Two Roman emperors died in York, and a third was proclaimed there
Roman York, called Eboracum, was far more than a fort. Septimius Severus died there in 211 AD and Constantius Chlorus in 306, whereupon troops in the fortress instantly hailed his son Constantine as successor. By 237 it held colonia status, the highest rank a Roman city could reach.
Rome invaded Britain in 43 AD, yet the legions did not push beyond the Humber until the early 70s, because the local Brigantes had become a client state. When their leadership turned hostile, the general Quintus Petillius Cerialis marched the Ninth Legion north from Lincoln. Between 71 and 74 AD that legion raised turf ramparts for a fortress on the north bank of the Ouse covering 50 acres.
A legion at full strength numbered some 5,500 men, a magnet for traders, and a civilian town grew up around the walls, especially to the south-east and across the river. Rebuilding the fortress in stone began under Trajan early in the 2nd century and may have taken more than 100 years, consuming over 48,000 cubic metres of stone, mostly Magnesian Limestone. Hadrian probably visited in 122 on his way to plan his wall, and Severus used the town as his base for campaigns in Caledonia from 208.
When the province was split in the 3rd century, Eboracum became capital of Britannia Inferior. Of Britain's four coloniae, it was the only one not founded for retired soldiers. A busy port, it drew residents from across the empire. A first-century warehouse fire on Coney Street shows spelt wheat was the main grain, ahead of barley, while cattle, sheep, goats and pigs supplied most of the meat.
Religion was varied. Altars honour Mars, Hercules, Jupiter and Fortune, though the most frequently cited deities were the guardian spirit of Eboracum and the Mother Goddess. A Christian community existed too: Bishop Eborius of Eboracum attended the Council of Arles in 314. The name comes from the Common Brittonic Eburākon, possibly meaning yew tree place, and its earliest written appearance, around 95 to 104 AD, is on a wooden tablet from Vindolanda.
Source: Eboracum
