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Lectoribus salutem,
I am working on an article about the name "kaster", "kester", found in Belgium, the Netherlands, West-Germany and Northern France. The term "could" be derived from "castra", but this remains to be proved.
In order to make my case, I would like any information on Roman fortresses that had a name with "castra" DURING the Roman period, and who are attested in sources.
I am especially interested in names with arabic "kasr", deriving from "castra" via Byzantine "kastron". These names sometimes qualify Roman fortresses, but not always. A good exemple is Kasr Bshir in Jordania, ancient "castra praetoria moabdeni".
All information is welcome, and help will be aknowledged in the article.
Si vales, bene est, ego autem valeo !
Cepheus, a.k.a. Bernard Roobaert
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Hi Bernard,
Why not Britain? Many walled towns received the name '-caester/-cester/-chester' after the Roman period, e.g. Glevum-Gloucester, Corinium-Cirencester, Viroconium-Wroxeter, but also Deva-Chester.
Might this also not be the case with -kester? Must it be a Roman fort, or could it be a walled settlement?
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Quote:Hi Bernard,
Why not Britain? Many walled towns received the name '-caester/-cester/-chester' after the Roman period, e.g. Glevum-Gloucester, Corinium-Cirencester, Viroconium-Wroxeter, but also Deva-Chester.
Might this also not be the case with -kester? Must it be a Roman fort, or could it be a walled settlement?
Don't forget '-caster'.
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
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Regensburg appears in the Notitia Dignitatum as castra Regina (occ., 35, 17), although its earlier name could have been Reginum or maybe just Legion.
However, the later name of the town was just Regens-Burg (fortress at the river Regen). I do not know too much about place names in Germany, but place like -Kaster/-Kester etc. seem to be very rare here.
XXX-Burg place names are frequent, though.
Maybe that helps 
Florian Himmler (not related!)
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As Jim stated,
'Caster' as a suffix is a derivitive of castris.
The roman name Danvm = Doncaster = the fortress on the (river) Don
Caster probably being a Saxon term of the Roman 'castris'.
Regards,
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Dear Members,
Many thanks for the replies! I would like to give some more information on my question.
As some of you said, there are quite a lot place-names in England with "caster" and "chester" where there have been Roman forts. The problem is: in the Antiquity, these DID NOT bear a name in "castra". In fact, only two places in Great-Britain dit: "castra Exploratorium" and "castra pinnata" (see Rivet & Smith).
"chester" and "caster" do of course derive from "castra", but these names were given later, by Saxons. There is no "traditio nominum" or transmission of the original name (as e.g. in Londinium > London).
The problem is the same for all the Arabic names in "castra". "Alcazar" simply comes from "al kasr" (= the fort), but all places with this name have of course not been Roman Forts 
(BTW, does someone know the meaning of "Kasr Bshir"?)
Some Roman stone forts have been rebaptized "burg" by the Germans: "castra Regina" has become "Regens-burg". The same for the late Roman fort of "Ouden-burg" (near Ostend, Belgium).
Cepheus
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Roman arrows and shoes have been found at Kasr Ibrim, in Meroitic Egypt.
Regards,
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I sent you a PM. Do you have a list perhaps of all the places you've already got?
Regards,
Jef Pinceel
a.k.a.
Marcvs Mvmmivs Falco
LEG XI CPF vzw
>Q SER FEST
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Avete omnes
Quote:In fact, only two places in Great-Britain dit: "castra Exploratorium" and "castra pinnata" (see Rivet & Smith).
What about "castra legionis" for Carleon in Wales?
In Germany "castra vetera", today Birten (which is part of Xanten), whose name is obviously derived from vetera.
Also there was one "castra scelerata", the "cursed camp" that was the place where Tiberius' brother Drusus died after falling from his horse when on campaign in Germania. It is not officially identified yet, IIRC, but (private ?) scholars want to locate it at Schellerten (scelerata) nearby Hildesheim in Lower Saxony.
Greets - Uwe
Greets - Uwe
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Ave to all,
First of all, thanks for the many reactions... And my reaction to these, for some are very interesting !
"Castra Legionis" for Carleon in Wales is attested in Roman times as "Isca". Better still, "caer" is an Old Welsh word meaning "fort", maybe derived from "castra"... The whole "corresponding to, BUT NOT DERIVED FROM, Lat. *castra Legionis" (Rivet & Smith, The Place-names of Roman Britain, London, 1979, pp. 36, 48, 56, 378).
Castra Vetera (= Xanten) is indeed a name I'm looking for... but it is NOT derived from "vetera" = ancient. The Belgian toponymist Maurits Gysseling thought (correctly, I think) that the name was "watara" = water, thus meaning "fort by the water". (BTW, "Xanten" does not come from "sanctas", but is also a water-name).
Here is a first list of place-names I have found:
Great-Britain:
Castra Exploratorium
Pinnata Castra
Germany:
Castra Vetera (near Xanten)
Castra Regina (Regensburg)
?? Castra Bonnensis (Bonn): possibly cited as such by Tacitus
Castra Batava (Passau)
Castrum Divitium (Deutz, Köln)
?? Castra Biriciana (Weissenburg) cited as such ?
Egypt:
Castra Iudaeorum (Flavius Josephus, ND Occ)
Castris Lapidariorum ND Occ
All informations welcome on these 2 forts, not yet localized.
The Netherlands:
Castra Herculis (Arnhem - Meinerswijk)
Switzerland:
Castrum Rauracense (Kaiseraugst)
Morocco:
Castrabarensis ND Occ - not localized
"Yougoslavia"
In Castris Herculis (Pannonia, ND Occ) - not localized
All information on these places is welcome.
The Italian castra will be discussed in a later mail.
Valete
Cepheus
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Hi Cepheus (you MUST change your signature to your real name, btw - FORUM RULES!),
Quote:"Castra Legionis" for Carleon in Wales is attested in Roman times as "Isca". Better still, "caer" is an Old Welsh word meaning "fort", maybe derived from "castra"... The whole "corresponding to, BUT NOT DERIVED FROM, Lat. *castra Legionis" (Rivet & Smith, The Place-names of Roman Britain, London, 1979, pp. 36, 48, 56, 378).
Castra Vetera (= Xanten) is indeed a name I'm looking for... but it is NOT derived from "vetera" = ancient. The Belgian toponymist Maurits Gysseling thought (correctly, I think) that the name was "watara" = water, thus meaning "fort by the water". (BTW, "Xanten" does not come from "sanctas", but is also a water-name).
I edites your message a bit: Xanten, not Xanthen.
Why does Xanten not derive from 'santos'? It's supposed to derive from 'ad sanctos'('to the holy ones'), btw..
Also, Welsh 'caer' does not exclusively mean 'fort', it is used for all walled settlements, including, forts, hillforts, villages and towns.
I never heard that caer could derive from castra, but if Rivet & Smith thought so, well..).
I have found several on the internet, but I have no idea how old these names are.
Castra: Castres
Castra, 1. Castres, St., Frankreich (Tarn).
Castrensis/Chester, but I doubt this is Deva/Chester.
Castricomium, s. Castremonium.
Castriferrei comitatus, d. Komitat Eisenburg (Vas), Hungary.
Castriferrense oppidum, Sárvár, Mfl., Hungary (Eisenburg).
Castriheraldum: Châtellerault (France)
Castrilocus, s. Bergae 2.
Castrimonium, Castricomium, Marino, Italy (Rome).
Castri mons, s. Casletum.
Castrisis, Caestris, Kästris (Castrisch), D., Switserland (Graubunden).
Castrobracense opp., s. Albicastrum
Castrobracum, s. Albicastrum.
Castrodunum, s. Castellodunum.
Castrum, 1. Castro, Italy (Rome)..
Castrum Albiensium: Castres
Castrum cornu, Kastelkorn, Austria, Tirol.
Castrum Salinarum: Château-Salins
Lemovicense Castrum, Limoges
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Salve Cepheus,
I didn't mean castra vetera to be derived from vetera = ancient; I meant the today's designation Birten to be derived from vetera, long ago I heard this but can't tell You a reference.
And for the Netherlands I still want to add 'castricum'.
Greets - Uwe
Greets - Uwe
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Ave to all,
The Romans generally used "castra", not "castrum". This n.pl. became fem.sg. (!) at the end of the Empire, probably under "Barbaric" influence.
The problem is that the term continued to be used after the Roman period. E.g., in Belgium, 14th century towers on mounds continue to be qualified as "castrum".
In the East, the term was adopted in Greek (Byzantium) as "kastron", which was in turn adopted by the Arabs as "kasr".
To complicate things further, historians and archeologists use the term "castellum" for forts such as Kasr Bshir (!), the ancient "castra praetoria Moabdeni".
For all the problems concerning "caer", "chester" and "caster" in England, I refer to Rivet & Smith, the bible for this question.
Finally, I strongly suspect names as "Kasterlee" in Belgium to be derived from a water-name, such as "Kaystros", the ancient name of the river Meander in Turkey.
Cepheus aka Bernard Roobaert
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Quote:The Romans generally used "castra", not "castrum". This n.pl. became fem.sg. (!) at the end of the Empire, probably under "Barbaric" influence.
Please explain that last statement?
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Ave to all,
The evolution of "castra" from neutrum plural to feminine singular during the late Roman period is an example of (mis)use by external speakers, whose Latin was just basic.
They saw the ending "a" as being simply feminine singular, as in "ancilla".
Other examples of similar evolutions are the use of "caballus" instead of "equus".
From 275 A.D. onwards, many newcomers, mainly Germans, were serving in the Roman armies, as laeti or comitatenses.
Their use of Latin terms can be compared to non-English speakers using a term like "dancing" to refer to a dance-hall.
Valete!
Cepheus aka Bernard Roobaert
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