1The smallest unit of ancient Roman municipal administration, consisting of a village or part of a town.
‘Life for the ordinary people of the vicus or village seemed a little more interesting than that of the upper classes, but it remained harsh and unforgiving.’
‘However, to complicate matters, ‘wich ‘in some instances may derive from the Latin vicus, which was used broadly for dwellings, farms, hamlets, or subsidiary settlements.’’
‘Similar stakeholes were found near Wallsend, surrounding the vicus enclosure outside the Roman fort.’
‘The settlement was abandoned by the end of the 3rd century - like other vici on the northern frontier - and was then cultivated as fields or allotments, presumably by the garrison.’
‘Antiquarian reports had recorded Roman tombstones from the area east of the fort and vicus, an attached civilian settlement, alongside the trans-Pennine road.’
‘The principal sites to have received archaeological attention are the forts and their associated civilian settlements or vici.’
1.1A medieval European township.
Origin
Latin, literally ‘group of dwellings’.
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