Salinae
SALINAEin Gallia, the chief town of the Suetri or Suctrii (Ptol. 3.1.42), a people in the Provincia E. of the Rhone. An inscription in Spon, Decc civitatis Salin.,is said to belong to this place; and another inscription has been found at Luceranonear the sources of the Paglione:C. Julio Valenti J. F. Fabr VI. viro civitat. Saliniens.... Alpium maritimarum patrono optimo.Some place Salinae at Castellanin the diocese of Senezin the Maritime Alps, where there are salt springs, and where Spon's inscription is said to have been found. D'Anville places it at Seillansin the diocese of Fréjus, near Faventia ( Fayence); and he observes that all the old towns of this country preserve their names. (D'Anville, Notice, &c.; Ukert, Gallien, p. 438.)
[G.L]SALI´NAE(Σαλῖναι, Ptol. 2.3.21), a town of the Catyeuchlani or Capelani, towards the E. coast of Britannia Romana. Camden (p. 339) identifies it with Salndyor Sandye, near Pottonin Bedfordshire;others have sought it in the S. part of Lincolnshire.
[T.H.D]SALI´NAE(Σαλῖναι, Ptol. 3.8.7; Peut. Tab.;Geog. Rav. 4.7), a town of Dacia identified with Thorda, on the Aranyosin Transylvania, where there are Roman remains. (Comp. Paget, Hungary and Transylvania, vol. 2. p. 259.)
[E.B.J]Salt-works; the name of several towns which possessed salt-works in their vicinity. (1) A town in Britain, on the eastern coast, in the southern part of Lincolnshire.
(2) A town of the Suetrii, in the Maritime Alps, in Gallia Narbonensis, east of Reii.
(3) Torre delle Saline, a place on the coast of Apulia, near Salapia.
(4) A place in Picenum, on the river Sannus (Salino).
(5) Torda, a place in Dacia.
(6) Salīnae Herculeae, near Herculaneum, in Campania.
As the Roman name, given in the Ravenna Cosmography, implies, the settlement here was connected with salt workings, but on the high ground E of Dodderhill traces of military sites of the 1st c. have been investigated. The only civil buildings studied are those in Bays Meadow, where a tessellated pavement was found in 1849. A winged-corridor house of 4th c. date was excavated in 1954-55. The site was enclosed with a ditch system of uncertain date of which only the NE corner survives.
BIBLIOGRAPHYJ. Allies, Antiquities of Worcestershire (1852) 98-106; Trans. Birmingham Arch. Soc. 64 (1946) 39-52; 75 (1959) 1-23; military sites: ibid., 62 (1943) 27-31; Trans. Worcs. Arch. Soc. 39 (1963) 55-58; W. Midlands Archaeol. News Sheet 8 (1973) 12f.
G. WEBSTERThe site, 30.4 km E of Chester (Deva), lies at the confluence of the rivers Dane and Croco, and covers an area of ca. 20 ha. Occupation began soon after A.D. 80 and continued until the mid 4th c. All buildings were of timber and daub, with thatched or tiled roofs, and took the form of strip shops, workshops, and living quarters, with the narrow ends adjacent to the street.
The single N-S street ran along the line of the Roman road from Lancaster to Littlechester (Derventio), and occupation extends from the crossing of the Dane, for 900 m or more. The structures varied in size from 7.3 x 15 m in the 2d c., to 13.1 x 30 m in the 4th c.
Local industries included iron smelting and smithing, lead casting, glass making, and salt making from local brine springs. A small salt works has been excavated consisting of a brine kiln, timber workshop, and two large dolia, one bearing the graffito AMVRCA (possibly meaning waste from brine).
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. T. Watkin, Roman Cheshire (1886); F. H. Thompson, Roman Cheshire (1965) MPI; I. D. Bestwick, “Roman Britain,” JRS 50 (1960) 238; 58 (1968) 213; 59 (1969) 210-11; “Roman Britain,” Britannia 1 (1970) 282, 313; 2 (1971) 255; 3 (1972) 314; 4 (1973) 284.
J. D. BESTWICK