List of Roman place names in Britain
Roman Britain. Map from 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
A partial list of Roman place names in Great Britain.
This list includes only names documented from Roman times. For a more complete list including later Latin names, see List of Latin place names in Britain.
The early sources for Roman names show numerous variants and misspellings of the Latin names. Moreover, one of the principal authorities, Ptolemy, wrote in Greek so names that he records need to be transliterated back into Latin to reveal the original form.
Note that in general only one source is shown below for each name, although many of the names are recorded in more than one of the sources.
Lists
Geographic regions
| Roman name | Modern region | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Britannia | Great Britain | T |
| Hibernia | Ireland |
Political divisions
| Roman name | English translation | Modern approximation | Period | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provincia Britannia | Province of Britain | England and Wales - included the Scottish Lowlands intermittently | ||
| Caledonia | Land of Caledonians | Originally just an area of the Scottish Highlands, but later came to refer to most of modern Scotland | T | |
| Britannia Superior | Upper Britain | Southern England and Wales | 197 - 293 | |
| Britannia Inferior | Lower Britain | Northern England | 197 - 293 | |
| Britannia Prima | First Britain | Possibly Wales and the West Country | 296 - | |
| Britannia Secunda | Second Britain | Possibly Northern England | 296 - | |
| Flavia Caesariensis | Caesarian province of Flavius | English Midlands and East Anglia | 296 - | |
| Maxima Caesariensis | Caesarian province of Maximus | South East England | 296 - | |
| Valentia | Land of Valens | Possibly Scottish Lowlands or Wales | Possibly 5th century |
Settlement names
See also
- List of Latin place names in Britain
- List of Latin place names in Continental Europe and Ireland
- Latin names of cities
- Latin names of islands
- Latin names of lakes
- Latin names of mountains
- Latin names of regions
- Latin names of European countries
- History of Britain
- History of Ireland
- Roman sites in the United Kingdom
- United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names
Primary Sources
- AI: The Antonine Itinerary
- P: Ptolemy's Geography
- RC: The Ravenna Cosmography
- T: Tacitus's On the Life and Character of Julius Agricola.
References
- A.L.F. Rivet and Colin Smith, The place-names of Roman Britain. London, 1979 (reprinted by Book Club Associates, 1981).
External links
- Dr. J. G. Th. Grässe, Orbis Latinus: Lexikon lateinischer geographischer Namen des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit, online at the Bavarian State Library
- Grässe, Orbis Latinus, online at Columbia University
- Interpreter List of Roman Place names in Great Britain and Ireland
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