Eboracum

Eboracum was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia [1]. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britannia and a provincial capital [1]. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimately developed into the present-day city of York, in North Yorkshire [1]. Two Roman emperors died in Eboracum: Septimius Severus in 211 AD, and Constantius Chlorus in 306 AD [1]. Eboracum was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss [1]. By 237 Eboracum had been made a colonia, the highest legal status a Roman city could attain; there were only four coloniae in Britain, and all but Eboracum had been founded for retired soldiers [1]. In 296 Britannia Inferior was divided into two provinces of equal status with Eboracum becoming the provincial capital of Britannia Secunda [1]. As a busy port and a provincial capital Eboracum was a cosmopolitan city with residents from throughout the Roman Empire [1].