Brigantia

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  The goddess Brigantia appears on inscriptions from the second century ad onwards. Her origins are unclear. She may have been promoted or even created under Roman rule as a unifying central cult for the tribe. For this reason she barely appears in the story, but the name has a good ring to it hence its use for the title of the book. Ruling dynasties survived in many communities for generations after the imposition of Roman rule. In most cases the families had become Roman, were often equestrians and might have careers in imperial service. We do not know what happened with the Brigantes, but it is quite possible that pre-existing tribal structures of kings and other aristocrats adapted to the new circumstances and continued within the empire. The Roman inclination was to let provincial peoples run their own affairs as far as possible, not least because the empire lacked the resources and enthusiasm for direct rule. The monument to her is an invention, while the presentation of her as a mystical figure owes a lot to the early Medieval Irish literature, especially Medb of Connaught in the Ulster Cycle.

  The latter sources, combined with snippets from Greek and Roman authors describing the Gauls as well as the Britons, and material from other societies in other eras has fleshed out the depiction of the tribes in the story. It is reasonable to suppose that there were many differences between the tribal communities, in language, dress, customs and social and political structure. Therefore I created the tribal gathering of the Brigantes, and their ‘proverbial’ loyalty to friends. The duty of a host to shelter and protect guests under his roof appears in sources for the Celts and in many societies throughout history, so is reasonable to assume the some for the tribes of Britannia.

  The druids are poorly recorded in our sources. Caesar tells us that they refused to commit anything to the written word, while they were one of very few cults actively suppressed by the Romans. In ad 60 Suetonius Paulinus crossed the Menai Straits to destroy the cult centres on Mona (modern-day Anglesey). He did not stay long, for news soon arrived of Boudicca’s rebellion, and the island is relatively large, which makes it unlikely that every shrine was destroyed. However, it does appear to have ended the religion as a formally organised cult, which in the past may well have arbitrated in disputes between the tribes. The Romans cannot have wanted a supra-tribal structure independent of their authority and this, combined with distaste at such rituals as human sacrifice, provoked Rome’s hostility. Druids who appear in later years seem little more than wandering medicine men – or occasionally women – making it clear that what survived of the cult bore little relation to its pre-Roman importance. Yet the beliefs did not die out instantly. We hear of a Gallic aristocrat who was a Roman and an equestrian being executed for possessing a druid’s egg, presumably some form of magic talisman. Acco and Prasto are inventions, as are their stories, and Longinus’ description of the landing on Mona substantially embellishes the account in Tacitus.

  Scholars continue to debate the impact of Roman conquest on the communities in Britain – and indeed throughout the empire – and the reality was no doubt complicated and subject to constant change. It is easy to fall into the trap of sympathising more readily with one group rather than the other. In the story I have tried to present a mixed picture, with virtue and vice on display in every community and group, and with the towns and cities significantly more ‘Roman’ than some parts of the countryside. No one could have ignored the presence of Rome, since this meant taxation and regulation different from anything that had happened before. Even if someone in the countryside rarely saw a representative of the empire, the shadow of Roman rule was always there. Leaders inevitably came into far more contact with Roman authority and the culture of the empire. Tacitus tells us that his father-in-law, Agricola, encouraged the tribal aristocracy to have their children educated in the Roman fashion and to build monuments and houses in Roman style. No doubt other governors were just as enthusiastic.

  Similar trends placed aristocrats in other provinces under great strain, as they spent lavishly to compete with each other in demonstrating how Roman they had become. Such competition replaced the political and military competition between and within the tribes prior to conquest. Inevitably some lost out, and many more ran up huge debts in the process and had little or no hope of paying their creditors. The desperation of indebted tribal aristocrats, most of them citizens and equites, underlay the rebellions in Gaul under Tiberius and contributed to Boudicca’s revolt and the disturbances in the Rhineland in ad 70. I drew upon all of these as inspiration for the rebellion in our story. The Batavian revolt in the Rhineland in ad 70 was led by Julius Civilis. We do not know his age at the time or what happened to him and his family, so this permitted the creation of Longinus, the old rebel leader living anonymously as an ordinary soldier.

  Even by ad 100, Londinium was growing into the largest city in Roman Britain. Our knowledge of the city is patchy, since most lies under the heart of modern London, but it is steadily growing as rescue archaeology occurs before new building projects. A collection of writing tablets similar to the ones from Vindolanda was recently published and it is to be hoped that more will be found in due course. One of the surprises in these documents was the impression of just how quickly the city recovered after being sacked by Boudicca’s warriors. Many mysteries remain about the city at the time of our story. The abandoned earlier fort described in the story has been found, and within a generation a permanent fort was built, but so far we have no idea where any soldiers lived while in Londinium c. ad 100.

  If you ever have the chance, then a visit to the Museum of London is highly recommended, not least for their reconstructions of a series of rooms dating pretty much to the time of our story – https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/permanent-galleries/roman-london. They also produce the very handy Londinium. A new map and guide to Roman London, which shows the traces of the Roman city overlaid on a modern map. It is also possible to see remains of a Roman amphitheatre under the Guildhall – https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/attractions/guildhall-galleries/Pages/londons-roman-amphitheatre.aspx. Like the stone fort, this was built a little later than our story, and in the book the action takes place in its wooden predecessor.

  A few years ago a TV documentary suggested that a grave of a woman from the Roman period in London was that of a gladiator. While possible, the evidence was poor, relying mainly on the inclusion of an oil lamp with a picture of a gladiator among several forming part of the grave goods. However, there is evidence for women gladiators from other parts of the empire, not least the stone monument from Asia Minor in honour of two fighters called Amazon and Achillia now in the British Museum. Domitian included a display of women fighting midgets at one of his games. More usually, female gladiators were matched against each other, and it is likely that they represented a small minority of the professional fighters.

  More historical background will appear on my website – adriangoldsworthy.com, where you can also find supporting material for the other stories about Ferox.

  GLOSSARY

  accensus: senior clerk and doorman on the staff of a Roman governor.

  ad stercus: literally ‘to the shit’, the expression was used in military duty rosters for men assigned to clean the latrines.

  agmen quadratus: literally a square battle-line, this was a formation shaped like a large box and used by a Roman army threatened by attack from any side. Units were deployed to form a rectangle, sheltering baggage and other vulnerable personnel and equipment inside.

  ala: a regiment of auxiliary cavalry, roughly the same size as a cohort of infantry. There were two types: ala quingenaria consisting of 512 men divided into sixteen turmae; and ala milliaria consisting of 768 men divided into twenty-four turmae.

  aquilifer: the man who carried the eagle standard (or aquila) of a legion.

  aureus (pl. aurei): a gold coin equal to 25 silver denarii.

  auxilia/auxiliaries: over half of the Roman army was recruited from non-citizens from all over (and even outside) the empire.
These served as both infantry and cavalry and gained citizenship at the end of their twenty-five years of service.

  barritus: Germanic battle cry that began as a low rumble of voices and rose to a crescendo.

  Batavians: an offshoot of the Germanic Chatti, who fled after a period of civil war, the Batavians settled on what the Romans called the Rhine island in modern Holland. Famous as warriors, their only obligation to the empire was to provide soldiers to serve in Batavian units of the auxilia. Writing around the time of our story, the historian Tacitus described them as ‘like armour and weapons – only used in war’.

  beneficiarii: experienced soldiers selected for special duties by the provincial governor. Each carried a staff with an ornate spearhead.

  Brigantes: a large tribe or group of tribes occupying much of what would become northern England. Several sub-groups are known, including the Textoverdi and Carvetii (whose name may mean ‘stag people’).

  caligae: the hobnailed military boots worn by soldiers.

  centurio regionarius: a post attested in the Vindolanda tablets, as well as elsewhere in Britain and other provinces. They appear to have been officers on detached service placed in control of an area. A large body of evidence from Egypt shows them dealing with criminal investigations as well as military and administrative tasks.

  centurion: a grade of officer rather than a specific rank, each legion had some sixty centurions, while each auxiliary cohort had between six and ten. They were highly educated men and were often given posts of great responsibility. While a minority were commissioned after service in the ranks, most were directly commissioned or served only as junior officers before reaching the centurionate.

  clarissima femina: ‘most distinguished woman’ was a title given to women of a senatorial family.

  classicum: the late afternoon/evening meal taken by soldiers.

  cohort: the principal tactical unit of the legions. The first cohort consisted of 800 men in five double-strength centuries, while cohorts two to ten were composed of 480 men in six centuries of eighty. Auxiliaries were either formed in milliary cohorts of 800 or more often quingeniary cohorts of 480. Cohortes equitatae or mixed cohorts added 240 and 120 horsemen respectively. These troopers were paid less and given less expensive mounts than the cavalry of the alae.

  colonia: a city with the status of colony of Roman citizens, which had a distinct constitution and followed Roman law. Many were initially founded with a population of discharged soldiers.

  commilitones: ‘comrades’ or ‘fellow soldiers’.

  consilium: the council of officers and other senior advisors routinely employed by a Roman governor or senator to guide him in making decisions.

  contubernalis (pl. contubernales): originally meaning tent-companion and referring to the eight soldiers who shared a tent on campaign. It became more generally used as ‘comrade’.

  cornicen (pl. cornicines): trumpeters who played the curved bronze horn or cornu.

  cornicularius: military clerk.

  cuneus: the triangular or wedge-shaped seating in an amphitheatre. It was also used for a military formation that may have had a similar shape or simply been a narrow column.

  decurion: the cavalry equivalent to a centurion, but considered to be junior to them. He commanded a turma.

  dolabra (pl. dolabrae): The military pick-axe, very similar in shape to the entrenching tool used by the army today.

  duplicarius: a senior auxiliary soldier/NCO who earned double pay.

  equestrian: (eques, pl. equites) the social class just below the Senate. There were many thousand equestrians in the Roman Empire, compared to six hundred senators, and a good proportion of equestrians were descendants of aristocracies within the provinces. Those serving in the army followed a different career path to senators.

  exactus (pl. exacti): military clerks attached to a governor’s staff and in charge of the archives.

  frumentarii: soldiers detached from their units with responsibility for supervising the purchase and supply of grain and other foodstuffs to the army.

  galearius (pl. galearii): slaves owned by the army, who wore a helmet and basic uniform and performed service functions, such as caring for transport animals and vehicles.

  gladius: Latin word for sword, which by modern convention specifically refers to the short sword used by all legionaries and most auxiliary infantry. By the end of the first century most blades were less than 2 feet long.

  hastile: a spear topped by a disc or knob that served as a badge of rank for the optio, the second in command in a century of soldiers.

  lancea: a type of spear or javelin.

  lanista: the owner of a gladiatorial school.

  legate (legionary): the commander of a legion was a legatus legionis and was a senator at an earlier stage in his career than the provincial governor (see below). He would usually be in his early thirties.

  legate (provincial): the governor of a military province like Britain was a legatus Augusti, the representative of the emperor. He was a distinguished senator and usually at least in his forties.

  legion: originally the levy of the entire Roman people summoned to war, legion or legio became the name for the most important unit in the army. In the last decades of the first century bc, legions became permanent with their own numbers and usually names and titles. In ad 98 there were twenty-eight legions, but the total was soon raised to thirty.

  lemures: ghosts or unquiet spirits of the dead.

  lillia: lilies were circular pits with a sharpened stake in the centre. Often concealed, they were a comman part of the obstacles outside Roman fortifications.

  lixae: a generic term for the camp followers of a Roman army.

  ludus (pl. ludi): a school of gladiators.

  medicus: an army medical orderly or junior physician.

  murmillones: heavily armoured gladiators wearing a masked helmet.

  omnes ad stercus: a duty roster of the first century ad from a century of a legion stationed in Egypt has some soldiers assigned ad stercus, literally to the dung or shit. This probably meant a fatigue party cleaning the latrines – or just possibly mucking out the stables. From this I have invented omnes ad stercus as ‘everyone to the latrines’ or ‘we’re all in the shit’.

  optio: the second in command of a century of eighty men and deputy to a centurion.

  phalerae: disc-shaped medals worn on a harness over a man’s body armour.

  pilum: the heavy javelin carried by Roman legionaries. It was about 6 to 7 feet long. The shaft was wooden, topped by a slim iron shank ending in a pyramid-shaped point (much like the bodkin arrow used by longbowmen). The shank was not meant to bend. Instead the aim was to concentrate all of the weapon’s considerable weight behind the head so that it would punch through armour or shield. If it hit a shield, the head would go through, and the long iron shank gave it the reach to continue and strike the man behind. Its effective range was probably some 15 to 16 yards.

  posca: cheap wine popular with soldiers and slaves.

  praetorium: the house of the commanding officer in a Roman fort.

  prefect: the commander of most auxiliary units was called a prefect (although a few unit COs held the title tribune). These were equestrians, who first commanded a cohort of auxiliary infantry, then served as equestrian tribune in a legion, before going on to command a cavalry ala.

  princeps posterior: a grade of centurion in a legion, the second most senior officer in a cohort.

  princeps: a Roman emperor was called the princeps or first citizen/first servant of the state.

  principia: headquarters building in a Roman fort.

  procurator: an imperial official who oversaw the tax and financial administration of a province. Although junior to a legate, a procurator reported directly to the emperor.

  pugio: Latin name for the army-issue dagger.

  raeda: a four-wheeled carriage drawn by mules or horses.

  regionarius: a centurio regionarius was placed in charge of a set t
erritory or region, where he performed military, diplomatic and policing functions.

  res publica: literally ‘public thing’ or state/commonwealth, it was the way the Roman referred to their state and is the origin of our word republic.

  sacramentum: the military oath sworn to the emperor and the res publica.

  salutatio: traditional ceremony where people came to greet a Roman senator – and especially a governor – at the start of a working day.

  scorpion (scorpio): a light torsion catapult or ballista with a superficial resemblance to a large crossbow. They shot a heavy bolt with considerable accuracy and tremendous force to a range beyond bowshot. Julius Caesar describes a bolt from one of these engines going through the leg of an enemy cavalryman and pinning him to the saddle.

  scutum: Latin word for shield, but most often associated with the large semi-cylindrical body shield carried by legionaries.

  sica: curved sword particularly associated with Thracian gladiators.

  signa: the standards carried by Roman army units and often used as shorthand for ‘battle-line’ or in the sense of ‘with the colours’.

  signifer: a standard-bearer, specifically one carrying a century’s standard or signum (pl. signa).

  Silures: a tribe or people occupying what is now South Wales. They fought a long campaign before being overrun by the Romans. Tacitus described them as having curly hair and darker hair or complexions than other Britons, and suggested that they looked more like Spaniards (although since he misunderstood the geography of Britain he also believed that their homeland was closer to Spain than Gaul).