Talk:Calleva Atrebatum

Requested move
Currently all articles listed under Category:Roman towns and cities in England, except this one, have their name as used in Roman times if known. Calleva Atrebatum is a redirect at present. Walgamanus 07:10, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a good idea. Note also that all the foreign language Wikipedias use Calleva Atrebatum. Hut 8.5 20:39, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Page moved, per request. -GTBacchus(talk) 03:08, 12 February 2007 (UTC) re posted from the hampshire page. The History of Hampshire RE: Some scholars believe there is evidence to show the traditional county boundaries of Hampshire may date back to the years of the original West Saxon settlement in circa 519. It is likely that both Winchester and Silchester would have fallen to the West Saxons between the years 508 and 514. A later thrust up the Hampshire Avon towards Old Sarum in 519 appears to have been checked by the Britons at Charford. The historian Albany Major in Early Wars of Wessex makes the case that the borders of the traditional county of Hampshire probably match those of the first West Saxon kingdom established by Cerdic and his son. This statment requires some clarification, As most of it can be disproven in relationship with the Saxons. The borders of Hampshire probable have not altered significantly. And the use of using a Roman road as a teratorial boundery was not uncommon ( i.e. The Danelaw's use of th Fossy way much later ). The problem with this statment is that to my knoledge no battles have been proven to have been thought in Hampshire between the Saxons and Brittons, those sites mentioned in the Anglo Saxon Chronical were written much later with the intention of pushing the West Saxon Reginal list back much further and have no proven place names in Hampshire. Additionaly recent excavations at Silchester have shown continued occupation of the site into the late 5th early 6th century, with no evedence of a violent end. This evedence coupled with the post Roman fortifications at Silchester ( Grims Bank - which runs into what in now AWE Aldermaston)which face north and the skulls found outside the northgate as if they had been displayed, lead to the conclusion that the threat was coming from the north possible along the Thames valley. It is also worth mentioning that Cerdic ( The founder of the West Saxon dynesty ) is infact a British name (Welsh: caradog) and not Saxon in any form which at least proves a basic degree of cooperation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.99.245.97 (talk) 15:07, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Local stories tell of a giant called onion that lived inside the walls ( and was responcible for throwing the 'imp stone' (local landmark ) to it current location. interestingly some beleive onion to be a mistake for the british ( welsh ) eion or eliron- perhapse a sub roman cheiften or magistrait of the town. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.132.248.221 (talk) 23:29, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Why didn't the town develop after Roman occupation?
The article fails to mention why this town fell into ruin unlike other post-roman cities eg Ebaracum or Londinium that developed into the likes of York or London. Maybe it is worth a mention. This is town an enigma like Wroxeter, Shropshire. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.130.123.23 (talk) 09:44, 13 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Although a specific "why" is not yet known, it continues to be a partial focus of the ongoing archeaological investigation of the site by the University of Reading, some suggested reasons are given on page 7 of the BBC article shown in the external links. Mighty Antar (talk) 21:13, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

The removal of all the Bath stone from Calleva is a puzzle. The only site in the country using stone at this time is the refortification of South Cadbury Castle using recycled Bath stone from Roman villas. Whilst there was a good road between the two (now the A303), inscriptions mentioning Calleva would need to be found at South Cadbury before the possibility could be taken seriously. A strategic withdrawal on such a scale would be an epic undertaking. AJRG (talk) 23:37, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

The statement "and local political and commercial activity moved to nearby Reading." is unsourced. The reality is in any case more complex, as after the abandonment there was a gap of perhaps a century before the twin Saxon towns of Basing and Reading were founded on rivers either side of Calleva. AJRG (talk) 23:37, 4 December 2008 (UTC)


 * There is a suggestion that the Saxons deliberately avoided Calleva after it was abandoned, preferring to maintain their existing centres at Winchester and Dorchester.  This would be consistent with them also avoiding Londinium.  The later establishment of Lundenwic some distance away parallels that of Basing and Reading. AJRG (talk) 23:42, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * In a Guardian article it mentionss a theory that the water table, through a process of successive well diggings that eventually became latrines, became compromised. Wwwhatsup (talk) 06:07, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Pre-Roman town
The same Guardian article noted above goes into some detail of a pre-Roman urban settlement saying "the evidence is unarguable: the Iron Age people lived in regular house plots flanking broad gravelled roads, aligned with the sunrises and sunsets of the summer and winter solstices, in a major town a century earlier than anyone had believed."

It also suggests that a local dynastic dispute may have precipitated the entire Roman invasion! "Commius was succeeded by three quarrelsome sons – significantly dubbing themselves on coins as 'rex' or king – who successively deposed one another. The third, Verica, was toppled by local tribes and made a move that would change the course of British history: he fled to Rome and asked for help – and in AD43 the Romans came."

Wwwhatsup (talk) 06:13, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

possible open access source
http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue21/silchester_index.html

©Geni (talk) 21:16, 18 February 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Name origin
The (unreferenced) suggestion has been made in a number of external works that "woodland place" is the original meaning of the British toponym Calleva. The idea is a very attractive one, given that *Cellifa, or something very like it, would have precisely that meaning in modern Welsh. However, I feel reluctant to add it to the present article in the absence of any third-party references. I wonder if anyone else might have them? --