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The Antonine Itinerary - Brittannia I | Saxon History

 

The first Antonine Itinerary for Britannia - Bremenium to Pretorio



Itinerary I

The Antonine Itinerary (Itinerarium Provinciarum Antonini Augusti) is a register of stations and distances along the roads of the Roman Empire. Though named after the Emperor Antoninus Pius, it almost certainly dates to the late 3rd or early 4th century AD — the plural form Britanniarum in the British section header indicates it was compiled after Britain was divided into two provinces by Septimius Severus around AD 197. It is one of the most valuable surviving documents for understanding Roman Britain, listing stopping points and mileages along routes that cover less than a quarter of the known road network — suggesting it records specific official journeys rather than the network as a whole.

Iter I running from the military frontier in Northumberland all the way to the Yorkshire coast — a total of 156 Roman miles. It follows Dere Street southward through the Pennine corridor before turning east across the Vale of York toward the sea. Several of its waypoints remain confirmed beyond reasonable doubt; others are actively debated, and at least two — Delgovicia and Praetorio — have never been conclusively identified.

 

The full route of Iter I

Bremenium to Praetorio — 156 Roman miles

Bremenium → current High Rochester, Northumberland ✓ confirmed
     Bremenium to Corstopitum: 20 miles - using Margary 8 on the map this measures 38.5km == 26.01 Roman miles
     please see our The Original Bremenium: A Reappraisal of the Iter I Distance from Corstopitum page.

Corstopitum → current Corbridge, Northumberland ✓ confirmed
     Corstopitum to Vindomora: 9 miles - using Margary 8 on the map this measures 15.5km == 10.47 Roman miles

Vindomora → current Ebchester, County Durham ✓ confirmed
     Vindomora to Vinovium: 19 miles - using Margary 8 on the map this measures 28Km == 18.92 Roman miles

Vinovium → current Binchester, County Durham ✓ confirmed
     Vinovium to Cataractonium: 22 miles - using Margary 8 on the map this measures 31.9Km == 21.55 Roman miles

Cataractonium → current Catterick, North Yorkshire ✓ confirmed
     Cataractonium to Isurium: 24 miles - using Margary 8 on map this measures 37.9Km == 25.61 Roman miles

Isurium → current Aldborough, North Yorkshire ✓ confirmed
     Isurium to Eboracum: 17 miles - - using Margary 8 on the map this measures 26.9Km == 18.17 Roman miles

Eboracum → current York ✓ confirmed — legionary fortress and provincial capital
     Eboracum to Derventione: 7 miles - using Margary 810 on the map this measures 11.1Km == 7.5 Roman miles

Derventione → current Stamford Bridge, East Yorkshire ⚠ probable — some scholars prefer Malton
     Derventione to Delgovicia: 13 miles - using Margary 810 on the map this measures 21.7Km == 14.66 Roman miles

Delgovicia → location disputed ✗ unconfirmed — Delgovicia at Fimber
     Delgovicia to Praetorio: 25 miles - using Margary 810 on the map this measures 38.1Km == 25.74 Roman miles assuming
     that Pretorio was a protected harbour behind Flamborough head.

Praetorio → probably in the Bridlington area, East Yorkshire ⚠ probable — exact location unconfirmed, possibly lost to coastal erosion

If you would like to check these dimensions there is a very useful website to translate Km from Google maps to Roman miles, this can be found on Unit converters.net.

 

Maps of Iter I

The following 2 maps show the route of Iter I shown in purple on map 1.

The road dimensions are colour coded:
Iter I route is shown in purple on map 1.
The widest roads are shown as wide black lines, and are our equivalent of motorways.
The roads are shown as wide blue lines, are narrower but are our equivalent of A roads.
The maroon roads appear to be early military constructed roads and are not as wide.
The red roads appear to be later military constructed roads slightly smaller than the maroon roads.
The thinner green roads are more like our B roads between towns and villages.
The thinner blue roads are equivalent to our C roads.
Roads shown as a thin black line are roads where the dimensions are unknown.
Thin purple roads are suspected routes of Roman roads.

To see the logic for the above roads please visit our Roman Roads — A Reference Guide page.

 

Maps of Iter I showing the route

Map of the Antonine Itinerary showing locations and roads
Click on the map image(s) for full sized map(s) based on Google My Maps



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