Rochester is a town and former city in Kent, England. It is located at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about from London. The town's location is due to the bridge which carries the Roman Watling Street (now the A2) over the river.
Name
The source of the Romano-British name for Rochester, Durobrivae, has been a matter of some debate.
The name Durobrivae can be translated as "stronghold" or "fort" by the "bridge" or "bridges". This could have been the oppidum (see pre-Roman history, below) or a pre-Roman fort. No such fort has been discovered by archaeologists, but much of the land has been disturbed by the succeeding two millennia of continuous occupation. Alternatively, Durobrivae may refer to a small fort set up by Aulus Plautius, the general in charge of the first phase of the Roman conquest of Britain; it was not needed for long, as Kent was soon settled. More fundamentally, there was no bridge in AD 43. The Romans did eventually bridge the river: see the article Rochester Bridge. The Roman pioneers may even have initially built a pontoon bridge to supply the advancing army, replacing it with this permanent structure later.
The alternative explanation notes that Durobrivae was also recorded as Durobrovum and Durobrivis. Either of these could be a Latinisation of the British word Dourbruf meaning "swift stream".
The name is recorded as Durobrivis in around 730 and Dorobrevis in 844. The first of these was pronounced as "Robrivis". Bede copied down the name, c730, mistaking its meaning as "Hrofi's fortified camp" (OE Hrofes cæster). From this comes c730 Hrofæscæstre, 811 Hrofescester, 1086 Rovescester, 1610 Rochester.
From Bede's time the name contained the Latin word castra, which is present in the names of many cities that were once Roman camps (e.g. Chester Latin Deva). It is often assumed that Rochester was a fortified Roman town, but no evidence has been found of a formal fort. The Roman street pattern suggests that it was a line of shops and houses built alongside a road, the characteristic pattern of a vicus. Systematic fortification did take place after AD 175 and this of course was well before Bede's time.
The Latinised adjective Roffensis refers to Rochester.
Ancient
Settlement in the area is first evidenced by the Neolithic Medway megaliths, particularly Kit's Coty House. Within the area of Rochester itself Belgic remains under the Roman levels were found in 1961 by R. E. Chaplin. Coin moulds suggest that this was a centre of some importance.
Celtic
Rochester was one of the two oppida of the Cantiaci tribe, the western administrative centre of the Celtic kingdom (the other being their capital of Durovernum Cantiacorum, modern day Canterbury). The Celtic trackway which became Watling Street probably passed through on roughly the current alignment: the geography of the Medway dictates the best crossing point.
Roman
Permanent Roman occupation began with the Claudian invasion in AD 43. The precise route of the Roman advance has been debated; the army could have come along what is now the Pilgrim's Way to Aylesford or along Watling Street to Rochester. The Medway crossing was opposed, resulting in the Battle of the Medway which was notable for taking two days, unusual for that period.
The Kentish oppidum was transformed into the Roman settlement of Durobrivae. Its layout establishes the present High Street and Northgate and Boley Hill. The Romans bridged the river at the same point as the present bridge, for Victorian engineers building the bridge discovered the Roman footings. There were nine piers of composite stone, timber and rubble construction. On top of the piers longtitudinal timber beams provided the actual bridging structure, with cross planking to form the road surface. They constructed a substantial causeway, wide, over the marshy ground on the Strood Side of the river, extending from the river to the present day Angel Corner.
In more settled times, the combination of transport links and the fertile Medway valley became the basis of a developed agricultural economy. Compared to the rest of the country there was a marked abundance of Roman villas lining the valley from Rochester down to Maidstone. During the 190s systematic earthen fortifications were established which were replaced in stone during the 220s. Some of these stone defences are still extant.
In AD 407, the last Roman legions left Britain. Following severe Saxon raids in 408 and 409, Honorius sent a letter in 410 to the cities of Britain urging them to look to their own defences. Later in 410, Rome itself fell. Although these dates mark significant changes, a protracted period of sub-Roman culture continued.