Magnis or Magna was a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. Its ruins are now known as Carvoran Roman Fort and are located near Carvoran, Northumberland, in northern England. It was built on the Stanegate frontier and Roman road, linking Coria (Corbridge) in the east to Luguvalium (Carlisle) in the west, before the building of Hadrian's Wall.
The fort at Carvoran is generally identified with the 'Magnis' which appears both in the Ravenna Cosmography and the Notitia Dignitatum. Further evidence for the name comes from a fragmentary inscription (RIB 1825) apparently seen by the antiquary William Hutchinson in 1766 but which is now lost, which referred to "numerus Magne<c>e(n)s(ium)" ("of the unit of Magn[...] ...."). The name could be a Latin nominative form Magni, or Magna, and the fort is today sometimes referred to under the name "Magna". The name is rather inappropriate for a relatively small fort, and one suggestion is that it could ultimately derive from the Celtic word maen meaning "stone" or "rock".
The site was occupied by several earlier timber-built camps as revealed by aerial photography, and a large enclosure of just under 8 acres (c. 3.2ha) below the later walls. The earliest dateable evidence is from the end of Domitian's reign (1st century).
Magnis was built on the Stanegate frontier in about 80 AD to guard the junction of the Maiden Way Roman road (running north to south) with the Stanegate (running west to east). As such the fort predates Hadrian's Wall.
The Maiden Way ran south from Magnis to Bravoniacum (Kirkby Thore near Penrith). An intermediate fort halfway between the two on the Maiden Way was Whitley Castle or Epiacum, just north of Alston, Cumbria.
Five hundred Hamian archers, known as Cohors Prima Hamiorum Sagittaria, the only regiment of archers known in Britain, were stationed at Magnis starting from 120 AD.
Hadrian's Wall was built from 122 only a few hundred yards north of the fort, and its Vallum ditch was dug to the north of the fort, separating it from the Wall and the frontier zone. The vallum was also diverted much further north of the fort than needed with no apparent reason. The fort was rebuilt in stone in 136-7 when the Antonine Wall was built in what is now Scotland. Further rebuilding was done at the end of the reign of Antoninus Pius (c. 161) and after the withdrawal from the Antonine wall, the same garrison that had occupied it in Hadrianic times fort returned.
A large vicus (civilian settlement) was located on at least three sides of the fort as revealed by geophysical survey. It was identified by visitors to the remains including Horsley in 1732 and is also testified by many dedications to the god Vitiris.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Magnis or Magna was a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Magnis 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 Milecastle 46 (Carvoran) (0.3 km), Turret 45B (Walltown West) (0.5 km), Turret 46A (0.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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