Habitancum
HABITANCUM in Britain. The following inscription is the authority for the name, which occurs in neither the Notitia nor the Itineraries:--
MOGONT CAD
ET N. D. N. AVG M. G. SECUNDINVS BF. COS. HABITA NCI PRIMA STA PRO SE ET SVIS POS. (Monum. Brit. 130.)This was found near Risingham in Durham.
Another from the same locality (Monum. Britann. 102) runs--
DEO INVICTO
HERCVLI SACR L ÆEMIL. SALVIANVS TRIB COH I VANGI V. S. P. M.A third (Mon. Brit 102a) is--
* * * * * * *
* * ICO MAXI COS III ET M AVREL ANTONINO PIO COS II AVG PORTAM CVM MVRIS VETVSTATE DI- LAPSIS JVSSV ALFEN SENECINIS VO COS CVRANTE COL ANITI ADVENTO PRO AVG NN.C* I VANGON O PF S CVM AEMI SALVIAN TRIB SVO A SOLO RESTI.Many important remains have been found here: e. g., altars, and traces of the walls of the station; so that the identification of Habitancum with Risingham has been generally sanctioned. The inscriptions inform us of important restorations, and also of its being the station for a cohort of the Vangiones: The rude but celebrated figure of Rob of Risingham, sculptured upon the face of the natural rock, is to the south of the station. A portion of the rock was rent off by gunpowder some years ago, carrying the upper part of the figure with it. He carries a bow in one hand, and what appears to be a hare or rabbit in the other.( Bruce's Roman Wall, p. 308.)
To the ethnographical philologist the termination -nc- is important. Its presence in such a word as Habitancum shows it to be British, and, as such, Keltic. It is well known, however, that the name by which the river Po was known to the Ligurians was Bodencus; a gloss which, even in the classical times, was translated fundo cares. Seeing this, Prichard suggested the reading Boden-los, and from it the Germanic character of the Ligurians. His doctrine has been taken up by others. It is clear, however, that the more we find other forms in -nc-, the less the reason for refining on the current form Bodencus. The more, too, such forms are Keltic, the less the probability of the inference that the Ligurians were German, and the greater that of their being Kelts.
[R.G.L]Roman fort of 1.8 ha, 23 km N of Corstopitum, where Dere Street crosses the river Rede (NY 891862). The name is known only from one inscription (RIB 1225). The platform and a little stonework are visible. There is no evidence for occupation before the mid 2d c., and little for the fort built then. The rebuilt fort of the reign of Severus probably faced S, with a striking single-portal S gate with projecting towers (RIB 1234, A.D. 205-207). From the reign of Caracalla on, the fort served as an outpost to Hadrian's Wall, garrisoned by a milliary cohors equitata, Cohors I Vangionum, with a unit of scouts and one of spearmen, all attested by RIB 1235 of A.D. 213.
The garrisons of Habitancum and Bremenium together could field a formidable striking force for minor military operations, including 500 cavalry, without calling on the Wall garrison. The headquarters building was rebuilt, probably in the early 4th c., facing W towards a new gate inserted in the W wall. Of other internal buildings, only a bath house in the SE corner is known. The fort was destroyed in the mid 4th c. (probably either A.D. 343 or 360) and was abandoned after further destruction in 367.
BIBLIOGRAPHYI. A. Richmond, Arch. Ael. 13 (1936) 184-98; id., “The Romans in Redesdale,” Northumberland County History XV (1940) passim; E. Birley, Research on Hadrian's Wall (1961) 235-40; J. K. St. Joseph, JRS 59 (1969) pl.
III. J. C. MANN