Cramond Vicus

Milestone and Vicus

There have been five Latin inscriptions on stone recovered from the Cramond environs and subsequently recorded in the R.I.B., four of which are shown and translated on this page, the remaining stone is too fragmentary to be of much use (RIB2136; not shown). Aside from the fort and settlement and probable harbour at Cramond in Edinburgh there are two temporary marching camps to the south, at Gogar Green and Millburn Tower (both NT1771), also a Roman milestone discussed below.

The Dateable Pottery Evidence

There are two potter’s marks recorded at Cramond which may be Flavian, one stamped OF IVCVN?, the other OF VALO. Occupation in the Antonine period is attested by the recovery of pottery bearing the stamps of seven potters who flourished during this period; there are single examples of; Aventinus Form 33, Cinnamus Form 37, Decuminus Form 18/31, Gratus Form 18/31, Maximinus Form 33, Su- Cer- Form 31, and one of Duppius of an unspecified type. Investigation of a road leading to the eastern gateway of the fort in 1982 uncovered in the kerbing an amphora-handle with the stamp SCIMNIANO dated c. A.D. 160-210.

The Gods of Roman Cramond

Three of the inscribed stones recovered from Cramond are altarstones dedicated to various deities; to Jupiter by a prefect of Cohors V Gallorum (RIB 2134 supra), one to the Mother Goddesses (RIB 2135 supra) by a legionary centurion in command of Cohors I Tungrorum, and another to either Mercury or Mars by a soldier of unknown rank (Brit. 1978.15 infra).

D M CONDATI

“To the god Mercury¹, from Condatus.”

(Brit. 1978.15)

  1. The initial two words of this inscription have here been expanded D[eo] M[ercurio], although the gods name may equally be Mars, Mogons, etc.
  2. The stone is reported to be an altar, but the inscription is also compatible with that which you might expect on a tombstone memorial, with the expansion D[is] M[anibus] CONDATI “To the spirits of the departed [and] Condatus”.

RIB 2313 - Milestone of Antoninus Pius A.D. 208.

For the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Augustus Antoninus Augustus Pius, father of his country, thrice consul, … the First Cohort of Cugerni (set this up). From Trimontium … miles.

I[mp(eratori) Caes(ari) T(ito)] [ Ael(io) Hadr(iano) Anto-] nino Aug(usto) Pio p(atri) p(atriae) co(n)s(uli) [I]II ⟦[---]⟧ ⟦[---]⟧ [co]h(ors) I Cugernor(um) [Tri]monti(o) m(ilia) p(assuum) [ ̣ ̣ ̣]
  1. Cohors Primae Cugernorum were a a five-hundred strong auxiliary infantry unit recruited from the Cugerni tribe of Lower Germany, who inhabited the lands between the Meuse and the Rhine, close neighbours of the Germanic tribes the Baetasii to the south and the Batavi in the north-west.
  2. Trimontium was the Roman name for the fort complex at Newstead in the Borders region of southern Scotland, which lay about thirty-six miles to the south-east of Cramond.
  3.  a.d. 208. / Although if translated would have been the date would be a.d. 209-11.

A Roman milestone to the south-west of the Cramond settlement at Newbridge (NT1272), which is notable because it is one of only two recorded in the RIB for Scotland, the other being at Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in Strathclyde (vide RIB 2312).

Cohors Primae Cugernorum – The First Cohort of Cugerni

IMP CAES T AEL HARD ANTONINO AVG PIO P P COS III … COH I CVGERNOR TRIMONTI M P …

“For Imperator Caesar itus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Father of the Fatherland, consul three times, […] the First Cohort of Cugerni.¹ To Trimontium² […] thousand paces.”

(RIB 2313; milestone; dated: 140-144AD)

  1. Cohors Primae Cugernorum were a a five-hundred strong auxiliary infantry unit recruited from the Cugerni tribe of Lower Germany, who inhabited the lands between the Meuse and the Rhine, close neighbours of the Germanic tribes the Baetasii to the south and the Batavi in the north-west.
  2. Trimontium was the Roman name for the fort complex at Newstead in the Borders region of southern Scotland, which lay about thirty-six miles to the south-east of Cramond.

References for Cramond

  • The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965);
  • The Roman Occupations of Scotland by B.R. Hartley in Britannia iii (1972) pp.1-55;
  • Britannia ix (1978) p.473 #15; Chronology of the Ancient World by E.J. Bickerman (Thames & Hudson, London, 1980);
  • Britannia xiv (1983) p.289; Chronicle of the Roman Emperors by Chris Scarre (Thames & Hudson, London, 1995); 

Roman Roads near Cramond

Probable Road: W (11) to Carriden (Carriden, Central) Possible Road: E (10) to Inveresk (Lothian) ESE (8) to Elginhavgh (Lothian)

Sites near Cramond Vicus