Viroconium or Uriconium, formally Viroconium Cornoviorum, 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 ...

city, one corner of which is now occupied by

Wroxeter Wroxeter ( ) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. In 1961 the ...

, a small village in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England, about east-south-east of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated to have been the 4th-largest

settlement in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, a ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...

'' with a population of more than 15,000.Frere, ''Britannia'', p.253 The settlement probably lasted until the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 8th. Extensive remains can still be seen.

Toponym

''Viroconium'' is a Latinised form of a

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

that was reconstructed as

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...

''*Uiroconion'' ("

ity The pyramid of Ity was probably the tomb of Pharaoh who reigned during the 8th dynasty. It has never been discovered and is known only from a cliff-face inscription at Wadi Hammamat in the Eastern Desert, where there were several quarries in P ...

of ''*Uirokū''". ''*Uirokū'' ( "man-wolf") is believed to have been a

masculine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

meaning "

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

". The original capital of the local British tribe of the Cornovii was the impressive

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

the Wrekin The Wrekin ( ) is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire Council, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of ...

known as *Uiroconion. When the Cornovii were eventually subdued by the Romans, their capital was moved to Wroxeter and given its Roman name. Hence the term "Cornoviorum" distinguishes the site as the Viroconium "of the Cornovii", the

Celtic tribe This is a list of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes. Continental Celts Continental Celts were the Celtic peoples that inhabited mainland Europe and Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, Celts inhabited a large ...

whose settlement became ''

''. The city is mentioned by the Roman historians

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

, and others.

History

Roman

Excavation at Uriconium by Francis Bedford2

Wroxeter was first established in the early years of the Roman conquest of Britain as a frontier post for a

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: Cohort Sociological * Cohort (military unit), the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum Scientific * Cohort ...

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

Auxilia The (; ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen Roman legion, legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By the 2nd century, the contained the same number of infantry as the ...

who were taking part in the campaigns of the governor,

Publius Ostorius Scapula Publius Ostorius Scapula, modern statue on the terrace of the Roman Baths (Bath) Publius Ostorius Scapula (died 52) was a Roman statesman and general who governed Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture ...

. The site is strategically located near the end of

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

, the primary Roman trunk road that ran across Britannia from

Dubris Dubris, also known as Portus Dubris and Dubrae, was a port in Roman Britain on the site of present-day Dover, Kent, England. As the closest point to continental Europe and the site of the estuary of the River Dour, Kent, Dour, the site chosen ...

(

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

). The post was a key frontier position because it defended the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

valley as it comes out of

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity) or the early medieval period. After the ...

(

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

) as well as protecting the route to the south that lead to the

Wye valley The Wye Valley () is a valley in Wales and England. The River Wye () is the Rivers of Great Britain#Longest rivers in the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part of the valley is in the Cambrian Mountains an ...

. In the mid 1st century Caesar's

Legio XIV Gemina Legio XIV Gemina ("The Twinned Fourteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. The cognomen ''Gemina'' (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrengthed legion after the ...

took over the site from the Thracian Auxilia in preparation for the invasion of Wales and replaced the fort with a much larger legionary fortress.Frere, S., & Millett, M. (7 March 2016). Viroconium. Oxford Classical Dictionary. Retrieved 17 Jul. 2023, from https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-6832.Todd, M. 1981. Roman Britain 55 BC – AD 400, London, Fontana Press, p.64 In 78 governor

Gnaeus Julius Agricola Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribu ...

led campaigns to suppress the tribes in North Wales and the druids on Ynys Môn. In 80

Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the m ...

took Legio XIV Gemina north on his punitive expeditions against the

Pict PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics (both bitmapped and vector), and some limited text support, between Mac applications, an ...

s in Scotland. With the departure of Legio XIV Gemina,

Legio XX Valeria Victrix Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English the Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title ''Vale ...

took over the fortress. By the late 80s the fort had ceased to be used by the Roman army after Legio XX Valeria Victrix moved to

Deva Victrix Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary castra, fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix, Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the ...

. In this period the

canabae A (plural ) was the Latin term for a hut or hovel and was later (from the time of Hadrian) used typically to mean a town that emerged as a civilian settlement () in the vicinity of a Roman legionary fortress (). A settlement that grew up outs ...

, or civilian settlement, that had grown up around the legionary fort began turning it into a town. Archaeological research has found that an unfinished legionary bath house in the centre of the town eventually became the town's forum. A decade later a civic street grid was subsuming the plan of the old legionary fort. The colonnaded forum was started in the 120s covering the unfinished bath house, and with the impressive dedicatory inscription to Hadrian found in excavations dating the completion to 130. By then the town had expanded especially under Emperor

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 '' ...

to cover an area of more than . It then had many public buildings, including

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

. Simpler temples and shops have also been excavated. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated to have been one of the richest and the fourth largest Roman settlement in Britain with a population of more than 15,000. Its wealth is surprising for what remained a frontier town and is perhaps explained by its access to Wales and to other trade routes. Between 165 and 185 the forum burned down, including neighbouring shops and houses, and many shop contents were subsequently found in excavations. The forum was rebuilt with several modifications. Following the

end of Roman rule in Britain The end of Roman rule in Britain occurred as the military forces of Roman Britain withdrew to defend or seize the Western Roman Empire's continental core, leaving behind an autonomous post-Roman Britain. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus wit ...

around 410, the Cornovii tribe divided into

Pengwern Pengwern was a Brythonic settlement of sub-Roman Britain situated in what is now the English county of Shropshire, adjoining the modern Welsh border. It is regarded as possibly being the early seat of the kings of Powys before its establish ...

(

) and

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

. This socio-political division started Viroconium's decline as an important settlement.

Early medieval period

Wolverhampton St Peters - Saxon cross shaft

Although Viroconium served as the early

sub-Roman The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

capital of Powys, variously identified with the ancient Welsh cities of Cair Urnarc or Cair Guricon which appeared in the ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions ha ...

''s list of the 28 ''

civitates In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on the ...

'' of Britain,

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

().

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

(). ''Historia Brittonum'', VI. Composed after AD 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource. Viroconium became the site of the court of a sub-Roman kingdom known in Old English as the '' Wrocensaete'', which was the successor territorial unit to Cornovia. ''Wrocensaete'' means the 'inhabitants of Wroxeter'. The Wroxeter Stone or Cunorix Stone, was found in 1967, with an inscription in an

Insular Celtic language Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages spoken in Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Br ...

, identified by the Celtic Inscribed Stones Project (CISP) at UCL as "partly-Latinized Primitive Irish".CISP database,

recovered 14 Sep 2014 The inscription, probably on a re-used gravestone, is dated to 460-475 AD, when Irish raiders had begun to make permanent settlements in South Wales and south-western Britain. Town life in Viroconium continued in the fifth century, but many of the buildings fell into disrepair. Between 530 and 570, when most Roman urban sites and villas in Britain were being abandoned, there was a substantial rebuilding programme. The old basilica was carefully demolished and replaced with new timber-framed buildings on rubble platforms. These probably included a very large two-storey building and a number of storage buildings and houses. In all, 33 new buildings were "carefully planned and executed" and "skillfully constructed to Roman measurements using a trained labour force". Who instigated this rebuilding programme is not known, but it may have been a bishop. Some of the buildings were renewed three times, and the community probably lasted about 75 years until, for some reason, many of the buildings were dismantled. There is a tradition that

was "founded in the 5th century, on occasion of the decay of the Roman Uriconium." The historian, John Wacher, suggests that Shrewsbury may have been refortified by refugees fleeing an outbreak of a plague in Viroconium around this time. The site was probably abandoned peacefully in the second half of the seventh century or the beginning of the eighth. The later minor Wreocensæte sub-kingdom of the

Angles Angles most commonly refers to: *Angles (tribe), a Germanic-speaking people that took their name from the Angeln cultural region in Germany *Angle, a geometric figure formed by two rays meeting at a common point Angles may also refer to: Places ...

emerged in the area when

Oswiu Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig (; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the church in Northu ...

conquered Pengwern in 656. Eventually the court of the Kingdom of Powys moved to

Mathrafal Mathrafal near Welshpool, in Powys, Mid Wales, was the seat of the Kings and Princes of Powys probably from the 9th century until its destruction in 1213 by Prince Llywelyn the Great. Location On the banks of the River Banwy, just above its ...

sometime before 717 following famine and plague in its original location.

Preservation

Although archaeologist Philip A. Barker believed stonework from Viroconium Cornoviorum was used to build the nearby parish churches of

Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5 road (Great Britain), A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the villag ...

, and Upton Magna, some substantial remains are still standing. These include "the Old Work" (an archway, part of the baths' ''

frigidarium A ''frigidarium'' is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is tho ...

'' and the largest free-standing Roman ruin in England) and the remains of a baths complex. These are on display to the public and, along with a small museum, are looked after by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

under the name "Wroxeter Roman City". Some of the more important finds are housed in the Music Hall Museum in

. Most of the town still remains buried, but it has largely been mapped through

geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the ...

and

aerial archaeology Aerial archaeology is the study of archaeological sites from the air. It is a method of Archaeology, archaeological investigation that uses aerial photography, remote sensing, and other techniques to identify, record, and interpret archaeological ...

. Archaeological research of the site is ongoing with further buildings being excavated.

Reconstructed villa

In February 2011 a reconstructed Roman villa was opened to the public to give visitors an insight into Roman building techniques and how the Romans lived. A

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

television series entitled '' Rome Wasn't Built in a Day'' showed how it was built using authentic ancient techniques. The builders were assisted by a team of local volunteers and supervised by archaeologist Dai Morgan Evans, who designed the villa.

Notes

Bibliography

* *Anderson, J. Corbet. ''The Roman City of Uriconium at Wroxeter, Salop. – Illustrative of the History and Social Life of Our Romano-British Forefathers.'' London: J. Russell Smith, 1867. *Atkinson, Donald. ''Report on the Excavations at Wroxeter (the Roman City of Viroconium) in the County of Salop, 1923–1927.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1942. *Barker, Philip, Ed. ''Wroxeter Roman City: Excavations 1966–1980.'' London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1980. *Barker, Philip, and Webster, Graham. ''From Roman Viroconium to medieval Wroxeter: recent work on the site of the Roman city of Wroxeter.'' Worcester: West Mercian Archaeological Consultants, 1990. *Barker, Philip, and White, Roger. ''Wroxeter Roman City (English Heritage Guidebooks).'' Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage, 1999. * *Bushe-Fox, J. P. ''Excavations on the Site of the Roman Town at Wroxeter, Shropshire, in 1912 (Society of Antiquaries of London. Research Committee. Report no. 1).'' Oxford: Society of Antiquaries, 1913. *Bushe-Fox, J. P. ''Excavations on the Site of the Roman Town at Wroxeter, Shropshire, in 1913: Second Report (Society of Antiquaries of London. Research Committee. Report no. 2).'' Oxford: Society of Antiquaries, 1915. *Bushe-Fox, J. P. ''Excavations on the Site of the Roman Town at Wroxeter, Shropshire, in 1914: Third Report (Society of Antiquaries of London. Research Committee. Report no. 4).'' Oxford: Society of Antiquaries, 1916. *De la Bedoyere, Guy. (1991). ''The Buildings of Roman Britain''. *Ellis, Peter. ''The Roman Baths and Macellum at Wroxeter.'' Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage, 2000. *Ellis, Peter, and White, Roger. 'Wroxeter Archaeology Excavation and Research on the Defences and in the Town – 1968–1992.' in ''Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society,'' Vol. 78. Shrewsbury, Shrops.: Shropshire Archaeological Society, 2006. *Fox, George E. ''A Guide to the Roman City of Uriconium at Wroxeter, Shropshire.'' Wellington, Shrops.: Shropshire Archaeological Society, 1927. *Frere, S. S. ''Britannia: a History of Roman Britain.'' London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1987. *Gaffney, V. L., and White, R. H. (2007). 'Wroxeter, the Cornovii, and the Urban Process: Final Report on the Wroxeter Hinterland Project 1994–1997', ''Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series'', No. 68. * *Kenyon, Kathleen M. ''Excavations at Viroconium, 1936–1937.'' Shrewsbury, Shrops. Shropshire Archaeological Society, 1937. *Rivet, A. L. F., and Smith, Colin. (1979). ''The Place-Names of Roman Britain''. *Urban, Sylvanus. 'The Roman City of Uriconium.' ''Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review'', 1859. 206: 447–458. *Webster, Graham. ''The Cornovii.'' London: Sutton, 1991. *Webster, Graham. ''The Legionary Fortress at Wroxeter: Excavations by Graham Webster, 1955–1985.'' Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage, 2002. *Webster, Graham. ''The Roman Army.'' London: Grosvenor Museum, 1973. *Webster, Graham, ''The Roman Imperial Army: Of the First and Second Centuries A.D.'' Norman:

University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...

, 1998. *Webster, Graham, and Barker, Philip. ''Viroconium, Wroxeter Roman City.'' London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1966 & 1978. * *White, Thomas. ''A Guide to the Ruins of Uriconium, at Wroxeter, Near Shrewsbury.''

Kessinger Publishing Kessinger Publishing, LLC is an American print-on-demand publishing company located in Whitefish, Montana, that specializes in rare, out-of-print books. In 2009, the company produced 190,175 titles and was reported to be the third-largest prod ...

, 2009, .

BiblioBazaar BiblioBazaar is, with Nabu Press, an imprint of the historical reprints publisher BiblioLife, which is based in Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of ...

, 2010, .

Nabu Press BiblioBazaar is, with Nabu Press, an imprint of the historical reprints publisher BiblioLife, which is based in Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of ...

, 2010, *White, Thomas. ''Uriconium; A Historical Account of the Ancient Roman City, and of the Excavations Made Upon Its Site, at Wroxeter, in Shropshire.'' General Books, 2010.

External links

BBC: Architectural Heritage Wroxeter Roman City: English Heritage Teachers' Resource pack on Wroxeter: English HeritageViroconium Cornoviorum: Roman Legionary Fortress, British Tribal City – Roman-Britain.co.uk Roman Fort and Bridge, Wroxeter, Shropshire – Roman-Britain.co.ukWroxeter – Roman Britain's Fourth Largest City: Article by Gareth Evans

1859 Article from ''Gentleman's Magazine''Wroxeter, the Cornovii, and the Urban ProcessReport on Uriconium: Archaeological assessment of Wroxeter, Shropshire
* * {{authority control 50s establishments in the Roman Empire 1st-century establishments in Roman Britain English Heritage sites in Shropshire Archaeological sites in Shropshire Ruins in Shropshire History of Shropshire Roman towns and cities in England Tourist attractions in Shropshire Former populated places in Shropshire Sub-Roman Britain Museums in Shropshire Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom Archaeological museums in England Roman legionary fortresses in England