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SEGEDUNUM (Wallsend) and ARBEIA (South Shields)
The Metro station at Wallsend (Segedunum) near the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall in NE England is perhaps the only public transport facility in the world with signs in Latin. In addition to bilingual signs such as the one above (which was still there in August 2013), the station was at one time also decorated with pictures of local buildings digitally modified so that names etc. were displayed in Latin, including `Viae Virides' for Greenways supermarket and `Forum Venalicium' (`slave market') for the Job Centre. The design was the work of artist Michael Pinsky . Additional information on the project can be found on the Best in Heritage website and a video report is available here. The Latin phrases used in the latter include Crēdisne haec grate [error for grāta] fore pōpulo? (`Do you think this will please the public?’), Cuius erat hoc cōnsilium? (‘Whose idea was this?’), Quō vādis? (‘Where are you going?’) and Novocastria [for Novumcastrum] (Newcastle).
The station is only a few minutes' walk from Segedunum fort with its extensive museum and reconstruction of a baths complex. A nearby stretch of Hadrian's Wall itself which was rebuilt after colllapsing in a landslide was excavated in 2013-2015
The station is only a few minutes' walk from Segedunum fort with its extensive museum and reconstruction of a baths complex. A nearby stretch of Hadrian's Wall itself which was rebuilt after colllapsing in a landslide was excavated in 2013-2015
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A Powerpoint presentation with ten slides can be downloaded here:
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Can you spot two errors in the Latin on this sign, which has now been removed? The picture was taken by `Vittoriosa' and posted on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/56174395@N00/422164241)
The map below shows the entire Tyne and Wear metro system. South Shields, on the other bank of the Tyne, is the site of the Roman fort at Arbeia, which now has reconstructions of the west gate, the commanding officer's quarters and part of a barracks block,. The US-based organisation Earthwatch organises teams of volunteers each summer to assist in the ongoing excavations at Arbeia whilst staying in a local guesthouse - details are available on their website. For information on all sites in Roman Britain see the `Places' index of the Roman Britain website.
The map below shows the entire Tyne and Wear metro system. South Shields, on the other bank of the Tyne, is the site of the Roman fort at Arbeia, which now has reconstructions of the west gate, the commanding officer's quarters and part of a barracks block,. The US-based organisation Earthwatch organises teams of volunteers each summer to assist in the ongoing excavations at Arbeia whilst staying in a local guesthouse - details are available on their website. For information on all sites in Roman Britain see the `Places' index of the Roman Britain website.
The illustrations below, the first of which is taken from Karen Warren's WorldwideWriter site, show the reconstructed commanding officer's quarters and West Gate at Arbeia. The WorldwideWriter aricle includes a discussion of the controversy surrounding reconstruction of this sort.
Returning to the northern bank of the Tyne, here are two reconstructed aerial views of the Segedunum fort at Wallsend. One is from the north, downloaded from Reddit, and the other from the south, taken from the Roman History On Your Doorstep Faceboook page.
There is an interesting animated reconstruction in this Youtube video of the fort that once stood in what is now the centre of Newcastle (Pons Aelius) itself:
To get a feel for how the Wall functioned as a frontier control system, see Hadrian's Wall AI Reconstruction | Inside Roman Britain's Greatest Fortress:
- A 3-part record of a hike along the line of the wall from Carlisle to Newcastle, ending up at the Segedunum museum is available on YouTube. A 2003 Observer article describes a hike along the then newly-opened Hadrian's Wall Path in the opposite direction (East to West), which is the way most people choose to walk. A more recent resource is The Ultimate Guide to Hiking Hadrian's Wall, which combines a record of a 2018 solo hike from Newcastle to Carlisle with a lot of practical background information. Photographs marking a 2013 exhibition on the history of the Segedunum excavations can be viewed on the BBC site. A collection of letters written by Roman army officers and family members at a frontier fort around twenty years before the Wall's construction, can be read on the Vindolanda Tablets Online site.
This PowerPoint presentation on the history of Roman Britain (with Latin captions) includes photographs of the reconstructed gateway of the Arbeia fortress and of the Regina tombstone, probably the most famous item associated with the site:
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Newcastle University is currently (October 2014) making available a free course on the archaeology of the Wall and the surrounding region. Although the course started on 22 September, previous episodes will remain available to those who register fro the course before it ends (2 Novembe 2014).
A very readable exploration of Roman sites in Britain, and of the way later generations of Britons have reacted to and imagined it, is provided in Charlotte Higgins' Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain. The best general reference site on the web for Roman Britain is currently (November 2018) maintained by Mike Haseler at http://roman-britain.co.uk/
A very readable exploration of Roman sites in Britain, and of the way later generations of Britons have reacted to and imagined it, is provided in Charlotte Higgins' Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain. The best general reference site on the web for Roman Britain is currently (November 2018) maintained by Mike Haseler at http://roman-britain.co.uk/
