Welsh Journals

THE ROMAN ARMY IN WALES, A.D. 120-220 AT the opening of Hadrian's reign, Roman affairs in Britain were in poor condition. Agricola's northern conquests were crumbling away1 and the army was apparently feeling a shortage of manpower. This was not alleviated by the failure of the imperial authorities- and it is far from clear if the responsibility lay with the provincial governors or with the central administration-to complete the conquest of the British Isles. By the opening of the second century A.D., the regular army in Britain had lost two Legions, XIV Gemina and 77 Adiutrix, both posted to other parts of the empire, and by A.D. 120 it was apparently to lose another, IX Hispana. The circum- stances under which Legio IX Hispana-an unlucky unit in Britain2- was replaced by Legio VI Victrix Pia Fidelis are obscure, but Birley3 has shown good reason to suppose that IX Hispana was transferred to the Parthian frontier, although the reason for the move remains a mystery. From about A.D. 100 onwards, there are indications that the defences of the Welsh frontier, originally laid out by Frontinus and Agricola, were being reorganised on a permanent basis, some forts being abandoned at this time, while a start at least was made on the refurbishment of others.4 It is not clear how this policy of consolida- tion can be reconciled with a series of military reverses in the north of Britain, which must have severely stretched the province's resources of military manpower. The epigraphic evidence for new constructions or reconstructions on many sites appears to be clear,5 1 Tacitus's scathing comment, Perdomita Britannia et statim omissa, need not be taken too literally; certainly, within forty years of Agricola's recall, the Romans were back to the Tyne-Solway line. The precise timing of this retreat has been studied by various writers, from MacDonald (J.R.S., IX, 111-38) to, most recently, C. M. Daniels (9th Roman Frontier Studies Congress, forthcoming); the chronological evidence seems far from convincing. 1 See, for instance, Tacitus, Ann. XIV, 32-33, for the rough treatment which this unit received at the hands of Boudicca's rebels; in Agricola XXVI it apparently suffered the indignity of having its pickets surprised at night. 1 E. Birley, 'The Fate of the Ninth Legion', in R. M. Butler (ed.), Soldier and Civilian in Roman Yorkshire (Leicester, 1971). 4 The most authoritative and modem summary of the evidence for the occupation and abandonment is in V. E. Nash-Williams, The Roman Frontier in Wales (2nd edition by M. G. Jarrett, Cardiff, 1969). 1 For instance, Caerleon (R.I.B. 330), Gelligaer (R.I.B. 397-99), probably Castell Collen (R.I.B. 414), probably Tomen y Mur (R.I.B. 419) and Chester (R.I.B. 464); in the context of Chester, the occurrence of a Domitianic inscription (R.I.B. 463), which presumably stood upon a building of the timber fortress, emphasises that such slabs could be erected upon timber buildings and that therefore the occurrence of such inscriptions need not testify to the reconstruction in stone of any site or building.