Arbeia was a large Roman fort in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England, now ruined and partially reconstructed. It was first excavated in the 1870s. All modern buildings on the site were cleared in the 1970s. It is managed by North East Museums as Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort.
The name Arbeia comes from the Notitia Dignitatum, the only ancient source to feature the name. The entry in Notitia Dignitatum for Arbeia was originally associated with the town of Ireby, Cumbria as early as 1587, but this has since been dismissed as a superficial resemblance. In the early 1900s the name began to be associated with the South Shields site alongside Ireby as well as Moresby, Cumbria.
The name entered widespread use as the probable name for the South Shields fort in 1953, supported by research from Ian Richmond.
Arbeia may mean the "fort of the Arab troops", referring to the fact that part of its garrison at one time was a squadron of Mesopotamian boatmen from the Tigris, following Emperor Septimius Severus securing the city of Singara in 197. However, this is purely speculative and hinges on the similarity of the words 'Arab' and 'Arbeia'.
Alternatively, it could mean "(fort by a) stream noted for wild turnips".
The fort was built in 129 AD as a small cohort fort, a few years later than most of the Hadrian's Wall forts, on the Lawe Top overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne and four miles beyond the eastern end of Hadrian’s wall, from where it guarded the flank and main sea supply route to the Wall and the small port on the south of the Tyne.
Its garrison was reduced during the occupation of Scotland in the reign of Antoninus Pius. Early in Marcus Aurelius' reign (161 to 180) it was reoccupied and from 198 it was considerably altered in plan and usage. A dividing wall between the northern and southern halves of the fort allowed the north part to store supplies from sea-going ships, whilst the southern part remained a garrison. The modifications are associated with Septimius Severus' Roman invasion of Caledonia (208–211), a series of campaigns against the troublesome Caledonian tribes, in which the fort may have served as his headquarters.
From 220-235 a new principia (headquarters) and new barracks were built in the southern part of the fort, probably to house the new garrison of Cohors V Gallorum of double size (nominally 1000 men) while the original principia were converted to a granary and nine more granaries were built in the southern part of the fort, bringing the total to 24. Most forts had two granaries but Arbeia had up to 24, indicating that it supplied more than its own troops. It shows that Arbeia became the main supply base for the whole of Hadrian’s Wall rather than obtaining its supplies from the local region by purchase, taxation or requisition, which was the usual assumption.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Arbeia was a large Roman fort in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England, now ruined and partially reconstructed. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Arbeia is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Tynemouth Iron Age and Romano-British settlements, monasteries, site of lighthouse, cross, motte, enclosure and artillery castles and later coastal defences (1.7 km), Segedunum (6.7 km), Turret 0A (6.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Arbeia. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Arbeia