Cohort of
Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...
ns. The 3rd-century garrison was the Second Cohort of
Asturians Asturians () are a Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage The Asturians have Celtic ( Astures) and Latin cultural origins, most notably f ...
with a detachment of Raeti Gaeseti.


Excavations

Excavations were carried out in 1894, during which the ramparts were cleared. A barrack block was found and headquarters building ('' principia''), together with its vaulted underground strong room. The west tower of the south gate was found to contain a hoard of jewellery, which included an enamelled brooch shaped as a hare, a gilded bronze brooch described as a masterpiece of Celtic art, a silver collar with a pendant, a gold ring and a bronze ring with a
Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...
gem. In 1897 a bathhouse was discovered, to the south, east of the road to the Stanegate. It includes a dressing room, latrine, cold room with cold bath, dry-heat room, warm steam room and hot steam room.


References


Notes


Sources

* * * J. Collingwood Bruce, ''Roman Wall'' (1863), Harold Hill & Son, * Frank Graham, ''The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide'' (1979), Frank Graham,


External links


AESICA
at www.Roman-Britain.co.uk {{Authority control Roman fortifications in England Roman sites in Northumberland Forts of Hadrian's Wall 128 establishments 120s establishments in the Roman Empire 2nd-century establishments in Roman Britain