Blatobulgium was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, located at the modern-day site known as Birrens, in

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Name

Blatobulgium is recorded in the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...

. The name derives from the

Brittonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

roots ''*blāto-'' 'bloom, blossom' or ''*blāto-'' (from earlier ''*mlāto-''), 'flour' and ''*bolgo-'', 'bag, bulge'. The name may mean 'flowery hillock' or 'flowery hollow'. However, as there are granaries at the fort, Blatobulgium may be a nickname meaning '

Flour Sacks A flour sack or flour bag is a bag or sack for flour. Large bulk bags as well as smaller consumer sizes are available. Description A flour sack or flour bag is a bag or sack for flour. Sacks range in size and material. Package types Bul ...

At the western edge of Birrens (Blatobulgium) Roman Fort - geograph

History

The fort formed the northern terminus of the

-era

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

(using an extended definition of this road), or more simply Route 2 of the

. It was located in the territory of the

Selgovae The Selgovae (Common Brittonic: *''Selgowī'') were a Celtic tribe of the late 2nd century AD who lived in what is now the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Dumfriesshire, on the southern coast of Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's '' ...

. Birrens was first occupied in the

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

period from AD 79 onwards, when its internal buildings were presumably of timber. Under Hadrian, soon after AD 122, a new fort was constructed whose central buildings were probably of stone. However the visible fort and its internal buildings date from the Antonine period around AD 142. They were destroyed perhaps by enemy action around AD 155, but the replacement stone buildings in the second Antonine period dating to AD 159 onwards were of much poorer quality. Occupation lasted until about AD 180–84. There appear to be no finds later than the Antonine period.

Finds

There have been more inscribed and sculptured stones found at Birrens than anywhere else in Scotland. An altar stone dedicated to the Celtic goddess

Ricagambeda Ricagambeda was a Celtic goddess worshipped in Roman Britain. She is attested in a single inscription, ''RIB'' 2107, on an altar stone found at Birrens (the Roman Blatobulgium) in what is now Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. According to the inscri ...

was found at Birrens.

References

History of Dumfriesshire Roman auxiliary forts in Scotland Scheduled monuments in Scotland {{Scotland-stub