Portus Lemanis

Portus Lemanis, also known as Lemanae, was the Latin name of an ancient Roman fort, settlement and port in southern Kent. The modern village of Lympne derives its name from the ancient port.

The first documentary mention of the site is found in the late 3rd century Antonine Itinerary, where it is mentioned as lying 68,000 paces from Londinium and 16,000 paces from the cantonal capital Durovernum Cantiacorum . However, there is archaeological evidence of much earlier use as a naval base: tiles stamped CL BR have been found indicating that sailors or marines of the fleet, the Classis Britannica, were involved in its construction, as well as an inscription dated to the first third of the 2nd century on an altar stone, dedicated to the god Neptune by a Lucius Aufidius Pantera, prefect of the Classis Britannica. According to the 5th century Notitia Dignitatum , the fort was garrisoned by a regiment raised in Tournai and formed part of a defence system known as the Saxon Shore under the command of a Count. The last mention of Lemanis in Latin sources is in the late 7th century Ravenna Cosmography, by which time the site, along with the rest of Britain, had long been severed from the Roman Empire.

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