Pons Aelius

Pons Aelius, or Newcastle Roman Fort, was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, situated on the north bank of the River Tyne close to the centre of present-day Newcastle upon Tyne [1]. Pons Aelius was a fort and Roman settlement at the original eastern end of Hadrian's Wall, at the site now occupied by The Castle, Newcastle [1]. The Latin name means Aelian Bridge and can be traced back to when emperor Hadrian visited Britain in 122 and first saw the need for a frontier wall [1]. The fort is thought to have been 1.53 acres, small by Roman standards [1]. Much of the fort remains buried underneath the medieval Castle Keep, which gave the city of Newcastle its name [1]. Excavations around the castle keep and dredging of the Tyne yielded finds typical of Roman encampments [1]. A dedication to emperor Hadrian's mother, Domitia Paulina Major, attests the presence of the Cohors Ulpia Traiana Cugernorum civium Romanorum as evidently being stationed at Pons Aelius at the beginning of the third century [1].