What was the westernmost settlement ever ruled by the Romans?

Rowena8482

I suspect it may be Chester on the border between England and Wales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester Nov 12 07, 7:45 AM

author

From this map Segontum (Caernarvon) and Maridunum (Caermarthen) seem to be better candidates. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Romanbritain.jpg If the Roman settlements were situated precicely at today's towns, Maridunum/Carmarthen is the westernmost settlement, at 4 degrees 19 minutes West, while Segontum/Caernarvon is located at 4 degrees 16 minutes West. Nov 12 07, 8:45 AM

lilbuggie07

During the Neolithic the region was inhabited by Iberian related peoples, who also lived in other regions of Atlantic Europe at the time. They built religious monuments called megaliths. Dolmens and Menhirs still survive in the countryside around the city. The Indo-European Celts invaded after the first millennium BC and intermarried with the Pre-Indo-European population, giving a rise to Celtic-speaking local tribes such as the Cempsi. Archeological findings show that a Phoenician influence existed in the place that, since 1200 B.C., leading some historians to the theory that a Phoenician trading post occupied the site of the centre of the present city, in the southern slope of the Castle hill. The magnificent harbour provided by the estuary of the river Tagus made it the ideal spot for a settlement to provide foodstuffs to Phoenician ships travelling to the tin islands (modern Isles of Scilly) and Cornwall. The new city might have been named Allis Ubbo or "safe harbor" in Phoenician, according to one of several theories for the origin of its name[citation needed]. Another theory is that it took its name from the pre-Roman name of the River Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Besides sailing to the North, the Phoenicians might also have probably taken advantage of the situation of the settlement at the mouth of Iberia's largest river to trade with the inland tribes for valuable metals. Other important local products were salt, salted fish and the then widely famous Lusitanian horses. Recently, Phoenician remains from the eighth century B.C. were found beneath the Middle Age Sé de Lisboa (Lisbon See) or main Cathedral of the modern city. Most modern historians[3], however, consider the idea of a Phoenician foundation of the city of Lisbon, as unreal. At best Lisbon was an ancient autochthonous settlement (what the Romans called an Oppidum) that maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which accounts for the presence of Phoenician pottery and other material objects. Statue of King Afonso Henriques, conqueror of the city in 1147. Statue of King Afonso Henriques, conqueror of the city in 1147. The Greeks knew Lisbon as "Olissipo" and "Olissipona", a name they thought was derived from Ulysses, though this was a folk etymology. According to an Ancient Greek myth, the hero founded the city after he left Troy and departed to the Atlantic to escape the Greek coalition. If all of Odysseus's travels were in the Atlantic as Cailleux[4] argued, then this could mean that Odysseus founded the city coming from the north, before trying to round Cape Malea, which Cailleux located at Cabo de São Vicente (Cape of St. Vincent), in a south-east direction, to reach his home land Ithaca, supposedly present Cadiz. However, the presence of Phoenicians (even if occasional) is thought to predate any Greek presence in the area. Later on the Greek name was corrupted in vulgar Latin to Olissipona. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon Nov 12 07, 9:51 AM

McGruff

Author, I'll let you make a decision on the reply above. I don't see where it answers your question. Nov 12 07, 10:35 AM

author

Of course the settlement must be in today's Portugal, which was the province Lusitania in Roman times. And the answer might well be today's Lisbon, then called Felicitas Julia. But weren't there settlements even farther west? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusitania This French site names some settlements in Roman Lusitania. As far as I can see the settlement near today's Lisbon is the farthest west. But according to this site (and also the site in Spanish and Portuguese) the name of the settlement was rather called Olisipo or Olissipo than Felicitas Julia. To McGruff, you might well delete lilbuggie's answer, as it seems a little irrelevant even if it correctly pointed out that Portugal is farther to the west than Wales. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusitanie http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olissipo Nov 13 07, 9:10 AM Nov 13 07, 8:57 AM