The Fort

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  In AD 105 Hadrian was one of the praetors, but did not serve the normal year of office. At some point he was instead appointed as legatus legionis of I Minervia and was decorated for service during the Second Dacian War. Once again he did not remain in this post for very long and sometime in 106 was promoted when Trajan decided to split the province of Pannonia into two, creating an Upper and Lower province. Hadrian was the first legate of Pannonia Inferior and simultaneously commander of the single legion in garrison there, II Adiutrix. In that sense it was a sideways transfer, but the prestige of governing a province was considerable, and the rapid succession of posts in such a short time suggests a display of some trust and favour on Trajan’s part and there are hints at this in our sources. Our story offers an explanation as to how this all might have happened.

  Dacia and the Dacians are not as well understood as we would wish. As is almost always the case, their side of the story is not preserved and we must guess on the basis of meagre and garbled accounts written by more or less hostile outsiders. Contact between the Dacians and Romans began in the first century BC, and Julius Caesar planned to mount a major expedition against them before marching against Parthia. His assassination prevented both projects, but in the decades that followed the Roman frontier pushed forward and contact became more frequent and periodically hostile. In Caesar’s day the Dacians were united under the capable King Burebista. Like Caesar he was murdered by his own followers, and after that the kingdom fragmented into tribal groups. Decebalus managed to restore much of the old unity and power late in the first century AD and as a result was seen as a serious threat by the Romans. No doubt Dacian views of Rome were similar.

  The Dacians worshipped Zalmoxis and their faith appears to have inspired great bravery in battle as well as a willingness to commit suicide if things went badly. Little is really known about their beliefs, and I have drawn from passages from Herodotus, who wrote more than five centuries before our story, and Strabo who wrote a mere century or so before our setting. As foreigners describing another race whom they considered to be barbaric, the reliability of their accounts must be doubted, but if we reject them then we have nothing at all. Herodotus tells of the five-yearly sacrifice of a Messenger to the god, of shooting arrows into the sky to calm it and of belief in a blessed afterlife spent in the company of the god.

  From quite early on, the Dacians had traded with and learned from the Greek colonies on the Black Sea. Later, Decebalus in particular encouraged Roman deserters to join him and in the treaty with Domitian was given technical and military advisors. Dacian fortifications were formidable, exploiting the rugged terrain to the full and adding well-built walls and towers. Unlike any other tribal army in Europe, they used artillery and other siege equipment. Archers were common and effective, and in addition to composite bows there is a good chance that they made use of ‘belly-bows’, small handheld catapults a little like a crossbow. Many fought with straight swords, javelins and spears, but most famous were the curved one-handed sica and the larger falx, which could probably be wielded in one or both hands and was capable of penetrating armour and inflicting dreadful wounds. Apart from the Dacians themselves, at various times their armies were joined by allies from the Roxolani, a Sarmatian people, and various Celtic, Getic and Germanic groups, with the Bastarnae notable among the latter. Many of the warriors on the Adamklissi metopes have their hair twisted into a side knot, which was seen as a characteristic of the Germanic peoples, especially the Suebi, and use falxes, and may well be Bastarnae.

  Much of this story is invention because we simply do not know how Dacian armies were organised and functioned, and indeed have many gaps in our understanding of Roman practices. The monâkon or ‘one-armed’ is the type of catapult more often known as an onager. Use by the Romans is clearly attested only in Late Antiquity, but the type had been invented in the Hellenistic period, although no one knows how often it was used in practice. I took the opportunity to present a couple of these machines to Ferox as something that would be possible, even if not very likely.

  In some ways possible if not necessarily likely sums up the whole story. There is so much about the Roman period that scholars simply do not know. When writing a non-fiction history I feel it is my duty to be honest about this. For a novel I try to make the story as accurate as possible, but filling in the many gaps gives me the chance to explore ideas and at times simply use what makes a good story.

  Glossary

  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 16 turmae; and ala milliaria consisting of 768 men divided into 24 turmae.

  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.

  Bastarnae: a tribal group living to the east of the Danube. Tacitus, writing a few years before our story, believed them to be akin to the German tribes in terms of language and customs. They had a reputation for bravery.

  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’.

  belly bow (gastraphetes): an early type of siege engine, rather like a large crossbow and operated by one man. It was loaded resting the specially curved ends of the staff against the stomach, hence the name.

  beneficiarii: were 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’).

  burgus: a small outpost manned by detached troops rather than a formal unit.

  caligae: the hobnailed military boots worn by soldiers.

  canabae: the civilian settlements which rapidly grew up outside almost every Roman fort. The community had no formal status and was probably under military jurisdiction.

  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.

  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.

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

  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 80. 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.

&
nbsp; 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.

  curator: (i) title given to soldier placed in charge of an outpost such as a burgus who may or may not have held formal rank; (ii) the second in command to a decurion in a cavalry turma.

  Dacia/Dacians: a people occupying lands centred on what is today Romania. The Greeks and Romans believed them to be kin to the Getae. They were perceived by the Romans as a significant threat under King Burebista, a rough contemporary of Julius Caesar. The latter was planning a Dacian campaign at the time of his murder. For several generations Dacia appears to have been weakened by internal divisions, until emerging again as a powerful independent kingdom under Decebalus.

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

  equestrian: the social class just below the Senate. There were many thousand equestrians (eques, pl. equites) 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.

  falx: a long, curved sword employed by the Dacians and some of their neighbours. They could be wielded with one or both hands, which gave the blow considerable force. The edge was on the inside of the curve and the pointed tip seems to have been designed to punch through helmet or armour.

  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.

  Getae: were a group of people of similar language and customs (at least to outside observers), living in the wider Balkan area.

  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 two feet long.

  legate/legatus (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. He would usually be in his early thirties.

  legate/legatus (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 28 legions, but the total was soon raised to 30.

  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.

  medicus: an army medical orderly or junior physician.

  Monâkon: a single armed catapult described in Hellenistic manuals. The type was widely used in Late Antiquity, when it was often known as the onager, and continued in use throughout the Middle Ages.

  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.

  pileatus (pl. pileati): the ‘cap wearers’ were the nobles in Dacian society as opposed to the long haired mass of the population.

  pilum: the heavy javelin carried by Roman legionaries. It was about six to seven 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.

  praesidium: the term meant garrison, and could be employed for a small outpost or a full-sized 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.

  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.

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

  Roxolani: or ‘red alans’ were one group of Sarmatians, but are likely to have consisted of many subsections rather than a coherent and politically united tribe. At times they were allied with Decebalus, at times with the Romans, and often hostile to both.

  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.

  Sarmatians: another blanket term used by the Romans and similar to the Greek use of Scythians. Reality was no doubt more complicated, but broadly speaking there were nomads originating from the Steppes. They were famed as formidable cavalry, employing bows and lances. Some were heavily armoured.

  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.

  seplasiarius (or seplasiario): a military pharmascist working in a fort’s hospital.

  sica: a curved, one-handed sword particularly associated with Thracians and Dacians. The edge was on the inside of the curve, like a sickle and like the larger falx.

  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).

  spatha: another Latin term for sword, which it is now conventional to employ for the longer blades used mainly by horsemen in this period.

  speculator: a soldier tasked with scouting.

  tesserarius: the third in command of a century after the optio and signifer, the title originally came from their responsibility for overseeing sentries. The watchword for each night was written on a tessera or tablet.

  thetatus: the Greek letter theta was used in some military documents to mark the name of a man who had died. This developed into army slang as thetatus meaning dead/killed.

  tribune: each legion had six tribunes. The most senior was the broad-stripe tribune (tribunus laticlavius), who was a young aristocrat at an early stage of a senatorial career. Such men were in the late teens or early twenti
es. There were also five narrow-stripe tribunes (tribune angusticlavia), who were equestrians and had normally already commanded a cohort of auxiliary infantry.

  triclinia: the three-sided couches employed at Roman meals.

  Turma: a troop of Roman cavalry, usually with a theoretical strength of 30 or 32.

  valetudinarium: A military hospital.

  vicus: the civilian settlement outside a Roman army base.

  vitis: the vine cane carried as a mark of rank by a centurion.

  About the Author

  ADRIAN GOLDSWORTHY studied at Oxford, where his doctoral thesis examined the Roman army. He went on to become an acclaimed historian of Ancient Rome. He is the author of numerous works of non fiction, including Caesar, Pax Romana, Hadrian’s Wall and Philip and Alexander. He is also the author of the Vindolanda series, set in Roman Britain, which first introduced readers to centurion Flavius Ferox

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