November 29, 2019 by AdamAH

The World of The Stolen Throne- Part I – Isca Dumnoniorum: A Brief look at Roman Exeter

Salvete, readers and history-lovers!

Welcome to The World of The Stolen Throne!

In this five-part blog series, we’re going to be taking a look at the research that went into the latest Eagles and Dragons novel, The Stolen Throne.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll take you on a journey from the world of early third-century Roman Britain to the lands of Dumnonia. As The Stolen Throne is a more mysterious episode in the Eagles and Dragons series, we will also be looking at relevant parts of Celtic mythology, in addition to some history and archaeology related to the story and setting of this book.

In this first post, we’re going to be taking a brief look at one of the settings in The Stolen Throne. The Roman town of Isca Dumnoniorum serves as a sort of gateway to the unknown in the story, a final vestige of the Roman world before the characters continue on their journey.

Many towns in Roman Britain tend to eclipse Isca Dumnoniorum, but this settlement played an important role in the early stages of Romanization of the island. How was it established and what purpose did it serve?

Let’s find out.

The First Roman Invasion of Britain – illustration by James William Edmund Doyle (1864)

In 55 and 54 B.C. the forces of Julius Caesar attempted to reconnoitre and invade the mysterious and unknown, until then, land of Britain. The second campaign experienced some success, but the full-scale invasion of Britannia did not occur until nearly a hundred years later with the Claudian invasion of the island.

In A.D. 43, Emperor Claudius’ forces landed on the shores of the island, changing the course of history for good this time. Four Roman legions and auxiliaries landed in what is now Kent. The force is said to have consisted of over 45,000 men.

Many battles were fought, and peace treaties were signed with the tribes southern Britain. It was during this time that the future emperor, Vespasian, stormed the southern hill forts of Britain, particularly in the lands of the Durotriges and Dumnonii. The great hillforts of South Cadbury Castle and Maiden Castle were a part of this offensive campaign.

Aerial view of Maiden Castle, Dorset – photo by Major George Allen (1935) Wikimedia Commons

This invasion was just the beginning of what was to be a forty-year campaign to subdue the Britons and bring the island into Rome’s Empire.

One of the legions commanded by Vespasian in his southern sweep was the famous II Augustan legion.

The legion’s first, permanent base, a forty-two acre castrum, was established at Isca Dumnoniorum, or modern Exeter, in around A.D. 55, with smaller forts being established in the surrounding region in the Quantock and Brendon Hills, and the Vale of Taunton Deane.

Isca Dumnoniorum was the largest base in the southwest. It had everything one would expect from a large, legionary base, including barracks, granaries, and workshops, which were made of timber. There was a stone, military bathhouse which was fed by an aqueduct leading from a nearby natural spring. Archaeologists have also discovered a cockfighting pit in the remains of the palaestra (outdoor exercise yard) which was attached to the bathhouse. Seems like the men of the legions enjoyed a bit of sport when off duty!

Artist impression of Isca Dumnoniorum

Like other Roman settlements in Britain, Isca’s beginnings were martial, and not long after it was established, one of the most violent episodes of this period occurred.

In A.D. 60, Queen Boudicca of the Iceni led her revolt against Rome and during that time, settlements across the land such as nearby Lindinis shored up their defences.

According the Tacitus, Poenius Posthumus, camp prefect of the II Augustan, based as Isca during the Boudiccan revolt, refused to support Governor Suetonius Paulinus against the rebels because of a personal argument, or because he did not want to threaten the tenuous peace he held over the Durotriges of Somerset.

Poenius Postumus, camp-prefect of the second legion, informed of the exploits of the men of the fourteenth and twentieth, and conscious that he had cheated his own corps of a share in the honours and had violated the rules of the service by ignoring the orders of his commander, ran his sword through his body. (Tacitus, Annals, XIV, 37)

It was not a proud moment for the II Augustan, after their strong showing in the initial invasion. Nevertheless, the legion based at Isca would go on to form part of the military backbone of Roman Britain for a long time afterward.

Artist impression of the early fortress defences of Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter City Council Archaeological Field Unit)

When the smoke of the Boudiccan revolt eventually cleared, the Roman peace in southern Britannia could begin to take hold.

One of the ways in which Rome brought their newly-conquered subjects into the fold was through the establishment of civitates, administrative centres based on old tribal regions.

The three civitates of the southwest were Corinium Dobunnorum (capital the Dobunni at Cirencester), Durnovaria (capital of the Durotriges at Dorchester), and Isca Dumnoniorum (capital of the Dumnonii at Exeter). These civitates, and others like them across the land, were an important part of the process of Romanization, as well as citizenship, and the spread of Roman ideals.

Council members

As part of the process, a vicus (civilian settlement) began to form outside of the fortress’ walls where tradesmen and families of the troops lived.

After twenty years based there, the men of the II Augustan legion moved to what would become their permanent base at Caerleon (Isca Silurum), in southern Wales. However, Isca Dumnoniorum remained as an important settlement and centre of administration and trade, especially when it was made an official civitas.

As a civitas, Isca was governed by a council known as an ordo, a sort of small senate. The members of the ordo, the decurions, were responsible for local justice, public shows, religious festivals, public works such as roads, water supply and building, taxation, and the census. Ordo members also represented Isca’s interests in the provincial capital of Londinium.

Roman Roads in Britain with the Fosse Way in Green, running from Isca Dumnoniorum to Lindum (Wikimedia Commons)

Isca Dumnoniorum was well-placed to become a thriving settlement. It was near the mouth of the river Exe where it led to the sea, and it was located at the end of the Fosse Way, one of the earliest and most important roads built by the Romans in the southwest of Britain. This linked the sea routes and Isca to the other fortresses and settlements (such as Lindinis and Bath) across Britannia, all the way to Lindum (modern Lincoln).

When the II Augustan left Isca, it became a civilian settlement with more permanent buildings being built within the wall of the military fortress. New baths were built in the southeast quarter, and the walls were expanded with a bank and wall to accommodate the growing civilian population so that it grew to enclose an area of 92 acres. And as was the pattern and requirement of other civitates, Isca received a proper forum and basilica.

Roman pottery and tile finds from Exeter (Exeter City Council)

Located as it was, in a place that connected the sea to a major land route, Isca Dumnoniorum was a thriving centre of trade where livestock and various crops were bought and sold at the market, as well as locally-produced pottery. Archaeology has also uncovered evidence for a copper and bronze-working industry at Isca.

Numismatic finds from Exeter indicate that Isca Dumnoniorum was at its peak in the early fourth century, but that it experienced a rapid decline around A.D. 380. Still, the Romans remained there for over three hundred years, setting Isca firmly on the map with its own little place in history.

In The Stolen Throne, set during the early third century, Isca Dumnoniorum is a thriving town, bustling with trade, off-duty troops, and citizens going about their daily business. It is also a gateway to a world beyond, to Dumnonia and the moors of what are now Devon and Cornwall, where the Roman presence was very slight, and the Britons still lived as they had done prior to the invasion so many years before.

For our Roman protagonist in the story, there is certainly a feeling of leaving the world behind as he leaves Isca Dumnoniorum to travel over the moors, for he knows he is heading into the unknown.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this short post about Roman Exeter. There are more posts to come in The World of The Stolen Throne blog series, so stay tuned.

The Stolen Throne is now available in e-book and paperback from all major on-line retailers. If you haven’t read any books in the Eagles and Dragons series yet, you can start with the #1 bestselling A Dragon among the Eagles for just 0.99! Or get the first prequel novel, The Dragon: Genesis, for FREE by signing-up for the newsletter HERE.

Thank you for reading.

October 11, 2019 by AdamAH

The World of Isle of the Blessed – Part II – Roman Lindinis: The Small Town with Big Ambitions

Welcome back to The World of Isle of the Blessed, the blog series in which we take a look at the research, history and archaeology that went into the latest novel in the Eagles and Dragons historical fantasy series.

In Part I, we looked at the hillfort of South Cadbury Castle which is one of the major settings of the book. If you missed that post, you can read it HERE.

In Part II, we’re going to be taking a look at another place that plays an important role in Isle of the Blessed: Roman Lindinis.

The settlement of Lindinis (also known as ‘Lendiniae’), as it is known in the seventh century Ravenna Cosmography (a list of place names from India to Ireland) is actually modern Ilchester, in Somerset, England.

Lindinis, as it was known during the Roman period, was located just a few miles from South Cadbury Castle, and Glastonbury, Somerset. This fifty acre settlement lies where the Dorchester road interests with the Fosse Way, one of the major roads of Roman Britain.

Map showing the route of the Fosse Way from Exeter to Lincoln, and running through Ilchester

During the Roman period, Somerset was an agriculturally rich area of the Empire, with many villa estates, such as that of Pitney (which also features in the story). These estates’ primary business was in crops such as spelt wheat, oats, barley and rye. The also raised livestock, mainly cattle, but also sheep, horses, goats, and pigs.

These Roman villa owners were wealthy, and Lindinis was one of the main markets where they brought their crops and livestock.

Aeneas and Dido mosaic from Low Ham Roman Villa near Ilchester

Lindinis was not always a Roman settlement, however.

It was originally a Celtic oppidum, a native center that consisted of a large enclosure with homes, food stores and livestock. One imagines Celtic Somerset as a place of peace and vitality.

But, in A.D. 43 the Romans arrived with the advent of the Claudian invasion of Britain. Forty-five thousand troops marched over the land, including four legions, and the native Britons fought, and lost. Vespasian, the future emperor, stormed the southern hillforts of Britain, including South Cadbury Castle, ushering in an age of Roman domination.

Possible remains of one of Lindinis’ Roman forts

Eventually, at Lindinis, two successive forts were built on the site to the south of the river: one from Nero’s reign, and another during the Flavian period. There is also evidence for a third fort to the northeast of the river crossing where a double ditch enclosure has been discovered.

Plan of Pre-Roman and Early Roman Ilchester (image from the Ilchester Parish Council)

The Roman invasion of Britain was a violent time, and that violence carried on through the Boudiccan revolt of A.D. 59. But when the blood stopped flowing, an age of Pax Romana settled on the southwest of Britannia, and Lindinis was at the heart of it.

Lindinis, however, was not the main settlement of Roman Somerset. To maintain peace and order, and keep the economy running, the Romans instituted various civitates, centres of local government in which tribal groups of the region participated.

The centre of town, what might later have been market

The council of a civitas was known as an ordo, and the members of the ordo were decurions, overseen by an executive, elected curia of two men. The ordo of a civitas usually included Romans, tribal aristocrats or local chieftains, and it was their job to administer local justice, put on public shows, see to religious taxation, the census, and represent the civitas in Londinium. Supreme authority, however, belonged to the Provincial Governor who was aided by a procurator, the ‘tax man’.

Ilchester crossing of the River Yeo. Remains of the Roman fort to the left.

There were three major civitates during the Roman period in southwestern Britannia: Durnovaria (modern Dorchester) the civitas of the Durotriges tribe, Isca Dumnoniorum (modern Exeter) the civitas of the Dumnonii, and to the north Corinium Dobunnorum (modern Cirencester) the tribal centre of the Dobunni.

Despite its large market and location at a crossroads along the artery of the Fosse Way over the river Yoe – in the southwest, the Fosse Way ran from Isca Dumnoniorum (modern Exeter) to Aquae Sulis (modern Bath) – Lindinis was not one of the major civitates of the region, though it did rival nearby Durnovaria.

Ilchester’s bridge over the river Yeo

In addition to a thriving market where wine, oil, clothing, ornaments, jewellery, tools, pottery and glass were sold, Lindinis also had gravel and stone streets, and stone walls (later). People also came to Lindinis to pay their taxes.

Where the road diverges in Ilchester – the left to Exeter, the right to Dorchester. See the bridge over the river directly ahead.

There was also a small garrison.

Lindinis may have seen itself as the civitas Durotrigum Lendiniensium, but it could not be an official civitas as one of the requirements for civitas status was a basilica or forum. Lindinis did not have either of those.

Plan of late Roman Ilchester (map from the Ilchester Parish Council)

Roman Lindinis had a large role to play in the economy of Roman Somerset, but perhaps not as large as its ordo would have liked. It also found itself in difficult situations during its time, for during the civil war (A.D. 193) between Septimius Severus, Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus, Lindinis was forced to declare for Clodius Albinus who was in Britannia when he made his claim. At this time, new defences were built around Lindinis, as if in anticipation of the trouble to come.

Ah…politics.

In the book, Isle of the Blessed, Lucius Metellus Anguis, the main protagonist in the Eagles and Dragons series, has several run-ins with the ordo members of Lindinis’ ruling council who see him as a person of influence at the imperial court, a man who could help their small town to become much more.

Historically, despite its lack of a proper forum or basilica, it seems that Lindinis did succeed in attaining a measure of civitas status, for along Hadrian’s Wall, two inscriptions have been found bearing the name of a detachment from the ‘Civitas Durotragum Lendiniensis’, or the ‘Lindinis tribe of the Durotriges’.

This, despite the presence of the other three, official civitas settlements Durnovaria, Isca, and Corinium.

Who knows? Perhaps the persuasiveness of the ordo members of Lindinis, the settlement’s important location, and the size of its market helped to sway the Roman authorities to grant civitas status.

In Isle of the Blessed, we see how far the local politicians are willing to go.

I hope you’ve enjoyed part two of The World of Isle of the Blessed.

Next week, in Part III, we will look at the history, myth and legend surrounding what is known in Isle of the Blessed as Ynis Wytrin, that is, Glastonbury, England.

Thank you for reading.

Isle of the Blessed is now available in e-book and paperback from all major on-line retailers. If you haven’t read any books in the Eagles and Dragons series yet, you can start with the #1 bestselling A Dragon among the Eagles for just 0.99! Or get the first prequel novel, The Dragon: Genesis, for FREE by clicking HERE.