The Fate of the Twentieth Legion Part 2
In AD 49 the Roman governor of Britain Publius Ostorius Scapula campaigned against the Deceangli in north-east Wales and engaged with the Brigantes in the north of Britain. It is thought that at this time Scapula constructed a small fort or marching camp on the highest part of the ridge above the mouth of the River Dee, the first military construction at Chester. However, positive evidence of a fort of this date has yet to be found.
The Dee was navigable to this point where it formed a natural harbour, enabling the Romans to support operations into North Wales and northern Britain by land and sea. Significantly the fort at Chester (Deva) drove a wedge between the Ordovices and the Brigantes, a gap in the Roman defences exploited when Caratacus was defeated in AD 51 in Mid-Wales/Shropshire and fled to the territory of the Brigantes. Chester was therefore sited in a critical position in the Roman tactic of ‘divide and rule’ in which they would position forts between hostile tribes.
Archaeologist David Mason has carried out extensive excavations at Chester over forty years and concedes there is distinct evidence for two military bases that pre-date the legionary fortress at Chester. He suggests that the primary fort could belong to Paulinus’s campaigns in the late AD 50’s – early 60’s which culminated in the attack on the Druids at Mona. Although we lack precise dating evidence for the beginning of construction of the legionary fortress at Chester two inscriptions, lead ingots dated to AD 74 and lead water pipes AD 79, confirm construction of the later legionary fort commenced in the decade AD 70-80, during the early Flavian period.
At this time the northern frontier of the Province effectively formed a boundary from the estuary of the Dee in the west to the estuary of the Humber in the east. Immediately north of this boundary, up to the river Tyne, and centred on Yorkshire, was the territory of a confederation of British tribes known as the Brigantes. They were bordered by the Parisi in the east, the Setantii in the west and the Carvetii to the north west. Beyond this was the land of the Caledonians, the name ancient writers used for Scotland.
The Brigantes had been a key ally to the Romans, perhaps since shortly after the invasion of AD 43 as with the south-eastern kingdoms of the Britons, and under the rule of their Queen Cartimandua turned Caratacus over to the Romans after he fled from Wales in AD 51. But this betrayal of a king who had led the early resistance of the Britons against the Romans caused division in the Brigantes. Cartimandua detached herself from her consort Venutius and took up with his armour-bearer Vellocatus, and asked the Romans for protection.
Venutius and the anti-Roman elements of the Brigantes took advantage of the turmoil of the ‘Year of the Four Emperors’ in AD 69 and rebelled. This year saw four emperors Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian fight for the throne following the death of Nero in AD 68.
The Governor of Britain at this time was Marcus Trebellius Maximus who was at odds with many of his legionary commanders, particularly Roscius Coelius, legate of Legio XX. According to Tactitus, Trebellius “had no military experience, and kept the province in hand by a mild-mannered administration.” Trebellius had lost all authority with the army, which sided with Coelius, and in AD 69 left Britain for the protection of Vitellius in Germania.
The British garrison did not put forward its own candidate for emperor but vexillations and auxiliaries from all three legions, about 8,000 men, were sent to the continent to support Vitellius. Legio XIV Gemina that had been withdrawn from Britain by Nero around AD 68 were now, along with the other legions of the Balkans, supporting Otho.
Vitellius defeated Otho at the first battle of Cremona, near the village of Bedriacum, and was declared emperor. Legio XIV Gemina arrived too late to take part in the battle and declared that they were undefeated. Vitellius appointed Marcus Vettius Bolanus as governor of Britain and sent Legio XIV Gemina back to Britain with him. When Bolanus arrived in Britain he found the legions at half strength and his demands for more troops from Vitellius to bring the British garrison back to its full compliment were ignored by the new emperor. Discipline in the legions had been lost under the last year of Trebellius’s governorship, and, if we are to believe the writings of Tacitus, Bolanus was apparently not capable of restoring control. Indeed Tacitus was not very complimentary of Bolanus; he wrote that the governor was despised by the legions for his greed and meanness, being too mild mannered to control a warlike state such as Britain and never got the province under complete control.
Later in AD 69, Vespasian was declared emperor by the legions of the eastern provinces. While Vespasian was still in Egypt the Danubian legions led by Marcus Antonius Primus marched on Rome and defeated Vitellius at the second battle of Cremona. By December Vespasian was the fourth emperor of the year and the Flavian dynasty had begun. Vespasian kept Bolanus as governor of Britain for the time being as he had quickly sworn allegiance to the new emperor. Regardless of Tacitus’s low opinion of Bolanus he had engaged the Brigantes during their revolt and despatched auxiliary troops to answer Cartimandua’s plea for help and rescued her. The fallen queen was forced into exile and not heard of again. The rebellious Venutius now ruled the Brigantes on his own.
Contra Tacitus the Latin 1st century poet Publius Papinius Statius (Silvae) writes that Bolanus established forts and captured trophies from a British king, suggesting that the British governor did engage with the Brigantes and had some success against them. Statius clearly states that Bolanus penetrated the “Caledonian plain” building roads, forts and watchtowers, and stripped a British king of his armour. Ancient writers references to the Caledonian plain is usually interpreted as a generic term for the Scottish borders. This raises the question of how far can we trust poetry in a historial context particularly when in this instance the poet also claims Bolanus reached the mythical island of Thule, the northernmost part of the known world; yet on the otherhand, how far can we trust the account of Tacitus who clearly did not rate the governors of Britain, except Cerialis, immediately prior to Agricola and fails to mention any of them campaigning as far north into Caledonia.
It is all too easy to dismiss Statius’s account of Bolanus campaigning in Caledonia as simple poetic licence. But then we find the writings of Pliny the Elder (Natural History) which imply that the Romans may have been operating north of the Forth as early as the governorships of Bolanus (AD 69-71) and Cerialis (AD 71-74). Pliny died the year of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 and Statius around AD 96. They were writing within living memory of the events making it unlikely their accounts were complete fabrications.
David Woolliscroft, co-director of The Roman Gask Project, suggested that Statius’s reference to the roads, forts and watchtowers could be an allusion to the earliest fortifications constructed on the Gask Ridge. Considered the earliest Roman land frontier in Britain, the Gask Ridge is as a series of military installations running for about 22 miles from Glenbank, north of Dunblane, to Bertha on the River Tay along the Highland line in Scotland. The construction of the Gask system has traditionally been credited to Agricola, governor of Britain AD 77-84 largely owing to the narrative of Tacitus. However, archaeologist and historians are now of the opinion that the foundations of the system were laid prior to Agricola’s governorship.
Regardless of how far north he campaigned, there is no record of Bolanus removing Venutius. Vespasian, perhaps concerned that the rebellious Brigantes with Venutius still at large would escalate and pull in other tribes, withdrew Bolanus from Britain after two years as governor. Soon after his return to Rome Bolanus was honoured by Vespasian, the poetry of Statius in his ‘Silvae’ suggestions that Vespasian awarded Bolanus with a ceremonial breastplate for his military success. Poetry aside, Bolanus was given patrician rank and a little later appointed as proconsul of Asia which suggests that his performance in Britain had been satisfactory in the opinion of the emperor who himself was very familiar with the province having led Legio II Augusta in the Claudian invasion of AD 43. No doubt Tacitus had his own agenda to follow in heaping so much praise on his future father-in-law Agricola.
Vespasian appointed Quintus Petillius Cerialis as governor of Britain in AD 71 to replace Bolanus. Cerialis had fought for Vespasian in the civil war of AD 69 and totally loyal to the new emperor. In AD 70 Legio XIV Gemina were withdrawn from Britain for a second time and sent to Germania to support Cerialis in suppressing the Batavian rebellion of Julius Civilis. Cerialis called the Legion the ‘Conquerors of Europe’ no doubt with memories of their victory against the Boudiccan rebellion in Britain in AD 61. However, this time they would not return to Britain. Cerialis’s army in Germania Inferior included a new legion, Legio II Adiutrix, raised by Vespasian in early AD 70 from Roman Navy marines at Ravenna.
Cerialis was certainly presented with a challenge on accepting the post of governor of Britain; the legions remained in a mutinous state and the northern tribes were in a rebellious mood. Cerialis arrived in Britain with the new legion, Legio II Adiutrix, restoring the British garrison back to four legions. In contrast to his not-so-complimentary writings on Cerialis’s predecessors Tacitus remarked that this appointment signified the first in a series of distinguished commanders.
With Legio II Augusta based at Gloucester, Legio XX at Wroxeter and Legio IX at Lincoln, the addition of a fourth legion to the British garrison was intended to carry out emperor Vespasian’s orders to conquer the entire island. Within a few years of Cerialis’s governorship Brigantian territory up to a line from the Solway Firth to the Tyne would be under Roman control.
In AD 70, during Bolanus’s governorship, Vespasian had replaced Roscius the treacherous commander of Legio XX with Gnaeus Julius Agricola. It is likely at this time that the new emperor purged all the legionary commanders that had not shown loyalty to him during the civil war. Agricola reimposed discipline on the rebellious Legio XX that had supported Vitellius during the civil war and had been dragging their feet in swearing allegiance to the new emperor. Agricola began his career as a military tribune having served in Britain under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, governor of Britain from AD 58-62, campaigning in Wales culminating in the attack on the Druids of Mona and the suppression of the Boudiccan Revolt in AD 61.
There is little activity recorded for Agricola’s first year as commander of Legio XX and it is uncertain where the legion was stationed at this time. It is generally assumed that Legio XX transferred from Usk (Burrium) in South Wales to to Wroxeter (Viroconium) in Shropshire, to replace Legio XIV Gemina who had been withdrawn from Britain by Nero in AD 68. However, it is possible that Legio XX was stationed at Gloucester (Glevum) for a period before moving to Wroxeter. It is also possible that during this time Agricola and Legio XX continued the work of Bolanus in the north consolidating the Roman advance in preparation of the arrival of Cerialis.
With the arrival of the new governor Cerialis in AD 71 the Romans were now actively campaigning in Brigantian territory, north of line roughly from the Dee to the Humber. Agricola was evidently highly regarded by Cerialis and on occasion given independent command and, according to Tacitus, he conducted himself with great modesty crediting his success in the field to his general (Cerialis) who had planned operations.
Initially Legio II Adiutrix were based at Lincoln while Cerialis took Legio IX Hispana north into the lands of the Brigantes where it founded a new legionary fortress at York (Eboracum). It is probable that around this time Legio XX had moved up from Wroxeter through Chester for the launch of the campaign against the Brigantes. Supported by the Classis Britannica Agricola and Legio XX advanced up the west coast. With Cerialis and Legio IX coming in from the east the two legions formed a pincer movement to close in on Venutius’s rebellious Brigantes.
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Tacitus provides little detail of the campaign of Cerialis in Brigantian territory during his tenure as governor yet the new fortress at York indicates the legions must have been active north of this at this time. Cerialis must have reached the river Tees where the Roman fort at Piercebridge (Morbium?) was established at this time. The fort was located at a strategic crossing point of the Tees by the Roman Road known as Dere Street, the Great North Road. The construction of this road is accredited to Agricola c.AD 79-81 during his tenure as governor of Britain for his campaigns further north into Scotland, however it is likely that Cerialis laid part of the southern end of this road through the territory of the Brigantes, linking the new fort at York with Piercebridge. Later Agricola would extend this road into Scotland.
By now Cerialis must have at least reached as far north as the Solway Firth as features of the early fort at Carlisle (Luguvalium) have been firmly dated to AD 72 and cannot be attributed to Bolanus or Agricola’s later campaign as some commentators have claimed. It is also supposed that the Beaufront Red House vexillation fort near Corbridge was established around this time, linked to Carlisle by a Roman road that Agricola would develop into the Stanegate. Before Hadrian’s Wall was constructed in the AD 120’s a little further north, the line of the Stanegate would effectively act as the northern frontier of the Roman Empire.
Legio XX were now at Carlisle. Agricola led the legion south east from Carlisle, through the Stainmore Pass system which he is generally supposed to have founded, deep in tot he territory of the Brigantes. The Stainmore system was a military corridor of road and watchtowers that would link Carlisle to York, along the line of the modern A66 road. Agricola and Cerialis closed in on the Brigantes and defeated them at, or close to, their Stanwick camp. The fate of Venutius is not recorded but he is not heard of again. A series of forts were then established in the territory of the Brigantes to monitor and police the northern Britons. Cerialis was now campaigning north of the line of the Stanegate into at least southern Caledonia.
The following year in AD 73 both Cerialis and Agricola were recalled from Britain with Sextus Julius Frontinus appointed as governor of Britain. Frontinus was an accomplished soldier having written manuals on military strategy (Stratagems) and participated in the suppression of the Batavian revolt on the Rhineland in AD 70 with Cerialis. Tactitus provides just a single sentence on his govenorship in Britain in the ‘Agricola’. This lack of detail on the achievments of Frontinus in Britain by Tacitus has been interpreted by some commentators that Frontinus failed to consolidate the gains of Cerialis in the north. Yet Frontinus was held in high regard by subsequent emperors and held his third consulship under Trajan, indeed Anthony Birley desribes him as “one of the most important figures of the Flavio-Trajanic era”.
The exact start of Frontinus’s tenure is uncertain, usually stated at AD 73-74, however Cerilais was back in Rome in May AD 74. Tacitus limits the achievements of Frontinus to subjugating the Silures of South Wales and constructing a series forts in Mid Wales. Often accused of ignoring North Wales Frontinus clearly had active units in the region as the Ordovices massacred a cavalry unit there in AD 77. However, Frontinus was recalled shortly after and succeeded by Gnaeus Julius Agricola in midsummer of that year.
Sources
The Complete Tacitus, Delphi Classics, 2014.
The Complete Works of Statius, Delphi Classics, 2014.
The Complete Works of Pliny the Elder, Delphi Classics, 2015.
Anthony R Birley, The Roman Government of Britain, Oxford University Press, 2005.
Eric Birley, Roman Britain and the Roman Army, Titus Wilson, 1961
David J. Breeze, Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain, Batsford, 1993.
Simon Elliott, Agricola in Scotland, Pen & Sword Military, 2025.
Simon Forder, The Romans in Scotland,
Stephen James Malone, Legio XX Valeria Victrix: Prosopography, archaeology and history, BAR Publishing, 2006.
David Mason, Roman Chester: Fortress at the Edge of the World, The History Press, 2012.
Nigel Pollard & Joanne Berry, The Complete Roman Legions, Thames & Hudson, 2015 (Reprint edition 2024).
David Shotter, The Roman Frontier in Britain, Carnegie Publishing, 1996.
David Shotter, Roman Britain, Second Edition, 2004.
Simon Turney, Agricola, Architect of Britain, Amberley, 2022.
David Woolliscroft and Birgitta Hoffmann, Rome's First Frontier: The Flavian Occupation of Northern Scotland, The History Press, 2006.
The Roman Gask Project, Directors David Woolliscroft and Birgitta Hoffmann (online resource
[https://www.theromangaskproject.org/
]
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