|
Decha |
Camelon |
1088 = 10753 |
|
Bograndium |
Doune? |
1088 |
|
Vgueste |
Strageath? |
1089 |
|
Leuiodanum |
Inchtuthil? |
1089 = 10810 |
|
Poreo classis |
Dundee? |
10810 |
|
Leuioxaua |
Inchtuthil? |
10810 = 1089 |
|
Cermium |
Bertha? |
10811 |
|
Victorie |
Cargill |
10811 |
|
Marcotaxon |
Cardean |
10812 |
|
Tagea |
Inverquhairty |
10812 |
|
Voran |
Stracathro’ |
10813 |
This section begins again with the *Dexa identified with Camelon, just north of the Antonine Wall, so the Cosmographer now appears to be working from south to north to link up with the series of temporary camps just enumerated. It may be no coincidence that whereas the previous section dealt only with temporary camps, this change of direction in listing seems to cover an area in which permanent occupation was intended and indeed commenced. The names which follow are mostly obscure, and only very tentative identifications can be suggested.
That *Leuiodunum occurs twice (Rivet & Smith 1979, 390) indicates that it was a place of some prominence on the map; it is here suggested that this may have been the legionary fortress at Inchtuthil although the identification must remain controversial as there is no native defended site nearby from which the name might have been appropriated, although it could have been a new coining. The names *Bocrandium and <Vgueste>, which intervene between *Dexa, Camelon ?, and *Leuiodunum probably belong to forts in the Forth and Earn valleys, possibly Doune and Strageath respectively, as Alauna, Ardoch, is not named. That the Cosmographer was following the better-known eastern route to the north seems likely, in that case.
After the first mention of *Leuiodunum is a name connected with Ptolemy’s Ορρεα (II.3,9), to be emended *Horrea Classis (Richmond & Crawford 1949, 43), the ‘granaries for the fleet’; the mileage implied by Ptolemy allows us to locate his Αλαυνα at Ardoch, Ουικτωρια at Cargill (against the Inchtuthil of Rivet & Smith 1979, 140, as it does not lie on a direct route between places) and Ορρεα on the coast near Dundee.
Again, there has been some criticism of Rivet & Smith for abandoning the identifications proposed by Richmond (1958a). On the suggestions made here, we lose a name in Ptolemy for Inchtuthil, but it is clear that either he or his source could be extremely selective (as in the inexplicable omissions of names for the River Tweed and Cape Wrath), so that its absence need occasion no surprise. Indeed, faced with the information that the Twentieth Legion was now at Δηουα, Ptolemy may have decided not to create an inconsistency by also placing it in Scotland; rather than leave the legionary fortress at Inchtuthil without a named garrison, he probably chose not to name it. A further factor to consider is that Inchtuthil does not lie on the route north-eastwards and so is unlikely have been included in marching orders from Ardoch to a base for the fleet on the coast near Dundee.
After returning to *Leuiodunum the Cosmographer names one place, Cermium, which may be Bertha, before listing the Victoria identified as Cargill on the basis of the mileages implied by Ptolemy. The next three names in that case probably lay on the road north-eastwards through Cardean (Marcotaxum ?), Inverquhairty (*Tamea, the Ταμεια of Ptolemy II.3,8) and Stracathro’ (the irretrievably corrupt <Voran>): Horsley (1732, 502), followed by Rivet & Smith (1979, 485) connected the last name with Ptolemy’s Οαραρ Εισχυσις, II.3,4, with which it can have no connection, if the present hypothesis is correct. This brings us to the limit of permanent forts established by the Roman army in Scotland and the end of the main listing of places.
This section is relatively straightforward for an area beyond the scope of the Antonine Itinerary, although because it is largely without external confirmation, most of the identifications proposed must remain highly tentative. However, in contrast to Rivet and Smith’s (1979, 196) assertion that some of the names north of the Antonine Wall were those of native settlements, the evidence presented here indicates that we can recognise three classes of placename, none necessarily of ‘native’ character. The last group listed by the Cosmographer consists of the names of permanent forts, intended to be occupied until the region had been pacified and assimilated into the Roman province; the second consists of the names of marching camps established by the army on campaign, a number of which would presumably have been rebuilt as permanent forts if the area had been conquered; the first group listed consists of the names of places where the fleet stopped for supplies or for other, undefinable, purposes. The names of the places in this initial list could well have been ascertained by asking the locals, provided by native guides or even made up for the occasion by Celtic speakers; there is certainly no need to assume that they are the names of settlements, as all the fleet needed was a reasonable beach onto which to haul the ships.