South-Western Ports
The Ravenna Cosmography’s sequence of 36 harbour estuaries begins thus:
Traxula – Axium – Mavia – Sarna – Tamaris – Naurum – Abona – Isca
Locations of the first one and last two are reasonably certain, but what about the five in between? There are two main possibilities:
|
|
Theory One | Theory Two |
| Axium | river Exe past Exeter | river Axe past Axmouth |
| Mavia | Carrick Roads past St Mawes to Truro | river Dart past Dartmouth to Totnes |
| Sarna | river Camel past Padstow to Bodmin | river Avon past Burgh Island |
| Tamaris | Taw + Torridge into Barnstaple Bay | Tamar estuary past Plymouth |
| Naurum | river Parrett to Bridgwater & Glastonbury | Taw + Torridge joint estuary |
A working hypothesis does not need to be correct to be useful; it merely needs to provoke clear thought. So there is no shame in admitting that we used to be utterly convinced by theory One, because the similarity between Mavia and the name St Mawes provided a vital “crib” for code-breaking the Cosmography. Now theory Two seems much better.
The decisive argument is that the name Tamaris can now belong to just one estuary in Britain, not two. Also the other three names fit
slightly more comfortably under theory Two. See the individual names for the detailed logic in each case, but note that not much Roman-era archaeology has been reported near the mouth of any of these estuaries. Also theory Two pulls two ports down to the south coast of Devon, quite close together, where one might guess that they traded with Gaul and Iberia, rather than the north coast, where they might have traded with Wales and Ireland.
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 14 August 2019 To main Menu