Δουνιον

Attested:  (1) Ptolemy 2,3,29 Δουνιον, a πολις of the Δουροτριγες
  (2) DVN on the reverse of a coin by AM (?Amminus).

Where:  A hill fort in Dorset, for which the obvious guess is near Dorchester, where Maiden Castle, SY669884, is huge and Maumbury Rings became the Roman amphitheatre for Dorchester.  However, Rivet and Smith preferred Hod Hill fort, ST85491080, because it contained a Roman camp and is a better fit to Ptolemy's coordinates.  In fact, the best fit to Ptolemy is at Badbury Rings, ST963029, which is right next to an important Roman road junction.

Name origin:  See here about dunum ‘fort’.  Beware past muddled thinking about place names in this area.

Notes:  Vespasian's troops' role in the invasion of Britain most likely involved a landing near Poole (Vindocladia), a base camp at Lake Farm, and a campaign up the river Stour confronting a series of strongholds of indigenous Britons, of which Badbury Rings was the first.  The find-spot of coin (2) is unrecorded, but Amminus is generally reckoned likely to have ruled in Kent, although a similar coin was found at Waddon Hill in Dorset, in an area that Ptolemy called Belgic.

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Last edited 25 August 2023     To main Menu