Vicus (Rome)

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 reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 . Each had its own board of officials who oversaw local matters. These administrative divisions are recorded as still in effect at least until the mid-4th century.

The word "" was also applied to the smallest administrative unit of a provincial town within the Roman Empire, referring to an ''ad hoc'' provincial civilian settlement that sprang up close to and because of a nearby military fort or state-owned mining operation.

Local government in Rome

Each ''vicus'' elected four local magistrates ('' vicomagistri'') who commanded a sort of local police force chosen from among the people of the ''vicus'' by lot. Occasionally the officers of the ''vicomagistri'' would feature in certain celebrations (primarily the ''Compitalia'') in which they were accompanied by two lictors.

Ad hoc settlements

These ''vici'' differed from the planned civilian towns ('' civitates''), which were laid out as official, local economic and administrative centres, the '' coloniae'', which were settlements of retired troops, or the formal political entities created from existing settlements, the '' municipia''. Unplanned, and originally lacking any public administrative buildings, ''vici'' had no specific legal status (unlike other settlements) and often developed in order to profit from the presence of Roman troops. As with most garrison towns, they provided entertainment and supplies for the troops, but many also developed significant industries, especially metal and glass working. Some ''vici'' seem not to have had direct connections to troop placement (e.g., the Vicus Martis Tudertium).

''Vici'' is the term used for the extramural settlements of forts for military units (e.g. alae and cohorts), while canabae is generally used to describe extramural settlements of the major legionary fortresses, e.g. Eboracum (York), Vindobona (Vienna), Durostorum ( Silistra, Bulgaria).

Initially ephemeral, many ''vici'' were transitory sites that followed a mobile unit; once a permanent garrison was established they grew into larger townships. Often the number of official civitates and coloniæ were not enough to settle everyone who wished to live in a town and so ''vici'' also attracted a wider range of residents, with some becoming chartered towns where no other existed nearby. Some, such as that at Vercovicium ( Housesteads), outgrew their forts altogether, especially in the 3rd century once soldiers were permitted to marry.

Early ''vici'' had no civilian administration and were under the direct control of the Roman military commander. Those that attracted significant numbers of Roman citizens were later permitted to form local councils and some, such as the vicus at Eboracum (York), grew into regional centres and even provincial capitals.

Modern placenames

The Latin term, pronounced with an initial 'u', was adopted into Old English as ''wic'', ''wick'', ''wich'', or ''wych''. It became one of the most widely occurring common placename elements, e.g. Wyck, Hackney Wick, Gatwick, Exwick, Wickham, Aldwych, Dulwich, Ipswich, Norwich, and indirectly York, from ''Eoforwic'' via Old Norse ''Jorvik''. In the Brittonic languages, the cognate word is ''gwig'' in Welsh and Cornish and ''guic'' in Breton; all now meaning "village". The place-name Wigan may directly reference the Roman vicus of '' Coccium''. In continental languages, the term became Old High German ''wih'' "village", Modern German ''Weichbild'' "municipal area", Dutch ''wijk'' "quarter, district", Old Frisian ''wik'', Old Saxon ''wic'' "village".

See also

* 14 regions of Augustan Rome
* Pagus
* Roman Settlement of the Col de Ceyssat

References

{{Authority control

Topography of the ancient city of Rome
Subdivisions of ancient Rome
Roman towns types