Editing Carlisle (section)

=== Ancient Carlisle ===
{{Main|Luguvalium}}

The ancient history of Carlisle is derived mainly from archaeological evidence and the works of the [[Roman historiography|Roman historian]] [[Tacitus]]. The earliest recorded inhabitants in the area were the [[Carvetii]] [[list of Celtic tribes|tribe]] of [[Britons (historical)|Britons]] who made up the main population of ancient [[Cumbria]] and [[Lancashire|North Lancashire]].<ref name="carvetii">{{Citation |title=Celtic Tribes of Britain; The Carvetii |url=http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/carvetii.htm |df=dmy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425010043/http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/carvetii.htm |publisher=Roman Britain Organisation |access-date=3 May 2011 |archive-date=25 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to [[Hector Boece|Boethius]] and [[John of Fordun]], writing in the 18th and 19th centuries, Carlisle existed before the [[Roman conquest of Britain|arrival of the Romans in Britain]] and was one of the strongest [[Britons (Celtic people)|British]] towns at the time. In the time of the [[list of Roman emperors|emperor]] [[Nero]], it was said to have burned down.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Samuel Sampson |title=The Agreeable Historian, or the Complete English Traveller |year=1746}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Fordun |first1=John of |last2=Skene |first2=Felix James Henry |last3=Skene |first3=W. F. (William Forbes) |date=19 May 1872 |title=John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish nation |url=http://archive.org/details/johnoffordunschr00fordrich |publisher=Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The Roman settlement was named '''Luguvalium''', based on a native name that has been reconstructed as [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] *'''Luguwaljon''', "[city] of Luguwalos", a masculine Celtic given name meaning "strength of [[Lugus]]".<ref name="Jackson1953">{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Kenneth |title=Language and History in Early Britain |date=1953 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=39 |url=https://archive.org/details/languagehistoryi0000jack/page/38/mode/2up |access-date=13 April 2025}}</ref>

Excavations undertaken along Annetwell Street in the 1970s dated the Roman timber fort constructed at the site of present [[Carlisle Castle]] to the winter of AD&nbsp;73.<ref>{{Citation |title=Settling in Cumbria |url=http://romans.tulliehouse.co.uk/roman_settling.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826085330/http://romans.tulliehouse.co.uk/roman_settling.aspx |publisher=[[Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery|Tullie House Museum]] |access-date=3 May 2011 |archive-date=26 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It protected a strategic location on the Roman road to the north and overlooking the confluence of the Caldew and Eden rivers.<ref name="irom">{{Cite web |title=Tullie House |url=http://www.iromans.co.uk/tullie-house |access-date=3 May 2011 |publisher=iRomans, a [[Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery|Tullie House]] website |archive-date=6 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306162752/http://www.iromans.co.uk/tullie-house |url-status=live }}</ref>
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| Description = General [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] advances through Carlisle in AD&nbsp;79.
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The fort at Carlisle was reconstructed in 83 using [[oak]] timbers from further afield, rather than local [[alder]] as a possible result of the increased Roman control of the area.<ref name="tullietimeline">{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Roman Carlisle |url=http://romans.tulliehouse.co.uk/flash/timeline/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826085256/http://romans.tulliehouse.co.uk/flash/timeline/index.htm |archive-date=26 August 2011 |access-date=3 May 2011 |publisher=[[Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery|Tullie House Museum]]}}</ref> At this time the Roman fort was garrisoned by a 500-strong cavalry regiment, the ''{{lang|la|Ala Gallorum Sebosiana}}''.<ref name=irom/>

By the early 2nd century, Carlisle was established as a prominent stronghold. The 'Stanegate' frontier, which consisted of Luguvalium and several other forts in a line east to [[Corbridge]], was proving a more stable frontier against the [[Picts]] than those established deeper into [[Caledonia]]. In 122, the province was visited by [[Hadrian]], who approved a plan to build a wall the length of the frontier. A new fort, [[Petriana]], was therefore built in the [[Stanwix]] area of the city north of the river on [[Hadrian's Wall]]. It was the largest fort along the wall{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} and was completed in stone by around 130. Like Luguvalium, which lay within sight, Petriana housed a nominal 1,000-strong cavalry regiment, the ''[[Ala Gallorum Petriana]]'', the sole regiment of this size along the wall. Hadrian's successor [[Antoninus Pius]] abandoned the frontier and attempted to move further north; he built the [[Antonine Wall]] between the [[firth]]s of [[Firth of Forth|Forth]] and [[Firth of Clyde|Clyde]]. It was not a success and, after 20 years, the garrisons returned to Hadrian's Wall.<ref name=tullietimeline/>

At one time, Carlisle broke off from Rome when [[Carausius|Marcus Carausius]] assumed power over the territory. He was assassinated and suffered ''[[damnatio memoriae]]'', but a surviving reference to him has been uncovered in Carlisle. Coins excavated in the area suggest that Romans remained in Carlisle until the reign of [[Valentinian II|Emperor Valentinian II]], from 375 to 392.