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The legions were the backbone of the Roman army
at this time: heavily armed professional foot soldiers dressed in
iron armour, equipped with sword and dagger, shield and javelin.
Only citizens of the Roman Empire could serve in the legions; the
conquered barbarian peoples of the countries north of the Alps served
as auxiliary troops. As its name shows, the Second Augusta had been
founded by the Emperor Augustus in the previous century. It had
served in Germany before coming to Britain in the invasion of AD
43 and had fought its way westward, capturing many hillforts, including
Maiden Castle. The commander in the early stages of the campaign
was the future emperor Vespasian, but he returned to Rome before
the legion arrived at Exeter.
The legion at Exeter would have consisted of perhaps
6,000 men: ten cohorts of soldiers (each of six centuries containing
80 men) plus officers, cavalry and some specialist craftsmen. |
The new fortress was of typical ‘playing card’
shape - a rectangle with rounded corners - covering an area of 42
acres whose centre was close to the modern crossing of High Street
and Fore Street, South Street and North Street. It was defended
by a circuit of an earth and timber rampart fronted by a deep ditch,
with gates and towers at regular intervals. Within was a grid of
streets and densely packed timber buildings which accommodated the
6000 or so soldiers who formed the legion. The fortress provided
not only accommodation - long barracks for each century of soldiers,
with separate houses for the senior officers - but like a self-contained
town catered for all the needs of an army at war: granaries for
the corn supply, a hospital for the wounded, a workshop where weapons
and armour could be made and repaired, and a bath-house for the
soldiers’ leisure. Around the edges of the fortress were the barracks
in which they were housed; at its centre were more vulnerable buildings,
such as the hospital, workshops, granaries and the headquarters
building.
Only a small part of the fortress has been excavated
by the city’s archaeologists, but sufficient information has been
recovered to offer a reconstruction of its layout. Portions of barracks
have been recovered on several sites, with parts of granaries, the
workshops and other structures. |
