Deva Victrix

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Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a fort and town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Chester, located in the English county of Cheshire. This is a page about the city in Roman times, there are separate pages on Roman remains, the Amphitheatre and the Minerva shrine.

In 69, the "year of four emperors", civil war raged in Rome and weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain. Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance, ending up in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively - the Romans then conquered more of the island, building a fort at Chester on the way. The governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, with XX Valeria Victrix, defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius (somewhere in northern Scotland). Chester was occupied for the next 300 years and may have been the effective capital of Roman Britain. Around 384, the usurper Magnus Maximus (he is mentioned on the "Pillar of Eliseg") fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots, but his continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned at this period. Not all of the troops in Britain may have returned, but by around 396, there were increasing barbarian incursions in Britain.


Contents

[edit] Early beginnings - the invasion of southern Britain

Most sources state that "Deva" was founded around 74-79 CE during the reign of Vespasian. It is thought that the title "victrix" in the name of the legion and fortress refers to the defeat of Boudicca and the British rebellion against Roman rule by the twentieth legion (60-61AD). The Roman name of Deva for Chester was pronounced "Deewa" and derives from "goddess". Thus, the Roman fortress was named after the goddess of the River Dee. Today's name Chester derives from the Latin word "castra", which is present in many other cities that were once Roman towns and forts.

A "Roman" Soldier at Chester
A "Roman" Soldier at Chester

The Roman invasion of Britain marks the formal end of the British Iron Age, although some believe that the Iron Age still continues (unless recently superseded by the age of the "Bakelite People", or the "Paleosilicic"). By AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Great Britain had already been the target of planned or actual Roman invasions, starting with Julius Caesar's failed expeditions in 55 and 54 BC. Augustus prepared invasions in 34 BC, 27 BC and 25 BC, but these were called off due to the troops being needed to quell trouble elsewhere in the Roman Empire. Strabo's Geography, written during this period, says that the Client Kingdoms of Britain paid more in customs and duties than could be raised by taxation if the islands were conquered.

By the 40s AD, however, the political situation within Britain was rapidly changing. The Catuvellauni had displaced the Trinovantes as the most powerful kingdom in south-eastern Britain, taking over the former Trinovantian capital of Camulodunum (Colchester), and were pressing their neighbours the Atrebates, then ruled by the descendants of Julius Caesar's former ally Commius. "Barking mad" Caligula planned a campaign against the British in 40, but its execution was bizarre, he had the troops gather sea shells, referring to them as "plunder from the ocean, due to the Capitol and the Palace" - then he went home.

Finally, in 43, Claudius mounted an invasion under Aulus Plautius, leading four legions, totalling about 20,000 men, plus about the same number of auxiliaries. The legions included Legio II Augusta and Legio XX Valeria Victrix, both of which were later to be associated with Chester. The II Augusta was commanded by the future emperor Vespasian. The invasion was delayed by a mutiny of the troops, who were eventually persuaded by an imperial freedman to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world.

British resistance was led by Togodumnus and Caratacus, sons of the late king of the Catuvellauni, Cunobelinus. A substantial British force met the Romans at a river crossing thought to be near Rochester on the River Medway. The battle raged for two days. Hosidius Geta (who probably led the IX Hispana) was almost captured, but recovered and turned the battle so decisively that he was awarded the ornamenta triumphalia. The British were pushed back to the Thames. The Romans pursued them across the river causing them to lose men in the marshes of Essex. Whether the Romans made use of an existing bridge for this purpose or built a temporary one is uncertain. At least one division of auxiliary Batavian troops swam across the river as a separate force. Togodumnus died shortly after the battle on the Thames. Plautius halted and sent word for Claudius to join him for the final push.

Cassius Dio presents this as Plautius needing the emperor's assistance to defeat the resurgent British, who were determined to avenge the recently deceased Togodumnus. However, Claudius was not a man for bloody victory when negotiation would do. Claudius's arch says he received the surrender of eleven kings without any loss, and Suetonius says that Claudius received the surrender of the Britons without battle or bloodshed. It is likely that the Catuvellauni were already as good as beaten, allowing the emperor to appear as conqueror on the final march on Camulodunum. Cassius Dio relates that Claudius brought war elephants and heavy armaments which would have overawed any remaining native resistance. Eleven tribes of South East Britain surrendered to Claudius and the Romans prepared to move further west and north. The Romans established their new capital at Camulodunum and Claudius returned to Rome to celebrate his victory. Caratacus escaped and would continue the resistance further west.

For his part in the conquest, Claudius honoured by being given the surname "Britannicus", which also passed to his sons. Several triumphal arches were errected after his achievement, including one on the Palatine hill. The arch is portrayed on a number of gold and silver coins of Claudius. It features an equestrian statue atop the arch, undoubtedly representing Claudius, between two trophies, a trophy being a pile of captured shields, spears, armour and other spoils of war. On the architrave of the arch is inscribed "DE BRITAN", "DE BRITANN", "DE BRITANNI", or "DE BRITANNIS", depending on the space available.

Late in 47 the new governor of Britain, Ostorius Scapula, began a campaign against the tribes of modern day Wales, and the Cheshire Gap. The Silures of south east Wales caused considerable problems to Ostorius and fiercely defended the Welsh border country. Caratacus himself was defeated in one encounter and fled to the Roman client tribe of the Brigantes who occupied the Pennines. Their queen, Cartimandua was unable or unwilling to protect him however given her own truce with the Romans and handed him over to the invaders in chains. In 52 C.E. Ostorius died and was replaced by Aulus Didius Gallus who brought the Welsh borders under control but did not move further north or west, probably because Claudius was keen to avoid what he considered a difficult and drawn-out war for little material gain in the mountainous terrain of upland Britain.

As for Caratacus, he was taken to Rome to be killed after a triumphal parade. However, he so impressed the Romans with his speech (as recorded by Tacitus) that he was freed and lived out his life in Rome:

  • If the degree of my nobility and fortune had been matched by moderation in success, I would have come to this City as a friend rather than a captive, nor would you have disdained to receive with a treaty of peace one sprung from brilliant ancestors and commanding a great many nations. But my present lot, disfiguring as it is for me, is magnificent for you. I had horses, men, arms, and wealth: what wonder if I was unwilling to lose them? If you wish to command everyone, does it really follow that everyone should accept your slavery? If I were now being handed over as one who had surrendered immediately, neither my fortune nor your glory would have achieved brilliance. It is also true that in my case any reprisal will be followed by oblivion. On the other hand, if you preserve me safe and sound, I shall be an eternal example of your clemency.

[edit] Rome moves north

When Nero (another lunatic) became emperor in AD 54, he seems to have decided to continue the invasion and appointed Quintus Veranius as governor, a man experienced in dealing with the troublesome hill tribes of Asia Minor. He was dead within a year, and according to Tacitus:

  • "... Veranius, after having ravaged the Silures in some trifling raids, was prevented by death from extending the war. While he lived, he had a great name for manly independence, though, in his will's final words, he betrayed a flatterer's weakness; for, after heaping adulation on Nero, he added that he should have conquered the province for him, had he lived for the next two years."

Veranius and his successor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus mounted a successful campaign across Wales, famously destroying the druidical centre at Mona or Anglesey in AD 60. Final occupation of Wales was postponed however when the rebellion of Boudica forced the Romans to return to the south east. Suetonius defeated Boudica, reinforced his army with legionaries and auxiliaries from Germania and conducted punitive operations against any remaining pockets of resistance, but this proved counterproductive. The new procurator, Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus, expressed concern to the Emperor Nero that Suetonius's activities would only lead to continued hostilities. An inquiry was set up under Nero's freedman, Polyclitus, and an excuse, that Suetonius had lost some ships, was found to relieve him of his command (and governorship of Britain). He was replaced by the more conciliatory Publius Petronius Turpilianus.

Following the suppression of Boudicca, a number of new Roman governors continued the conquest by edging north. Quintus Petillius Cerialis took his legions from Lincoln as far as York and defeated Venutius near Stanwick around 69. This resulted in the already Romanised Brigantes and Parisii tribes being further assimilated into the empire proper.

Oman (History of England, Methuen, 1910) gives the year c57 as the date that either Aulus Didius Gallus or Suetonius moved the headquarters of one or both of his legions from Wroxeter to Deva, and built a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats on the Dee so that in 60 A.D. he could invade North Wales. As Gallus died in 57 it was probably the latter who started and completed the invasion.

In 69 the Romans overthrew the Brigantes. This tribe was a Roman ally ruled by Cartimandua and her consort, Venutius. Cartimandua had been responsible for handing over resistance leader Caratacus to the Romans in 51 AD. Shortly afterwards, she divorced Venutius who revolted but was driven off by Roman arms. But in 69 AD, with the Romans in the midst of civil war, Venutius staged a second revolt and successfully overthrew Cartimandua, who fled to the Romans. According to one scrap of fragmentary evidence she may have lived out her days in Chester. The collapse of the treaty relationship with the Brigantes was an important turning point in Roman history in Britain. The Romans could have reinstated their ally Cartamandua but instead they chose to annex Brigantia and conquer Wales. Having commanded Legio II Augusta back in 43 C.E., under the emperor Claudius, the eventual ruler after the civil war, Vespasian, could well understand how a large-scale conquest in Britain could bolster his reputation back in Rome and help secure his position as emperor.

It is possible that there was already a settlement on the site before the Romans arrived, or at least a "campsite" near the Gloverstone. Some early historical speculation is found in Samuel Lewis's 1848 Topographical Dictionary of England which includes the following information for Chester:

  • The origin of this ancient city has been ascribed to the Cornavii, a British tribe who, at the time of the Roman invasion, inhabited that part of the island which now includes the counties of Chester, Salop, Stafford, Warwick, and Worcester; and its British name Caer Leon Vawr, "city of Leon the Great," has been referred to Leon, son of Brût Darian Là, eighth king of Britain.

There may be some confusion here with Caerleon in south Wales. Caerleon is also a site of considerable archaeological importance, with a Roman legionary fortress (it was the headquarters for Legio II Augusta from about 75 to 300 AD) and an Iron Age hill fort. The name Caerleon is derived from the Welsh for "fortress of the legion" (compare with the Anglo-Saxon name for Chester - Legercyestre). "Brût Darian Là" (Welsh: Bryttys darian las) appears to be a reference to Brutus Greenshield one of the legendary kings mentioned by the notoriously inaccurate Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical (i.e. mostly "made up") Historia Regum Britanniae ("the History of the Kings of Britain"). The "Leon" in question may be Liel after whom Carlisle (another Roman fort) may or may not be named.

Raphael Hollinshead tells a similar story, including mention of a specific governor of Britain, P. Ostorius Scapula (who was governor of Britain from AD47-52):

  • Carleil builded. Chester repaired. Leill the sonne of Brute Greeneshield, began to reigne in the yeare of the world 3021, the same time that Asa was reigning in Iuda, and Ambri in Israell. He built the citie now called Carleil, which then after his owne name was called Caerleil, that is, Leill his citie, or the citie of Leill. He repaired also (as Henrie Bradshaw saith) the citie of Caerleon now called Chester, which (as in the same Bradshaw appeareth) was built before Brutus entrie into this land by a giant named Leon Gauer. But what authoritie he had to auouch this, it may be doubted, for Ranulfe Higden in his woorke intituled "Polychronicon," saith in plaine wordes, that it is vnknowen who was the first founder of Chester, but that it tooke the name of the soiourning there of some Romaine legions, by whome also it is not vnlike that it might be first built by P. Ostorius Scapula, who as we find, after he had subdued Caratacus king of the Ordouices that inhabited the countries now called Lancashire, Cheshire, and Salopshire, built in those parts, and among the Silures, certeine places of defense, for the better harbrough of his men of warre, and kéeping downe of such Britaines as were still readie to moue rebellion.

Ptolemy's 2nd century Geographia has a passing mention (text) of the two cities of the Cornovii as:

  • ..From these toward the east are the Cornavi, among whom are the towns: Deva, Legio XX Victrix 17°30 56°45 and Viroconium 16°45 55°45

"Deva Victrix" is Chester, and "Viroconium" is Wroxeter. The later had become the capital of the Cornovii under Roman rule. More on the Cornovii can be found here.

[edit] Vespasian

With the intend of extending the boundaries of the Roman Empire Vespasian send Sextus Julius Frontinus into Roman Britain in 74 AD to succeed Cerialis as governor. He subdued the Silures and other "hostile" tribes of Wales, establishing a new base at Caerleon for Legio II Augusta and a network of smaller forts fifteen to twenty kilometres apart for his auxiliary units. During his tenure, he probably established the fort at Pumsaint in west Wales, largely to exploit the gold deposits at Dolaucothi. He retired in 78 AD, and later he was appointed water commissioner in Rome. The new governor was the famous Gnaeus Julius Agricola. He finished off the Ordovices in North Wales and then took his troops north along the Pennines, building roads as he went.

Raphael Hollinshead gets the story a a little confused and has the Romans responsible for the undercrofts on the Rows:

  • There be some led by coniecture grounded vpon good aduised considerations, that suppose this Ostorius Scapula began to build the citie of Chester after the ouerthrow of Caratacus: for in those parties he fortified sundrie holds, and placed a number of old souldiers either there in that selfe place, or in some other néere therevnto by waie of a colonie. And for somuch (saie they) as we read of none other of anie name thereabouts, it is to be thought that he planted the same in Chester, where his successors did afterwards vse to harbour their legions for the winter season, and in time of rest from iournies which they haue to make against their common enimies. In déed it is a common opinion among the people there vnto this daie, that the Romans built those vaults or tauerns (which in that citie are vnder the ground) with some part of the castell. And verelie as Ranulfe Higden saith, a man that shall view and well consider those buildings, maie thinke the same to be the woorke of Romans rather than of anie other people. That the Romane legions did make their abode there, no man séene in antiquities can doubt thereof, for the ancient name Caer leon ardour deuy, that is, The citie of legions vpon the water of Dée, proueth it sufficientlie enough.

The precise date at which the Romans began construction at Chester has been the subject of much debate. According to one version, sometime around 74 CE, the then governor of Roman Britain, Sextus Julius Frontinus constructed an "auxiliary fort" at Deva Victrix (Chester). The placement of this fort (at the lowest ford of the Dee) appears to have been a strategic move by Frontinus with the intent of both blocking the route of any routed British trying to escape to the north, and to guard against help arriving from the Brigantes and other northern tribes. Frontinus was a noted engineer as well as being a governor, and author of De aquis urbis Romae, a history and description of the water supply of Rome. It is not known whether he was involved in providing Chester's water supply from the springs at Boughton to the Roman fort, but is is known that at this time lead (such as is used for plumbing) was traded with the Deceangli of north Wales. The lead was probably mined at Pentre

  • In June 1885 (at the Roodee) a lead 'pig' was found inscribed IMP•VESP•AVGV•T•IMP•III: the word DECEANGI appears on the side (this has been dated: AD74).
  • In 1838 (1¼ miles east of Chester's Eastgate) another 'pig' was found with the inscription; IMP•VESP•V•T•IMP•III•COS, and again, on the side; DECEANGI (again dated: AD74).

Frontius was succeeded as governor (in AD78) by Gnaeus Julius Agricola a Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. His biography, the well known De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae (The Life and Character of Julius Agricola), was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus (and says nothing at all about Chester). By AD79, the fort had developed into the extensive base of Legio II Adiutrix Pia Fidelis. There is another naval link here as the Second Legion were initially raised by Vespasian from the marines (Classis Ravennatis) of the Adriatic fleet. There is no real agreement on the size of the roman fleet which might have been associated with Chester - however it may have been the embarkation point for an attempted invasion of Ireland. There is also no real agreement about what is often called the "massive Roman harbour" and pictured to be the size of the modern Roodee. The nautical character of the city, and the need for combined land and sea operations was probably one reason why the "marine-based" Legio II Adiutrix Pia Fidelis was placed here rather than moving the Legio XX from its base 40 miles away at Wroxeter, where it had take over from Legio XIV Gemina c.65. Another reason for putting Legio II in Chester was that it was the most loyal legion to Vespasian and his Flavian dynasty. In 87, Legio II was recalled to the continent to participate in the Dacian wars of emperor Domitian last of the Flavian dynasty.

Further lead piping can be seen in the Grosvenor Museum which bears the name of Gnaeus Julius Agricola in the following form:

  • IMP•VESP•VIIII•T•IMP•VII•COS•CN•IVLIO•AGRICOLA•LEG•AVG•PR•PR
  • (Imperator Vespasian nine times and Imperator Titus seven times consul. For Gnaeus Julius Agricola, pro-praetorian legate of the emperor)

The earlier lead pigs have been used to argue that they were supplies provided for the construction of the city, and there is a fragmentary inscription from the baths which show that the baths were in operation in 79. It is known that the baths were not the first thing built in a Roman city so it appears that a date around AD 74 is probably correct.

[edit] The fortress

The Romans positioned the larger than normal fortress high on a sandstone bluff above the marshes. The fortress covered 60.90 acres, 20% larger than those in York and Caerleon, which were founded at the same time. Free from the floods of winter and the ever-changing shorelines of the estuary, the bend in the River Dee provides protection on two sides – south and west. It is also the lowest bridgeable and fordable point on the River Dee before it becomes too wide and treacherous. Drinking water was piped in from a spring in the suburb of Boughton.

The fortress was designed in the standard "playing card" shape, with some modifications to the normal plan of buildings. It had four gates, corner towers and interval towers between the gates. The Roman gates had double arches and the Roman Eastgate had a statue of Mars, the Roman god of war, in the middle of the two arches. A fosse or ditch was dug around the north and east sides to provide extra protection. It has been calculated that the fortress was designed to accommodate 6,000 soldiers. The internal buildings consisted of barracks, baths, a hospital, a granary and some "headquarters" buildings. The main fortress baths were located halfway down the modern Bridge Street on the right-hand side. The full plan of Roman Deva is still not known because only limited excavations have taken place following demolition work of later buildings. It has been speculated that a Roman temple may have existed under Chester Cathedral – this is yet to be proved.

The original fortress was constructed of timber and replaced later with a stone fortress. Traces have been found under the amphitheatre and market hall of pre-fortress buildings on a different alignment. It has been speculated that a forward camp was established before the first timber fortress was constructed. The castle hill is also a possible site for such a camp. The timber fortress would have looked like the one reconstructed at Lunt Roman Fort.

Local sandstone was quarried from the south of the river around the area now called Edgar’s Field to provide building material for the fortress and its buildings. The Roman quarry face is still visible today on the outcrop of rock in the field. Through excavations, it has been established that many of the stone buildings were not completed and they were left abandoned for as much as 100 years before they were completed to a slightly modified plan.

The second Legion built their fortress in the territory of the Cornovii. It soon became the main base for Legio XX Valeria Victrix, the 20th Legion, which used it as a port administration base and military fort. It was then one of the principal towns of Roman Britain, with many relics remaining today, including parts of the original Chester Roman walls, parts of a hypocaust system from a Roman bathhouse, and a strongroom from the 'principia', as well as the street pattern at the Cross, where the four main streets intersect and half of its original amphitheatre (controversially, the other half was built over, but is currently being excavated).

Parts of the Roman quay wall of the port can still be seen under the medieval walls at the racecourse. It has been suggested that this quay wall formed a platform for a jetty which stretched out across the river to allow ships to dock at low tide.

Later on in the fortress's history, settlements began to develop outside the fortress walls between the west wall and the port area near the river. Mansion buildings were created for wealthy Romans outside the Walls, an example of which was discovered on Castle Street. Roman shops and workshops lined the incoming roads and to the south as far away as modern day Eccleston. A bath complex was established outside the fortress walls on the modern Watergate Street under the site now occupied by Sedan House.

By Roman law, the dead were buried outside the fortress in cemeteries along the incoming roads to the north and east. Some were cremated and buried in urns, others buried in stone-lined tombs. Elaborate monuments lined the roads. Sometime in the Roman period, these monuments were broken up and used to repair the fortress walls. During the 19th century, these tombstones were recovered from the north wall and now form the best collection of Roman tombstones in the UK. They can now be seen in the Grosvenor Museum.

The Roman fortress was occupied up to the 4th Century. Roman coins have been found in the area dating up to this time. The fortress was described as waste land in the 6th century. It is thought that some Roman buildings remained standing as late as the Norman period. This is the reason why Northgate Street is dog-legged in shape. A massive column base of the Roman 'principia' can be seen through the floor in the shop Blacks. Much of the Roman masonry was robbed out and reused in later periods.

A recent Timewatch investigation by the BBC speculated that, from the size and scale of the fort, had the Roman Empire not begun to collapse, Deva would have become the Roman capital of Britain and a launch post for invasions on Ireland. In fact, recent discoveries of a fort in Ireland suggest that at least one foray was made.

Although both Gildas and Bede located the Roman martyrs, Julius and Aaron, in the "City of the Legions", this is generally identified as Isca Augusta (Caerleon) rather than Deva, because of the chapels there dedicated to the two saints from at least medieval times.

[edit] The baths

Like most Roman settlements, Deva Victrix had a large legionary bath complex for the soldiers to wash and to use for leisure time. The remains on the east side of Bridge Street were largely destroyed during the construction of the Grosvenor Mall. It has been estimated that the baths used between 500,000 and 750,000 litres of water a day, which was supplied from the springs in Boughton. Water was piped in large lead pipes underground from a branch off the main aqueduct near the Eastgate, downhill to the baths on Bridge Street. The water was then held in large tanks with concrete foundations, and then fed through the complex. Waste water would have been fed downhill using gravity to the river. The water was fed through 24 hours a day.

The bath complex consisted of an exercise hall, courtyard, and three Turkish baths with basins and plunge pools. The complex was warmed by a hypocaust, or under-floor heating system, fed by three furnaces. The ceilings of the baths were domed with lines of terracotta tubes to support the structure. Part of the Roman hypocaust remains in situ under the Mall and can be viewed from the cellar of the restaurant on 39 Bridge Street. The remains consist of a number of local sandstone pillars on a concrete base supporting a buried Roman floor. Also remaining in situ is part of a fine Roman mosaic floor, located under St. Michael's Arcade by the Bridge Street entrance. It is known that the bath complex stood for a long time after being abandoned by the Romans. When part of the site was excavated during the demolition of the Feathers Hotel, the floor was found intact with a 0.4 meter covering with dark soil from the Saxon period, followed by remains of the collapsed roof. Five columns from the exercise hall with parts of another hypocaust can be viewed in the Roman Gardens off Pepper Street.

[edit] The quarry

The second fortress was constructed of local sandstone, which was quarried from across the river to the south of the fortress. Traces of the quarry can still be seen today in Handbridge. A large amount of sandstone was taken and used in the construction of the fortress wall and the many buildings inside. On the old quarry face, near an old ford, was carved an image of the Roman goddess Minerva. It may have been carved by the workmen of the quarry for protection.

[edit] Links

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