Vindolanda
Encyclopedia
Vindolanda was a Roman
auxiliary
fort (castrum
) just south of Hadrian's Wall
in northern England. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill
, it guarded the Stanegate
, the Roman road
from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth
. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets
, among the most important finds of military and private correspondence (written on wooden tablets) found anywhere in the Roman Empire
.
, in his Britannia (1586). Occasional travellers reached the site over the next two hundred years, and the accounts they left are useful because they predate much of the stone-stealing that has damaged the site. The military bath-house
was still partly roofed when Christopher Hunter visited the site in 1702. In about 1715 an excise officer named John Warburton found an altar there, which he removed. In 1814 the first real archaeological work was begun, by the Rev. Anthony Hedley. Hedley died in 1835, before writing up his discoveries. Little more was done for a long time, although in 1914 a workman found another altar at the site, set up by the civilians living at the fort in honour of the Divine House and Vulcan. Several names for the site are used in the early records, including Chesters on Caudley, Little Chesters, the Bower, and Chesterholm; the altar found in 1914 confirmed that the true Roman name for the site was "Vindolanda", which had been in dispute as one early source referred to it as "Vindolana".
were auxiliary
infantry
or cavalry
units, not components of Roman legion
s. From the early third century AD onwards, this was the Fourth Cohort
of Gauls
. It had been presumed that this title was by this time purely nominal, with auxiliary troops being recruited locally, but an inscription found in a recent season of excavations suggests that native Gauls were still to be found in the regiment and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers. The inscription reads:
Of which a free translation would be "The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia
with the full support of the British-born troops".
was built around 122 AD, and was repaired and rebuilt several times. Later, apparently after a period of abandonment when the garrison transferred to a fort on the Wall itself (probably Vercovicium, now known as Housesteads), a new stone fort was built approximately on the same site. This fort, and the civilian community abutting it, called a vicus
, remained in existence until the end of the Roman period in Britain in 410. Scattered finds suggest that some type of settlement, possibly including an early church, survived well into the fifth century.
The vicus contains several rows of buildings, each containing several one-room chambers. Most of them are not connected to the existing drainage system. The one that is may have been a butchery where, for health reasons, an efficient drain would have been important.
To the south of the fort are the remains of a large Roman bath
.
Along the interior side of the south wall of the stone fort, several semi-circular stone structures of indeterminate nature and design are located.
, who was interested in excavating the site. The excavations have been continued by his sons, Robin
and Anthony
, and his grandson, Andrew Birley
, into the present day. They are undertaken each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six meters. The anoxic
conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artifacts that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier.
In 2010, the remains of a girl thought to be between the ages of 8 and 10 years old, with her hands tied, were uncovered in a shallow pit in what was the barrack room. She is believed to have been murdered about 1,800 years ago.
Along with ongoing excavations (in season) and excavated remains, a full size replica of a section of Hadrian's Wall
in both stone and timber can be seen on the site.
, a Roman shop, Roman house and Northumbria
n croft, all with audio presentations.
Exhibits include Roman boots, shoes, armour, jewellery and coins, infra-red photographs of the writing tablets and, from 2011, a small selection of the tablets themselves, on loan from the British Museum. 2011 saw the reopening of the refurbished museum at Vindolanda, and also the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran
, after 6.3 million pounds had been spent on revamping these museums with a Heritage Lottery Grant.
A spectacular find in 2006 was the richly detailed bronze and silver brooch (fibula
) modeled with the figure of Mars, on which Quintus Sollonius, a Gaul to judge by his name, had carefully punched his name before he lost it in the early second century; nothing comparably fine has been recovered along the Wall.
s include the Rt Hon Dr David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere
.
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
auxiliary
Auxiliaries (Roman military)
Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
fort (castrum
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
) just south of Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
in northern England. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill
Bardon Mill
Bardon Mill is a village in Northumberland, England. It is situated to the west of Haydon Bridge and Hexham, on the River South Tyne.-Governance:Bardon Mill is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham.-Transport:Rail...
, it guarded the Stanegate
Stanegate
The Stanegate, or "stone road" , was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked two forts that guarded important river crossings; Corstopitum in the east, situated on Dere Street, and Luguvalium in the west...
, the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very...
. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets
Vindolanda tablets
The Vindolanda tablets are "the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain". They are also probably our best source of information about life on Hadrian's Wall. Written on fragments of thin, post-card sized wooden leaf-tablets with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd...
, among the most important finds of military and private correspondence (written on wooden tablets) found anywhere in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Early accounts
The first post-Roman record of the ruins at Vindolanda was made by the antiquarian William CamdenWilliam Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
, in his Britannia (1586). Occasional travellers reached the site over the next two hundred years, and the accounts they left are useful because they predate much of the stone-stealing that has damaged the site. The military bath-house
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
was still partly roofed when Christopher Hunter visited the site in 1702. In about 1715 an excise officer named John Warburton found an altar there, which he removed. In 1814 the first real archaeological work was begun, by the Rev. Anthony Hedley. Hedley died in 1835, before writing up his discoveries. Little more was done for a long time, although in 1914 a workman found another altar at the site, set up by the civilians living at the fort in honour of the Divine House and Vulcan. Several names for the site are used in the early records, including Chesters on Caudley, Little Chesters, the Bower, and Chesterholm; the altar found in 1914 confirmed that the true Roman name for the site was "Vindolanda", which had been in dispute as one early source referred to it as "Vindolana".
Garrison
The garrisonGarrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
were auxiliary
Auxiliaries (Roman military)
Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
or cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
units, not components of Roman legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
s. From the early third century AD onwards, this was the Fourth Cohort
Cohort (military unit)
A cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
of Gauls
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
. It had been presumed that this title was by this time purely nominal, with auxiliary troops being recruited locally, but an inscription found in a recent season of excavations suggests that native Gauls were still to be found in the regiment and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers. The inscription reads:
CIVES GALLI
DE GALLIAE
CONCORDES
QUE BRITANNI
Of which a free translation would be "The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia
Gallia (goddess)
Gallia was a Romano-Gallic goddess, possibly related to the region of Europe known to the Romans as Gallia . The only evidence of her name to date is an altar set up at Vindolanda by its auxiliary garrison of the 4th cohort of Gauls, stationed there from the early 3rd century onwards...
with the full support of the British-born troops".
Fort and town
The fort was originally constructed in turf and timber before Hadrian's WallHadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
was built around 122 AD, and was repaired and rebuilt several times. Later, apparently after a period of abandonment when the garrison transferred to a fort on the Wall itself (probably Vercovicium, now known as Housesteads), a new stone fort was built approximately on the same site. This fort, and the civilian community abutting it, called a vicus
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...
, remained in existence until the end of the Roman period in Britain in 410. Scattered finds suggest that some type of settlement, possibly including an early church, survived well into the fifth century.
The vicus contains several rows of buildings, each containing several one-room chambers. Most of them are not connected to the existing drainage system. The one that is may have been a butchery where, for health reasons, an efficient drain would have been important.
To the south of the fort are the remains of a large Roman bath
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
.
Along the interior side of the south wall of the stone fort, several semi-circular stone structures of indeterminate nature and design are located.
Excavation
In the 1930s, the house at Chesterholm where the museum is now located was purchased by archaeologist Eric BirleyEric Birley
Eric Barff Birley , was a British historian and archaeologist, particularly associated with the excavation of the forts of Hadrian's Wall, notably at Vindolanda. He was born in Eccles, Lancashire, England, on 12 January 1906...
, who was interested in excavating the site. The excavations have been continued by his sons, Robin
Robin Birley (archaeologist)
Robin Edgar Birley was formerly the Director of Excavations at the Roman site of Vindolanda, and now heads the Vindolanda research committee. The son of Eric Birley , he worked as a Royal Marine and then a teacher before giving this up to run the Vindolanda Trust and excavate the site...
and Anthony
Anthony Birley
Anthony Richard Birley was the Professor of Ancient History at University of Manchester and at University of Düsseldorf . He is the son of the archaeologist Eric Birley, who bought the house next to Vindolanda where Anthony and his brother Robin began to excavate the site...
, and his grandson, Andrew Birley
Andrew Birley
Andrew Robin Birley is the Director of Excavations on the site of Vindolanda and the son of Robin Birley and grandson of Eric Birley, who founded the department of Archaeology at Durham University...
, into the present day. They are undertaken each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six meters. The anoxic
Hypoxia (environmental)
Hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as dissolved oxygen becomes reduced in concentration to a point where it becomes detrimental to aquatic organisms living in the system...
conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artifacts that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier.
In 2010, the remains of a girl thought to be between the ages of 8 and 10 years old, with her hands tied, were uncovered in a shallow pit in what was the barrack room. She is believed to have been murdered about 1,800 years ago.
Along with ongoing excavations (in season) and excavated remains, a full size replica of a section of Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
in both stone and timber can be seen on the site.
Site museum
The Vindolanda site museum conserves and displays finds from the site. The museum is set in gardens, which include full-sized reconstructions of a Roman templeRoman temple
Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. Their construction and maintenance was a major part of ancient Roman religion. The main room housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was...
, a Roman shop, Roman house and Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n croft, all with audio presentations.
Exhibits include Roman boots, shoes, armour, jewellery and coins, infra-red photographs of the writing tablets and, from 2011, a small selection of the tablets themselves, on loan from the British Museum. 2011 saw the reopening of the refurbished museum at Vindolanda, and also the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran
Carvoran
Magnis was a fort on Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia. Magnis was originally built to guard the junction of the northbound Maiden Way with the Stanegate, the key supply route linking Coria Magnis (or Carvoran Roman Fort) was a fort on Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of...
, after 6.3 million pounds had been spent on revamping these museums with a Heritage Lottery Grant.
A spectacular find in 2006 was the richly detailed bronze and silver brooch (fibula
Fibulae and ancient brooches
A fibula is an ancient brooch. Technically, the Latin term, fibulae, refers to Roman brooches; however, the term is widely used to refer to brooches from the entire ancient and early medieval world that continue Roman forms...
) modeled with the figure of Mars, on which Quintus Sollonius, a Gaul to judge by his name, had carefully punched his name before he lost it in the early second century; nothing comparably fine has been recovered along the Wall.
Vindolanda Trust
In 1970, the Vindolanda Trust, a registered charity, was founded to administer the site and its museum, and in 1997, the Trust took over the running of the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran, another Hadrian's Wall fort, which it had acquired in 1972. Current trusteeTrustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s include the Rt Hon Dr David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere
David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere
David George Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere PC DL is a British Labour politician, former cabinet minister and author.-Education and early career:...
.
See also
- Vindolanda tabletsVindolanda tabletsThe Vindolanda tablets are "the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain". They are also probably our best source of information about life on Hadrian's Wall. Written on fragments of thin, post-card sized wooden leaf-tablets with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd...
- History of NorthumberlandHistory of NorthumberlandNorthumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland. The present-day county is a vestige of an...
- MinimusMinimusThe Minimus books are a series of school textbooks, written by Barbara Bell, illustrated by Dr. Helen Forte, and published by the Cambridge University Press, designed to help children of primary school age to learn Latin...
, Latin textbooks for primary-school children, using stories based in Vindolanda - Vercovicium, an auxiliary fort nearby at HousesteadsHousesteadsVercovicium, now known as Housesteads Roman Fort, was an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia. Its ruins are located at Housesteads in the civil parish of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, England, somewhat to the south of Broomlee Lough.-History:In the 2nd century AD,...
.
Further reading
- Birley, R.Robin Birley (archaeologist)Robin Edgar Birley was formerly the Director of Excavations at the Roman site of Vindolanda, and now heads the Vindolanda research committee. The son of Eric Birley , he worked as a Royal Marine and then a teacher before giving this up to run the Vindolanda Trust and excavate the site...
, Vindolanda : a Roman frontier post on Hadrian's Wall, London: Thames and Hudson, (1977)