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  1. Pertinax
    I return from a fruitful photo sweep of the site of this "behind the Wall" strategic fort excavation.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1412
     
    Corstopitum is a Stanegate (strategic crosss country road) installation, pre-dating Hadrian's Wall but repeatedly rebuilt as a crucial supply depot and major civilian settlement. Only a fraction of the site has been excavated , but we see that there are some impressive items in the museum , and some worthwhile remains on site.The attested extent of the base and its vicus amount to approx 30 acres, from aerial photographic analysis -so what we have displayed at the existing site is a fraction of the developed area.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1411
     
    The fort evolved from early wooden construction to later stone re-build , via considerable growth and re-planning/rebuilding , to finally function as a strategic HQ for Severus in his Caledonian campaigns.
     
    I know that Augustus is pressing on with his work regarding the Wall Forts and associated defences, though he is a little pressed for time at present . I will give a revised blog linkage to his excellent site when He has had sufficient breathing space to build gallery and information areas.
    Here we have the underground strong room where the Soldiers pay was kept.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1409
    The site has some excellent granary foundations , including a mullioned vent duct still in situ ( I must get out more , musnt I?) , and the remains of a public fountain .The dressed rustic style masonry on view shows the quality required for important tactical buildings
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1410
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1408
    The Stanegate ran through the early Fort site, later becoming enclosed by the rebuilt and enlarged Fort.
     
    There are some thought ful presentations of Roman deities in the Museum area , in particualr a small portable shrine to Thrice Blessed Hermes:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1396
     
    The Great Lady is not forgotten:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1398
    We see Minerva (left) aiding Herakles in his great labours:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1397
    Offsite I have a monster upload of images:
    http://triclinium.spaces.live.com/
     
    I should add that we now have a nice congruity of museum and re-enactment, as LEG II AVG were an early garisson unit at this site, so if you scroll back down the blog you will see them as late Claudian (onwards) troops in this very locality.
  2. Pertinax

    A-viking!

    By Pertinax,

    For once I report to you on a non-Roman event. There was a small Norse re-enactment unit attached to a larger Civil War (English) event nearby , so I went in search of interesting items and weapons .
     
    There was a selection of goods and weapons on show.
     
    I have firstly, posted a Northman in general undress with everyday kit , were he to fight a padded jerkin would be neded under a coat of chain mail.This is a man of high status and thus his equipment is of superior finish.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1388
     
    Secondly we see detail of his high quality ornamentation (from a Norwegian find).
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1390
     
    Thirdly we see the small "pocket version" general use scramseaxe, this version not being the more familiar "broken backed" design.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1395
     
    In this image the use of the small axe to hamstring (or seek other peripheral weak points ) is demonstrated, note that the man nearest the camera is carrying a full fighting seax.This figure is also kitted with a very high quality helmet.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1391
     
    Image six , the familiar double edged longsword for hacking.This is a wealthy warrior, the helmet is of the best quality.A lot of low status men would have had to risk fighting bareheaded and getting a "pommelling" with the butt of the longsword.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1394
     
    Image seven, a less familiar single edged Norwegian blade.This is another copy from a norse hoard.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1393
     
    Image eight,the heavy Dane axe of the Norse and the Huscarl ,Anglo-Saxon Hearth troops.Capable of cutting through horse and man.The specialised weapon of the best troops.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1387
     
    Finally an axe fight (though not in full armour).
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1386
    The object is to maim by cutting through the collar bone , or seek out peripheral targets such as the hamstrings.
     
    My main observation here is one I have considerd in the "Celtic Swords" section, individuals and retinues of powerful Jarls had good weapons and an organised/dedicated fighting band, however the commonplace warrior had little enough equipment and protective gear.One cannot help but feel a retrograde step has been taken watching the , therefore needful, emphasis on "individual" combat technique. I do not discount the skaldaberg as a steady shield wall strategy , but the swine array seems merely to be a re-invention of roman assault tactics.
     
    There is an off site upload here as usual , with a few more shots of ephemera.(the gallery is "The Vikings!"
    http://triclinium.spaces.live.com/
    post scriptum! A rather fine shield painting:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1389
  3. Pertinax

    Hbo Rome Gallery

    By Pertinax,

    Ursus produced a top notch review of the First Season;
     
    http://www.unrv.com/hbo-rome-review.php
    as usual articulate and perceptive without getting over excited.
     
    A lot of people visit the site in search of this particular topic , and all its collateral baggage. I have therefore kicked off a Gallery devoted to the series:
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...um&album=67
    this album can be as big or small as members wish, what i think might be useful would be to look hard at the historical veracity of the re-created Roman world , this can be in any topic from architecture to costume detail versus weaponry to street mime.
     
    The selection I have posted is right across the board , we see our friends (T.Pullo and L.Vorenus ) our possible villains (Cato and Pompey (boo! hiss!)) , our beguiling feminine cast ( ) , our possible heroes (Caesar and Antony ) and our confused moderates (Cicero and Brutus )...or perhaps the heroes and villains are different?
     
    It cannot be denied that the series looked wonderful , and on ocassions the immediacy of the story was stunningly delivered. I personally feel the real triumph was in the street level detail, and the casting of support roles-McNeice as the newsreader, Posca "Caesars creature" and the wonderfully camp Egyptian Court.
     
    I hope the images add to everyones enjoyment and provoke some comments on accuracy and detailing.
  4. Pertinax
    I have been delving through this work
     
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Society-Pompeii-He...8&s=gateway
    being a great lover of Pompeii and Herculaneum. As far as the social hierarchy of houses and their internal layouts go I have started a thread here:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...amp;#entry43683
    the changing styles of layout and decoration ,are intimate to the social upheavals of the period from the late Republic to approximately the death of Pliny The Elder. Indeed Pliny is a direct commentator on those very styles most acessible to himself in the city of Pompeii.
     
    What is further interesting is the hierarchy of colours used by the aspiring Patron or Freedman in his home.The cost of pigments being the socially determining factor. Firstly, the most basic colouration is a limewash white, this is the very least that could be applied to a room-though a grand house might contain basic rooms with such colouration.
    Cinnabar Red is the first major step into a luxurious environment, a painting contractor would charge a client directly for use of such a pigment (it is a sulphide of Mercury , HgS and associated with volcanic regions).
    http://www.galleries.com/minerals/sulfides...ar/cinnabar.htm
    Yellow ochre is another attested pigment , derived from clays and used as a general panel colour for rooms to be used for conspicuous display, as an iron oxide this will not have been rare ( rusty nails would do) but a consistent pure colour would need effort and application
    http://webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/over...ellowochre.html
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=449
     
    Then we ascend to blue , from lapis lazuli, very expensive and used only for the most exquisite of decorations: here we have the pigments displayed in the palette of the late , great John Davis of LEG II AVG
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=907
    http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/lapis.html
     
    Finally black, was the colour for the grandest of state rooms, this may seem quite a strange circumstance to the modern historian, its weighty profundity is the key to its popularity in Roman sensibilities.This would be "bone black" or a high quality charcoal made from ivory (or possibly other dense bones), hence its inordinate cost.
    edit note: no plant or animal will actually yield a true black , so the secret is in the mechanism of preparation with the blackest yielding items.
     
    I must also offer one decorative motif that relates to specific servile areas of the house , especially where the house is not of the highest class( where physical separation would be near total) that is the device of zebra striped panels as a stark emblem contrasted with sumptuous decoration elsewhere.
    http://www.uwm.edu/Course/mythology/0900/1501.jpg
     
    A final item that must be mentioned is this , the division/colouration is not an artifice relating to privacy, indeed as far as I can see privacy is minimal ( I assume previous mention of the lack of Roman body shame is relevant here) however access to the intimate councils of the Paterfamilias is crucial. So all of this artifice is as regards degrees of intimacy of patronage , not zones of privacy within a building .An important clue here is that , if one stands in the entrance hall of many of the Pompeiian houses -you can see right to the very heart of the house with the Paterfamilias framed in his "seat of power" , though you might not be able to physically reach him if your status was too low, more clienti than amici...
  5. Pertinax

    Calvnivum (lancaster)

    By Pertinax,

    A fast recce to the small local museum in Lancaster, to peruse the Roman exhibits. This is a small municipal museum with limited space but a friendly attitude. I hope to be able to go back very soon and photograph items not on public display for your edification .
     
    Perhaps the most striking finds here are the "Burrow Heads" a series of substantial 3rd C AD monumental carvings that appear to represent The Elements. It is said they were recovered about a mile away from the present city in 1794. It is not known if they are funeray or sacredotal images.One is weathered almost blank , the others I display .It is possible they originally come from Calacvm, further north.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1118
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1119
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1120
     
     
    Calvnivum fort site lies beneath the "modern" Lancaster Castle and Priory , the site commands the River Lune to the foot of the nearby hill , and hence any progress inland from the Hibernian netherlands.The excellent "Togo" has the details for army units here:
     
    http://www.roman-britain.org/places/lancaster.htm
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1121
     
    The Castle is notorious as the site of the famous "Lancashire Witch Trials" :
    http://www.pendlewitches.co.uk/index.php
    http://www.pendlewitchproje
     
     
    The ruins of a bathhouse remain, soon to be re-restored , as they often serve as an unofficial picnic area for revellers.
     
    And over here we have a gallery of ephemeral objects not yet annotated...
     
    http://triclinium.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace/
  6. Pertinax

    Deva (chester)

    By Pertinax,

    A rapid scouting trip to check out this pivotal city in the conquest of Britain , both as a Legionary base and a port for the Classis. The sudden onset of bad weather drove me off site , but I was able to get a few useful shots for our information.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1055
     
    The amphitheatre project continues, the dig is well underway and here is the official site:
     
    http://www.chester.gov.uk/amphitheatre/index.html
     
    as can be seen this is the largest uncovered such in the UK.Please look at the downloadable newsletter, I was particularly interested to see the wide range of foods that were eaten!
     
    I also examined the "Roman Garden" , essentially a pleasant area where many small scale roman finds have been recycled in an area below the city wall.A hypocaust has been "rebuilt" , to give a good approximation of the shape of the real thing.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1056
     
    The City is notable for its preservation of Tudor buildings also.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1057
     
    A truncated visit , but I will try again!
     
    This is rather a useful British History source, here I cite the chronology of occupation for Deva..Which neatly ties in my friends at LEG II AVG as representatives of the founding Legion.
    http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=19183#s2
  7. Pertinax

    Passum

    By Pertinax,

    As many of you will be aware , I am trying to recreate the appropraite "medium" for appropriate herbal medicines as used in the Roman world. Andrew Dalby was kind enough to suggest that a species of cheap Malaga would be a good approximation, in terms of palate and (probably) appropriate quality for usage by the rough soldiery. As we have discussed in the forum various common medicines were stored in amphorae , with the herb macerated in a wine base. This form of storage is still , in essence, the format of modern herbal tinctures , certainly the maceration process would be understood by a Roman commercial producer.
     
    I got hold of Sally Grainger's "Cooking Apicius" which is a practical Roman cookery guide .
     
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1903018...ay&v=glance
     
    certainly the recipes we have tried so far have been a success.
     
    In this little volume there are notes on Passum as a dessert wine ie: a raisin wine made with grapes allowed to shrivel on the vine (or dried on rush matting). Grainger suggests "Malaga Dulce" , though I assume this would be too "sophisticated" for the hoi polloi."Muscat of Samos" also gets a mention from Greece.It just so happens that these people...
     
    http://www.stickytoffeepudding.co.uk/
     
    have a "pudding wine" which seems to fit the bill quite nicely.It happens to be an Aussie sweet raisin wine, and I have a bottle right here. I suspect two of the main "cough" syrup herbs will be masked by the sweetness of the wine, elecampagne and horehound (both attested as found in amphorae in Britain).I hope to now produce a "real" medicine that wont kill any re-enactors.
    If you require a recipe for this excellent pudding , here is another local one (ignore the margarine! use butter):
    http://www.sugarvine.com/recipes/recipes_details.asp?dish=47
    or
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...pud_67654.shtml
     
    If by any chance you are unfamiliar with Mr Dalby's excellent site may I link you thus:
     
    http://perso.orange.fr/dalby/ephemeris/arc...2/entry_88.html
     
    by way of a splendid quotation...
  8. Pertinax

    Architectus

    By Pertinax,

    I have put together a small selection of pictures, relating to the work of the recently deceased John Davis of LEG II AVG. Nothing fancy, just an indication of the talent and knowledge that has been lost at the passing of this worthy Romanophile.
     
    Firstly we see him with his scales in the booth of the Architectus, here he is weighing the extremely valuable lapis lazuli for crushing into a paint pigment. This is a top of the range Roman colourant , ordinary people would have to make do with the commoner (but by no means cheap Egyptian self-glazed blue tiles, fired in thin slabs and crushed to dust ).
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=959
     
    Then we see the range of (natural) pigments in his "paintbox", the egyptian blue is the lump of material to the bottom right of the box.We see his paintings and his various surveying instruments also.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=907
     
    Then we see his booth set up again at Gargrave, note the globes of the known world and the celestial sphere, the model hypocaust also.The artwork on the wall is his also.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=960
     
    A domestic interior painted by John, a genteel Lady is at home.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=961
     
    and finally a blow up of John (on the left) in his Belgic Auxilliary gear.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=962
     
    The Gods Rest his Soul!
  9. Pertinax
    Very sad news from the Secvnda , John Davis , their personable and vastly knowledgable Architectus has lost his life in a road accident. I have placed a Memoriam on the main Forum floor and posted a shot of John in his Auxilliary garb in the gallery.On the Secvnda site ,you can see the tributes coming in and some more images of him at various re-enactments.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?&a...=si&img=942
     
     
    This entry is also by way of invitation, to any visitors from the Secvnda to contact UNRV and contribute to our community . Also if I have made factual errors regarding any Secvnda images , or Secvnda activities please let me know at once. My excuse for any error is the amount of valuable information from your learned members that I had to absorb. I know you will all be very busy in the next two weeks at Archeon:
     
    http://www.archeon.nl/enghomeindex.html
     
    Thanks to David Richardson of The Secvnda.
  10. Pertinax
    The scenario is , you are on patrol 135 AD (or thereabouts) , you are an experienced mounted Auxiliary trooper with 15years service under your belt including a couple of pitched battles and some skirmishing and policing scuffles.Youve picked up a leg wound whilst intercepting some customs dodgers just north of Hadrian's Wall, nasty gash from a spear into the muscle of the calf. You are trained to report in with wounds at the double as no one wants experienced men sitting around gossiping in the Fort hospital .Its late Autumn so the Medicus has no fresh medicines available , but he knows how to deal with the situation.
    Firstly you have to hobble into the medical block, the wound will be cleaned out with lavender water (a strong solution , not a women's perfume!) , or some acetum. The Medicus will probe for any bone splinters whilst you take a very small dose of henbane, more to keep you still for his benefit than to stop any pain.If satisfied that there is a clean wound the medicus will put in a honey dressed bandage as a plug , if the wound site is deep enough.The wound will be lightly bound and possibly splinted.
    The next phase is -as you have no antibiotics-what do we use a s medication to heal /expedite tissue growth and staunch any bleeding? Its late in the year so the Medicus has to get you a wine based medicine.
     
    Perhaps it was made in this way:
    Somewhere back in Southern Gaul a merchant has a substantial quantity of so-so wine that is ok for a rough gurgustum , but isnt up to the cost of supporting its own transportation despite the economies of shipborne bulk transport. However it is a sufficiently robust medium for a local army contractor to use it as a base for the maceration of herbal medicines.Now quite a lot of "approved" herbs are available , freshly cut in springtime and full of healthy growth and a full range of active chemical compounds.The contractor needs his slaves to macerate the herbs in controlled quantities , with certain proportions of wine, depending on the physical tissue of the herb.Amongst the fresh growths brought in is Yarrow herb well known as a medication for wounds or severe haemoragic bleeding. The slaves have a standard mixture to work at, after cleaning the plant and removing any discoloured leaves. In this instance the whole plant, roots included (if clean) can be used., as usual someone has the lousy job of chopping up a great stack of herb into a mass of bruised, moist tissue. Amphorae are just fine for mixing the wine and herb together, the main thing is that a ratio of 1 part herb to 5 of wine is maintained, the amphorae need to be in a cool cellar , just like a decent wine, and slaves must shake the container well morning and night for 14 days .If roots are in the mix its best to give it a 3 week maceration period.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=827
    After this time the mix has to be run off the residual dregs and re-bottled. The Amphorae can then be sealed and put into stock , leaving them in storage for a year (if waiting for the seafaring season) will be of no detriment.So the amphorae are part of a cargo bound for Brittania, one is delivered eventually by river skiff to Corbridge on the Wall after being broken from bulk store at South Shields.
    The Medicus will break the seal of the amphora and after decanting a proportion for his own use will then consign further parts for other Fortlets "down the line".
    So our wounded trooper presents himself and the Medicus instructs him as follows, "Here is a mixture of the Sacred Herb of the great Achilles , which as you know heals all wounds made by iron weapons , and to it I have added a small quantity of the local Brigantine "Borago", this as you know they drink before battle for the excellent reason that it heals tissue and gives courage, and Pliny himself spoke of its virtues". "Three tablespoons per day added to a good beer, and use a good honey on the sore itself, wash away any pus with acetum " "And no you cant have a sicknote for three weeks". Our man will at least think "hmm, could have done with three weeks with my feet up but at least this chap has quality medicines, certainly I know the Herb of Achilles and Borago I know from my old aunt who was in Aleppo where it was mixed with Lemon for a summer drink ".
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=461
    The alkaloids and flavinoids in the Yarrow will heal the wound and if any is available as a dried herb a good bath suffused with it will reduce pain and inflammation.The Borage will strengteh the adrenal cortex (due to its linnoleic acid content), after shock and trauma, and the pyrrolizidine alkoloids will help the damaged flesh as well.
    Not bad for a people with no germ theory, but excellent sanitation.
  11. Pertinax
    The weather in Britain never fails to amaze, last weekend the LEG II got a thorough soaking at Bremetenacvm, and have had to work all week at drying and reparing kit, but today a slave had to make rounds with water for the troops who were sweltering in their armour.
     
    So the Legion was at Gargrave, nearest therefore to Olinacvm on the road from Bremetenacvm to Eboracvm.
     
    There is evidence of a substantial villa adjacent to the village
    http://www.outofoblivion.org.uk/record.asp?id=240
     
    The Legion had its supporting civilian units and , on this ocassion in adittion , the midwife, the fast food outlet and more dangerous than either of these , the gladiator school.
     
    The medical tent had a greater array of instruments due to the presence of the midwife, and I will give detailed information in the Roman Medicine thread in due course.
     
    I had particularly set out to get shots of the cataract surgical tools which are a faithful copy of a Mediterranean find, interestingly, as regards all the various pieces on display , all the British and Gallic finds tend to be heavier and more simply constructed -the nearer to Rome the fancier and finer in construction.
    The catarct tool is very simple and would have been deployed quickly and effectivley by a skilled Doctor, the cataract is cut into with a very fine point and the rear tube is drawn out (like a fountain pen) to produce a small vacuum thus drawing the excised tissue away from the eye.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?&a...=si&img=919
     
    The midwife is ,in reality,a contemporary midwife and we discussed Roman birth control and infanticide, she was of the opinion that birth control was predominantly dealt with by infanticide or abortion , though herbal medication and sympathetic magic were also involved: here we see the specialised tool for extraction of an unwanted infant from the womb, often mistaken for forceps these are a much smaller and heavier instrument .I do note that Pliny recommends "fat from the loins of a hyaena" which will bring an immediate resolutuion to difficult labour.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?&a...=si&img=920
    The array of items also included trephanation tools, catheters (male and female -beautifully made to a top class finish) and small bone saws for amputation.The equipment for the extraction of opiate latex from the popppy seed head is exactly the same then as now, a very hot deeply bowled spoon.Here is the best surviving midwifery text available.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0801843...ce&n=266239
    The gladiator school was a well equipped hut , I can do no better than illustrate its excellent selection of weaponry and equipment
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=918
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=922
    and I was able to have a long chat about shield grips and weapon usage (in general not just in the arena) which was very informative .And here is one of its fearsome inhabitants:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=921
     
    So an informative excursion.
     
    AS usual upload off site of approx 50 images here in LEG II AVG gallery
    http://triclinium.spaces.msn.com/
  12. Pertinax
    A visit to the splendid LEG II AUG at Bremetenacvm. This outfit have a top notch Greek surgeon with state-of -the-art equipment for all wound types and a comprehensive medicine chest.As you can see the battle had been bloody and some nasty wounds had to be dealt with.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=895
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=898
     
    here we have a messy fracture and splintered shin bone, the man has been given opium and a little henbane to keep him quiet.The wound has been robustly splinted , the medicus has been digging out bone fragments with the tools you see. Here is henbane-still used as a pre-med today!
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=528
     
    After the wound has been cleaned two soldiers will stretch the mans leg , hard , and a honey soaked dressing will be packed into the wound.The dressing will be renewed to a shallower depth on each renewal to allow a deep scab to heal and seal the wound.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=899
     
    The Doctor has a wide range of modern medicines to draw upon.If nothing can be done and gangrene threatens , then amputation is likely to be needed to stop gangrenous poisoning :this is a set re-created from a find.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=900
     
    Ive posted in the main forum regarding drawing the gladius and the scutum grip, for those debating these points.
     
    The office of the Architectus was nearby and I examined the range of natural pigments on display, and his superb selection of measuring equipment-the collapsible brass scale being the key implement.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=907
    Here we have items for calculation , weights, measures, geometric work , surveying work and cartographic activities.
     
    A display of re-created helmets was on show
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=902
     
    I met the artefex in question and he discursed on the points of this wonderful piece of work.This is a cavalry helmet though you will doubtless recognise elements that appear in later infantry armour.Th epiece illustrated is for a Cataphract or Clibanarius, as always with cavalry helmets we have a closed over ear piece , though in fairness this item is for maximun protection regardless of any other features.
  13. Pertinax
    Members will be aware of the "Roman World Herbal" gallery I have maintained for some time.In the Gallery are displayed plants known to have been used as painkillers, wound salves, abortifactants and foods, some of these plants have a recorded history from Egypt and Greece via Rome and Persia.Not all the plants are strictly Roman but many are known witihn the Roman world, so we have Borage and Mistletoe for example ,two very important Celtic herbs that the Romans must have known of and may well have used, especially given the role of Auxilliary troops from around the Empire.
    The chemical properties of the herbs have been investigated within our contemporary culture of scientific reductionism , many are still used or are mutilated and synthesised beyond the bounds of natural progression (how is asprin in any way superior to meadowsweet or white willow from which it is extracted if acetelyne poisoning is a downside to its use?).
    I have been asked to provide a bibilography for the study of Herb Medicine.Here are some suggested titles to give information on plant properties and to forewarn of the respect ,that the plant matrix, (as a host for an active medical core of healing chemicals) ,should be given.
     
    1.Firstly buy a well illustrated book
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0002200...ce&n=266239
     
    for Britain this is fine: then , go and find and photograph as many of these as you can!
    That takes a while
     
    2.Get a basic reference for active chemistry:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0846410...ce&n=266239
    desk reference, -you will know if you are using the wrong stuff!
     
    3.Chemistry standard
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0198503...ce&n=266239
    you need this to know what trace elements are kicking about.For example , mercury ,lead and cadmium are bad guys dont eat them: chromium , selenium and boron are here to help, but only in very small amounts.
     
    4.Chemical Structure
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0851998...ce&n=266239
     
    this is the reductive "why it does it, cos its built like this" book, very good.This explains who fits together to make nice molecules.
     
    5.Secret Teachings of Plants
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1591430...ce&n=266239
     
    the exact opposite of the above , holistic and emotional. Equally indispensable.You have to be able to accommodate both the last two titles in your brain without disquiet, as both are valid and useful.
     
    6.An atlas of plant ranges. If you cant find it you may live in Alaska and have very few Frankinsence trees, best to check.
     
    7.on Toxins
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0198605...ce&n=266239
     
    because they are dangerous even if cute and green and flowery.
     
     
    from thence to specific Ancient medicine, browse Pliny , read Galen, thence Ibn Sina (I can find very little practical difference between Ibn Sinas 10thC Persian work and modern practical Herbalism, Hakim Chistis recent work is excellent http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0892814...e&n=266239) , browse Culpepper .If a person is serious about the work then the crucial schooloing is actually healing, for this you must start at basement level , fetching and carrying for a Herbalist. The biggest problem is the great number of people who do not wish to be well this may be a startling statement but it is true, Hakim Chisti re-iterates this for the Islamic world in the Avicenna commentary.
    Thats enough for now!
     
    I add this as regards conventional ie: chemical medicines and "care" (or lack of) in the toxin title cited above the simple lesson is "wash your hands" , so why do Doctors not do this?
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...amp;#entry30859
  14. Pertinax

    Falconry Part 2

    By Pertinax,

    A most excellent days excursion . I was unable to fly any bird to the lure on this trip, as the resident Peregrine is now retired and of pensionable age-a shame , because they strike hard and you need to have your nerves still and head calm as they swoop in at speed, all very exhilarating if it comes off well. The weather was warm and calm, so that ruled out any possibility of flying the vultures , as decent thermals are needed to get them airborne , also the large Lappet Vulture was resting due to egg laying exertions. However I had the whole day to work with other birds, and some of them were a joy to handle.
     
    The Barn Owl is a featherweight and a sociable little chap, you will get pecked but only in a very gentle way, they enjoy being stroked and tickled on the back of the head, but they have very sharp little talons .The seem to be able to eat all day, without guilt or indigestion.Short tail vole is the dish most desired and a pair require 300 acres of untouched grassland to forage over-so if you can keep a pair in comfort you are doing the species a favour.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=866
     
    Here's a small African Owl.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=868
     
    The Harris Hawk is a recent addittion to hawking, halfway between buzzard and eagle but mistaken for a carrion bird because of its sociable habit (unique for a hawk).These animals are paragons of numerous Pagan virtues- haughty, proud, clever, inclined to sloth, immaculately well dressed, yet sociable hunters and well mannered. I forgot I had the bird on my hand when we were walking out this afternoon,(she was quite happy to sit on the glove or take to the tree tops)
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=869
     
    however when presented with a rabbit my hand was held in a vice whilst she concentrated on eating.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=870
     
    Quite an interesting mechanism the claws, if the prey squirms the talons bite deeper and deeper by reflex -so if you havethe hawk on the bare flesh you must cease any movement, let the bird peck at you (which hurts) to see if you are a large rabbit or vole and wait till she realises you are a large human and lets go.You should always wear a glove but sometimes the wrong arm gets sat upon, that being the case you should lower the hand and the animal will move toward the shoulder for a more secure perch.You find yourself chatting quite happily to the bird, other handlers and other birds without any unease.
     
    The Snake Eating Eagle is big, heavy, bad tempered and fairly dim. However he has "kickass" killing feet, apparently able to deliver the force of the bite of two alsatian dogs per foot, so any snake is spaghetti.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=867
    An extra glove is neede to handle these birds as the talons are fearsome-in this photo I thought my arm was going to snap, you have to fly these birds off quickly.They are also very very lazy, feed them and they pack up for the day.
     
    And...here's young Toby, he's only just into Owl Jump School and hasn't got his wings yet, but he did some decent hops and jumps this morning....and he blinks cutely and is even tempered.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=871
     
    for those who are interested I will post off site on my msn blog-plenty of vera the vulture!
     
    http://triclinium.spaces.msn.com/
     
    you cant miss her , she is the seriously ugly one.
     
    Look at the equipment you need!
    http://www.falconiformes.co.uk/wip_falconiformes_014.htm
     
    and finally , wikipedia has a useful little note on the Japanese art (Takagari) , notice the congruity with English feudal rules.
     
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takagari
  15. Pertinax
    Prithee: Note well that Pertinax will be much Engagde in Venerye the Morrowe..
     
    so what do we have here? Amedieval shopping list?
     
    Emperor :The Eagle, Vulture and Merloun / Lady : The Marlyon
    King : The Ger Falcon and Tercel of the Ger Falcon / Young Man :The Hobby
    Prince :The Falcon Gentle and the Tercel Gentle / Yeoman :The Goshawk
    Duke : The Falcon of the Rock (coastal type) / Poor Man :The Jercel (male goshawk)
    Earl : The Falcon Peregrine / Priest :The Sparrowhawk
    Baron : The Bustard / Holy Water Clerk:The Musket (male sparrowhawk)
    Knight: The Sacre and the Sacret / Knave or Servant:The Kestrel
    Esquire: The Lanere and the Laneret
     
    Beshrew me! An order of precedence for the entitlement of persons to fly a rank of hunting bird fit to their station .A man could not fly a bird commesurate with a person of higher social standing.
    Tomorrow , hopefully, I fly the Peregrine and the Hobby ( mostte seemlye in ranke to my personne)-in bird handling skills alone , (I think it unlikely I will be hunting Roe Deer with an eagle).The Marlyon is the merlin, the smallest but nevertheless deadly hawk, hence its decorous adornment of the feminine wrist .Notice though that the better hunters are usually the feathery females.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=863
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=864
     
    some curiose footnottes:
    "Much has been written of King John's passion for crane hawking (for which he flew a cast of gyrs given to him by the King of Norway) and he often brought hunting parties to the Test Valley to fly falcons at herons." James I ( and VI) was noted for using cormorants to hunt fish.All monarchs from Alfred to George III are recorded as keen in the art of falconry.
  16. Pertinax
    The Carrot family provided several very interesting medicinal/culinary/deadly umbelliferous herbs to the Ancient World , and if you are careful to look them out nowadays, they are still so available. The main thing is not to get the culinary gems (Candied Angelica) mixed up with the State Poisons (Hemlock and Waterdropwort) or the top notch wound salve (Yarrow).
     
    There are also quite a number of not so useful members of the group and one notable outsider (Valerian) that have a superficially similar appearence .So getting a correct ID is most important.
     
    Yarrow (Achillea millefollium) is the Roman wound salve par excellence, also called the Centurions Herb, Soldiers Herb, Knights Millefoil or nosebleed. It is suggested that the Romans brought this plant to Britain and encouraged its cultivation wherever they settled for any time . It is useful as a medicine and as a dressing.Thujones, lactones and flavinoids abound in its complex make up.The Redcoats took it to N America as I think I have mentioned before.
    The frond/fern like new growths are the key to identification.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=853
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=827

     
    Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is the Greek state poison. This is the herb that was given to Socrates after he was condemned to death.Its height and the purple blotches on its stem are keys to ID.Proximity to water is common so if in doubt about a plant near a stream-dont chew it! Hemlock was used in Anglo-Saxon medicine, and is mentioned as early as the tenth century in English Herbals. The name Hemlock is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words hem (border, shore) and le
  17. Pertinax
    Finally I have been able to get to the site of Mediobogdvm. This is the best preserved site in Cumbria south of the Wall.The earliest fort is likely to have been Trajanic , and finished under Hadrian. The initial Hadrianic garrison was the 4th Cohort of Dalmatiae. The fort may well have been one of those abandoned during the reign of Antoninus Pius , as troops pushed northward into modern Scotland to secure a new frontier at the Antonine Wall.The fort was reoccupied circa 160 AD and appears to have been sacked or deliberately razed in 197. Its life was therefore quite limited in comparison to other sites I have illustrated .
    As can be seen from the images of the Fort this is probably one outpost that ,despite its scenic glory, could without understatemant be described as "remote".
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=840
     
    Its function appers to have been as a staging post on the tough march ,over very high ground , from Glannaventa ( Glannaventa) toward Borrans (Ambleside) and either thence to Alavanna (Watercrook) or northwards toward Luguvallum.
    If the area was under reasonable "police" control the fort would hardly have had sway over anything but a scattered rural population , hence I suggest its short life .Fort layout is the usual playing card shape.
    If you approach by foot it is a warm days work to walk up the valley from Dalegarth (terminal of the narrow guage railway from Ravenglass). As can be seen there was little need to dig defensive earthworks around the fort as two sides are precipitous , and its not easy to find any other flat land in the vicinity
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=843
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=842
     
     
    The weather was very changeable and a cold, lashing rain descended , just as you would expect in mid-June in Britain.
    For a bulk upload of more photos from this trip my msn blog will be updated soon.
    http://triclinium.spaces.msn.com/
    edit: now uploaded and annotation to follow soon.
     
    Due to one of those unusual strokes of fortune that occur from time to time , I happened to arrive at the secondhand book dealers, who cheerfully announced that he had just taken delivery of an extensive array of Romanophile tomes.
     
    I purchased amongst others PS Fry's "Roman Britain" (what you say thats three books with the same title now ? The answer is yes)
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0715382...glance&n=266239
     
    I am part way through this work which is part history and part gazetteer-still a useful addition despite having Salway and De La Bedoyere's titles of the same name.
     
    The North West Frontier of Rome (a military study) D Divine .
     
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0356023...glance&n=266239
     
    and most usefully Sheppard Frere's "Brittania".
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0712650...glance&n=266239
     
    on top of that an armful of smaller books and maps, especially a 1956 OS "Roman Britain" in top notch condition.Yet more reading for the long , wet , dark summer nights.
     
    Just to produce a tiny frisson of envy -I hope to report from my forthcoming hawk handling trip next week...
  18. Pertinax
    The re-enactors were quite a bunch, very friendly and keen to share knowledge. They also presented a sight that many will consider strange, their ages-many were "grizzled veterans" but that added to the event , it was easier to see "old sweats" with missing teeth and not so athletic builds -we know Germanicus had to quell revolts by men who showed him toothless gums and old injuries.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=759
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=758
     
    They also had the wiley disarming charm of old soldies,indeed some of them were old soldiers! Interestingly the Centurion of Deva Victrix had been brought up in Deva (Chester) and had handled a Gladius and Scutum since childhood.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=754
     
    The mounted Auxilliae had an air of lofty disdain for the foot soldiers , and I detected that this was reciprocated, the usual inter service rivalry made flesh two thousand years on.
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=760
    I actually felt a sharp pang of reality as the mounted men told the foot soldiers to move aside as they entered the arena, it was perfectly reasonable as the horses needed the space , but it had a real hint of class difference in its delivery. Im sure it was totally unintentional, but it was also most revealing.
     
    The main photo upload is enormous ,so it will have to be off site especially as this is only the first such event im covering this summer.We have a day at Bremetennacum, another at Skipton and a Roman Day at York.
     
    LEG VIII AUG album now in my msn blog
     
    http://spaces.msn.com/Triclinium/PersonalSpace/
     
     
    I would like to ask members to visit Northern Neil's clever little models of Turret and Milecastle construction ,
    these are very good "imaginings", its possible that some fort/fortlet towers were even taller than the one shown, but I suspect this was more likely to be at the "premier" forts -the totally lost Axelodunum (Stanwix-THE premier posting on the Wall) and Arbeia as a large logistical support/fleet base.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=765
  19. Pertinax
    I have two tasks to complete for the site, the report on the re-enactment at Banna Fort (Birdoswald) on Hadrian's Wall and my review of the Roman Navy in Britain. Here is the first part of the first of those tasks:
     
    Firstly the weather was good enough , though too blustry for the hawking display to proceed. In attendance were LEGIO VIII Augusta
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=749
     
    I have a lot more to post here and off site on the MSN blog but that will be in a few days time.You can see the attention to detail and authenticity is good, (pale British legs cant be avoided).
     
    Also present were Deva Victrix an educational/tour type unit also immersed in accuracy
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=754
     
    And Roma Antiqua , who re-create civilian life, militray units and gladiator school.
    http://www.roma-antiqua.co.uk/index.htm
     
    English Heritage sent their Falconry Master but the weather was against him.
     
    The good thing about these events is that ,although you may have a conceptual grasp of say weapon use or armour fitting, 5 minutes dispels any innacurate pre-conceptions. At random , foot archers can only loose off a limited number of volleys at an approaching "tortoise" and if its windy not many hit even such a large target. Sleeping in a tent with your mess mates leaves older Legionaries prefering to use a sleeping bag in a car-as was noted "all night we have snoring, belching , the passing of wind and constant visits to the latrine", perhaps something you tend not to think about in any detail .
    The mounted Auxilliae are terrifying , even just a couple of them were a splendid site with billowing capes and an ability to use sword, kontos or bow you would need steady nerves to face a skirmishing asault by a group of them.On which point a horse archer needs to get in quite close to hit a target so some auxiliary light infantry as a screen are a must to repell them,along with your own light horse.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=750
     
    I can understand why so many armies wouldnt take the psychological leap of faith from horse to tank now, the live animal is so splendid, granted that AFVs are fearsome but , what I can only describe as a sort of primordial wildness , attaches to cavalry.
     
    VIII Augusta ran through the usual defensive/offensive tactics ,using latin commands,and they explained rank and insignia and also the role and nature of the Auxilliae.I watched them drilling for a couple of hours before the display and that was very evocative, they were muffled up in cloaks with full kit slogging through mud and repeating the exercises ad nauseum.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=756
     
    The blustry weather meant that the Roman kitchen was a very stressful place for the cook-lighting a fire was a real problem.
     
    An excellent day out ,with several more such to follow in the "summer " months.
     
    More information to follow and the majority of the images will be available on my MSN blog in the future (plenty of detailed equipment shots for example).
  20. Pertinax
    Before I , hopefully, attend the re-enactment at Banna I would like to clear up the geography of the Eastern extremity of Hadrian's Wall. This is also to indicate the likely extent of any photorecce , as much of the Wall in this area was destroyed by use as building material for the Military Road in the Jacobite Rebellion (c1745).
    The other difficulty is that in this area urbanisation has swamped or overgrown the remains of the fortifications.
     
    If you refer to this map section:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=748
     
     
    Arbeia is a site I will visit , this is a re-created "museum" of structures
    http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/arbeia/
     
     
    Segedunum is a coralled site amidst an industrial area
    http://www.segedunum.com/ ( as brought to you by Northern Neil recently). As you will seee I tried to get a response/link to UNRV but no-one seems to be home at present.
     
    Pons Aelius is literally buried under Newcastle's Castle.
     
    Condercvm is a few scattered remains in a "housing project", most of the fort is built over by housing.
     
    Vindobala is a vague outline in a field.The military road scythes through the middle of the site.
     
    Coria is my next project (Corbridge Fort and settlement).This is a pre-Hadrianic Flavian work like Vindolanda.
     
    thence we arrive at Cilvrinum and my previous blog entry.
     
    wish me luck for good weather and LEG VIII Augusta!
     
    and a special link just for Docoflove!
    http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...cial_s%26sa%3DX
  21. Pertinax
    A completely unforseen stroke of luck saw me with a day for selfish recreation, excellent weather and a very fast car.Dea Fortuna and Mercurius will recieve Libation.
     
    I offer you therefore Cilvrinum Fort (Chesters) , I have now pushed further east beyond Vindolanda toward Wallsend ( Segedunum). The weather was glorious, the museum of artefacts is crammed with retrieved inscriptions/altars and the fort bathhouse must have one of the best rustic views in the Empire.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=723
     
    Attested units -First Cohort Vangiones, ("The Augustan Wing" becasue of their virtue), the First Cohort Dalmatae , and VI Pia Fidelis (as builders, probably not the garrisson) and The Second Asturians (from Bremetenaccum).
    The Fort was built by order of Hadrian and continued in active use especially during the campaigns of Severus.I must explain it was a Hadrianic pre-wall fort (by a short head) that came to be built into the wall.This particular fort is considered to be the best preserved Cavalry fort in existence.
     
    The upload is so huge from this visit that I will have to place most offsite here:
     
    http://spaces.msn.com/triclinium/
    Fortunately I shot the information labels attached to the altars and votive items so saving myself caption work.
     
    I will create a Cilvrinum dedicated gallery on the MSN blog , but look out for new items under "Bana", they are easy to spot-the sun is shining .
     
    I also have shots of the turrets to the West of Bana and updated photos from the Mithraic Temple at Procolita, which if you recall I was driven from by freezing hail.I was struck how very close together the turrets are, the whole barrier must have been alive with keen eyes watching out for movement.Check the misc Roman on msn for the turrets and Mithraium.
     
    and you may be asking, how did the Wall continue over the River at the foot of the fort site? A fortified bridge , rebuilt several times.I should add that the civilian vicus here was quite substantial, I assume the River crossing made this a focal point for movement.
  22. Pertinax
    Quite a trip to Luguvallum (Carlisle). I stayed in Stanwix , that is the suburb just North of the River Eden Bridge. Stanwix being the possible former tribal capital of the Great( but troublesome) Lady Cartiamandua , client monarch of the Romans , inconstant bedfellow of Venuntius the King.
     
    background is here:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3575
     
    my location here:
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=714
     
    AS you can see almost adjacent to the first of the Hadrianic Wall (proper ) forts at Uxelodunum as given on this map, but now known as Petriana.To the West we have the turf/coastal defence system of the Solway area running down to Alavanna , to the East the central section of Vindolanda and Vircovicium.( Scroll down the blog for previous reports).
     
    Physical remains are negligible, though everytime the ground is touched in Carlisle a wealth of items emerges. I will be posting some gallery items relating to ballistic projectiles and coinage
     
    The Castle in Carlisle is a building with a long medieval-near modern history,David of Scotland ordered it built in 1130 , Mary Queen of Scots was held here, The Jacobites took the Castle then suffered seige and defeat themselves in 1745, the Border (Reiver) conflicts flared constantly around this area and latterly this was and is an infantry barracks with regimental museum.
     
    http://spaces.msn.com/triclinium/
     
    my external blog has a "Carlisle Citadel " gallery (roughly set out so far) showing sundry views and items from a catholic time period (annotation will follow when eyesight permits).Roman items will appear in the gallery here.
     
     
     
    I visited Tullie House museum but photography is not allowed , however I am hoping to obtain permission to shoot the specialised medical equipment in the collection-particularly the specialised eye surgery tools . Tullie is very good but I still think Vindolanda is the best collection I have seen so far never mind the actual fort area.
     
    http://www.aldinghamhouse.co.uk/
     
    and that is where to stay if visiting the area.
     
    Soon also there wil be three major Roman re-enactment weekends, Bana , Bremetenacum and Skipton: I have already booked the hotel for the first of these in two weeks time.
     
    Arthurian Legend.
     
    edit: now the other thing that emerged from this trip was regarding Arthur (King of the Britons, Defeater of the Saxons!), at the hotel I read a long document posted from the Isle of Man by an eccentric scholar.Essentially he identified Stanwix and the site of Aldingham as a sub-Roman stronghold (not at all unreasonable if you check the topography).Further more he suggested Arthur as son of the King of Dalradia (Dumfries) , ally of Urens (northern Cumbria), with Merlin coming from modern Eskdailmuir, fatally wounded at the battle of Camelann. Camelann being by my calculations somewhere north of the Wall near Bana . The time frame is 570-595 ish. Arthur was then laid to reast on a barge and his body taken to the Isle of Man, that then being part of Dalradia.
    Now virtually every County feels it has an Arthurian claim but I like this tale as it hints at a cavalry mounted sub-Roman Briton (I usually suggest Arthur might have been a Sarmatian/Briton " born in the camp" to a high ranking Auxilliary ) . So I offer you one more possible thread...
  23. Pertinax
    Appalling weather again in Brigantia , but I havent returned entirely empty handed. I have some shots of the site of the Fort at Alavanna. This is a bit of a problem in terms of naming, as you will be aware Alavanna Carvetorium is modern Maryport, and if my shakey Latin is any good I understand Alavanna tends to be interpreted as "the beautiful place" -fair enough (and please comment accordingly Latin scholars) because a lot of the sites are gloriously set in verdant landscapes. Here though we have a problem , Mediobogdum( fort in a bow?) would seem to be an appropriate name given the location within an oxbow bend of the River Kent, but that name seems to have stuck to the Hardknott pass fort further west toward Glannaventa (Ravenglass).The Fort is mostly unexcavated but we do now know that a Flavian construction date is strongly supported, on the ground the soft outlines of the decayed outer defences mark the area .The Kent would have supported water borne traffic in shallow draft craft to this site.
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=696
     
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=697
     
    this site will repay a visit on a sunnier day.
     
    It is possible that the XXth made a tactical "retreat " here from their unfinished Inchtuthill fortress in the far north.
  24. Pertinax
    Salvete Omnes!
    I am pleased to be able to return to the forum at last. I hope to have new photos from the Luguvallum area next week and from Alavanna (Watercrook) .The Tullie House museum and Carlisle Castle diggings are on my itinerary.
     
    edit: The Alavanna to which I refer is not Alavanna Carvetorium (Maryport) it is possibly related to the "lost port" of the Morecambe Estuary , namely that port used by II Adiutrix to combine with IX on its march north to deal with the Brigantine uprising in the southern Lake District,( possibly on the River Kent at Newby Bridge). Alavanna would be the next logical base along the river to secure an inland base with excellent natural defences, ie: surrounded by a wide ox-bow meander.The modern town of Kendal is nearby.
     
    It also seems that the slightly later Flavian imperative in this area was to "divide and conquer" keeping the tribes split and off balance , particularly also to keep the Carvetti from harm at the hands of the Brigantines.
     
    here is a pocket review of a useful text...
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3722
     
    and..
    http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...owentry&eid=255
    the alpha-numero Herbal index is undergoing tweaking.
  25. Pertinax
    The ongoing work at Vindolanda will probably take centuries to come to fruition, a sobering thought, our own words will be history by then. The blog title is the title of the book by Anthony Birley whose family have devoted themselves to the exploration of the site , he himself was born in the house adjacent to the fort and I was priveliged to meet him, very briefly, recently.
    The book is an excellent commentary on the Tablets and the great difficulties in retrieval,restoration and interpretation of the evidence. Its very specialised though easy to read, because Birley is totally absorbed in the Roman world and its interpretation. The extreme ordinariness is the great endearing factor of the tablets, the daily grind of provisioning and patrolling ;the flashes of contact between long dead writer and modern reader due to total , banal dullness of normal but wholly undestanderbale events-far more than reading about some deadly siege or warfare, senatorial intrigue or imperial madness .
    The Batavii are brought to life, Germanic people of fierce pride lead by their own aristocrats as crack Auxilliae, who need beer , bread , shoe repairs, new underwear, bacon, lard, and want loans repaying on time and no funny business from dimwit native trainees who'd better learn to use a pilum fast (or else).
    The deciphering of the texts is a near miracle exceeded only by their survival.
     
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...1608667-1014833
     
    and apologies: the msn blog although holding bulk uploads of site visits is still very crude after I demolished it wholesale last year, Pantagathus' excellent TNOG site has my beer blogs
    http://www.thenectarofgods.com/index.asp read em and weep!
     
    and should recieve my herbal beer updates if spring ever arrives here, but my old photography blogs have been consigned to history.If I am able to upload some of my enormous video archive to a server I will certainly link to the Hadrian's Wall footage here.
     
    http://spaces.msn.com/Triclinium/PersonalSpace/
     
    dont forget there are multiple romanophile galleries here-use the drop down menu!
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