08-17-2013, 11:43 PM
Quote:No evidence for them living elsewhere, as far as I know. I suspect that what happened, particularly during the generally-peaceable third century, is that the garrisons were reduced or downgraded and were no longer commanded by equestrian-level officers. There is evidence from inscriptions of fort structures falling into disrepair during this period, and being renovated later.
If the garrison of a fort, for example, was reduced from a full cohort or ala to a couple of centuries or an irregular unit, commanded by a centurion, perhaps given the temporary position of praepositus (increasingly found in this era), then the commander would live in the barrack accomodation and the old praetorium would either be disused or be converted to other uses. If (as seems to have happened at various times) the garrison was changed, restored or expanded then the old praetorium would be renovated and brought back into service.
Yes, I imagined as such. No problem, I just wondered if maybe it happened or if it was a feasible occurrence.
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Ah yes, trans vallum. I think that could work. I'm sure to be making a reference to "the wall" as you've pointed out, they liked referencing things by referencing *other* things, just need to think how I'm going to do it.
Quote:Most roads were named after the builder, or emperor who ordered the construction - but I don't know if we have any named roads from this far out on the empire's edge. Dere Street, as the main route into the north following the expanisions of Cerialis and Agricola, may have been the Via Flavia at a push. Stane Street predates Hadrian, and probably goes back to the Flavian era too, but if we associate it with Trajan instead it could be the Via Ulpia, maybe...
But here's no evidence for any of this, or for these roads having actual names at all. They could just have been referred to by destination - the road to Eboracum, or whatever.
Again, thanks a lot for this info. I'd forgotten about the tendency to name roads after their builders. I'm sure for convenience's sake they will have had names. I do like "North Road" for Dere Street simply because as Brian points out below, it headed north and I like the idea the British tradition of having "North" and "South" as actual destinations had its origins in Roman times!
I also find Via Militaria for the stanegate fitting because if you think of it it was mainly a military road built to connect the forts of what was then the limes, before the wall was built. It will have been mainly a military road so I think I'll stick to that.
Quote: <snip>
Thanks Brian, that was really informative. I'd love to take a look at your notes or any other info you may have about the Romans in the north-east of England at some point!
By the way, I do have one question that is bugging the hell out of me.
Do we have any idea what the garrison of Corbridge will have been in the 4th century? I imagine at various times the two military compounds will have been used mainly as storage/fabricae/granaries and supply depots for the wall (sort of like Arbeia to the east) but also as barracks and so on built perhaps specifically to fulfill the need of a staging point for the various campaigns/incursions into Scotland - all those emperors/generals that went up north will have needed some place to stay, after all.
The previous forts at Corbridge suggest a 1000 strong force, and Corbridge is the only site on the wall to have yielded anglo-saxon finds, suggesting it was still a sizeable settlement even after the Romans abandoned Britannia, and may have held off the barbarian waves at least for a while. This, and the fact it makes a perfect point to have a sizeable body of reserve troops behind the wall (and the fact it also seems to have made a frequent target, going by how many times it seems to have been burned) makes me think it must have had a sizeable garrison.
I'm inclined to think maybe it consisted of "legionary" vexillations taken from various legions, like the 2nd britannica, or legio praesidiensis, or perhaps even the Victores Iuniores Britanniciani? (the latter is doubtful as they were an auxilia palatinae unit) This is all speculation, and I'd love to hear any suggestions or any evidence (or indeed any other speculation) of what people think their garrison was at that time.
Thanks again.
