Roman auxiliaries in Britain

The overall size of the Roman forces in Roman Britain grew from c.40,000 in the mid 1st century AD to a maximum of c.55,000 in the mid 2nd century. [D. Mattingly "An imperial possession: Britain in the Roman empire" (2006) 131] But the proportion of auxiliaries in Britain grew from c.50% before 69AD to over 70% in c.150. By mid 2nd century, there were c.70 auxiliary regiments in Britain, for a total of over 40,000 men. These outnumbered the 16,500 legionaries in Britain (three Roman legions) by 2.5 to 1. [www.roman-britain.org "List of auxiliary units in Britain" (external link below)] This was the greatest concentration of auxilia in any single province of the Roman Empire. It implies major continuing security problems, and this is supported by the (thin) historical evidence. After Agricola, the following Emperors conducted major military operations in Britain: Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Septimius Severus.

The deployment of Roman military forces in Britain in the early 2nd century may be summarised as follows:

Of the large number of auxilia units stationed in Britain, none were originally native British. However, the majority came from the geographically and culturally close areas of northern Gaul and lower Rhineland e.g. Batavi, Tungri. Although local recruitment resulted in a growing British character to these regiments, the Batavi at least continued ro recruit heavily in their native area and inscription evidence supports the view that many regiments had an international membership. [Mattingly op cit 168-9]

An important deployment of auxilia regiments in Britain was as garrisons for the dozens of forts on Hadrian's Wall, and its surrounding regions, both to the north and the south. However, the major forts along Hadrian's Wall required only a cohort level of strength, since the main purpose of this wall was not to combat a major invasion, but to inhibit smaller bands of men from unlawful immigration into the subdued Britannia Inferior. [William Hutton (1802) "The History of the Roman Wall: Which Crosses the Island of Britain", J.Nichols and Son, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London, 350 pages] [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18177 C.Michael Hogan (2007) "Hadrian's Wall", ed. A. Burnham, The Megalithic Portal] ] This focus switched to the Antonine Wall in Scotland for the period it was held; [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18177 C.Michael Hogan (2007) "Hadrian's Wall", ed. A. Burnham, The Megalithic Portal] ] however, a number of forts in the Lowland area of Scotland were garrisoned throughout the second century.

Vindolanda Tablets

The discovery in the 1970's, and continuing unveiling of, the Vindolanda Tablets offer a unique glimpse into the everyday lives of auxiliary soldiers stationed in northern England in the period 85-122, just before the construction of Hadrian's Wall. These documents (573 of which have been published to date), consist of letters and memoranda written on wooden tablets to and from the auxiliary soldiers garrisoning the fort of Vindolanda (Chesterholm). The documents mainly relate to the "Cohors I Tungrorum", a regiment originating among the Tungri tribe of the Ardennes region (Belgium/France/Luxembourg). The tablets have survived decomposition due to being deposited in anaerobic conditions.

The Tablets range from official unit reports and memoranda to the unit commander to personal correspondence. Of special interest are unit status reports ("renuntiae"). One such shows the milliary "I Tungrorum" as under-strength, with only 752 instead of the official 800 men on its rolls. This document also shows the flexibility of unit deployments: a detachment of 337 men is reported as stationed at another fort and 46 men on escort duty ("singulares") with the provincial governor's staff. Further smaller detachments were at aiz other locations. [Vindolanda Tablet 154] In general, the Tablets show the Roman Empire was far more bureaucratised than previously thought, with likely millions of written documents generated every year by the army alone. [Mattingly op cit 162-5]

The Tablets are also of a more personal nature, with social letters between soldiers and their families and friends. They also established beyond reasonable doubt that Roman soldiers (at least auxiliaries) wore underpants ("subligaria") [Vindolanda Tablet 346] and used a disparaging nickname for their British hosts: "Brittunculi". In Latin, the suffix "-unculus" is both diminutive and pejorative: the term translates as "pathetic little Brits". [Vindolanda Tablet 164] The author was probably not referring to the provincial population as a whole, but specifically to young trainee recruits to the regiment. Even so, the remark implies that indigenisation of the regiment was far from complete at that time. The seemingly common use of the Tablets implies that they may have been the normal writing material in the northwestern Empire, instead of the papyrus normally used in the Mediterranean.

Regiments deployed in Britain

NOTE: Double-strength (milliary) regiments in bold type.

Citations

See also

Roman auxiliaries