By all means use it but do check that their facts reflect reality before quoting them as authoritative. Yes, it is a great resource but due to the nature of the beast sometimes error does creep in. I would advise everyone not to rely on Wikipaedia and its sometimes dubious facts. Handbook to the Roman Wall, Newcastle upon Tyne The system of obstacles on Hadrian’s Wall their extent, date and purposeĮxcavations on Hadrian’s Wall at Denton, Newcastle upon Tyne’ The Vallum at Wallhouses, Northumberland: Excavations in 19 Hadrian’s Wall: Archaeological Research by English Heritage 1976-2000,įour investigations of the linear elements of Hadrian’s Frontier works, 1980-2000’, Ĭuriously it gives no reference to any "Latin" word for "Frontier" even though we know of Vallum being the term they did use from many extant Roman documents. That is they were never considered as part of a group.įrom the on-line latin dictionary (Univ of Notre Dame): The reason there is no plural for Vallum is that in Roman times all frontiers were named individually and remained individual elements. Therefore it is not strictly speaking Latin in this context so cannot be made plural using Latin rules. "This would mean the Romans knew Hadrian's Wall as the line demarcating Vallum Aelium, 'the Aelian frontier'."īoth these statements show that Vallum only meant frontier and further that vallum as applied to the earthworks alone is merely a modern (and wrong) application of the word (all of which is as I previously stated). "There is no such word as vali, but vallum was the Latin word for a frontier today vallum is applied to the ditch and berm dug by the Roman army just south of the Wall." However, on reading it one finds that it states (as I previously mentioned) that Vallum is actually the Latin term for a frontier. It would seem to me that those to some degree familiar with Roman culture and language would favour VALLA, whilst those who are not will prefer vallums (and possibly cactuses, amd focuses too).
There are many examples of both kinds of VALLUM, large and small, so at some point a plural will be required when discussing them. The thread word may be used for the long wall defending the borders of the Roman Empire too, but in the article indicated below on Hadrian's Wall the word is difficult to spot in the inscription gven as it is in the genitive and has lost an L, a common spelling convention. So basically, as I thought, a VALLUM is part of a Roman military camp or CASTRA (from which we derive the names of English towns ending in -chester, -caster, -cester and -chister).
Learn Latin Introduction How English works Latin Nouns I Latin Verbs I Simple Sentences Latin Adjectives I Latin Numbers. The vallum, in the latter sense, together with the fossa or ditch which surrounded the camp outside of the vallum, formed a complete fortification. The Latin Dictionary Where Latin meets English. It is derived from vallus (a stake), and properly means the palisade which ran along the outer edge of the top of the agger, but it very frequently includes the agger also. It was usually made out of earth, sometimes enforced with wood and stone, and also had a deep moat ( fossa). A vallum was a type of palisade, used as part of the Roman defensive fortification system.