Roman York

Eboracum and the Legion of the Ninth

In 71AD the legendary 9th Legion was ordered to march north from its Lincoln stronghold and subdue hostile northern tribes, which were threatening the Roman advance. A fortress was established at Eboracum – ‘the place of yew trees’ – and this developed into a sophisticated centre of government and commerce as well as a military headquarters.

In fact, Roman York evolved in a way unique in Roman Britain. Facing each other across the Ouse was a great military centre and a great civilian centre – a thriving, cosmopolitan place, which enjoyed a Mediterranean-style lifestyle.

Roman roads, Roman baths and a Roman fortress

York’s essential ‘bone structure’ is still Roman. The two key streets in the ancient city, the Via Praetoria and Via Principalis, later became known as Stonegate and Petergate, but they still run along the same routes as they did two millennia ago. Other reminders of the imperial age are the Roman column in Deangate recovered from the foundations of the Minster and all that survives of what was once a massive military nerve-centre, the remnants of a bath-house in the Roman Baths Public House in St Samson’s Square, and perhaps most impressive of all the Multangular Tower, dating from 1st century Eboracum and part of the legionary fortress. The chisel marks of Roman masons can still be clearly seen.

A lost monument?

The Roman sewer network still survives, and reappears whenever the Victorian sewer tunnels require attention. Indeed, whenever there’s a major archaeological dig in York, for whatever reason, chances are that more secrets of the city’s Roman era will be unearthed. Recent work in Micklegate, for example, discovered evidence of fine Roman townhouses in the area, and fragments of jet pin and ceramics pointed to a comfortable and wealthier lifestyle. Experts predict that somewhere lie hidden a forum and a theatre, and perhaps an amphitheatre – a great lost monument.

The Time Team dig

Time Team, the popular Channel 4 archaeology series, visited York in 1999 and excavated a site in the garden of what is now the Royal York Hotel. It was known that this ground, just outside the ancient city walls, had once been a huge Roman cemetery. What they found was extraordinary: a Roman woman’s skeleton complete with sandals on her feet, rings on her fingers and even a coin in her mouth, ready to pay the ferryman.

You can follow in the Time Team's footsteps thanks to a ‘Time Team in York’ leaflet produced by the First Stop York Tourism Partnership which takes you on a guided walk round the sites of the archaeological digs and gives all kinds of fascinating facts about not only Roman but also Viking and Medieval York.

End of an era

In 306 Constantine the Great was crowned Roman Emperor at York, probably on the site which is now York Minster. A statue now stands in front of the Minster to commemorate the event: he was to become the first Emperor to embrace Christianity. Yet just over one hundred years later the Romans abandoned Eboracum and the rest of Britain. The tribes they had been drafted in to keep out over-ran the city, and the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ began. When the Vikings conquered Jorvik they would find the locals still living in the 800-year-old ruins of a once great European city.

Constantine the Great Exhibition

Treasures from across the late Roman world will bring to life the era of Constantine the Great, who was proclaimed Emperor in York in 306AD, in a new exhibition for 2006. The Yorkshire Museum in York will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of this event, which took place on July 25, 306, with an exhibition of more than 270 beautiful and fascinating objects and works of art from 36 different museums across the UK and Europe.

For further information:

York Archaeological Trust website: www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk

Time Team website: www.channel4.com/timeteam

York Minster (Undercroft), Deangate, York, Tel: 01904 557216, website: www.yorkminster.org

Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York, Tel: 01904 629745, website: www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk

York Museums Trust www.yorkmuseumtrust.org.uk

Or visit www.constantinethegreat.co.uk

For any further information and your free guide to York please contact: York Visitor Information Centre, Tel: 01904 550099, email: info@visityork.org or visit the website at www.visityork.org

Press contact: Kay Hyde, PR Manager - Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, email: kh@visityork.org website: www.visityork.org