Segedunum

Segedunum was a Roman fort at modern-day Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England, UK. The fort lay at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (in Wallsend) near the banks of the River Tyne, forming the easternmost portion of the wall. It was in use as a garrison for approximately 300 years, almost up to 400AD.Today, Segedunum is the most thoroughly excavated fort along Hadrian's Wall, and is operated as Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum.EtymologyFive places named Segedunum are known to have existed in the Roman empire, one each in Britain and Germany and three in Gaul.The name Segedunum is known from the Notitia Dignitatum of the 4th century, but there is no consensus on its meaning. The various conjectures include "derived from the Celtic for 'powerful' or 'victorious'", "derived from the words sego ('strength') and dunum ('fortified place')", "Romano-British Segedunum 'Strong-fort'", and "Celtic sechdun or 'dry hill'".The first element of the name is attested widely in Gaul, Spain, Germany and Italy, and derives from the Indo-European root segh-, which is reflected in various later European languages with similar meanings: Irish seg-, segh- 'strength, vigour', Welsh hy 'daring, bold', German Sieg 'victory', and so on. As applied to place names, it appears to have had the meaning of "place of strength" or "place of victory". The second element, -dunum, is a Celtic term widely attested across Britain and Gaul and typically meant a fort. Thus Segedunum probably had the meaning of "strong fort" or "victory fort".