Roman camps UK - is there a database or list?

[Steve Kaye]

Are any of the camps you've located sited on chalk upland? This is more common in southern England, after all, and tends to be the higher and more strategically important terrain. How would this affect the need for water supply? Could wells provide the required water?

Nathan, you're running faster than me = the work has not started yet, still gathering the data. However, from preliminary investigation of some camps and roads, I think it true to say that the need for an adequate water supply is paramount. Even road routing seems to be controlled by ensuring the water supply at stop points. But, I need to conduct the work, collate evidence and then write it up - months away yet.

I may as well mention at this point that I've been in touch with the Manshead Archaeological Society concerning the Dunstable site, and they tell me that nineteen Roman or pre-Roman wells have been found in the vicinity of the old town, with two working aquifers - they estimate this could have supplied sufficent water for a force of c10,000 men. I'm not sure whether your water-supply calculations include subterranean sources or not. I would guess that most of time it would take far too long to dig a well!

Very interesting, thank you. My water-supply calculations for the marching legions does not include the use of wells for a number of reasons.

1) Wells are typically dug by an indigenous population to serve their immediate needs. Apparently new wells are only dug when populations expand, existing wells start to fail or become polluted. However, there may be a small surplus of wells - old polluted wells that clear themselves and new wells waiting to be brought into service. The main point is that the supply of water from wells rarely exceeds (by much) the needs of the local people.

2) Following from 1), a newly arriving legionary force, at a site primarily served by wells, would have to dig new ones but that takes a variable amount of time (days - because you can only get at a maximum 2-3 diggers into a well at any one time). And, you then usually have to wait days/weeks for the well to 'settle' and become productive.

3) How productive would the new wells be and when? How many would be required for the legionary force? The answers are almost impossible to calculate for me or the Legionary commander.

Relying on wells is, I submit, far too risky and time-consuming and why bother?

When writing about Boudica I had to think about the legionary force arriving at Silchester which has a number of wells (map and text here). Conclusion was that the legionaries could not defend the town nor rely on the wells or local streams for supply. My guess is that legions would camp approx. 1km east of Silchester next to a river.

I bet the general rule was to not rely on wells but to camp outside towns (but march through them impressing the locals with your display of power).

Other rules might have applied when considering mixing legionaries and towns-folk.
1) Legionaries are generally well-fed, healthy and (mostly) disease free. Many town-folk were probably not. Rule = don't mix legionaries with town-folk when on campaign.
2) Wells are usually polluted to one extent or another. Town-folk develop an immunity to the bugs in their wells (even true today in rural Yorkshire). Legionaries would probably become sick from drinking water from wells. Rule = legionaries shouldn't drink from wells when flowing water is readily available.
3) Mixing soldiers and town-folk is potentially an explosive mixture. Rule = keep separate legionaries and town-folk when on campaign.

I'll stop that list now!

Another point, about ditches - I recall a mention here before that a number of known Roman marching camps appear to have either no ditches, or a very cursory one. The rampart was the important thing.

You may be right! Legionaries are incredibly practical/pragmatic people. For example, some Scottish marching camp locations appear to be situated in locations beyond the normal march distance in areas with increased soil depth. The terrain they had been marching across was/is largely barren and with little soil depth: hence, digging deep ditches would be very difficult and time and energy consuming. Much better, in these circumstances, to march a little further to an area with deeper soil where ditches can be more easily dug.

But, if the the marching legion cannot reach such deep soil then they are forced to camp on shallow-soiled areas. Then they behave as farmers in similar situations - scrape the barren soil, resulting in a shallow ditch and place the residue to form a rampart base (field wall); now clear the interior of rocks/boulders and place these on the rampart base. Simple, practical and quite easy for 1,000s of men. The result we find might be a poor ditch and more substantial rampart. Anyway, that is one idea I'd like to test and why I'm searching for data on soil depths across the UK.

Regards, Steve Kaye