Two Roman Cavalry Swords and Two Toy Swords Amongst Treasures Found at Frontier Fort

Ancient Origins

Evidence of both work and play have been found at a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall in the UK. Two Roman swords as well as two wooden toy swords have been found in ongoing investigations which are uncovering a barracks area. Lead archaeologist, Dr Andrew Birley, said the finds were like "winning the lottery" reported the BBC.

Historical Vindolanda
The finds have been made in the last few weeks in a barracks area at the Vindolanda Roman fort archaeological dig in Northumberland, England. The fort has been a rich source of historical Roman artifacts for many years and remarkable past finds have included a huge hoard of shoes and two caches of Roman letters. The fort was abandoned when the Romans retreated from Britain around the 4th century AD and what has been found to have been left behind provides unique insight into the daily life led by the Roman soldiers and their families that occupied the fort.

 The First Sword
The first of the full-size metal swords to be found was unearthed by a delighted volunteer, Rupert Bainbridge, who was digging in the corner of one of the living spaces that had been excavated, reported Past Horizons. The sword was slowly extracted, with first the tip of the sword’s blade being revealed and then the wooden scabbard becoming obvious. Once uncovered completely, it was found to be a complete full-length iron sword with a damaged, bent point. It is likely this damage led to the sword being discarded.

The first sword to be found had a bent end (Image: The Vindolanda Trust)

 It might be thought that finding swords at a fort where a garrison of hundreds of soldiers lived would not be so uncommon. But swords were valuable possessions and not readily left. The rarity of such a find is clearly portrayed by the words reported by experienced Dr Birley who has been researching at Vindolanda for many years.

“You can work as an archaeologist your entire life on Roman military sites and, even at Vindolanda, we never expect or imagine to see such a rare and special object as this. It felt like the team had won a form of an archaeological lottery.”

Sword Number Two
After the first find the dig continued with fresh volunteers and was spurred on by Birley’s inexhaustible enthusiasm. Within just a few weeks another sword was discovered in the room adjacent to the first. This one was without the accompaniment of wooden handle, pommel or scabbard but the blade and tang was in excellent shape.

Sword Two with complete well-preserved blade (Image: The Vindolanda Trust)

Well, you can imagine the reaction of the animated Dr Birley who seemed genuinely astounded by the finds. He commented as reported by Past Horizons:

 “You don’t expect to have this kind of experience twice in one month so this was both a delightful moment and a historical puzzle. You can imagine the circumstances where you could conceive leaving one sword behind rare as it is…. but two?”

 Both swords found were for cavalry use – thin and short with a sharp blade for slashing from horseback.

Evacuation of a Complete Community
One of the most remarkable characteristics of Vindolanda is that it gives evidence of the life of a whole community, not just the soldiers. A good example of this comes with the find of two toy wooden swords. They serve to remind us that this place was inhabited by whole families including the soldier’s off-spring. This complex wasn’t only soldiers living, waiting, training and fighting rebels – there were children playing amongst them too.

One of the ancient toy wooden swords, with a gemstone in its pommel (The Vindolanda Trust)

The two wooden toy swords were found in another room and are said to be pretty similar to toy swords on sale at souvenir shops near Hadrian’s Wall today. Other everyday items that have been found recently include ink writing tablets on wood, bath clogs, leather shoes (from men, women and children), stylus pens, knives, combs, hairpins, brooches and pottery. The letters are particularly telling of the daily life, as has been reported in a previous Ancient Origins article on the finds. As would be expected of a fort that was quickly abandoned, a wide assortment of other weapons including cavalry lances, arrowheads and ballista bolts were left on the barrack room floors.

The rare conditions of oxygen free soil have allowed a lot of wooden items to be preserved where they would have disappeared due to decay in other areas. Some impressive shiny finds are the copper-alloy cavalry and horse fitments for saddles, junction straps and harnesses which were also left behind. These remain in such fine condition that they still shine like gold and are almost completely free from corrosion.

Cavalry Junction strap after conservation. (Image: The Vindolanda Trust)

Why was this Vindolanda Barracks Abandoned?
Although Vindolanda fort was occupied until the 9th century after which it was left for good, the Roman garrisons were long gone centuries before. In fact, these artifacts survived so well because they were hidden by a layer of concrete that was laid by the Romans about 30 years after these barracks had been abandoned reports the Guardian. It seems the Roman presence here to some extent ebbed and flowed. Successive garrisons have built on top of their predecessors at the site. From the sheer amount of possessions that have been found to have been left behind at this level of excavations it is obvious that the inhabitants had a distinct lack of time to pack their bags. But what would make a garrison of the mighty Roman Empire turn tale and flee?

The words of Dr Birley as reported by the Guardian might give us a clue.

“The swords are the icing on the cake for what is a truly remarkable discovery of one of the most comprehensive and important collections from the intimate lives of people living on the edge of the Roman Empire at a time of rebellion and war.”

This fort was right at the far frontier of the Roman Empire and the battle against the British rebels had already been long and hard by the time these barracks were constructed in around 105 AD. It seems possible from the repeated abandonment that the Romans suffered several defeats here and the outpost forces had to be replenished several times. The rebels on this frontier were so troublesome that about a century later, after his visit in 122 AD, the Emperor Hadrian decreed that the best way to deal with the situation was to build a wall that probably either aimed to keep the rebels out or at least to control immigration and smuggling.

Whatever the causes of abandonment, the result archaeologically is that at the deepest levels of the excavation are being found some of the best-preserved and most exciting artifacts.

Top image: Samian ware pottery that was found at the site at the end of last month (The Vindolanda Trust)

 By Gary Manners

Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Dividing Us From Them

Made From History

BY COLIN RICKETTS

The Roman Empire became very cosmopolitan, containing many races and cultures and granting limited citizenship to many conquered people. However, there was still a strong sense of ‘us and them’ in Roman society – hierarchically between citizen and slave, and geographically between the civilised and the barbarian. The Empire’s frontiers were simple military barriers, but also a dividing line between two ways of life, keeping one safe from the other.

The Limits of the Empire
As Rome expanded out of Italy from the 2nd century BC, there was no force capable of stopping its legions. It’s also important to note that conquest wasn’t always a straight-forward military matter. Rome traded and talked with neighbouring peoples, often having client kings in place before the troops went in. And the Empire – civilised, peaceful, prosperous – was an attractive system to join. 

Everything has limits though and Rome found its in the early 2nd century AD. The subsequent problems in enforcing central power and the eventual splitting of the Empire into as many as four parts suggests that this territory was already too much to manage successfully. Some historians argue that the limit was military, marking a boundary between cultures that fight on foot and the masters of cavalry warfare whom Rome could not defeat.

The Empire at its largest extent, at Trajan’s death in 117 AD.

 Many of the Empire’s boundaries were natural. For example, in North Africa it was the northern edge of the Sahara. In Europe, the Rhine and Danube rivers provided stable eastern borders for long periods; in the Middle East it was the Euphrates.

 The Last Outpost
The Romans also built great frontiers. These were called limes, the Latin word which is the root for our ‘limits’. They were considered the edge of defensible territory and Roman power, and there was an understanding that only exceptional circumstances justified going beyond them. Soldiers sometimes mutinied when they felt the limes were preventing them from doing their job, and were often rewarded with an expedition to sort out whichever uppity tribe had provoked them.

The nature of the defences varied from place to place. Hadrian’s Wall, marking the northern edge of the Empire in Britannia, was the most impressive, with its high stone walls and well-designed and built forts. In Germania, the limes started as an area of felled forest, like a fire break with wooden watch towers. A wooden fence was later added and more forts built. In Arabia, there was no barrier. An important road built by Trajan marked the boundary and forts were built at regular intervals and around the easiest invasion routes from the desert.

 Even at their most imposing the limes could be a little porous. Trade was allowed, and people north of Hadrian’s Wall were being taxed to some extent. In fact, the borders of the Empire were commercial hotspots.

 The Limes: Rome’s Imperial Borders
The best known and preserved limes are:

Hadrian’s Wall
 From the Solway Firth to Wallsend on the River Tyne in the north of the UK, this 117.5-km wall was 6 metres tall in places. A ditch protected the north of the wall while a road to the south helped troops get about quickly. Small mile castles were supplemented with major forts at larger intervals. It only took six years to build. The Antonine Wall further north wasn’t a manned frontier for long.

 The Limes Germanicus
 This line was built from 83 AD and stood firm until around 260 AD. They ran from the Rhine’s northern estuary to Regensburg on the Danube at their longest, a length of 568 km. Earthworks were supplemented with a palisade fence with walls being built later in parts. There were 60 major forts and 900 watchtowers along the Limes Germanicus, often in several layers where invaders could mass in large numbers.

 The Limes Arabicus
 This frontier was 1,500 km long, protecting the province of Arabia. Trajan built the Via Nova Traiana road along several hundred kilometres of its length. Large Forts were placed only at strategic danger points with smaller forts every 100 km or so.

The Limes Tripolitanus
 More of a zone than a barrier, this limes defended important cities in Libya, first from the desert Garamantes tribe, who were persuaded that trading with Rome was better than fighting it, and then from nomadic raiders. The first fort was built in 75 AD. As the Limes grew they brought prosperity, with soldiers settling to farm and trade. The boundary survived into the Byzantine Era. Today, the remains of Roman fortifications are some of the best in the world.

 Other Limes
 —The Limes Alutanus marked the eastern European frontier of the Roman province of Dacia.
 —The Limes Transalutanus was the lower-Danube frontier.
 —Limes Moesiae ran through modern Serbia along the Danube to Moldavia.
 —Limes Norici protected Noricum from the River Inn to the Danube in modern Austria.
 —Limes Pannonicus was the boundary of the province of Pannonia in modern Austrian and Serbia.

 The British and German limes are already part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and more will be added in time.