Noviomagus
Attested: (1) Νοιομαγος Ptolemy 2,3,28, a πολις of the Ρηγνοι.
(2) Νοιομαγος in Ptolemy's introduction 1,15,7.
(3) Noviomago on iter 2 of the Antonine Itinerary.
(4) Noviomagno at position 39 in the Ravenna Cosmography.
(5) probably not Navimago regentium at position 44 in the Cosmography.
Where: (1) Pulborough, near a junction of several Roman roads, and near where three rivers meet to become the Arun (and give rise to the name Τρισαντωνος), and where Hardham Camp was a rectangular enclosed settlement on Stane Street. A much better fit to Ptolemy's latitude/longitude coordinates than the usually suggested Chichester Roman civitas capital at SU854044.
(2) Ptolemy commented about the work of Marinus of Tyre, that ‘having said that Noviomagus is 59 miles further south than Londinium, he then shows it further north in latitude’, which suggests confusion with (3).
(3) Beddington, near TQ294657 and the upper reaches of the river Wandle, where a modern sewage farm occupies the site of a Roman villa and earlier prehistoric settlement. Located by Itinerary mileages. Not Crayford or Chichester as often mistakenly suggested, nor at Croydon, as previously suggested here.
(4) Old Sarum hillfort at SU13773267 (often misdescribed as *Sorviodunum) is much more likely than Chichester.
(5) Possibly Chichester, or the nearby “palace” at Fishbourne, or the rich farmland on Selsey.
Name Origin: Noviomagus was a common name throughout the Roman Empire. France alone has 3 definite and 12 probable instances, while the foundation of a Noviomagus at Nijmegen may have been ordered by the Romans after the Batavian revolt. The Novio- part has only recently been understood as referring to land newly made agriculturally productive, often by flood-meadows, as discussed here. The -magus part meant some flat ground, like a platter, maybe suitable for a trading place, as explained under Magis and Caesaromagus. Although probably derived from PIE *magh- ‘to have power’, a -magus did not necessarily signify a power place or administrative centre and the intrusive N in (4) may be a trivial scribal error.
Notes: Noviomagus Regentium is a modern invention. See about Novia, now the Sussex river Ouse, which used to be tidal into nearby Beddingham. Peutinger's name fragment madus was probably not one of these places. A possible Roman road reported by Philp (2002) ran from Vagniacis towards West Wickham Roman settlement (Cook and McCarthy 1933), south of London by the source of the river Ravensbourne, at about TQ379649 and on to Beddington.
You may copy this text freely, provided you acknowledge its source as www.romaneranames.uk, recognise that it is liable to human error, and try to offer suggestions for improvement. Last edited 17 November 2024. to main Menu