Border Control - Hadrian's Wall - Cavalry - Foreign influences? - Size - Colour - The Horse Goddess

The Romans' influence on the Cumbrian Fells.

What the Romans did for Britain.

The Romans brought completely new ways of ruling, with highly organised civil and military hierarchies as opposed to the family-based "clan" system that the Britons were used to.

They brought a uniform measurement of distance - the "mile" which still links back to the Latin for "a thousand paces".

The Roman coin-based monetary system became the common one. Unmade roads became paved or metalled ones, outdoor water supplies became interior plumbing, smoky hearths were replaced with underfloor heating, and round thatched wooden houses were superseded by right-angled stone walled buildings with columns, porticoes and windows.

In the early stages of the Roman occupation of Britain, Latin must have been the general language of trade and commerce between the conquerors and the conquered. And, of course, once the British learned Latin, they learned the advantages of literacy too, so that there are written records of what life was like in that period. For centuries, Latin was the international language of the educated European population.

As far as horseflesh is concerned, the Romans' major contribution seems to have been the breadth of trade within the Empire and the vast distances over which the Army was posted.

Supplying the Army

The Roman way of life seems eventually to have been accepted; forward thinking Britons probably saw the business opportunities that were in the offing. In Cumbria as elsewhere in Britain, Carvettii and Brigantes villages frequently sprang up outside the gates of Roman forts. (Lambert)

The period of the occupation was one of considerable prosperity and increasing integration, so no doubt the locals profited from the increase in trade. Letters written by soldiers serving on Hadrian's Wall to their families, list the foods they ate, most which were probably obtained locally, eg young pig, ham and venison, goats' milk, corn, salt, flour; ordinary wine, Celtic beer, and fish sauce (Wilkinson). Foods that were probably imported included vintage wine, spices, olives, pepper, semolina and garlic (Bowman).

Horses may have been levied locally or bred on a systematic basis. There are arguments for both, and certainly there must have been more horses than cavalrymen wherever there was a fort. For an interesting, and rider-based, view see Trajan's Roman Cavalry site. Hyland admits it is difficult to know exactly where the lower ranks of Roman military horses were sourced from but suggests that in Britain the heavier types of draught pony (which would include animals of similar build to the Fell, Dale and Highland) were probably used in the haulage and pack roles that in warmer climates were filled by donkeys and mules.

Civilian Transport

Various animals were used to transport goods. There were oxen, mules and horses (ponies) drawing carts with either two or four wheels, while mules and horses were also used to carry packs. Where goods needed to travel fast over short distances or were small, light or delicate, pack horses would be preferable; heavy, awkward goods, especially going more than a day's journey, would be better transported by four wheeled cart. Goods could be left in it and did not have to be manhandled when the draft beasts were allowed to rest at night.

Draft and pack animals probably travelled regular routes. They may well been owned by individuals or family businesses, and so have done whole journeys to and from their main base. A letter (one of the Vindolanda tablets) says that the writer would have been to Catterick to collect a wagonload of hides, but had not done so in case he injured the horses while the roads were bad.

The Cursus Publicus

In contrast, the tax-supported "cursus publicus" supplied changes of riding horse or chariot horses for the traveller on Government business who would not want to wait for animals to recover before starting the next stage of the journey. Whether the horses were returned to an agreed location after a rest, or simply moved on to another posting station with the next customer, is not known (Gould) but Hyland notes the frequent mention of the "wearing out of public beasts" in the Codex Theodosianus. She estimates their working life as averaging four years, so their lot must have been a hard one.

Roman accounts of Britain: economics, politics and gossip.

Julius Caesar described the southern part of Britain as it was on the occasion of his second invasion, in his War Commentaries for 54 BC:

"The number of the people is countless, and their buildings exceedingly numerous, for the most part very like those of the Gauls: the number of cattle is great. They use either brass or iron rings, determined at a certain weight, as their money. Tin is produced in the midland regions; in the maritime, iron; but the quantity of it is small: they employ brass, which is imported. There, as in Gaul, is timber of every description, except beech and fir. They do not regard it lawful to eat the hare, and the cock, and the goose; they, however, breed them for amusement and pleasure. The climate is more temperate than in Gaul, the colds being less severe."

In the north, at the time the Romans invaded the Brigantes controlled Lancashire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Westmorland, and the southern part of Cumberland. They had family links with groups of their tribe in Northern Ireland and Northern Spain. The people of Northern Cumbria and Southwest Scotland, the Carvettii, were not granted their own separate, regional governing body until the second C AD.

The Roman military forces moving north had to stamp out civil unrest in the area: Tacitus describes the British situation in his "Histories" :

"... dissensions, and the continual rumours of civil war, raised the courage of the Britons. They were led by one Venutius, who, besides being naturally high spirited, and hating the name of Rome, was fired by his private animosity against Queen Cartismandua. Cartismandua ruled the Brigantes in virtue of her illustrious birth; and she strengthened her throne, when, by the treacherous capture of king Caractacus, she was regarded as having given its chief distinction to the triumph of Claudius Caesar. Then followed wealth and the self-indulgence of prosperity. Spurning her husband Venutius, she made Vellocatus, his armour-bearer, the partner of her bed and throne. By this enormity the power of her house was at once shaken to its base. On the side of the husband were the affections of the people, on that of the adulterer, the lust and savage temper of the Queen. Accordingly Venutius collected some auxiliaries, and, aided at the same time by a revolt of the Brigantes, brought Cartismandua into the utmost peril. She asked for some Roman troops, and our auxiliary infantry and cavalry, after fighting with various success, contrived to rescue the Queen from her peril. Venutius retained the kingdom, and we had the war on our hands."

We cannot tell whether the Carvettii were involved in this early war or just spectators. However, Tacitus distinguishes Cartismandua's regional sovereignty from that of her husband; she was associated with the Parisi of Humberside to the East; so it is possible that Venutius, on the other hand, was a Carvettian from the West. (Higham) A very nice site about Roman influence in the North is that of West Yorkshire Achaeology Service.