Deva Victrix
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Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary
fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
and town in the
Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
on the site of the modern city of
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. The fortress was built by the Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the
Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
advanced north against the
Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geogr ...
, and rebuilt completely over the next few decades by the Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix''. In the early 3rd century the fortress was again rebuilt. The legion probably remained at the fortress until the late 4th or early 5th century, upon which it fell into disuse. A civilian settlement, or ''
canabae A (plural ) was the Latin term for a hut or hovel and was later (from the time of Hadrian) used typically to mean a town that emerged as a civilian settlement () in the vicinity of a Roman legionary fortress (). A settlement that grew up outs ...
'', grew around the fortress. Chester's
Roman Amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, '' venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...
, south-east of the fortress, is the largest-known military amphitheatre in Britain. The civilian settlement remained after the Romans departed, eventually becoming the present-day city of Chester. There were peripheral settlements around Roman Deva, including Boughton, the source of the garrison's water supply, and
Handbridge Handbridge is a district of Chester, England on the south bank of the River Dee. A settlement has existed on the site since the Iron Age , but the site saw major expansion during the collapse of the Roman occupation of Britain, as the city grew ...
, the site of a sandstone quarry and Minerva's Shrine. The shrine is the only
in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
, rock-cut Roman shrine in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
. The fortress contained barracks, granaries, headquarters, military baths, and an unusual elliptical building which had it been finished may have been intended to act as the governor of Britain's headquarters. In fiction, Deva features in "The Antonine Romans and Deva: Roman Chester Awaits!" (2021) Novella by Andrew Boyce.


History


Foundation

According to the 1st- and 2nd-century geographer
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
, Deva was in the lands of the
Cornovii The Cornovii is the name by which two, or three, tribes were known in Roman Britain. One tribe was in the area centred on present-day Shropshire, one was in Caithness in northernmost Scotland, and there was probably one in Cornwall. The name has ...
. Their land bordered that of the
Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geogr ...
in the north and the
Ordovices The Ordovīcēs (Common Brittonic: *''Ordowīcī'') were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain before the Roman invasion. Their tribal lands were located in present-day North Wales and England, between the Silures to the south and the D ...
in the west and included parts of what is now
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
,
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
, and north Wales. When the Romans' treaty with the Brigantes—who occupied most of what is now
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
—failed the Romans embarked on military conquest of the area. The campaigns were initially led by Sextus Julius Frontinus and later
Gnaeus Julius Agricola Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribun ...
. Their expansion into the north of Britannia during the reign of
Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
meant that the Romans needed a new military base. Chester was a strategic site for a fortress, commanding access to the sea via the River Dee and dividing the Brigantes from the Ordovices.Mason (2001), p. 42. Legio II ''Adiutrix'' was sent to Chester and began the construction of a legionary fortress in the mid-70s AD. The fortress was built on a sandstone bluff, overlooking the bridge crossing the river and close to the natural harbour which is today occupied by the
Chester Racecourse Chester Racecourse, also known as the Roodee, is a racecourse located in Chester, England. The horse racing venue is officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the "oldest racecourse still in operation". Horse racing in Chester dates ...
. The bend in the River Dee provided protection from the south and the west. The river was navigable up to the sandstone ridge, so positioning the fortress beyond it would have made access to the harbour difficult. The fortress may have required up to of water a day,Mason (2001), pp. 83, 85–86. supplied by fresh water piped in from natural springs in the suburb of Boughton to the east. Lead ingots discovered in Chester indicate that construction was probably under way by 74 AD. There may already have been military buildings on the site, but if so they were demolished to allow the construction of the fortress.Mason (2001), p. 46. The first buildings were constructed from wood, probably for convenience. They were gradually replaced by more permanent structures built from locally quarried
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
.Mason (2001), p. 107. Defence was provided by a
rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
and a ditch wide and deep. The rampart was made from turf laid over sand, clay, rubble, and layers of logs. The fortress was laid out in the traditional "playing card" shape—rectangular with rounded corners—and had four gates: north, east, south and west. It covered , making it the largest constructed in Britain during the 70s. An estimated of timber was used in the first phase of the fortress's construction; buildings outside but associated with the fortress, such as the harbour and the amphitheatre, would have required an additional . The fortress contained barracks, granaries (''
horrea A ''horreum'' (plural: ''horrea'') was a type of public warehouse used during the ancient Roman period. Although the Latin term is often used to refer to granaries, Roman ''horrea'' were used to store many other types of consumables; the giant Hor ...
''), headquarters ('' principia'') and baths (''
thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
''). The barrack blocks each measured and were built using
wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
.Mason (2001), p. 59.


Etymology

The name Deva Victrix derives from "goddess", and the Roman fortress was named after the goddess of the River Dee; the Latin for "goddess" is ''dea'' or ''diva''. There is an alternative source for the naming of the settlement which suggests that the Roman name for the fortress was adopted directly from the British name of the river. It is thought that the title "victrix" in the name of the fortress was taken from the title of the Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix'' who were based at Deva;Mason (2001), p. 128. ''victrix'' is Latin for victorious. The name for the city of Chester derives from the Latin word ''castrum'' (plural: ''
castra In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
''), meaning "fort" or "army camp"; "-chester" and "-caster" are common suffixes in the names of other English cities that began as Roman camps.


Under Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix''

In 88 AD, the Emperor
Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...
ordered the Legio II ''Adiutrix'' to the lower
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. The Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix'' was deployed to garrison Deva Victrix, abandoning the fort they had been building in Scotland, at
Inchtuthil Inchtuthil is the site of a Roman legionary fortress situated on a natural platform overlooking the north bank of the River Tay southwest of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland (Roman Caledonia). It was built in AD 82 or 83 as the advan ...
. On their arrival they began to rebuild Deva, first in timber and from the end of the 1st century in stone. The new stone fortress walls were thick at the base and thick at the top. Located at regular intervals, approximately apart, along the walls were 22 towers about square.Mason (2001), p. 130. The defensive ditch was re-dug and was wide and deep. An estimated of stone were used to build the new fortress defences. The timber barracks were replaced with stone buildings of a similar size. During the 2nd century, at least part of the Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix'' took part in the construction of
Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...
,Mason (2001), p. 155. leading to some sections of the fortress being abandoned and others being allowed to fall into disrepair. The Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix'' probably went on campaign in 196 under
Decimus Clodius Albinus Decimus Clodius Albinus ( 150 – 19 February 197) was a Roman imperial pretender between 193 and 197. He was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain and Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) after the murder ...
into
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
, leaving Deva under-garrisoned. They would have suffered heavy losses in Gaul before returning to Britain. Following attacks against barbarians in the early 3rd century under
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
, the fortress at Deva was again rebuilt, this time using an estimated of stone. During the 4th century the size of the legion, and therefore of the garrison, may have diminished in line with the rest of the empire's forces.


Decline and abandonment

Most of the fortress's major buildings were still being maintained in the second half of the 4th century and the barracks were still inhabited. Before 383 AD, soldiers at Chester were being paid by coins from the imperial mints; after this the soldiers may have been removed by
Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in B ...
when he invaded Gaul in 383.Lewis & Thacker (2003b), pp. 9–15. The ''
Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...
'', written in around 395, does not record any military units garrisoned at Deva, indicating the fortress was no longer used by the military at this stage. If it was still used by the military, this would have ended by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia and the Western Roman Emperor Honorius told the cities of Britain to look to their own defences against invaders. The civilians probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders from the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
. Inhabitation of Chester continued on a lesser scale once the legions had left. Buildings would have fallen into disrepair, although some of the larger structures are known to have survived for some time. The town nevertheless probably remained the military and administrative centre of the region. After the arrival of the
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
, the settlement became known as ''Legacaestir'', meaning "City of the Legions" in
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
.Mason (2001), p. 212. Medieval chroniclers believed the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul—later the site of
Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Sain ...
—to be of Roman origin, although no evidence has been discovered to support this. When Chester became an Anglo-Saxon
burh A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...
in 907, the walls of the fortress were repaired and incorporated into the defences. Much of the Roman masonry was reused in later periods.


Later history and investigation

In the 14th century,
Ranulf Higden Ranulf Higden or Higdon ( – 12 March 1364) was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk who wrote the ''Polychronicon'', a Late Medieval magnum opus. Higden, who resided at the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester, is believed to h ...
, a monk in Chester, described some of the Roman remains, including the sewers and tombstones.
Antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
s began to take interest in the remains in the 17th century and interest continued to grow in the 18th century, fed by accounts of Roman Chester and discoveries such as an altar to Jupiter Tanarus.Mason (2001), p. 13. Jupiter Tanarus—also Taranis—was the
Romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
version of the
god In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
Taranis In Celtic mythology, Taranis (Proto-Celtic: *''Toranos'', earlier ''*Tonaros''; Latin: Taranus, earlier Tanarus) is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube r ...
who was the equivalent of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
the god of thunder. In 1725,
William Stukeley William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...
recorded the Roman arches of the east gate; they were demolished in 1768. Over the next century, accidental discoveries continued, such as parts of the Roman bath complex outside the fortress which were destroyed by a late-18th-century housing development. The Chester Archaeological Society, founded in 1849, acquired artefacts discovered in Chester and undertook excavations where possible; the
Grosvenor Museum Grosvenor Museum is a museum in Chester, Cheshire, in the United Kingdom. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Its full title is The Grosvenor Museum of Natural History and Archa ...
was opened in 1886 to allow the public to view the society's collection. The society continued to work in Chester, recording information on the fortress and its surrounding settlement, often as building works destroyed the sites. Between 1962 and 1999, about 50 excavations were carried out in and around the fortress, revealing new information about Deva Victrix. Between 2007 and 2009, excavations were carried out at the amphitheatre on behalf of Chester City Council and in association with
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
.


Civilian settlement

A civilian settlement (''canabae legionis'') was gradually established outside the walls of the fortress; it probably began as a collection of traders who became prosperous from dealing with the fortress.Mason (2001), p. 101. The settlement was administered by an elected council rather than by the legion. As legionaries retired many settled in the ''canabae legionis'', effectively making it a veteran colony. Cemeteries were located alongside the roads leading to the settlement, beyond built-up areas. The
Grosvenor Museum Grosvenor Museum is a museum in Chester, Cheshire, in the United Kingdom. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Its full title is The Grosvenor Museum of Natural History and Archa ...
has over 150 tombstones, the largest collection of Roman tombstones from a single site in Britain. Retrieved on 20 March 2008. Most of them were used to repair the north wall in the 4th century. Settlement extended around the fortress to the east, south, and west; shops fronted the roadside for about beyond the fortress walls. To the east was the legion's parade ground, civilian baths were built to the west, and to the south was a ''
mansio In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...
'', a large coaching house for travelling government officials. The buildings of the ''canabae legionis'' were originally timber, but during the early 2nd century began to be rebuilt in stone. The settlement expanded throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries as the population increased. Once the legion had left, the civilian settlement continued, eventually becoming part of the town of Chester. Indeed, scholars such as
Christopher Snyder Christopher Allen Snyder is the Dean of Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Mississippi. He was previously a professor of European history and director of the Honors Program at Marymount University, in Arli ...
believe that during the 5th and 6th centuries—approximately from 410 AD when Roman legions withdrew, to 597 AD when St.
Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.Delaney '' ...
arrived—southern Britain preserved a sub-Roman society that was able to survive the attacks from the
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
and even use a vernacular Latin (called
British Latin British Latin or British Vulgar Latin was the Vulgar Latin spoken in Great Britain in the Roman and sub-Roman periods. While Britain formed part of the Roman Empire, Latin became the principal language of the elite, especially in the more roma ...
) for an active culture. There is even the possibility that this vernacular Latin lasted to the late seventh century in the area of Chester, where amphorae and archaeological remnants of a local Romano-British culture at Deva Victrix have been found.


Legionary quarry

The Roman fortress of Deva was constructed from local sandstone, which was quarried across the river to the south of the fortress. Traces of the quarry are visible in
Handbridge Handbridge is a district of Chester, England on the south bank of the River Dee. A settlement has existed on the site since the Iron Age , but the site saw major expansion during the collapse of the Roman occupation of Britain, as the city grew ...
. In the 2nd century, a shrine to the Roman goddess Minerva was carved in the quarry for protection, Retrieved on 15 March 2008. perhaps by the quarry workers. Retrieved on 15 March 2008. Despite heavy weathering, the figure can be seen holding a spear and a shield with an owl above the left shoulder to symbolise wisdom. There is also a carving of an altar where offerings were left. The only rock-cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain, the Minerva shrine is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.


Legionary baths

Deva Victrix had a large legionary bath complex (''
thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
'') for the soldiers to maintain good hygiene and to use for leisure time. The baths were sited near the south gate and measured by .Mason (2001), p. 66. They were completed towards the end of
Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
's reign.Mason (2002a), p. 37. The complex was constructed from concrete and faced with stone. The walls were thick and the barrel-vaulted buildings rose as high as . The bath complex featured an entrance room (''vestibulum''), an exercise hall (''basilica thermarum''), a sweating room (''
sudatorium In architecture, a sudatorium is a vaulted sweating-room ('' sudor'', "sweat") or steam bath (Latin: ''sudationes'', steam) of the Roman baths or thermae. The Roman architectural writer Vitruvius (v. 2) refers to it as ''concamerata sudatio''. It is ...
''), a cold room with a cold pool (''
frigidarium A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is thought ...
''), a warm room (''
tepidarium The tepidarium was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from t ...
''), and a hot room with a hot plunge bath (''
caldarium 230px, Caldarium from the Roman Baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor. A caldarium (also called a calidarium, cella caldaria or cella coctilium) was a room ...
''). An unsheltered exercise yard (''
palaestra A palaestra ( or ; also (chiefly British) palestra; grc-gre, παλαίστρα) was any site of an ancient Greek wrestling school. Events requiring little space, such as boxing and wrestling, took place there. Palaestrae functioned both indep ...
'') also formed part of the complex. The baths had
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
floors and were heated by a
hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
under-floor system connected to three furnaces. Such furnaces required several metric tons of wood each day. The baths would have been in operation 24 hours a day, using an estimated of water each day.Mason (2001), p. 73. The water was supplied from the springs in Boughton through underground lead pipes linked to the main aqueduct near the east gate. The water was then held in large tanks with concrete foundations, before being fed through the complex.Mason (2001), p. 69, 72. A large area of the baths was destroyed by building works in 1863 and during the construction of the Grosvenor Shopping Mall in 1963. Sandstone columns from the exercise hall of the baths, measuring in diameter, are present in the "Roman Gardens" off Pepper Street; the columns would originally have stood high. A section of hypocaust remains in situ and is on display in the cellar of 39 Bridge Street.Mason (2001), pp. 68–69.


Market Hall inscription

This is a fragment of a much larger inscription, finely carved onto Welsh slate, which was discovered close to the fort's ''principia''. Archaeologist David J.P. Mason has said that:Baum & Mason (2001) : Examples of important inscriptions of this nature include treaties with local tribes and declarations of rights. The text of this inscription cannot be reconstructed from this small fragment, but it appears to talk about the "fortress", an "amicable conclusion", and someone being "against the regime".


Amphitheatre

The amphitheatre was discovered in 1929, and the Chester Archaeological Society—with support from then Prime Minister
Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...
—protected it from the construction of a road over the site. Excavations have revealed traces of late
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
cultivation, and they show that Deva's amphitheatre was built in two phases. The first amphitheatre was constructed from timber soon after the fortress and measured .Mason (2002b), pp. 54–56. There is no evidence of repairs to the timber structure, and its foundations were only deep, so it may have been a temporary structure.Mason (2001), p. 106. In the Flavian period the amphitheatre was rebuilt in stone. This second phase was larger than the first and measured . Only the seating that was extended, not the arena itself. The latest excavations indicate that it was a two-tiered structure, capable of accommodating between 8,000 and 10,000 spectators. Retrieved on 4 April 2010. Its size has been used as an indicator of Deva's large civilian population, and of the presence of wealthy citizens. The second phase of building is the largest-known military amphitheatre in Britain. It is a protected as a
Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
. The amphitheatre served a variety of purposes. As it was close to the fortress, it would have been used as a venue for weapons training as well as hosting spectacular entertainments involving acrobats, wrestlers, and professional
gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
s. The walls of the amphitheatre were thick and may have stood as high as . The buttresses were too insubstantial to be structural, so must have been decorative. Part of a slate
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
depicting a ''
retiarius A ''retiarius'' (plural ''retiarii''; literally, "net-man" in Latin) was a Roman gladiator who fought with equipment styled on that of a fisherman: a weighted net (''rete'' (3rd decl.), hence the name), a three-pointed trident (''fuscina'' or ...
'', or net-fighter, was discovered in 1738, most likely dating to the 2nd century; it was probably used to decorate the tomb of a gladiator.Mason (2001), p. 146. Other finds included a small bronze statuette of a gladiator, parts of a Roman bowl depicting scenes from a gladiatorial contest, and part of a
gladius ''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...
sword handle. Much of the masonry from the amphitheatre was reused in the construction of the St John's Church and the monastery of St Mary.


Elliptical building

In 1939, some paving and the walls of two unusual elliptical buildings were discovered, one atop the other. These "elliptical" buildings were partially uncovered behind Chester's market hall, and no similar buildings have been found in other legionary fortresses. The buildings were located near the centre of the fortress and they had their own bath buildings and a range of store rooms around the outside. The presence of a second bath building is unusual because legionary fortresses generally had just one set of internal baths. Construction on the site began around 77 AD and this was confirmed by a length of lead piping, which served a central water feature or fountain, which was stamped with the name of
Emperor Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
. The first building was a prestigious edifice made with concrete foundations and finely dressed stonework, and was probably the finest building in the entire fortress. Technically speaking it was not elliptical, but arcuate, with the central hall being formed from two intersecting arcs, and this makes it unique in the Roman Empire. Its function is unknown. There was no seating within the arcs, which precludes a theatre, and the best guess of the archaeologists was that the twelve alcoves may have contained images of the gods, with the temple being dedicated to the twelve primary gods of the Roman pantheon. Or, alternatively, the oval shape may have represented the shape of the known Roman world, but there is no supporting evidence for this. The completed building measured by , and had an oval courtyard with a water feature at its centre, by , surrounded by 12 "wedge-shaped" rooms. Traces of the concrete foundation for the water feature and its lead pipe work have been excavated. The 12 rooms surrounding the courtyard had large arched entrances, wide and at least high. It is not certain if the first building was ever completed, but it had certainly been destroyed by the 90s AD and the site was subsequently used as the fortress rubbish dump for many decades. The second elliptical building was built on top foundations of the first, and although the architect must have been aware of the exact layout of the previous building, the design of the second was slightly modified. Although the it looks very similar to the first, it used different diameters of arc to achieve a slightly "fatter" design. The second "elliptical" building was not constructed until about 220 AD, and this was confirmed by a coin of Emperor Elagabalus under one of the pavement slabs. It is thought that the second building may have survived until the end of Roman rule and influence in Britain.


Possible capital of Britannia

The elliptical building is one of several differences between the fortress at Chester and other Roman fortresses in the province. Deva was 20% larger, , than the fortresses of
Eboracum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...
(
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
)—later capital of
Britannia Inferior Britannia Inferior (Latin for "Lower Britain") was a new province carved out of Roman Britain probably around AD 197 during the reforms of Septimius Severus although the division may have occurred later, between 211 and 220, under Caracall ...
—and
Isca Augusta Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or ''vicus'', the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban village of Caerleon in the north of the city of ...
(
Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...
). Also, the stone curtain wall at Chester was constructed without mortar, using large
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
blocks; this required greater skill and effort than the methods used to build the walls of Eboracum and Isca Augusta, and was usually reserved for the most important structures such as temples or city walls rather than town walls.Mason (2002a), p. 45. The presence of unusual buildings at the heart of the fortress—accounting for the by which Deva was larger than other fortresses—has been taken as evidence that their construction was specifically ordered by the provincial governor. The
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
(''
Legatus Augusti pro praetore A ''legatus Augusti pro praetore'' (literally: "envoy of the emperor – acting for the praetor") was the official title of the governor or general of some Imperial provincess of the Roman Empire during the Principate era, normally the larger ones ...
'') when construction first started was
Gnaeus Julius Agricola Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribun ...
. Lead piping found in the elliptical building bears his name, the only evidence in Britain of a building under his direct control.Mason (2002a), p. 46. These differences suggest that Deva may have been Agricola's administrative headquarters—in effect the capital of
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
. This was speculated on in a ''
Timewatch ''Timewatch'' is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC. The ''Timewatch'' brandname is used as a ...
'' investigation. Another factor pointing to Deva Victrix as a provincial capital is the presence of a port. From Deva, Ireland (
Hibernia ''Hibernia'' () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (c. 320 BC), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). ...
) was also accessible, a land which Agricola had plans to conquer. Also, the
Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...
was expansionist, and Deva was closer to what would then have been the front, making administration quicker and easier. Furthermore, historian Vittorio Di Martino believes that Agricola could have chosen Deva Victrix as a possible future capital of Roman Britain because it was practically placed at the centre of the British isles, being located geographically at nearly the same distance from the westernmost shores of Ireland, the easternmost lands of Britannia and the Channel. Regardless of the empire's plans for Deva,
Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...
, the province's economic and trading centre, emerged as the capital of Britannia, reflecting a change in imperial policy from expansionism to consolidation.Mason (2002a), p. 48.


See also

*
Chester city walls Chester city walls consist of a defensive structure built to protect the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. Their construction was started by the Romans when they established the fortress of Deva Victrix between 70 and 80  E It originat ...
*
History of Chester The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as ''Deva'', by the Romans in AD 79. The city was the scene of ...
*
Minerva's Shrine, Chester Minerva's Shrine is a shrine to the Roman goddess Minerva in Edgar's Field, Handbridge, Chester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The shrine dates from the early 2nd ...
*
Via Devana Via Devana is the name given to a Roman Road in England that ran from Colchester in the south-east, through Cambridge in the interior, and on to Chester in the north-west. These were important Roman military centres and it is conjectured that the ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

;Primary * * ;Secondary * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * *


External links


'Chester: a Virtual Stroll Around the Walls'An Archaeological Research Framework for Chester
*:See page 20 of PDF for a map of archaeological remains from the Roman period in and around Chester. Finds are concentrated within the fortress, the areas to the north, south, west, and along the road extending to the east. {{good article Roman sites in Cheshire 79 establishments Populated places established in the 1st century History of Chester Military history of Cheshire Roman fortifications in England Roman towns and cities in England Archaeological sites in Cheshire 70s establishments in the Roman Empire 1st-century establishments in Roman Britain Roman legionary fortresses in England