List of Roman place names in Britain
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A partial list of Roman place names in Great Britain.
This list includes only names documented from Roman times. For a more complete list including later Latin names, see List of Latin place names in North Atlantic islands.
The early sources for Roman names show numerous variants and mis-spellings of the Latin names. Moreover one of the principal authorities, Ptolemy, wrote in Greek so names that he records need to be transliterated back into Latin to reveal the original form.
Note that in general only one source is shown below for each name, although many of the names are recorded in more than one of the sources.
Contents |
[edit] Country names
Roman name | Modern name | Source |
---|---|---|
Albion | Great Britain | Ptolemy |
Britannia | Great Britain | Tacitus |
Cambria | Wales (Cymru) | |
Caledonia | Scotland | Tacitus |
Hibernia | Ireland |
[edit] Island names
Roman name | Modern name | Source |
---|---|---|
Malaeus | Mull | Ptolemy |
Mona | Ynys Môn (Anglesey) | Ptolemy |
Monaoeda | Isle of Man | Ptolemy |
Orcades | Orkney | Ptolemy |
Scetis | Skye | Ptolemy |
Taniatide | Thanet | Ravenna |
Vectis | Isle of Wight | Ptolemy |
[edit] City/Town names
[edit] See also
- Latin names of cities
- Latin names of islands
- Latin names of lakes
- Latin names of mountains
- Latin names of regions
- Latin names of European countries
[edit] References
- A.L.F. Rivet and Colin Smith, The place-names of Roman Britain. London, 1979 (reprinted by Book Club Associates, 1981).
- Tacitus (Cornelius Tacitus), Britannia.
- AI: Antonine Itinerary
- Ravenna Cosmography (Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia)
- Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), Geographia.
To tell if a city/town is roman just by looking at its name, all you need to do is