Viroconium Cornoviorum

Viroconium Cornoviorum, or simply Viroconium (even "Uriconium"), was a Roman town, one corner of which is now occupied by the small village of Wroxeter in the English county of Shropshire, about 5 miles (8.0 km) east-south-east of Shrewsbury. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated to have been the fourth largest Roman settlement in Britain, a civitas capital with a population of more than 15,000 people.^[1] Probably lasted until the beginning of the eighth century ^[2]

Name

According to Rivet and Smith,^[3] viro-, may mean either "true" or "man". The second, -conium is unknown, but it seems to refer to some large geographic feature such as a lake or a forest. Jackson suggests the name is a Latin form of the Brythonic Uriconon which would have been applied to the nearby hill fort on The Wrekin. It is possible that the name is related to Welsh Gwrgi, Breton Gurki, and Irish Ferchu, meaning "Man-hound" or "Werewolf", which would have been nominative singular *Uirocu (oblique *Uirocon-) in Brittonic; Viroconium would then be "(The Place of/belonging to) Uirocu". The suffix, Cornoviorum, means "of the Cornovii", the local tribe, whose civitas it became.

Roman town

Viroconium was established about AD 58 as a legionary fortress for the XIVth legion during their invasion of what is now Wales and the formation of what was to become Roman Wales. They were later replaced by the XXth legion, until the fortress was abandoned by the military around AD 88. At this time the civilian settlement, which had grown up around the fort, took over the site. By AD 130 it had expanded to cover an area of more than 173 acres (70 ha). Viroconium was then fitted out with an impressive set of public buildings, including public baths and a colonnaded forum dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian, as shown by the remains of a fine inscription. Simpler temples and shops have also been excavated. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated to have been the fourth largest Roman settlement in Britain with a population of more than 15,000 people.^[1]

Post-Roman town

The 5th century saw continued town life in Viroconium but many of the buildings fell into disrepair. Uncharacteristically, at a time when most Roman urban sites and villas in Britain were being abandoned,^[4] between 530 and 570 there was a substantial rebuilding programme, with most of the old basilica being 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 built. The archaeologists responsible for the most recent excavations comment that "their construction was carefully planned and executed..." and "were skillfully constructed to Roman measurements using a trained labour force".^[5] Who instigated this rebuilding programme is not known, but it may have been a bishop.^[6] 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.^[7] The site was probably abandoned in the second half of the 7th century, but some academics believe lasted until the beginning of the 8th century.

The occupation in the town seems to have ended peacefully, possibly in the late 7th or early 8th century (Barker et al forthcoming).^[8]

Wroxeter Roman City

Impressive standing remains survive and further buildings have been excavated. These include "the Old Work" - an archway, part of the baths' frigidarium 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 under the name Wroxeter Roman City.

Some of the more important finds are housed in the Rowley's House Museum in Shrewsbury. Most of the town still remains buried, but it has largely been mapped through archaeological geophysics and aerial archaeology.

Literature

• A. E. Housman refers to the town as "Uricon" in his poem On Wenlock Edge in A Shropshire Lad.
• Wilfred Owen saw archaeological digs in progress at Wroxeter and refers to it in his 1913 poem, "Uriconium: an Ode".^[9]
• "Viroconium" is a poem by the Shropshire novelist and poet Mary Webb.^[10]
• The town of Viroconium in its latter days is featured in Rosemary Sutcliff's 1961 historical novel Dawn Wind, part of her Roman-Britain series following the descendants of the lead character from Eagle of the Ninth.

See also:

• Viriconium, a fictional town with a similar name, which gives its name to M. John Harrison's cycle of science fiction and fantasy novels and stories set in and around it.

Notes

References

• Aston, Michael; Bond, James (1976). The Landscape of Towns. Archaeology in the Field Series. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. pp. 45–48, 51–54. ISBN 0 460 04194 0. 
• 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. British Archaeological Society: Report on the Excavations at Wroxeter (the Roman City of Viroconium) in the County of Salop, 1923-1927. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970.
• 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. ISBN 0-9516274-1-4
• Barker, Philip, and White, Roger. Wroxeter Roman City (English Heritage Guidebooks). Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage, 1999. ISBN 0-1850-74698-2
• Barker, Philip; White, Roger; Corbishley, Mike, et al. The Basilica Baths, Wroxeter. Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage, 1998. ISBN 0-1850-74528-5
• 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. ISBN 0-1850-74606-0
• 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. ISBN 0-9501227-8-5
• 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. ISBN 0-7102-1215-1
• 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.
• Jackson, Kenneth. (1970). 'An Appendix on the Place Names of the British Section of the Antonine Itinerary' in Britannia, 1.
• Morris, J. A.
• 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. ISBN 0-86299-877-8
• Webster, Graham. The Legionary Fortress at Wroxeter: Excavations by Graham Webster, 1955-1985. Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage, 2002. ISBN 0-1850-74685-0
• Webster, Graham. The Roman Army. London: Grosvenor Museum, 1973. ISBN 0-903235-05-6
• Webster, Graham, The Roman Imperial Army: Of the First and Second Centuries A.D. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8061-3000-8
• Webster, Graham, and Barker, Philip. Viroconium, Wroxeter Roman City. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1966 & 1978. ISBN 0-11-670323-7
• White, Roger, and Barker, Philip. Wroxeter: Life & Death of a Roman City. Stroud, Glos.: Tempus Publishing Ltd., 1998. ISBN 978-0-7524-1409-6
• White, Thomas. A Guide to the Ruins of Uriconium, at Wroxeter, Near Shresbury. Kessinger Publishing, 2009. ISBN 0-11-112028973-4, BiblioBazaar, 2010. 1143796403, Nabu Press, 2010. ISBN 0-11-4363-705-4
• 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. ISBN 0-11-5221049-1

External links

• BBC
• BBC: Panoramic Views of Wroxeter
• BBC: Architectural Heritage
• Wroxeter Roman City: English Heritage
• Teachers'Resource pack on Wroxeter: English Heritage
• Viroconium Cornoviorum: Roman Legionary Fortress, British Tribal City - Roman-Britain.org
• Roman Fort and Bridge, Wroxter, Shropshire - Roman-Britain.org
• Wroxeter - Roman Britain's Fourth Largest City: Article by Dr. Gareth Evans
• Excavation report by Thomas Wright
• 1859 Article from Gentleman's Magazine
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Wroxeter & Viroconium Cornoviorum and surrounding area
• Wroxeter, the Cornovii, and the Urban Process
• Shropshire Tourism Site
• Report on Uriconium: Archaeological assessment of Wroxeter, Shropshire
• Ethnic and cultural consequences of the war between Saxons and romanised Britons