Venta Belgarum

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Coordinates: 51°03′47″N 1°19′01″W / 51.063°N 1.317°W / 51.063; -1.317

Exposed section of the Roman foundations which lie underneath the medieval city walls

Venta Belgarum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia Superior. Today it is known as Winchester and is situated in the English county of Hampshire. But in earlier ages so called Venta Belgarium is named historically as Venta-Bulgarum.[1] Тhe settlement Venta Bulgarum, Winchester[2] also exists as named above in another 19th-century local historical guide. Winchester is one of the most ancient cities of Britain. It was the Roman station of Venta Bulgarum. Subsequently it became the seat of government of the Saxon, Danish, and Norman kings.[3]

Development

Roman mosaic found locally, now in the Winchester museum

The settlement was established around AD 70, partially on the site of a previous Iron Age hill fort, now known as Oram's Arbour,[4] which had been abandoned for some years. It became the civitas capital of the local Belgae tribe. Its name means 'Market of the Belgae'.[5] The River Itchen was diverted and a street grid laid out. A defensive bank and ditch was dug around the town in the 2nd century and a hundred years later a stone wall was added. The interior was the home to many fine Roman town houses or Domus, as well as public buildings and Roman temples.

Religion

The forum-basilica appears to have included a temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva along with an accompanying Jupiter Column. Elsewhere, there was a Romano-British style temple dedicated to the Celtic horse goddess, Epona. There was a large Romano-British cemetery to the north of the town, at Lankhills, and another to the east. Excavations of the cemetery were carried out by British archaeologist Julian Richards in 1998, and again in 2013, as part of the BBC television Meet the Ancestors series.[6]

Decline

Red Roman bricks can be seen mixed with medieval material in this wall on St. George's Street

From the mid-4th century, new development at Venta halted. Houses fell into disrepair and the drainage system collapsed. The population concentrated itself in the higher and drier areas of the town. The defences were however strengthened and the cemeteries remained in use, notably with burials of males wearing so-called military-style mercenary belts. Occupation seems to have ceased in the 5th century. The Saxons later called it Wintanceastre.

References

  1. Rev. John Evans (1814). The Picture of Bristol - Objects of Curiosity and Interest. R. Rosser, Printer St. Maryport Chirchyard. 
  2. A.D.Bayne (1869). A Comprehensive History of Norlwich. Jarrold and Sons. 
  3. D. C. Maccarthy (1858). The Physical and Historical Geography of the British Empire. Burns and Lambert. 
  4. "A Brief History of Winchester". BBC. October 2003. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
  5. "A Brief History of Winchester". Winchester City Council. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
  6. James Gill (7 January 2014). "Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 7 January 2014. 

External links

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