Monday, September 4, 2017

DACIANS, THRACIANS AND DRAGONS, OH MY!: UTHER PENDRAGON AT BIRDOSWALD AND CASTLESTEADS?

Sarmatian Draconarius from Chester

In my book THE ARTHUR OF HISTORY, I made a case for the Banna Roman fort at Birdoswald towards the western end of Hadrian's Wall as the main center of King Arthur.  At the same time I pointed out the proximity to this fort of another named Camboglanna, modern Castlesteads, which I thought might be Arthur's Camlann.  Just a few miles further to the west lay the fort of Aballava (variant Avalana), perhaps the factual basis for the legend of Avalon.  Both Birdoswald and Castlesteads lay in the Irthing Valley.  Place-name expert Dr. Andrew Breeze had made the case for this river-name deriving from a Cumbric word meaning 'Little Bear.'  I had suggested that the Northern British chieftain Arthwys belonged here or that his name might well be an earlier territorial designation for the Irthing region.

Something I didn't take into account was a possible connection with Uther Pendragon. While it is fashionable (and quite likely correct!) that this name/title means something akin to 'the terrible chief-warrior or chief-leader', I had once, more or less playfully, suggested Pendragon could stand for the known late Roman military rank of magister draconum, that is the head of the corp that carried the dragon standard.

As it happens, the draco (see http://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/draco.htm) is traced to a number of cavalry peoples of the steppes, including Thracians and Dacians.  Some scholars have argued for the actual origin of the draco among the Dacians (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacian_Draco).  The Thracians themselves possessed a draco-like standard. Why are these facts significant in the context of Birdoswald and Castlesteads?

Because according to the NOTITIA DIGNITATUM, the First Cohort of the Dacians, Hadrian's Own, 1000-strong, was based at Birdoswald (see https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/org/2964).  Also, the First Cohort of Thracians appears with the Dacians on an inscription recording the building of the granary in the early 3rd century.

Thus at one of the places where I have proposed Arthur may have belonged there had existed up until the 4th century a garrison who were especially known for their use of the draco standard.  This reinforces my feeling that Pendragon may have had a more specific meaning than scholars contend.

Assuming, of course, that Arthur belonged in the North at all!  My more recent book, THE BEAR KING, explores a southern Arthur candidate.



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