Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/19

 2 THE HISTORY Book L tiquarians have equally agreed to fuppofe, derived merely and abfolutely from the Romans* The appellation by which it is denoted in the Roman Itinerary is obvioufly not Roman, is ob 7 vioufly deduced from the Britifli language. And this plain cir- cumftance ftrikingly fuggefts to the mind, that the name was not originally impofed by the Romans, that the name was ac- tually impoled by the Britons themfelves, And the Britons only could .Communicate a Britifh name to a Homan fbrtrefs. But if the Romans had been the original conftru&ers of the fort, they would certainly, they muft neceflarily, have given it a Roman name. If the fite of the fort had lain totally undiftinguiflied from the. wafte around it by any particular denomination till the Romans firft fixed their ftation upon it, it would neceflarily have received a particular a Roman, denomination from them. And when the Romans had given it a Roman name at firft, they would certainly not have adopted any other name afterward* which the fbbje&ed Britons might have pleifed to beftow.upon it. They would certainly not have inferted that name in their formal Itineraries. And they would certainly oat have fuper- feded the original Roman name for ever by the new Britifh one. A&ing entirely upon a rrtrerfed plftn, they greatly affedted to bury the Britifli under Roman names, and to fuperfede Durovernum by Cantiopolis, Durocobritis by Foram Diana?, Londinium by Augufta, and Ebomcum Deva and Ifca Silurian by the names ef the refpfcftive kgiofts that were quartered at thofe places The name of Manctmium therefore muft have been communi- cated to the fite of the Roman ftation by the Britons themfelves t and btfctfe the Rofnaas conftru&ed their ftation. upon it. And as the name of Mancunian* fignifies a fortrefs or town in the- language from which k is derived, the fite of the Roman ftatioa muft have beeft pre vioufly the area of a Britiflv town or fortrefs^ Till the fite of it was thus or fimilarly diftinguiflied, it could not poffibly have received any denomination at all. Till the fite was thue, and thus only, diftinguiflied, it could not poffibly have received the particular denomination of Mancunium. And, fx> (Jiftiftguiihed, it neceflarily received that or fome other name; a name