Petuaria
Encyclopedia
Petuaria was originally a Roman fort situated where the town of Brough-on-Humber in the East Riding of Yorkshire
now stands. Petuaria means something like 'quarter' or 'fourth part', incorporating the archaic Brythonic
*petuar, 'four' (compare modern Welsh
pedwar).
It was founded in 70 AD and abandoned in about 125. The adjacent civitas
(civil town), ferry-crossing and (attested) port which grew over and replaced the fort survived until about 370, and was probably the capital of the Celtic tribe called the Parisii
. Petuaria marked the southern end of the Roman road
known now as Cade's Road
, which ran roughly northwards for a hundred miles to Pons Aelius
(modern day Newcastle-upon-Tyne). The section from Petuaria to Eboracum
(York
) was also the final section of Ermine Street
.
and around 140 A.D.
His inscription was found re-used in the later stonework defences of Petuaria and gives a clear illustration of the standard of civic works and also civil and literary society which at one time existed in or around Roman Brough on Humber, at a tiny town whose modern magistrates court was only recently closed in the late 1990s, so ending nearly two thousand years of locally-recorded justice unprecedented anywhere else in the British Isles
. Their re-use of the Januarius stone also reveals how much, after two hundred years, the priorities of those living in East Yorkshire had changed in the later Roman Empire, at a time when it has been said that the two major preoccupations of the local people of the time were “floods and raids”, the latter coming mainly across the North Sea
from Northern Europe
.
, holds today. For anyone travelling by boats of shallow draught, the Humber
is still a gateway into half of all England
this side of the Pennines
. Eight major rivers can be accessed from the North Sea over its threshold – the Ouse
, Hull
, Derwent
, Wharfe
, Aire
, Don, Trent
and Ancholme. That is why eight river goddesses shown reclining on the great mosaic from nearby Brantingham Roman villa are sometimes interpreted as representing the practical importance of these great English rivers in Roman times for transport and travel.
, just outside Brough, was first discovered in 1941 and would have been closely associated with the Roman town until it burnt down some time in the mid-4th century AD. This Roman site attracted modern notoriety to Brough in 1948, when a team of archaeologists from the Hull and East Riding Museum prepared the first of a group of mosaic pavements found at the villa site (a working quarry since the Middle Ages) during the war, for removal. Overnight it was stolen and although the rest were safely recovered to the museum and are on display to this day, the missing first one has never been found.
2. “Excavations at Brough on Humber 1958-1961” J. Wacher 1964
3. “Brantingham Roman Villa: discoveries in 1962” - J. Liversedge; D.J. Smith and I.M. Stead.
4. “Britannia - A Journal of Romano-British and kindred studies” Volume 4, 1973
5. “Roman Mosaics in Britain: An Introduction to their schemes and a catalogue of paintings” - D.S. Neal 1981
6. “New Light on the Parisi: recent discoveries in Iron Age and Roman East Yorkshire” E. Riding Archaeological Society with University of Hull – editor P. Halkon 1989 (and subsequent editions)
7. “Brading, Brantingham and York: a new look at some fourth-century mosaics” - R. Ling “Britannia - A Journal of Romano-British and kindred studies” Volume 22, 1991.
8. “Roman Humberside” (2nd edn.) Humberside County Council Archaeology Unit: B. Sitch and A. Williams 1992
9. “Roman Mosaics of Britain: Volume I: Northern Britain incorporating the Midlands & East Anglia”: - D.S. Neal & S.R. Cosh ‘Society of Antiquaries of London’ 2002 Illuminata Publishers
10.“The Roman Mosaics at Hull” D.S. Smith (3rd edition) 2005, M. Foreman and D. Crowther Hull & East Riding Museums & Art Gallery
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
now stands. Petuaria means something like 'quarter' or 'fourth part', incorporating the archaic Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
*petuar, 'four' (compare modern Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
pedwar).
It was founded in 70 AD and abandoned in about 125. The adjacent civitas
Civitas
In the history of Rome, the Latin term civitas , according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by law . It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other...
(civil town), ferry-crossing and (attested) port which grew over and replaced the fort survived until about 370, and was probably the capital of the Celtic tribe called the Parisii
Parisii (Yorkshire)
The Parisii were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled almost all of the area which is now known as the East Riding of Yorkshire. Under Roman administration, the capital of their civitas was Petuaria, which today is known as Brough....
. Petuaria marked the southern end of the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
known now as Cade's Road
Cade's Road
Cade's Road is a postulated Roman Road in north-east England. It is named after John Cade of Durham, an 18th century antiquarian who in 1785 proposed its existence and possible course from the Humber Estuary northwards to the River Tyne, a distance of about a hundred miles...
, which ran roughly northwards for a hundred miles to Pons Aelius
Pons Aelius
Pons Aelius or Newcastle Roman Fort was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior...
(modern day Newcastle-upon-Tyne). The section from Petuaria to Eboracum
Eboracum
Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...
(York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
) was also the final section of Ermine Street
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
.
Archaeology
Archaeological excavations of the site of Petuaria were carried out in the 1930s and between 1958 and 1962, with occasional examinations of isolated areas since. The dedication stone of the Roman theatre was among the most significant finds and is unusual as the only recorded epigraphic mention of a magistrate in Roman Britain. Recording the gift of a proscenium stage to the civic settlement at Petuaria by a man called Marcus Ulpius Januarius, it has been dated to the reign of the Emperor Antoninus PiusAntoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
and around 140 A.D.
His inscription was found re-used in the later stonework defences of Petuaria and gives a clear illustration of the standard of civic works and also civil and literary society which at one time existed in or around Roman Brough on Humber, at a tiny town whose modern magistrates court was only recently closed in the late 1990s, so ending nearly two thousand years of locally-recorded justice unprecedented anywhere else in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. Their re-use of the Januarius stone also reveals how much, after two hundred years, the priorities of those living in East Yorkshire had changed in the later Roman Empire, at a time when it has been said that the two major preoccupations of the local people of the time were “floods and raids”, the latter coming mainly across the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
from Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
.
Importance
Roman Petuaria seems a genuine precursor to the strategic importance which the modern port city of Kingston-upon-Hull, founded in the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, holds today. For anyone travelling by boats of shallow draught, the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
is still a gateway into half of all England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
this side of the Pennines
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
. Eight major rivers can be accessed from the North Sea over its threshold – the Ouse
River Ouse, Yorkshire
The River Ouse is a river in North Yorkshire, England. The river is formed from the River Ure at Cuddy Shaw Reach near Linton-on-Ouse, about 6 miles downstream of the confluence of the River Swale with the River Ure...
, Hull
River Hull
The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the north of England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of York charged tolls for its use, it became a free...
, Derwent
River Derwent, Yorkshire
The Derwent is a river in Yorkshire in the north of England. It is used for water abstraction, leisure and sporting activities and effluent disposal as well as being of significant importance as the site of several nature reserves...
, Wharfe
River Wharfe
The River Wharfe is a river in Yorkshire, England. For much of its length it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. The name Wharfe is Celtic and means "twisting, winding".The valley of the River Wharfe is known as Wharfedale...
, Aire
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length . Part of the river is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation....
, Don, Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
and Ancholme. That is why eight river goddesses shown reclining on the great mosaic from nearby Brantingham Roman villa are sometimes interpreted as representing the practical importance of these great English rivers in Roman times for transport and travel.
Brantingham villa
The nearby villa at BrantinghamBrantingham
Brantingham is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated about north of Brough, and west of Kingston upon Hull. It lies to the north of the A63 road...
, just outside Brough, was first discovered in 1941 and would have been closely associated with the Roman town until it burnt down some time in the mid-4th century AD. This Roman site attracted modern notoriety to Brough in 1948, when a team of archaeologists from the Hull and East Riding Museum prepared the first of a group of mosaic pavements found at the villa site (a working quarry since the Middle Ages) during the war, for removal. Overnight it was stolen and although the rest were safely recovered to the museum and are on display to this day, the missing first one has never been found.
Sources
1.}2. “Excavations at Brough on Humber 1958-1961” J. Wacher 1964
3. “Brantingham Roman Villa: discoveries in 1962” - J. Liversedge; D.J. Smith and I.M. Stead.
4. “Britannia - A Journal of Romano-British and kindred studies” Volume 4, 1973
5. “Roman Mosaics in Britain: An Introduction to their schemes and a catalogue of paintings” - D.S. Neal 1981
6. “New Light on the Parisi: recent discoveries in Iron Age and Roman East Yorkshire” E. Riding Archaeological Society with University of Hull – editor P. Halkon 1989 (and subsequent editions)
7. “Brading, Brantingham and York: a new look at some fourth-century mosaics” - R. Ling “Britannia - A Journal of Romano-British and kindred studies” Volume 22, 1991.
8. “Roman Humberside” (2nd edn.) Humberside County Council Archaeology Unit: B. Sitch and A. Williams 1992
9. “Roman Mosaics of Britain: Volume I: Northern Britain incorporating the Midlands & East Anglia”: - D.S. Neal & S.R. Cosh ‘Society of Antiquaries of London’ 2002 Illuminata Publishers
10.“The Roman Mosaics at Hull” D.S. Smith (3rd edition) 2005, M. Foreman and D. Crowther Hull & East Riding Museums & Art Gallery