Roman
The World beyond Rome II
Fort at Vindolanda, AD 105. The fort housed the First Tungrian cohort and a Batavian cohort. The effects of imperial neglect can be seen on the British frontier. The archaeological evidence from Scotland shows a lively cross-frontier exchange in the first and early second centuries. Roman goods found their way into native hands, from fine enameled brooches and sets of…
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THE ROMAN ARMY – LIVING OFF THE LAND II
The fort at Housesteads on Hadrian’s Wall, during winter. The wall is on the right side.1 = the commandant’s house2 = the hospital3 = the headquarters building4 = the granaries (where grain was stored to make bread)5 = the barracks (where the soldiers slept)6 = one of the gateways into…
The End of Roman Britain I
In AD 378 the Romans suffered a catastrophic defeat at Adrianople where two-thirds of their eastern army was destroyed. Troops had to be brought from the west, which included those in Britain. In addition provincial barbarians led by their own kings and chieftains filled the ranks. In Britain there were…
The End of Roman Britain II
Yet Saxon raids continued. The Yorkshire signal stations came under attack at least twice, Huntcliff and Goldborough being savagely destroyed. Hadrian’s Wall ceased to function as an effective barrier. Forts remained in use but each may have organized its own defence. The soldiers had always been paid in coinage sent…
Tota Italia I
Consolidation When hostilities with the Samnites ceased in 304 BC, Rome’s grip on peninsular Italy was already becoming tight. Roman arms had been carried into the Sallentine Peninsula (the heel of Italy), and a Roman garrison had been installed, if temporarily, as far north as Perusia in Etruria. New Latin…
Tota Italia II
Appius Claudius was hard-pressed in Etruria. He sent increasingly gloomy dispatches to the Senate in Rome reporting that Egnatius continued to receive reinforcements, most notably from the Umbrians and the Gauls. The existing confederate camp was too small to contain the Four Nations, as Appius dubbed them, and a second…
Tota Italia III
South Italic warriors, c. 400BCE, art by Giuseppe Rava A spear sacred to Mars was laid upon the ground and Mus stood upon it. Denter helped the consul recite the terrible prayer of devotio, the same with which the original Decius Mus had devoted himself at Battle of the Veseris.…