THROUGHOUT the Roman occupation of Britain, there was activity at a fort called Vindolanda on the northern edge of the empire.
At first, in the 1st Century, it was just a timber outpost for 500 soldiers, but as Hadrian’s Wall was built a mile away, its location practically in the middle of the country made it an important location as a builders’ yard.
Then, as the wall proved an enduring northern boundary to the empire, it became an important supply point and in the 2nd Century, its timber was replaced by stone buildings which gradually grew and grew.
Therefore, anything that had been lost in the early years was sealed in by the later stone buildings, and the mud of Northumbria proved to be remarkably successful at preserving the items.
Vindolanda was finally abandoned by man in the 9th Century, and lay forgotten until the first archaeologists began uncovering its secrets 1,000 years later.
Excavations have become more regular and intense since the 1970s, and now a new book is revealing 50 of the most remarkable objects to have been found there.
“Each was held, created, traded, written, loved, or lost by a human hand and by marvelling at and enjoying these things today we better appreciate the people to whom they once belonged,” says Dr Andrew Birley, of the Vindolanda Trust, in the foreword to a new book, 50 Objects from Vindolanda.
Here are nine of those 50 items that caught our eye…
1. A silver philera
This is a silver phalera, a medal that was awarded for bravery around CE105 showing the face of the gorgon Medusa.
In Greek mythology, the three gorgons were sisters and dreadful monsters, with live snakes in place of hair and the ability to look on people and turn them to stone.
Two of the sisters were immortal but Medusa was not. She was slain by Perseus and her severed head was placed on a shield, from where she was still able to turn enemies to stone.
The wearer of this phalera must have felt pretty invincible with Medusa on his side.
2. Invitation to a birthday party
This invitation to a birthday party gives an amazing glimpse into the lives of the wives of the soldiers stationed in the North East.
It was written in ink on wood by Claudia Severa, the wife of the commanding officer of a Northumberland fort called Briga (no one knows precisely where but it was close to Vindolanda), and it was sent to Sulpicia Lepidina, the wife of the unit commander at Vindolanda, inviting her to the birthday celebrations on September 11 about CE100.
“I shall expect you, sister,” finishes Claudia. “Farewell, sister, my dearest soul, as I hope to prosper, and hail.”
So immediately we have a picture of the close friendships between these elite military wives in the North East who appear free to entertain themselves, and to come and go, almost as they please.
3. A bethrothal medallion
Jet was mined and worked on the North Yorkshire coast during the Roman occupation, and was very fashionable during the early 3rd Century, when this item was made – perhaps it even comes from Jeater Houses on the A19!
It is an engagement medallion, celebrating a betrothal. On one side, there’s a picture of a man and woman kissing, and on the other, two clasped hands which was a Roman symbol of the marriage agreement.
4. Statue of Priapus
The Romans were a saucy lot. This is a 3rd Century stone statue of the deity Priapus, shown in an “ithyphallic pose” – his erect penis is very prominent. He was associated with fertility, good fortune and abundance. In Pompeii, a large wall painting has been found showing him weighing his penis on scales.
At Vindolanda, a phallus carved from wood has been discovered which may well have been a sex toy.
5. Inscribed comb
Vindolanda has more than 160 small, imported wooden combs, which tells us that the Romans liked to sculpt their hair into intricate designs and that they had a problem with nits. This one was made of boxwood around CE100 and has fine teeth on one side and coarse ones on the other.
This comb has its own leather case, and its owner, Carantus Apictinus, has scratched his name along the middle, presumably to prevent anyone else getting their mits, or indeed nits, on it.
6. A triskelion box lid
This is a very fragile, beautiful and rare lid of a box which dates from quite late in Vindolanda’s story – perhaps as late as the 6th Century. It is made of copper-alloy with three cobalt blue glass circles placed in a design that is the same however the box is rotated.
It is a triskelion – “three legs” – decoration which could be the world’s oldest symbol of spirituality. As far back as Neolithic times 10,000 years ago, the number three was regarded as auspicious, but perhaps this triskelion symbolises the new ideas of its era: the Father, Son and Holy Ghost of Christianity.
“Whatever the meaning, this was a high status object, expertly produced and beautiful in its simplicity of design,” say the authors.
7. A wooden toilet seat
“Only a few toilet seats have been found anywhere in the Roman empire and wooden examples are especially rare,” say the authors.
A wooden toilet seat from the early 2nd Century has been found at Vindolanda where there is a stone toilet block in the south-eastern corner of the fort. The Romans located their toilet blocks on a downhill part of their site so that a watercourse would wash the effluent away, and usually downwind of the living quarters.
Some toilet blocks – relieving oneself was quite a communal activity – have a channel of water running at the feet of the person who was sitting on the toilet seat. This person would have a sponge on a stick that they would dab in the water and then use to cleanse themselves – the Romans had invented many things but not toilet paper.
The Vindolanda toilet blocks are part of a larger bathhouse complex, as was often the case in Roman times. These complexes were the forerunner of the modern leisure centre where you could bathe, wash and sauna. Gaming counters have been found within the Vindolanda toilets and baths suggesting the leisure activities that were going on while they were performing their ablutions at a leisurely speed.
Specially designed wooden bath clogs, with thick soles to raise the wearer above the moisture of the floors of the bathhouse and toilets, have also been found at Vindolanda.
8. Boxing gloves
In 2017, two pieces of unusual, folded leather were discovered at Vindolanda which have now been identified as sparring, or boxing, gloves.
They started midway up the arms and came down to cover the knuckles but the tips of the fingers were open to the elements.
Pouches had been made over the back of the knuckles where the boxer makes contact with his opponent. One pouch had been stuffed with shock-absorbing grasses and bracken while the other had an insert of hard coiled leather.
Both gloves featured a hard ridge of leather that was designed to cause damage to an opponent.
In 2004, a fragment of a silver plate was discovered at Vindolanda showing a boxer with both fists raised and his face contorted in aggression. Perhaps boxing was a popular leisure activity in the North East 2,000 years ago.
9. The first dog to be called Fido
The objects discovered at Vindolanda not only tell us about the lives of the soldiers who were stationed there, but also what their wives and children got up to. And perhaps even their pets.
Roof tiles were made on site. They would have been shaped in clay and left to dry in the sun before being put in a kiln.
Naturally, cats and dogs walked across the tiles before they were dry, leaving behind their pawprints.
What is so interesting about this tile is that beside the dog’s pawprint someone has inscribed his name: “Fidelis”. Fidelis is Latin for loyal or faithful – our word fidelity is a direct descendant from it, and our equivalent dog’s name would be Fido.
There is another dog called Fidelis mentioned on a mosaic in Constantine in Algeria, so perhaps it was common across the empire for Romans to call their dogs Fido.
Nowadays it is such a cliché to call your dog Fido that no one does, but the person who sparked that craze was Abraham Lincoln. He was a self-taught lawyer, who knew a smattering of lawyerly Latin, and he was always accompanied by his dog, Fido, as he walked around Springfield in Illinois where he had his practice.
Fido even waited loyally outside the barber’s whenever Abe popped in for a trim.
When he stood to be president in 1861, part of his “man of the people” appeal was that he was faithfully followed by a flop-eared dog.
However, when he was elected, he left Fido in Springwell as his wife feared for the White House carpets.
Fido died a year before his master’s assassination, and soon dogs everywhere were called Fido. It is amazing to think that the first Fido may have been here in the North East.
- 50 Objects from Vindolanda by Barbara Birley and Elizabeth M Green (Amberley, £15.99)
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