Deva Victrix - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress

Castra

The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...

and town in the Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

of Britannia

Britannia

Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...

. The settlement evolved into Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, the county town

County town

A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...

of Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The fortress was built initially by the Legio II Adiutrix

Legio II Adiutrix

Legio secunda Adiutrix , was a Roman legion levied by emperor Vespasian in 70, from Roman navy marines of the classis Ravennatis. There are still records of II Adiutrix in the Rhine border in the beginning of the 4th century...

in the AD 70s as the Roman army advanced north against the Brigantes

Brigantes

The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...

, but completed over the next few decades by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix was a Roman legion, probably raised by Augustus some time after 31 BC. It served in Hispania, Illyricum, and Germania before participating in the invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, where it remained and was active until at least the beginning of the 4th century...

.

Several factors including the presence of an elliptical building unique in legionary fortresses, the method of construction, and the unusual size of the fortress – 20% larger than other Roman fortresses in Britain – suggest that it may have been intended as the base for a potential invasion of Ireland, and perhaps eventually to become the capital of Britain. The fortress contained barracks, granaries, military headquarters, military baths, and an unusual elliptical building that may have acted as the governor of Britain's headquarters. The fortress was rebuilt in stone at the end of the 1st century AD when it was occupied by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio XX Valeria Victrix

, and again in the early 3rd century. The legion

Roman legion

A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...

probably remained at the fortress until it eventually fell into disuse in the late 4th or early 5th century.

A civilian settlement – or canabae – grew around the fortress and was one of the factors leading to the construction of an amphitheatre

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

to the south east of the fortress. Chester Roman Amphitheatre

Chester Roman Amphitheatre

Chester Amphitheatre is a Roman amphitheatre in Chester, Cheshire. The site is managed by English Heritage; it has been designated as a Grade I listed building, and a scheduled monument. The ruins currently exposed are those of a large stone amphitheatre, similar to those found in Continental...

could have seated between 8,000 and 10,000 people, the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain. The civilian settlement remained after the Romans departed, eventually becoming the present-day city of Chester. There were peripheral settlements around Roman Deva, including Boughton, the source of the garrison's water supply, and Handbridge

Handbridge

Handbridge is a district of Chester, England on the south bank of the River Dee. A settlement has existed on the site since the Iron age , but the site saw major expansion during the collapse of the Roman occupation of Britain, as the city grew too large for its walls...

, the site of a sandstone quarry and the Minerva Shrine

Minerva's Shrine, Chester

Minerva's Shrine, Chester, is a shrine to the Roman goddess, Minerva, in Edgar's Field, Handbridge, Chester, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building....

. The shrine is the only in situ

In situ

In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...

, rock-cut

Rock cut architecture

Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating buildings and other physical structures by carving natural rock. In India the term 'cave' is often applied, and in China 'cavern,' but one must differentiate natural caves from rock-cut architecture which is man-made and designed along the...

Roman shrine in Britain.

Foundation

According to the 1st and 2nd century geographer Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

, Deva was in the lands of the Celtic Cornovii. The Cornovii were a tribe whose lands bordered the Brigantes

Brigantes

in the north and the Ordovices

Ordovices

The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain, before the Roman invasion of Britain. Its tribal lands were located in present day Wales and England between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east...

in the west and included parts of what is now Cheshire

Cheshire

, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, and north Wales. When the Romans' treaty with the Brigantes – the Celtic tribe occupying most of what is now Northern England

Northern England

Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

– failed, the Romans decided the best way to ensure long term peace was by military conquest. The campaigns were led first by Sextus Julius Frontinus

Sextus Julius Frontinus

Sextus Julius Frontinus was one of the most distinguished Roman aristocrats of the late 1st century AD, but is best known to the post-Classical world as an author of technical treatises, especially one dealing with the aqueducts of Rome....

, and later by Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. His biography, the De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae, was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him.Born to a noted...

. Their expansion into the north of Britannia during the reign of Vespasian

Vespasian

Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

meant that the Romans needed a new military base, close to the new frontiers. Chester was a strategic site for a fortress, commanding access to the sea via the River Dee

River Dee, Wales

The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....

and dividing the Brigantes from the Ordovices. Legio II Adiutrix

Legio II Adiutrix

was despatched to Chester and began the construction of a legionary fortress in the mid AD 70s.

The fortress was positioned on a sandstone bluff, dominating the bridge over the river and close to the natural harbour, today occupied by the Roodee racecourse; the bend in the river provided protection from the south and the west. The river was navigable up to the sandstone ridge, so positioning the fortress beyond it would have made access to the harbour difficult. The fortress may have required as much as 2400000 litres (527,926.2 imp gal) of water a day, supplied by fresh water piped in from natural springs in the suburb of Boughton

Boughton, Cheshire

Boughton is a neighbourhood to the east of Chester city centre, part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...

1.6 kilometre (0.994196378639691 mi) to the east.

Lead ingots discovered in Chester indicate that construction was probably under way by AD 74. There may already have been military buildings on the site, but if so they were demolished to allow the construction of the fortress. The first buildings were built of wood, probably for convenience. They were gradually replaced by more permanent structures built from locally quarried sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

. Defence was provided by a 6 metres (19.7 ft) wide rampart

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

and a ditch 3 metres (10 ft) wide and 1.5 metres (5 ft) deep. The rampart was made from turf laid over sand, clay, rubble, and layers of logs.

The fortress was in the traditional 'playing card' shape – rectangular with rounded corners – and had four gates: north, east, south and west. It covered 25 hectares (61.8 acre), making it the largest constructed in Britain during the 70s. An estimated 24664 metric tons (24,274 LT) of timber was used in the first phase of the fortress' construction; buildings outside but associated with the fortress, such as the harbour and the amphitheatre, would have required an additional 31128 metric tons (30,636 LT). The fortress contained barracks, granaries (horrea), military headquarters (principia), and baths. The barrack blocks were wattle and daub

Wattle and daub

Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...

buildings, each of which was 82.5 metres (270.7 ft) long and 11.8 metres (38.7 ft) wide.

The name Deva Victrix derives from 'goddess', and the Roman fortress was named after the goddess of the River Dee; the Latin for 'goddess' is dea or diva. There is an alternative source for the naming of the settlement which suggests that the Roman name for the fortress was adopted directly from the British name of the river. It is thought that the title 'victrix' in the name of the fortress was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva; victrix is Latin for victorious. The name for the city of Chester

Chester

derives from the Latin word castrum (plural: castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...

), meaning "fort" or "army camp": "-chester" and "-caster" are common suffixes in the names of other English cities that began as Roman camps.

Under Legio XX Valeria Victrix

In 88 AD, the Emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

ordered the Legio II Adiutrix

Legio II Adiutrix

to the lower Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

. The Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio XX Valeria Victrix

was deployed to garrison Deva Victrix, abandoning the fort they had been building in Scotland, at Inchtuthil

Inchtuthil

Inchtuthil is the site of a Roman legionary fortress situated on a natural platform overlooking the north bank of the River Tay southwest of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.It was built in 82 or 83 AD as the advance headquarters for the forces of governor Gnaeus Julius...

. On their arrival they began to rebuild Deva, first in timber and from the end of the 1st century in stone. The new stone fortress walls were 1.36 metres (4.5 ft) thick at the base and 1.06 metres (3.5 ft) thick at the top. Located at regular intervals, approximately 60 metres (196.9 ft) apart, along the walls were 22 towers about 6.5 metres (21.3 ft) square. The defensive ditch was re-dug and was 7.5 metres (24.6 ft) wide and 2.45 metres (8 ft) deep. An estimated 55452 metric tons (54,576 LT) of stone were used to build the new fortress defences. The timber barracks were replaced with stone buildings of a similar size.

During the 2nd century, at least part of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix took part in the construction of Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...

, leading to some sections of the fortress being abandoned and others being allowed to fall into disrepair. The Legio XX Valeria Victrix probably went on campaign in 196 under Decimus Clodius Albinus into Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

, leaving Deva under-garrisoned. They would have suffered heavy losses in Gaul before retreating to Britain.

Following attacks against barbarians in the early 3rd century under Septimus Severus, the fortress at Deva was again rebuilt, this time using an estimated 309181 metric tons (304,297 LT) of stone. Although both Gildas

Gildas

Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...

and Bede

Bede

Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...

located the early 4th-century Roman martyrs, Julius and Aaron

Julius and Aaron

Saints Julius and Aaron are celebrated as two British martyrs who died during the religious persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 304. Their feast day was traditionally celebrated on July 1....

, in the "City of the Legions", generally identified as being Isca Augusta

Isca Augusta

Isca Augusta was a Roman legionary fortress and settlement, the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day village of Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city of Newport in South Wales.-Name:...

(Caerleon

Caerleon

Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...

) rather than Deva. During the 4th century the size of the legion, and therefore of the garrison, may have diminished in line with the rest of the empire's forces.

Decline and abandonment

Most of the fortress' major buildings were still being maintained in the second half of the 4th century and the barracks were still inhabited. Up to 383 soldiers at Chester were being paid by coins from the imperial mints; after this the soldiers may have been removed by Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383...

when he invaded Gaul in 383. The Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...

, written in around 395, does not record any military units garrisoned at Deva, indicating the fortress was no longer used by the military at this stage. If it was still used by the military, this would have ended by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia and the Western Roman Emperor

Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....

Honorius

Honorius (emperor)

Honorius , was Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the eastern emperor Arcadius....

told the cities of Britain to look to their own defences against invaders. The civilians probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

.

Inhabitation of Chester continued on a lesser scale once the legions had left. Buildings would have fallen into disrepair, although some of the larger structures are known to have survived for some time. The town nevertheless probably remained the military and administrative centre of the region. After the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

s, the settlement became known as Legacaestir, meaning "City of the Legions" in Old English. Medieval chroniclers believed the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul – later the site of Chester Cathedral

Chester Cathedral

Chester Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly St Werburgh's abbey church of a Benedictine monastery, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary...

– to be of Roman origin, although no evidence has been discovered to support this. When Chester became an Anglo-Saxon burh

Burh

A Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement, its origin was in military defence; "it represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the...

in 907, the walls of the fortress were repaired and incorporated into the defences. Much of the Roman masonry was stolen and reused in later periods.

In the 14th century Ranulf Higdon

Ranulf Higdon

Ranulf Higden was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk of the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester....

, a monk in Chester, described some of the Roman remains, including the sewers and tombstones. Antiquarian

Antiquarian

An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...

s began to take interest in the remains in the 17th century and interest continued to grow in the 18th century, fed by accounts of Roman Chester and discoveries such as an altar to Jupiter Tanarus. Jupiter Tanarus – also Taranis – was the Romanised

Romanization (cultural)

Romanization or latinization indicate different historical processes, such as acculturation, integration and assimilation of newly incorporated and peripheral populations by the Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire...

version of the Celtic god Taranis

Taranis

In Celtic mythology Taranis was the god of thunder worshipped essentially in Gaul, the British Isles, but also in the Rhineland and Danube regions amongst others, and mentioned, along with Esus and Toutatis as part of a sacred triad, by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem Pharsalia as a Celtic...

who was the equivalent of Jupiter

Jupiter (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....

the god of thunder. In 1725, William Stukeley

William Stukeley

William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...

recorded the Roman arches of the east gate; they were demolished in 1768. Over the next century, accidental discoveries continued, such as parts of the Roman bath complex outside the fortress which were destroyed by a late-18th-century housing development. The Chester Archaeological Society, founded in 1849, acquired artefacts discovered in Chester and undertook excavations where possible; the Grosvenor Museum

Grosvenor Museum

Grosvenor Museum is in Grosvenor Street, Chester, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. Its full title is The Grosvenor Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, with Schools of Science and Art, for Chester, Cheshire and North Wales...

was opened in 1886 to allow the public to view the society's collection. The society continued to work in Chester, recording information on the fortress and its surrounding settlement, often as building works destroyed the sites. Between 1962 and 1999, about 50 excavations were carried out in and around the fortress, revealing new information about Deva Victrix. Between 2007 and 2009, excavations are in progress at the amphitheatre on behalf of Chester City Council, in association with English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

Canabae legionis

A civilian settlement (canabae legionis) was gradually established outside the walls of the fortress; it probably began as a collection of traders who became prosperous from dealing with the fortress. The settlement was administered by an elected council rather than by the legion. As legionaries retired many settled in the canabae legionis, effectively making it a veteran colony. Cemeteries were located alongside the roads leading to the settlement, beyond built-up areas. The Grosvenor Museum

Grosvenor Museum

has over 150 tombstones, the largest collection of Roman tombstones from a single site in Britain. Most of them were used to repair the north wall in the 4th century. Settlement extended around the fortress to the east, south, and west; shops fronted the roadside for about 300 metres (984.3 ft) beyond the fortress walls. To the east was the legion's parade ground, civilian baths were built to the west, and to the south was a mansio
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...

, a large coaching house for travelling government officials. The buildings of the canabae legionis were originally timber, but during the early 2nd century began to be replaced by stone-built structures. The settlement expanded throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries as the population increased. Once the legion had left, the civilian settlement continued, eventually becoming part of the town of Chester.

Indeed scholars such as Christopher Snyder

Christopher Snyder

Christopher Allen Snyder is Professor of European History and Director of the Honors Program at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. He is an expert in Roman, Sub-Roman, and Medieval Britain, and specifically King Arthur.- Biography :...

believe that during the 5th and 6th centuries — approximately from 410 AD when Roman legions withdrew, to 597 AD when St. Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...

arrived — southern Britain preserved a sub-Roman society that was able to survive the attacks from the barbarian Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

and even use a vernacular Latin (called British Romance

British Romance

British Romance, British Vulgar Latin or British Latin are terms used for the Vulgar Latin spoken in southern Great Britain in Late Antiquity ....

) for an active culture. There is even the possibility that this vernacular Latin lasted to the late 7th century in the area of Chester

Chester

, where amphorae and archaeological remnants of a local Romano-British culture at Deva Victrix have been found.

Legionary quarry

The Roman fortress of Deva was constructed from local sandstone, which was quarried across the river to the south of the fortress. Traces of the quarry are visible in Handbridge

Handbridge

. In the 2nd century, a shrine to the Roman goddess Minerva

Minerva's Shrine, Chester

Minerva's Shrine, Chester, is a shrine to the Roman goddess, Minerva, in Edgar's Field, Handbridge, Chester, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building....

was carved in the quarry for protection, perhaps by the quarry workers. Despite heavy weathering, the figure can be seen holding a spear and a shield with an owl above the left shoulder to symbolise wisdom. There is also a carving of an altar where offerings were left. The only rock-cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain, the Minerva shrine is a Grade I listed building.

Legionary baths

Deva Victrix had a large legionary bath complex (thermae
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...

) for the soldiers to maintain good hygiene and to use for leisure time. The baths were sited near the south gate and measured 82.6 metres (271 ft) by 85.5 metres (280.5 ft). They were completed towards the end of Vespasian

Vespasian

's reign. The complex was constructed from concrete and faced with stone. The walls were 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) thick and the barrel-vaulted buildings rose as high as 16.1 metres (52.8 ft).

The bath complex featured an entrance room (vestibulum), an exercise hall (basilica thermarum), a sweating room (sudatorium
Sudatorium
In architecture, a sudatorium is a vaulted sweating-room of the Roman baths or thermae. The Roman architectural writer Vitruvius In architecture, a sudatorium is a vaulted sweating-room (sudor, sweat) of the Roman baths or thermae. The Roman architectural writer Vitruvius In architecture, a...

), a cold room with a cold pool (frigidarium
Frigidarium
A frigidarium is a large cold pool of Roman baths. It would be entered after the Caldarium and the Tepidarium, which were used to open the pores of the skin. The cold water would close the pores. There would be a small pool of cold water or sometimes a large Swimming pool...

), a warm room (tepidarium
Tepidarium
The tepidarium was the warm bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system.The specialty of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from the walls and floor.There is an interesting example at Pompeii; this...

), and a hot room with a hot plunge bath (caldarium
Caldarium
right|thumb|230px|Caldarium from the Roman Baths at [[Bath, England]]. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor....

). An unsheltered exercise yard (palaestra
Palaestra
The palaestra was the ancient Greek wrestling school. The events that did not require a lot of space, such as boxing and wrestling, were practised there...

) also formed part of the complex. The baths had mosaic

Mosaic

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...

floors and were heated by a hypocaust

Hypocaust

A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...

under-floor system connected to three furnaces. Such furnaces required several metric tons of wood each day.

The baths would have been in operation 24 hours a day, using an estimated 850000 litres (186,973.9 imp gal) of water each day. The water was supplied from the springs in Boughton

Boughton, Cheshire

Boughton is a neighbourhood to the east of Chester city centre, part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...

through underground lead pipes linked to the main aqueduct near the east gate. The water was then held in large tanks with concrete foundations, before being fed through the complex.

A large area of the baths was destroyed by building works in 1863 and during the construction of the Grosvenor Shopping Mall in 1963. Sandstone columns from the exercise hall of the baths, measuring 0.75 metres (2.5 ft) in diameter, can be viewed in the "Roman Gardens" off Pepper Street; the columns would originally have stood 5.9 metres (19.4 ft) high. A section of hypocaust remains in situ and is on display in the cellar of 39 Bridge Street.

Market Hall inscription

This is a fragment of a much larger inscription, finely carved onto Welsh slate, which was discovered close to the fort's principia. Professor Mason has said that:

Examples of important inscriptions of this nature include treaties with local tribes and declarations of rights. The text of this inscription cannot be reconstructed from this small fragment, but it appears to talk about the 'fortress', an 'amicable conclusion', and someone being 'against the regime'.

Amphitheatre

The amphitheatre was discovered in 1929, and protected by Chester Archaeological Society – with support from then Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....

– from the construction of a road over the site. Excavations have revealed traces of late Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

cultivation, and they show that Deva's amphitheatre had two phases of construction. The first amphitheatre was constructed from timber soon after the building of the fortress and measured 75 metres (246.1 ft) along the major axis and 67 metres (219.8 ft) along the minor axis. There are several factors indicating that the timber phase may have only intended to be temporary; there is no evidence of repairs to the structure, the building was not substantially built, with 0.6 metres (2 ft) deep foundations, and that it was smaller than the later stone phase. It was replaced in the Flavian period

Flavian dynasty

The Flavian dynasty was a Roman Imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian . The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors...

by another made from stone, measuring 95.7 metres (314 ft) along its major axis and 87.2 metres (286.1 ft) along its minor axis. Although the amphitheatre grew, it was only the seating that was extended, not the arena itself. The latest excavations indicate that it was a two-tiered structure, capable of accommodating between 8,000 and 10,000 spectators. Its size has been used as an indicator of Deva's large civilian population, and of the presence of wealthy citizens. The second phase of building produced the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

The amphitheatre served a variety of purposes. Owing to its proximity to the fortress, it would have been used as a venue for weapons training as well as hosting spectacular entertainments involving acrobats, wrestlers, and professional gladiator

Gladiator

A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...

s. The walls of the amphitheatre were 0.9 metres (3 ft) thick and may have stood as high as 12 metres (39.4 ft). The buttresses were too insubstantial to be structural, so must have been decorative.

Part of a slate frieze

Frieze

thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...

depicting a retiarius
Retiarius
A retiarius was a Roman gladiator who fought with equipment styled on that of a fisherman: a weighted net , a three-pointed trident , and a dagger...

, or net-fighter, was discovered in 1738, most likely dating to the 2nd century; it was probably used to decorate the tomb of a gladiator. Other finds included a small bronze statuette of a gladiator, parts of a Roman bowl depicting scenes from a gladiatorial contest, and part of a gladius

Gladius

Gladius was the Latin word for sword, and is used to represent the primary sword of Ancient Roman soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early...

sword handle. Much of the masonry from the amphitheatre was reused in the construction of the St John's Church

St John the Baptist's Church, Chester

St John the Baptist's Church, Chester is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It lies outside the city walls on a cliff above the north bank of the River Dee. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese...

and the monastery of St Mary.

Elliptical building

In 1939 some paving and the walls of two unusual elliptical buildings were discovered, one atop the other. These 'elliptical' buildings were partially uncovered behind Chester's market hall, and no similar buildings have been found in other legionary fortresses. The buildings were located near the centre of the fortress and they had their own bath buildings and a range of store rooms around the outside. The presence of a second bath building is unusual because legionary fortresses generally had just one set of internal baths. Construction on the site began around AD 77 and this was confirmed by a length of lead piping, which served a central water feature or fountain, which was stamped with the name of Emperor Vespasian

Vespasian

. The first building was a prestigious edifice made with concrete foundations and finely dressed stonework, and was probably the finest building in the entire fortress. Technically speaking it was not elliptical, but arcuate, with the central hall being formed from two intersecting arcs, and this makes it unique in the Roman Empire. Its function is unknown. There was no seating within the arcs, which precludes a theatre, and the best guess of the archaeologists was that the twelve alcoves may have contained images of the gods, with the temple being dedicated to the twelve primary gods of the Roman pantheon. Or, alternatively, the oval shape may have represented the shape of the known Roman world, but there is no supporting evidence for this.

The completed building measured 52.4 metres (171.9 ft) by 31.45 metres (103.2 ft), and had an oval courtyard with a water feature at its centre, 14 metres (45.9 ft) by 9 metres (29.5 ft), surrounded by 12 "wedge-shaped" rooms. Traces of the concrete foundation for the water feature and its lead pipe work have been excavated. The 12 rooms surrounding the courtyard had large arched entrances, 4 metres (13.1 ft) wide and at least 5.5 metres (18 ft) high. It is not certain if the first building was ever completed, but it had certainly been destroyed by the AD 90s and the site was subsequently used as the fortress rubbish dump for many decades.
The second elliptical building was built on top foundations of the first, and although the architect must have been aware of the exact layout of the previous building, the design of the second was slightly modified. Although the it looks very similar to the first, it used different diameters of arc to achieve a slightly 'fatter' design. The second 'elliptical' building was not constructed until about AD 220, and this was confirmed by a coin of Emperor Elagabalus

Elagabalus

Elagabalus , also known as Heliogabalus, was Roman Emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan Dynasty, he was Syrian on his mother's side, the son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus. Early in his youth he served as a priest of the god El-Gabal at his hometown, Emesa...

under one of the pavement slabs. It is thought that the second building may have survived until the end of Roman rule and influence in Britain.

The foundations of these buildings were destroyed during the construction of the Forum shopping center.

Capital of Britannia?

The elliptical building is one of several differences between the fortress at Chester and other Roman fortresses in the province. Deva was 20% larger, 5 hectares (12 acre), than the fortresses of Eboracum

Eboracum

Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...

(York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

) – later capital of Britannia Inferior

Britannia Inferior

Britannia Inferior was a subdivision of the Roman province of Britannia established c. 214 by the emperor Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus. Located in modern northern England, the region was governed from the city of Eboracum by a praetorian legate in command of a single legion stationed in...

– and Isca Augusta

Isca Augusta

(Caerleon

Caerleon

). Also, the stone curtain wall

Curtain wall (fortification)

A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two bastions of a castle or fortress.In earlier designs of castle the curtain walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult....

at Chester was constructed without mortar

Mortar (masonry)

Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...

, using large sandstone blocks; this required greater skill and effort than the methods used to build the walls of Eboracum and Isca Augusta, and was usually reserved for the most important structures such as temples or city walls rather than town walls. The presence of unusual buildings at the heart of the fortress – accounting for the 4 hectares (10 acre) by which Deva was larger than other fortresses – has been taken as evidence that their construction was specifically ordered by the provincial governor. The governor when construction first started was Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola

. Lead piping found in the elliptical building bears his name, the only evidence in Britain of a building under his direct control. These differences suggest that Deva may have been Agricola’s administrative headquarters – in effect the capital of Britannia

Britannia

. This was speculated on in a Timewatch
Timewatch
Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29th September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual...

investigation.

Another factor pointing to Deva Victrix as a provincial capital is the presence of a port. From Deva, Ireland (Hibernia

Hibernia

Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe , Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne . In his book Geographia Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of...

) was also accessible, a land which Agricola had plans to conquer; he even launched an expedition to Ireland, though where from is unclear. Also, the Flavian dynasty

Flavian dynasty

was expansionist, and Deva was closer to what would then have been the front, making administration quicker and easier. Furthermore historian Vittorio Di Martino believes that Agricola could have chosen Deva Victrix as a possible future capital of Roman Britain because it was practically placed at the center of the British isles, being located geographically at nearly the same distance from the westernmost shores of Ireland, the easternmost lands of Britannia and the Channel.

Regardless of the empire's plans for Deva, Londinium

Londinium

The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...

, the province's economic and trading centre, emerged as the capital of Britannia, reflecting a change in imperial policy from expansionism to consolidation.

Foundation

Under Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Decline and abandonment

Canabae legionis

Legionary quarry

Legionary baths

Market Hall inscription

Amphitheatre

Elliptical building

Capital of Britannia?

See also

Further reading