Maia, Maio, Mais

In 1599 the town of Bowness on Solway boasted the remains of a Roman fort. Traces of streets, ruined walls and buildings existed with a paved road leading to Maryport. These were the then existing remains of Maia, the westernmost fort of Hadrian’s Wall. Nothing is visible nowadays, the North wall of the fort has been eroded away by the sea, and the stones of the fort have long since become an integral part of the buildings of the village.

The fort was probably constructed at the same time as others in the Hadrian’s wall system as no pottery has been found that dates to before AD120. Maia was 7 acres in size and was large enough to hold a milliary cohort with additional space for storage. It had a fort wall 5 ft thick that had a clay and cobble foundation, and a temple to the “Matres”. The western end of Hadrian’s Wall terminated around a quarter of a mile away from the fort and was still visible until four hundred years ago. The first unit to be based at the fort was probably a cohors milliaria equitata, although a building inscription dedicated by the Sixth Legion has been found.

There is an absence of pottery from the area of the vicus after the dates 367/9 which suggests that it may have been abandoned around that time with the civilian population moving into the fort.

One question asked by visitors is why a fort should have been built here at all? The answer could lie in a statement by Sir John Clark from the 1740’s in “A Trip to Whitehaven in 1739”

“I cannot but look upon it (Hadrian’s Wall) and the vallum Antonini in Scotland as foolish and useless contrivances as the events showed, for the Scots and the picts cou’d at any time destroy it and enter the Roman province as they pleased. Here particularly at Bulness there was nothing to hinder them from passing Solway Firth at low water.”

The wall then extended this far to stop the casual crossing of the firth at low tide.

Officers and Men at Maia:

RIB 2057 and 2058

Sulpicius Secundianus, Tribune, AD251-3

RIB 2059

Antonianus

RIB 2061

LEG VI Vic. (PF)

Sources

Birley

RIB

Excavations at Bowness in Solway 1955, Daniels CM, 1960

“A Trip to Whitehaven in 1739” Sir John Clark