Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:04:04.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Roman Fortress at Carpow, Perthshire: An Alternative Interpretation of the Gates and their Dedicatory Inscriptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2019

Lawrence Keppie*
Affiliation:
The Hunterian, University of GlasgowLawrence.Keppie@Glasgow.ac.uk

Abstract

The Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire, was excavated in 1961–62 and 1964–79. The gates of the fortress are the key to our understanding of its occupational history. The suggestion made here is that they were initially constructed in timber, at the same time as the associated turf rampart, but were soon replaced in stone specifically to support heavy dedication slabs set above them. A new arrangement of the surviving inscribed fragments at the East Gate is proposed, and new readings adopted, which confirm their traditional Severan dating. The Supplementary Material which includes detailed descriptions of the fragments and possible restorations is available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X19000138.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Austen, P.S. 1991: Bewcastle and Old Penrith. A Roman Outpost Fort and a Frontier Vicus. Excavations 1977–78, KendalGoogle Scholar
Barnes, T.D. 1968: ‘Pre-Decian Acta Martyrum’, Journal of Theological Studies, n.s. 19, 509–31Google Scholar
Bidwell, P., Miket, R., and Ford, B. 1988: ‘The reconstruction of a gate at the Roman fort of South Shields’, in Bidwell, P., Miket, R. and Ford, B. (eds), Portae cum Turribus. Studies of Roman Fort Gates, BAR British Series 206, Oxford, 155231Google Scholar
Bidwell, P., and Speak, S. 1994: Excavations at South Shields Roman Fort, vol. 1, NewcastleGoogle Scholar
Birley, A.R. 1974: ‘Septimius Severus propagator imperii’, in Pippidi, D.M. (ed.), Actes du IXe Congrès International d'Etudes sur les Frontières romaines, Bucureşti/Köln/Wien, 297–9Google Scholar
Birley, A.R. 1988: Septimius Severus (rev. edn), LondonGoogle Scholar
Birley, A.R. 2001: ‘The Anavionenses’, in Higham, N.J. (ed.), Archaeology of the Roman Empire. A Tribute to the Life and Works of Professor Barri Jones, BAR International Series 940, Oxford, 1524Google Scholar
Birley, A.R. 2005: The Roman Government of Britain, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Birley, A.R. 2009: ‘Severan frontier policy’, in Morillo, A., Hanel, N. and Martín, E. (eds), Limes XX. Estudios sobre la frontera romana = Anejos de Gladius 13, Madrid, 1009–15Google Scholar
Birley, A.R. 2011: ‘RIB III in its historical context’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 24, 679–96Google Scholar
Birley, R.E. 1963a: ‘The Roman legionary fortress at Carpow, Perthshire’, Scottish Historical Review 42, 126–34Google Scholar
Birley, R.E. 1963b: ‘Excavation of the Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire, 1961–2’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 96 (1962–63), 184207Google Scholar
Black, E.W. 1993: ‘An unsuspected fortress bath’, Balnearia 1, issue 1, 67Google Scholar
Brilliant, R. 1967: The Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum, Memoirs of the American Academy at Rome 29, RomeGoogle Scholar
Brilliant, R. 1993: ‘Arcus Septimii Severi’, in Steinby, E.M. (ed.), Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae, Roma, vol. 1, 103–5Google Scholar
Casey, J.P. 2010: ‘Who built Carpow? A review of events in Britain in the reigns of Commodus and Septimius Severus’, Britannia 41, 225–35Google Scholar
Cook, M., Lawson, J.A., and McLaren, D. 2017: Excavations and Investigations in and around Cramond Roman Fort and Annexe, 1976 to 1990, Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports 74, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Coulston, J.C.N. 1999: ‘Scale armour’, in Dore and Wilkes 1999, 561–6Google Scholar
Crawford, O.G.S. 1949: Topography of Roman Scotland North of the Antonine Wall, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Dobson, B. 2009: ‘The rôle of the fort’, in Hanson, W.S. (ed.), The Army and Frontiers of Rome. Papers offered to David J. Breeze, Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series 74, Portsmouth, RI, 2534Google Scholar
Dore, J., and Wilkes, J.J. 1999: ‘Excavations directed by J.D. Leach and J.J. Wilkes on the site of a Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire, 1964–79’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 129, 481575Google Scholar
Frere, S.S. 1984: ‘British urban defences in earthwork’, Britannia 15, 6374Google Scholar
Frere, S.S. 1999: Britannia. A History of Roman Britain, Folio Society edn, LondonGoogle Scholar
Frere, S.S., and St Joseph, J.K. 1974: ‘The Roman fortress at Longthorpe’, Britannia 5, 1129Google Scholar
Frere, S.S., and St Joseph, J.K. 1983: Roman Britain from the Air, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Hanson, W.S. 1982: ‘Roman military timber buildings: construction and reconstruction’, in McGrail, S. (ed.), Woodworking Techniques before A.D. 1500, BAR International Series 129, Oxford, 169–96Google Scholar
Heil, M. 2003: ‘On the date of the title Britannicus maximus of Septimius Severus and his sons’, Britannia 34, 268–71Google Scholar
Henig, M. 1984: Religion in Roman Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Hobley, B. 1988: ‘The evidence for the form and appearance of turf and timber defences of Roman forts in the late first century’, in Bidwell, P., Miket, R. and Ford, B. (eds), Portae cum Turribus. Studies of Roman Fort Gates, BAR British Series 206, Oxford, 2561Google Scholar
Hock, G. 1922: ‘Römische Inschrift aus Kastell Obernburg a. M.’, Germania 6, 2431Google Scholar
Hodgson, N. 2008: ‘The development of the Roman site at Corbridge, from the first to third centuries A.D.’, Archaeologia Aeliana series 5, 37, 4792Google Scholar
Hodgson, N. 2014: ‘The British expedition of Septimius Severus’, Britannia 45, 3151Google Scholar
Holmes, N.M.McQ. 1999: ‘Coins’, in Dore and Wilkes 1999, 528–35Google Scholar
Holmes, N.M.McQ. 2003: Excavation of Roman Sites at Cramond, Edinburgh, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Holmes, N.M.McQ. 2014: ‘The Synton and Kippilaw denarius hoards. Evidence for late Antonine and Severan Scotland’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 144, 133–67Google Scholar
Hunter, F. 2004: ‘Roman Britain in 2003. Sites Explored. 2. Scotland’, Britannia 35, 265–71Google Scholar
Instinsky, H.U. 1942: ‘Studien zur Geschichte des Septimius Severus’, Klio 35, 200–19Google Scholar
Jarrett, M.G., and Mann, J.C. 1970: ‘Britain from Agricola to Gallienus’, Bonner Jahrbücher 170, 178210Google Scholar
Johnson, A. 1983: Roman Forts of the First and Second Centuries in Britain and the German Provinces, LondonGoogle Scholar
Jones, R.H. 2011: Roman Camps in Scotland, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 1979: Roman Distance Slabs from the Antonine Wall, GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 1998: Roman Inscribed and Sculptured Stones in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, Britannia Monograph 13, LondonGoogle Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 2000: ‘Legiones II Augusta, VI Victrix, IX Hispana, XX Valeria Victrix’, in Le Bohec, Y. (ed.), Les Légions de Rome sous le Haut-Empire, Lyon, 2537Google Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 2009: ‘The garrison of the Antonine Wall: endangered species or disappearing asset?’ in Morillo, A., Hanel, N. and Martín, E. (eds), Limes XX. Estudios sobre la frontera romana = Anejos de Gladius 13, Madrid, 1135–45Google Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F., and Arnold, B.J. 1984: Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Great Britain, vol. 1, fasc. 4, Scotland, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Kleiner, D.E.E. 1992: Roman Sculpture, YaleGoogle Scholar
Leach, J.D., and Wilkes, J.J. 1977: ‘The Roman military base at Carpow, Perthshire, Scotland: summary of recent investigations (1964–70, 1975)’, in Fitz, J. (ed.), Limes: Akten des XI Internationalen Limeskongresses, Budapest, 4762Google Scholar
Le Bohec, Y. 1989: La Troisième Légion Auguste, ParisGoogle Scholar
Mann, J.C., and Jarrett, M.G. 1967: ‘The division of Britain’, Journal of Roman Studies 57, 61–4Google Scholar
Manning, W.H., and Scott, I.R. 1979: ‘Roman timber military gateways in Britain and on the German frontier’, Britannia 10, 1961Google Scholar
Mastino, A. 1981: Le titolature di Caracalla e Geta attraverso le iscrizioni, BolognaGoogle Scholar
Miller, S.N. 1922: The Roman Fort at Balmuildy, GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Newby, Z. 2007: ‘Art at the crossroads? Themes and styles in Severan art’, in Swain, S., Harrison, S. and Elsner, J. (eds), Severan Culture, Cambridge, 201–49Google Scholar
Phillips, E.J. 1974: ‘The Roman distance slab from Bridgeness’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 105 (1972–74), 176–82Google Scholar
Phillips, E.J. 1977: Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Great Britain, vol. 1, fasc. 1, Corbridge, Hadrian's Wall East of the North Tyne, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Richmond, I.A. 1938: ‘The Roman fort at Bewcastle’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, n.s. 38, 195219Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A. 1940: ‘The Romans in Redesdale’, in Dodds, M.H. (ed.), Northumberland County History 15, Newcastle, 63154Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A. 1958: ‘Ancient geographical sources for Britain north of Cheviot’, in Richmond, I.A. (ed.), Roman and Native in North Britain, Edinburgh, 131–55Google Scholar
Robertson, A.S. 1975: Birrens (Blatobulgium), EdinburghGoogle Scholar
St Joseph, J.K. 1969: ‘Air reconnaissance in Britain, 1965–68’, Journal of Roman Studies 59, 104–28Google Scholar
St Joseph, J.K. 1973: ‘Air reconnaissance in Britain, 1969–72’, Journal of Roman Studies 63, 214–46Google Scholar
Thompson, F.H. 1968: ‘The zoomorphic pelta in Romano-British art’, Antiquaries Journal 48, 4758Google Scholar
Tomlin, R.S.O. 2017: Britannia Romana. Roman Inscriptions and Roman Britain, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Toynbee, J.M.C. 1962: Art in Roman Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Wacher, J. 1974: The Towns of Roman Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Warry, P. 2006: Tegulae. Manufacture, Typology and Use in Roman Britain, BAR British Series 417, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Warry, P. 2010: ‘Legionary tile production in Britain’, Britannia 41, 127–47Google Scholar
Wilkes, J.J. 1971: ‘The Roman legionary fortress at Carpow, Perthshire’, in Applebaum, S. (ed.), Roman Frontier Studies 1967, Tel Aviv, 52–4Google Scholar
Wilson, D.R. 1971: ‘Roman Britain in 1970’, Britannia 2, 243–88Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1964: ‘An imperial inscription from the Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 97 (1963–64), 202–5Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1965: ‘Roman Britain in 1964. II. Inscriptions’, Journal of Roman Studies 55, 220–8Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1966: ‘Roman Britain in 1965. II. Inscriptions’, Journal of Roman Studies 56, 217–25Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1971: ‘An Inscription of Caracalla from Carpow on the Firth of Tay, Scotland’, Acta of the Fifth International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy, Cambridge 1967, Oxford, 293–7Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1974: ‘Carpow and Caracalla’, Britannia 5, 289–92Google Scholar
Wright, R.P., and Hassall, M.W.C. 1971: ‘Roman Britain in 1970. II. Inscriptions’, Britannia 2, 289304Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Keppie supplementary material

Appendices 1-4

Download Keppie supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 253.1 KB