The Ruins of Rome beneath our feet

By Matthew Harffy

with Iona Harffy

"The city buildings fell apart, the works
Of giants crumble. Tumbled are the towers
Ruined the roofs, and broken the barred gate,
Frost in the plaster, all the ceilings gape,
Torn and collapsed and eaten up by age.
And grit holds in its grip, the hard embrace
Of earth, the dead-departed master-builders,
Until a hundred generations now
Of people have passed by. Often this wall
Stained red and grey with lichen has stood by
Surviving storms while kingdoms rose and fell.
And now the high curved wall itself has fallen.”

Hamer, R. 1970, A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse

These lines of poetry, taken from a piece commonly known as The Ruin, a part of The Exeter Book, were written in Old English sometime in the early medieval period. It may well have been composed about the Roman city of Aquae Sulis (modern day Bath), but wherever the author was describing, the Anglo-Saxons and native Britons of the British Isles would have been surrounded by such ruins. Buildings, with tiled roofs and beautiful mosaic floors and painted frescoes. Bridges of stone, spanning wide expanses of water, arches seeming to defy nature by not collapsing. Great walls and fortifications constructed of huge slabs of stone. Even the roads between key sites, perhaps cracked and overgrown in places now that the Legions were not there to keep them serviced, but still great feats of engineering.

Main bath at the Roman Baths, Bath.

After the Romans left, few, if any, could remember how to cut and work stone in this fashion. After a few generations, the knowledge had been forgotten. But the constant reminder all around them of a clearly superior technological past must have been unnerving. Did the everyday man and woman of the so-called Dark Ages have any idea who the Romans were? Or did they believe that a past race of giants had built the stone edifices and villas that dotted the countryside.  

The Romans left their mark on the world in many ways, not least in the fabulous constructions that those following them could not replicate.

“The massive structure, built by long-dead rulers of this land from grey slabs of stone, stretched to the horizon to the east and west. One of the fortified gates, that stood at intervals along its length, loomed near. The rocks that formed the edifice had been cunningly fashioned and placed together. None living knew how to build such things. Whenever he saw the Wall, or any of the tile-roofed buildings or stone bridges that yet stood throughout Albion, Scand felt a sense of awe and unease. People talked of giants having wrought these things, but Scand was no fool. The doorways and stone-hewn steps of the buildings were made for men, not giants. But how could men who ruled the land so absolutely have taken their leave of these lush shores? Had they all died? It was a quandary he would never solve, so he pushed it from his thoughts.”

Excerpt from The Cross and the Curse, by Matthew Harffy

Milecastle 39 on Hadrian's Wall

Even now, 1,600 years after they left the isles, their memories are seen everywhere, from the massive Hadrian’s Wall, to the amazing Roman baths of Bath. But one thing we don’t always think of is how much still lies undiscovered beneath the earth we walk on.

Or under the grass where our children play football.

In the town of Bradford on Avon, near Bath, the St Laurence School playing fields hide rich Roman remains. Whenever the weather was dry, the shape of buildings could be made out by discoloration of the grass, which was recorded by English Heritage. And back in 1976 a bath house had been excavated when some nearby houses were being built. But in 2003, excavations were carried out by the University of Bristol. These uncovered a wonderfully complex and nearly complete mosaic in the main villa building which has been dated to 360 AD.

St Laurence Roman Villa

There is a circular structure built over it at a later date which may have been an early Christian baptistery, predating the Saxon church in the centre of Bradford on Avon.

A geophysical survey showed that the Roman villa had at least fifteen rooms and more wings that extend under the nearby housing estate. The survey also revealed a second building of identical size and structure some 30 metres away. This second building appears to be an agricultural or industrial building, complete with hypocaust (underfloor heating), which may have been used to produce smoke for curing food.

St Laurence School and University of Bristol distributed find bags to 500 households and residents in the surrounding properties and people were asked to collect anything of interest they found while gardening. The finds included Roman coins, pottery and a Roman roof tile.

Both of my daughters have attended St Laurence School, and it is with a sense of wonder I have gazed upon some of the Roman finds and displays about the villa in the reception area when going to parents’ evenings or school theatre productions. One of my younger daughter’s teachers must have felt the same awe, for, back in 2003 he was a Physical Education teacher. After seeing the rich Roman remains unearthed from where he had officiated so many sporting events and cajoled so many reluctant children to participate, he became fascinated by all things of the past. He is now a History teacher!

In Britain, with its complex and many-layered history, one does not need to look very far to see evidence of past inhabitants. But it still amazes me, that in a landmass that is so densely populated, veritable treasures are unearthed with startling frequency. Roman villas under a few inches of grass, the magnificent Anglo-Saxon finds of the Staffordshire Hoard, even a former monarch beneath a car park. In 2013 alone, there were 73,000 reported archaeological finds in Britain!

Staffordshire Hoard

Unlike our Anglo-Saxon forebears we may know more about our past and those who lived before us, but next time you go out for a walk, ask yourself what secrets might be mouldering in the earth, just beneath your feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matthew Harffy is the author of the Bernicia Chronicles, a series of historical novels set in seventh century Britain. The first is the action-packed tale of vengeance and coming of age, The Serpent Sword. The sequel, The Cross and The Curse, was  released on 22nd January 2016. The third in the series, By Blood and Blade, will be released in the summer of 2016.

Buy The Serpent Sword
Buy The Cross and the Curse

Website: www.matthewharffy.com
Twitter: MatthewHarffy
Facebook: MatthewHarffyAuthor

References:
Hamer, R. 1970, A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse
http://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/3686
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/features/boa_mosaic.shtml
http://www.history.co.uk/shows/articles/the-5-greatest-archaeological-discoveries-in-britain
https://st-laurence.com/schools-heritage

Images:
Main bath at the Roman Baths, Bath. ---- Photograph © Andrew Dunn, 15 September 2005. [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Milecastle 39 on Hadrian's Wall ---- By Adam Cuerden [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
St Laurence Roman Villa ---- Photograph © Roddy Smith [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Staffordshire Hoard ---- By David Rowan, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Staffordshire hoard) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Legio IX Hispana : The ‘Ninth’

by David Coles

The Roman Legions – even the phrase quickens the heartbeat. Stuff out of legend but, in fact, everything you’ve ever heard about them is probably true.

A Roman legion consisted of a force in excess of 5000 legionaries and there may have been up to 50 legions in the Roman army although this total varied throughout the 500 or so years of history because of disbanding, merging and raising new units. At its height, the Army probably numbered more than a million men.

‘Probably’ becomes an over-used word  in the history of the Ninth, including the raising of the Legion in the first place. Julius Caesar raised the original Ninth Legion but this was disbanded following Caesar’s final victory. After Julius Caesar’s assassination, the Ninth’s veterans were recalled to fight against the rebellion in Sicily after which they were sent to Macedonia then to Hispania which led to their nickname Hispana, which meant ‘stationed in Hispania’.

Later, the Ninth went to the uneasy border of the Rhine lands to campaign against the Germanic tribes and then to Pannonia – very roughly, the area we know as the Balkans.

Now, ‘probably’ comes thick and fast. They were probably involved in Claudius’ invasion of Britain. Here, they constructed the fort at Lincoln and put down the first revolt by Venutius but suffered serious defeat in Boudicca’s rebellion. They were reinforced with some 2000 legionaries from the German provinces and moved on to York where they constructed a new fort.

These lads got around. The cavalry were mounted, of course, but the infantry marched; the top speed of the Legion was limited to that of the slowest: the oxen which drew the wagons. So, a legion would move at three to four roman miles an hour (a mile = 1000 paces) for about six hours a day; in a forced march, they would make five miles an hour in full battle gear. Marching from one side of the Empire to the other was not a task undertaken lightly.

The legionaries who made up the bulk of the Ninth were unlikely to have included many Romans. The original veterans would have been augmented as they retired or died by recruits from the areas they controlled – Germany, the Balkans, Spain and some from Britain. This seems to have been general policy – such a broadly based force would have little sympathy for the local population and therefore, the possibility of collaboration would be minimized.

Probably, the biggest ‘probably’ of all concerns the apparent disappearance of the Ninth Hispana from the history books. How, why and where?

The academics are divided into three groups each espousing a different ending… a massive defeat in Scotland, official disbandment and the favourite – the Legion was moved to the eastern Empire where it suffered defeat in the Jewish revolt or at the hands of the Parthians. There is scant, if any, evidence for these scenarios and each occasions a certain amount of sneering from the other factions.

A forth possibility remains – it may be that the Legion just faded away… A legion had its own engineers, construction crews, surveyors, blacksmiths and the legionaries themselves doubled as grunt labourers. The Ninth had long experience in construction, their last project being the rebuilding of Hadrian’s Wall in stone rather than the original turf with extensions at either end. The work was completed to strict plans from the distant administration departments; there is at least one example of a mile castle with a gateway overlooking a 100 foot drop at the doorstep! Oh yes, bureaucracy was in full flower 2000 years ago.


It seems possible, therefore, that the Legion was split up and moved to other units requiring these skills – a gradual decline rather than some terrible mishap. An AD108 record of Legions omits the name entirely suggesting just such an administrative demise rather than a spectacular defeat.

The popular concept of a legionary’s life is one of fighting: putting down rebellion, preventing raids, punitive expeditions. In reality there were long periods of comparative peace. Hadrian’s Wall itself was a line on the ground – this is the end of Empire! It was also a customs post, the Ninth allowed trade in cattle and hunting dogs, minerals, textiles and these were inspected at the gateways and taxed as necessary. Many officers and higher-ranking legionaries took local wives although always on the understanding that they might be abandoned if the Legion moved on. Retiring legionaries often chose to stay where they were; granted an acre of land to farm; with a local wife, perhaps children, it could be an appealing prospect after 25 years of service.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Last Free Men
by Jack Everett and David Coles

In 2008, we spent a long weekend walking the route of Hadrian’s Wall in the North of England. Initially, this was a guys’ get-away-break with no literary intentions. However, one evening, we came to a place where the Wall had once crossed the little river Irthing, a place called Willowford today. There was a quay, the remains of a causeway with sluiceways and across the river, a tumble of stone blocks marking the course of the Wall where the river’s erosion had ruined the original stepped ascent. We were entranced.

It was near sunset, birds sang, the river gurgled, otherwise all was silent. Quite plainly in our mind’s eyes, we could see the raiders of 2000 years ago making their way down the steep gorge left by a stream and then floating down with the river current. Unseen, they squirmed through the sluice ways, gained the bank on the south side and fell on the unsuspecting Romans from the back.

The fort at Banna was only a mile or so distant but out of sight beyond the high bank. The first the garrison knew was when the flames of the burning mile castle and wall turrets rose into the night air. Too late, much to late…

That was where our book was born.

But a gradual depletion of the Ninth’s force was not the stuff of adventure, nor the administrative decision to move them to a new theatre. We championed the defeat in Scotland. A British-born scout from the fort at Vircovicium, groomed by the local Druid leader, unites the tribes north of the Wall. The Roman force is lured into a chosen killing ground and wiped out almost, but not quite, to a man.

Buy this or our other books at Amazon via our website:          http://www.archimedespresseuk.com/

Note: Hadrian’s Wall is now a protected English Heritage site, fenced off from farm and common land and with a gravel path alongside. A modern metal footbridge spans the river near Willowford making it an easy matter to walk from a nearby car park. To the writer’s mind, it takes away much of the romance of place.

… David Coles

A Photo Tour of Hadrian's Wall

by Richard Denning

Over the weekend of 4th to 7th July I spent parts of four days touring Hadrian's Wall.The father of a friend is a custodian of the wall (his job is to, as best as possible, keep the wall in good repair). Thus equipped with our own tour guide half a dozen of us set off up the M6 from Birmingham.

The idea was to hit as many significant locations on the Wall as possible in the time we had along with the secondary objective of enjoying some decent real ale along the way!

Brief historical Background.

The Emperor Hadrian established the main borders of the Roman Empire. Although later Emperors would try expeditions outside these bounds the Empire more or less maintained the size and shape that he defined for three centuries. To defend the most northern edge of the empire from the barbarians outside he ordered the building of this wall in the year 122. It was manned more or less continuously through to the year 410. Today it is a World Heritage Site.

Anatomy of the Wall

The wall consisted of a twenty foot high, ten feet wide stone wall that was around 70 miles long and capped with a parapet and crenelations. Every mile was a minor Mile fort that would house a small section of men. Between mile forts were turrets for a small patrol. Along the wall, or sometimes behind it, are major forts with large garrisons and a surrounding civilian town. 10,000 men in all would garrison the wall. In front of the wall is a ditch, and behind it a grass mound and ditch called the Vallum.

Centuries later after the Jacobite rebellions of the 18th century came along. The main impact on the wall was that the English commander demolished large chunks to provide the rubble to build a military road from Carlisle to Newcastle running west to east behind and sometimes along the wall. Today it is the B6318 road and provides a perfect way to navigate along the wall.

Our Tour begins

On Friday 4th July we arrived at Carlisle around noon. We started with a visit to Tullie House Museum in Carlisle. This houses a good overview exhibit about the wall and the Roman Period and serves as an ideal starting point. We then went west out of Carlise to the Cumbrian coast. Although the Wall itself extended from Bowness to Wallsend there are supporting fortifications down both the Irish sea and North sea coast, and the idea was to see something of them.

We visited Maryport. In Roman times a fortress, Alauna, stood here. The fort was first established in around AD 122 as a command and supply base for the coastal defences that would prevent Pictish or Irish raids along the coast. Today the fort is only an outline in the grass. There is however a museum showing part of a large collection of Altars that would be made with each new commander. The old altars were used later as supports for posts of a large hall - perhaps in the post Roman period.

The mounds and lines that
show where Alauna once stood.

A replica wooden watch tower that now functions as a view point at Alauna.

Around this time we had the only bad weather of an otherwise rather pleasant July weekend. It just poured down, and we abandoned attempts to see the other forts in the area. We did stop briefly at Bowness and looked out over the Solway Firth at the spot that the wall once started. There are no stone ruins west of Carlisle however - for that we would have to head east on Saturday.

Our Friday night Hotel turned out to occupy the site of a Roman Fort that stood on the wall. Today nothing is visible but a display board, and the brick line in the carpark of the hotel shows where the fort stood. It was rather fun to spend the night in a Roman fort - even if the fort vanished centuries ago.

Uxelodunum Fort Carlisle - its location

Day Two

Saturday meant time for some ruins. Our itinerary on the Saturday was to visit the first sections of the wall still visible coming from the west, the Roman Army Museum and the Vinolanda Fort.

I can recommend the most western section of surviving wall for a nice walking tour. Here is the local map:

First stop was the first section of wall and a turret.

The most western surviving section of wall  and a turret just west of Birdoswald.

The first turret on the wall. (Turret 52a Banks Turret) Just off the Of map

Just further along this road is Banna (known today as Birdoswald. This is the location of a significant sized partially excavated fort.

Birdoswald is adjacent to a later farmhouse and small manor house whose
19th century owners were some of the first enthusiastic excavators of the site.

Birdoswald has a nice little museum recording the first haltering attempts to excavate the wall in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Inside Birdoswald Museum

For more images on Birdoswald click here

We then walked the wall from Birdoswald the two miles to Gilsland. This route took us past a long section of surviving wall, two turrets and a milecastle and the remains of one side of a Roman bridge.

The Wall between Birdoswald and Gilsland.

The River Irthing - once bridged at this point by a Roman Bridge. A beautiful peaceful spot.

The Bridge approach in the eastbank is now all that is left.

Roman Army Museum

This museum at Brampton gives a excellent overview of life in the Roman army. It includes a well done 3D movie "Edge of Empire" whose participants also appear in a film  later on about a day's life in the army. There are lots of replica items from the period.



Nearby is Vindolanda, one of the star attractions of the wall. A huge part of the fort and nearby Viccus is excavated. Vindolanda lies behind the wall. It was a nearby supply base for this section of the wall.

Vindolanda visitors can explore the site, visit a museum in the former house of an early excavator, as well as climb replica stone and wooden towers.

Excavation is still on going all along the wall and you can often see digs and get
explanations of what is going on. Here our own guide fill us in on wooden  walls found
deep below the stone fortress - maybe an early part of the first fort here.

A well inside the commandant's house.

This was a granary. The elevated floor was to allow ventilation beneath.
The Romans would let dogs and cats chase the rats out from there.
The side buttresses can be seen - reinforcement for the tall (often 2 story) walls).

There are more Vindolanda images here

Day Three

On the Sunday we took in Housesteads, Chesters Fort and Corbidge. On the way to Housteads we passed Sycamore Gap.  This section of the wall runs along an escarpment which is almost sheer in places.

There is a dip in the high ground of this escarpment, and in that dip a tree grows made famous by Robin Hood Prince of Thieves from the bit where Kevin Costner is walking home to Sherwood from Dover and ends up on Hadrian's Wall somehow! Ah well, at least Alan Rickman was good as the Sheriff. Costner chose a good cinematic location, mind you, and it is a good spot for a photo. A tip though. Park up in the nearby Once Brewed Carpark and walk along the ridge. Don't try and reach it from the road as fences lie in your path - as well as a bog.

Housesteads fort  lies on the wall. To me it is one of the most dramatic locations as the approach walk dips down from one ridge and up towards the site above you on the far slope. You then have to endure heart attack hill as one of of our party called it. But the walk is worthwhile when you find yourself in Housesteads.

Housesteads is built on a slope, and many of the buildings are built on more than one level.

Hypocaust under floor heating system

Looking North from Housesteads over the wall and a tower. This way lie the barbarians!

More images from Housseteads here

Chesters Fort is not far from Housesteads and is on the River Tyne. There is a fort at Chesters that has all the usual features like granaries, barrack blocks, and commanders house, etc., but after 3 days of this we were getting a little "seen that done that", so I was pleased that Chesters had a bath house in decent condition as that was something I had not seen close up in the other sites. The bath house was on the river.

Changing room

Drainage system

Chesters has a fine museum of stone relics and other items found on various digs.

Joking aside, the fort is also a fine example. For more images from Chesters Fort, including the fort itself, go here.

Corbridge

Near the wall were other settlements that sometimes had heavy military presence and at other times did not. Corbridge, not far from Chesters, is such a place. This has evidence of military compounds within a more open civilian settlement which itself was probably not fully fortified. It's a slightly different feel and rounded off day 3 nicely.

Among other structures was a huge pair of granaries that may
have stored supplies ready for shipping up to the wall.

Although not purely a military base, the headquarters of the military compound contains
an underground strongroom of the sort found in all the forts.

More images from Corbridge here

Day 4

On the Monday morning we packed up ready for the homeward trip. First though we had 2 final visits.

Segedunum

Segedunum is at the extreme eastern end of the wall. It lies within modern day Newcastle. The fort here is excavated in outline only - outlines filed in mainly with rocks and pebbles to show the layout. As such its not as impressive as say Housesteads. However it is in some ways clearer to see what goes where in a Roman fort especially as there is a panorama level in the adjacent museum which allows you to see the entire fort from up high (or at least the half that is visible above ground).

Looking down on Segedunum from the Panorama room.

The site also features a reconstructed Roman Bath House (alas closed during our visit)

The site also has the most eastern section of Wall. This is where the wall went down hill into
the River Tyne 70 miles from its western end on the Solway Firth.

There is also a memorial to the men and units that built the wall.

More Segedunum Images here

Arbeia

Arbeia is a mirror to Alauna/Maryport. Just as Alauna watched over the Irish sea, Arbeia stood watch over the coast line of the Northsea just below the mouth of the Tyne. Today there is a partially excavated fort but what is of main interest here is a replica gatehouse, barracks block, and commandants house.

This is me standing outside the replica gatehouse.
This is what Hadrian's wall would have looked like as you approached it.

A Roman squad of 8 men slept in here.
10 such rooms made up the accommodation for one century.

This is the more spacious centurion's room.

Bedroom in the Commandants House

Public dinning room in Commandants House.

More Arbeia images here

All in all a great 4 days. I had in the past visited the Wall 2 or 3 times and each time just went to one fort. This tour gave me a much clearer overview of the whole wall from end to end, its general anatomy, how it was built, and the way of life of its inhabitants. It is a World Heritage Site and for good reason.

On a nice sunny day - such as we had - it is a magical location combining amazing views in places with a structure of huge historical significance.

Oh - and we got some good ale too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richard Denning is a historical fiction author. His main areas of writing are the early Anglo-Saxon years. For more details go to his website: http://www.richarddenning.co.uk/

Castles, Mansions, Banquets and Balls!

Castles, mansions, banquets and balls! What a life we see glorified in books and movies today, and what enjoyment it affords us. Dungeons, armies, peasants and kings. The history of England is a fascinating source of fodder for stories.

Here we are bringing together some of the modern day authors of historical England and the British Empire. We here, the authors of this blog, are working on your next books, the delight of your leisure evenings, and we are more than eager to share them with you. We want to stop our work for now, though, and take the time to meet you, to talk with you and to savor Olde England, our passion, with you.

Hadrian's Wall, shown with Chester's Bridge Abutment, above, is some of early Roman England. It is the greatest tourist attraction in Northern England today. I can only imagine standing, looking at it and trying to realize the time that passed since workmen were putting those stones together. Since then, in all those centuries, I imagine the travelers that passed near them, the children that climbed over them- all of them quickly grown up, grown old, grown silent and long forgotten.

Through all those centuries, named eras came and went. Each era had its rulers, its heroes, its ladies and its unfortunate poor. Each came to be known for its recovered facts, its legends and the questions it has raised. Its left-behind structures stand, or fall. Its art, music and dances have passed down to us, and with those, we imitate their lives.

What pretty stories we can create once we have done the research and become acquainted with the times, for there were common lives, extraordinary lives and for some, even royal lives. As time went on, a class system developed structure, structure which was widely, if resignedly, accepted by even those who suffered because of it. The lowest suffered for their "inferiority", which meant working hard and doing without. The highest suffered for marriage rules that destroyed their love lives and broke their hearts. Their positions pitted family members against each other for power or precedence and sometimes even took their lives. These are sad realities, but with much of it in the past, we can dream of people who might have lived in those confines. We can use those rules and that structure as an aid to make fascinating tales about these dreamed up people. The settings are grand; there are medieval forest hideouts, majestic but cold stone fortresses and gilt palaces. What appeals to you?

The authors of this blog will share some of the incredible things we've learned- perhaps you might be interested in the Great Fire of London in 1666 or learning about an eccentric lady of centuries past. You might want to know more about the practice of medicine in Victorian London or simply what an everyday Georgian working class man did with his spare change. How about an article on a particular castle? We will have a new post daily, something sure to keep ablaze your ancient English fancies and give you something to get your own imagination in gear. Perhaps you will want to be one of our "Reader-writers" and give us a short short story or a post? Please do! You may want to leave us a question about England for one of our experts to answer, or just come to play on our games page. We want this blog to become Anglophile Central, a place to learn about England, past and present, and have some fun. You may want to bring your tea.

We also want to introduce you to us, your authors, and our very English works. You can read about each one on the About Us page and even traipse off to our websites and blogs. Be sure to come back the next day, though, for a new and intriguing post!

Today, during our Grand Launch Weekend, we are having a huge Giveaway Event with a Kindle Grand Prize and numerous others! Please take a look at the following post to see what we have to offer, and choose your favorites.

Hadrian's Wall photo by Mike Quinn, shared by Creative Commons
Belton House photo owned by Richard Thomas, shared by Creative Commons