Conventus Britannia 2759 auc - PMA pics (Nova Roma)

Contents 1 Day 3 2 Day 4 3 Day 5 4 Day 6

Day 3

Non. Sext. ‡ (Saturday 5th August)

Luguvalium (Carlisle) is now a modern city with respectable bricks houses and institutions, such

St Martin college, which gave us a shelter during the conventus.

Today, Laureatus and Aureliana are checking either their guests, the time to go to Vindolanda or all the
possible ways to drive there. Cordus and Scholastica are ready to join their mental forces (see picture, right).

Our first stop is at Wallton Crags. The place deserves its name. We have to walk in a pleasant track, full of jokes and conversations, in latin or in local language (see picture, below), and also full of flowers and butterflies. The track snakes along a quiet water, before driving us to the top of the hill, where the Wall is waiting for us.

There, after a little wooden cattle door, we have to reach the ridge, on our left. The clouds are fighting with the sun for ruling the sky.

On the way up, we understand that the physical form is not the same inside Legio Hispana :
as a tough vet centurion, Paulus seems to think "waiting for you, comrades! " while Astur,like
Atlas the earth, is firmly holding Hadrian's wall, fearing that it might flee to Scotland (below right).

On the top of the hill, we are glad to meet, among a group of young female tourists, our friends from Thule, whose raedae have been faster or their maps better than ours (see picture left below).

We are now watching in front of us, downhill, to the North, thinking to the feelings that roman troops could have, 1,800 years before, when watching Selgovae, Votadini and other Caledonian warriors coming to them.
The wall is here at our feet, thick, impressing, commanding the whole landscape around us (see picture, below left).

A few more pictures later, (see picture, below right) we leave Wallton Crags for Chesterholm, the ancient Vindolanda, where a paparazzo is shooting a roman star.

At this time, it is interesting to note that, except the settlements that they have created ex nihilo, Romans have been clever enough not to change the names of the places, villages, towns of the countries that they have invaded and occupied. We have seen, for example, that Carlisle was called "Luguvalium" and Chesterholm "Vindolanda". Both names come from the celtic language, which was common to the most part of Europe at Republican times. Luguvalium is a latin interpretation of "Lugu-ialon" which means "place/settlement of Lug".
Lug was one of the main celtic gods, the equivalent of Apollo. In the same mood, the french modern city of Lyon has ingerited its name from celtic/gallic "Lug-dunum" (i.e. the fortress of Lug). Vindolanda meant "white moor".
This observation is not an exception : we may verifiy this phenomenon all around Romanised Europe.

Vindolanda was a key position in the defence against northern peoples.
It is not "on" Hadrian's wall, but a few kilometers south, roughly in the middle of the length of the wall crossing England. Before the wall, the place had already welcome several forts. Vindolanda is, close to the roman fort, the most extensive civil settlement to be seen in whole Britain. It was first built in the middle of the 2nd century and
has been occupied, with a short break, until the late 3rd century.

Once the civil settlement visited, you are attracted by a full-scale reconstruction of a turret and lenght of the Wall, on your left. This was the south gate of the early fort. (see pictures, below, left and right).

We may still find roman local soldiers guarding the limes (see picture right).

After having visited the remains of the roman fort, we have walked down in direction of the museum.
Here appears first a reconstituted temple, that Laureatus is showing me. (see picture below, left).

The inside paintings have been recreated too,
even if the modern painter does not seem having the same skills than Pompei's artists.
(see picture far right below).

Below the temple a romantic little bridge take us to the museum.
Before the museum, a wall with two roman inscriptions.
With Laureatus, we are approaching them, soon joined
by Paulus and Astur (see Cordus pictures).
We succeed decrypting these interesting writings.
If you, honorable reader, are interested in Victor's inscription
translation (see picture left below), please have a look
on the article in the following page :
http://www.crystalwebvision.com/aedil/albucius.htm.

And I let you fight against the other inscriptio, Caecilius's one (see picture right below).

Day 4

a.d. VIII Id. Sext. ‡ (Sunday 6th August)

Three shots of the Senate meeting. Shame that the attendants should not have worn their toga or stola...

Day 5

a.d. VII Id. Sext. ‡ (Monday 7th August)

Riders eleven

Misses the picture shooter, this time Publius Memmius Albucius. Here come the terrible ten :

"On the road again"

A walk up to Cawfields castle

Prandium

Segedunum

Arbeia

Day 6

a.d. VI Id. Sext. ‡ (Tuesday 8th August)

Housesteads - Vercovicium

Chesters - Cilurnum