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Rethinking Romano-British *Corinium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2013

Richard Coates*
Affiliation:
Richard Coates, FSA, Bristol Centre for Linguistics, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

It is suggested that the name generally accepted as the Romano-British name of Cirencester, *Corinium, the traditional spelling deriving from a Latin rendering of that in Ptolemy's Geography, is mistaken, and that for philologically sound reasons the authentic name is more likely to have been Cironium, as recorded in the Ravenna Cosmography.

Résumé

Il est suggéré que le nom généralement accepté comme étant le nom romano-britannique de Cirencester, *Corinium, orthographe traditionnelle dérivée d'une version latine de la Géographie de Ptolémée, est une erreur, et que, pour de bonnes raisons philologiques, le nom authentique serait plutôt Cironium, comme l'indique la Cosmographie de Ravenne.

Zusammenfassung

Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass der im Allgemeinen für Cirencester akzeptierte römisch-britische Name, *Corinium, dessen traditionelle Schreibung von der lateinischen Form in der Handbuch der Geographie des Ptolemaios abgeleitet ist, falsch ist, und dass der authentische Name, philologisch begründet, wahrscheinlich viel eher Cironium lautete, wie dies auch beim Geographen von Ravenna festgelegt ist.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2013 

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