Viroconium Cornoviorum

Viroconium Cornoviorum, or simply Viroconium, was a Roman town, one corner of which is now occupied by the small village of Wroxeter in the English county of Shropshire, about 8 km (5 miles) east-south-east of Shrewsbury.

Name

According to Rivet and Smith, the first part, "viro-", may mean either 'true' or 'man'. The second, '-conium' is unknown, although it appears 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. The suffix, "Cornoviorum", means 'of the Cornovii', the local tribe, whose civitas capital 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 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 6,000 people.

Post-Roman town

Although in decline, unusually, the town continued to be occupied following the Roman withdrawal in AD 410. A number of timber buildings were erected on and around the site of the old baths, notably a large winged structure described as an 'administrative centre' or 'palace'. Like many places in Britain, the town has therefore been suggested to be the original Camelot of Arthurian legend. Another possibility is that it was the residence of the 5th century British ruler, Vortigern, whose family are said to have come from the region.

Remains

Impressive standing remains survive and further buildings have been excavated. This includes 'the Old Work', an archway - part of the baths' frigidarium - that is 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. 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 "A Shropshire Lad".
*Wilfred Owen saw archaeological digs in progress at Wroxeter and refers to it in 1913, "Uronconium - an Ode".
*Viriconium, a fictional town with a similar name, appears in the science fiction and fantasy novels of M. John Harrison.
*Viriconium is a title of a poem by the Shropshire novelist Mary Webb.

References

*Guy de la Bedoyere. (1991). "The Buildings of Roman Britain".
*Kenneth Jackson. (1970). 'An Appendix on the Place Names of the British Section of the Antonine Itinerary' in "Britannia, 1".
*ALF Rivet & Colin Smith. (1979). "The Place-Names of Roman Britain".

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/history/2004/03/wroxeter.shtml BBC]
* [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConProperty.357 English Heritage site]
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Great_Britain/England/Shropshire/Wroxeter/_Periods/Roman/_Texts/Wright/Objects_1863*.html Excavation report by Thomas Wright]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3206891 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Wroxeter & Viroconium Cornoviorum and surrounding area]