people and spaces in roman military bases || status and gender identity – the roles and impact of...

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People and Spaces in Roman Military Bases

Penelope M. Allison

Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139600248

Online ISBN: 9781139600248

Hardback ISBN: 9781107039360

Chapter

12 - Status and gender identity – the roles and impact of women and ch

ildren pp. 319-343

Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139600248.013

Cambridge University Press

12 Status and gender identity – the roles and impact

of women and children

The previous chapter examined the spatial distribution of the activities

within the military bases in this study. It touched on questions concerning

the different kinds of people who were members of these communities –

combatants and non-combatants – and associated with these activities. This

chapter will attempt to further investigate some of the non-combatants and

their place in these communities. As outlined in Chapter 1, p. 5, though, it is

rather difficult to distinguish, with any degree of certainty, between activities

of enlisted men and those of non-combat male personnel, through the study

of artefact distribution. It is seemingly easier to identify at least some of the

artefacts, with their related activities and locations, potentially associated

with women and children.

Chapter 2 highlighted that understandings of socio-spatial practices

within Roman military bases have traditionally commenced from the

premise that, prior to the end of the second century ce, only senior offi-

cers’ families were accommodated inside the fort walls. Structural remains

of senior officers’ residences and centurions’ houses reportedly provide

evidence for the appropriate living conditions of these households. Lack of

evidence for comfortable living space, particularly within infantry barracks,

has been used to support an argument against the presence of women and

families inhabiting the quarters of ordinary soldiers.

As also discussed in Chapter 2, though, it is now becoming increas-

ingly widely accepted, although still not universally, that even before the

beginning of the third century, when they were legally permitted to do

so, ordinary soldiers could have wives and families while still on military

service. However, there is less widespread acceptance that these families

may have resided inside the walls of these Roman military bases. This

chapter therefore focuses on what we can learn about the women and fam-

ilies within first- and second-century Roman military bases, about their

roles, statuses and habitation patterns, and about their impact within these

long-considered segregated male domains, through artefact assemblages

and their distribution.

The artefactual evidence for the presence of women and families inside

the military bases in this study has been discussed under each site. This 319

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320 Status and gender identity – women and children

chapter draws together these discussions and assesses the contexts in which

women and families appear to be most prominent. It also estimates potential

numbers of women inhabiting each military base, and their impact on these

communities and on traditional ideas about the military strength of these

institutions.1

As mentioned in Chapter 1, p. 1, n. 1, the term family used here is the

Roman concept of familia, and can include ‘wives’, concubines, children,

sisters, widowed mothers, and also female and male slaves of serving men.

The key concern of this study is what light can the distribution patterns

of artefacts potentially associated with women and children throw on who

these women and families were and what they were doing inside these

military bases? As stressed in Chapter 5, the gender attributions of the

selected artefacts in this study may be biased towards more male categories

than is actually the case.

STATUS AND ROLES OF WOMEN INSIDE ROMANMILITARY BASES

In the first instance, this chapter compiles the evidence for the presence

of women and children in various spaces across these military bases – in

officers’ residences, soldiers’ barracks and also any in potential commercial

or industrial areas – and assesses this evidence in terms of the percentages

found in each type of residence or activity area. Table 12.1 presents these per-

centages. However, it should be borne in mind, from the conclusions in the

preceding chapter, that it is not always a simple task to identify and separate

these activity areas on the bases of building ground plans. These percentages

should also be considered as indications only. The functional identifications

of the various spaces and buildings follow those in the preceding chapter.

Officers’ families and households

As outlined in Chapter 2, pp. 13–14, it has long been accepted that senior offi-

cers’ families and households would accompany them on military campaign

and that these households lived within the fort walls in large courtyard-style

1 Preliminary estimates and conclusions (see: Allison 2006b, 2006c, 2008b, 2008c) have been

updated here.



Status and roles of women inside Roman military bases 321

Table 12.1 Percentages of women’s and children’s items potentially associated with each

different activity spheres across these sites.a

Status/role Vetera I Rottweil Oberstimm Ellingen

Total no. of ‘female’, ‘female?’, ‘female?/child?’ 97 15 59 76

Total no. including ‘male?female?’ 252 30 134 178

% in senior officers’ households 20.61 33.3 33.89 c. 4

% in senior officers’ households, incl. ‘male?female?’ 20.23 26.6 c. 35 11.76

% in centurions’ households N/A N/A c. 8.5 N/A

% in centurions’ households, incl. ‘male?female?’ N/A N/A c. 5.2 N/A

% in soldiers’ barracks c. 2–3 13 c. 38.5 <30.1

% in soldiers’ barracks, incl. ‘male?female?’ c. 8.4–9.4 16.66 c. 26.7 13.48

% in industrial areas c. 2–3 20–26.6 18.6 c. 20

% in industrial areas, incl. ‘male?female?’ c. 8–9 13.3–23.3 18.6–20.9 N/A

% in commercial areas and streets 43.3 20 15.25 9.2

% in commercial areas and streets, incl. ‘male?female?’ 24.2 33.3 c. 6 12.9

% with medical associations 9.3 10 8.75 3.9

Stray and unprovenanced finds 7.2 6.66 3.39 37

a Some areas overlap so these percentages do not add up to 100.

houses. The artefact distribution patterns in the forts and fortresses in this

study support this perception.

At Vetera I, of ninety-seven selected artefacts potentially associated with

women and children (including twenty-one glass beads, and fourteen which

are unprovenanced), at least twenty were from the identified senior officers’

residences – Buildings G, H, J, K, M and P (Allison 2012: Vetera Interactive

Map <VGE06>). There are another 155 artefacts that could have been asso-

ciated with either men or women (‘male?/female?’), thirty-five of which are

unprovenanced (Allison 2012: Vetera Interactive Map <VGE05>). Thirty

of these latter artefacts – potentially associated with dress, gaming, and per-

sonal hygiene or medical activities – were also from these senior officers’

residences. That is, some 20 per cent of both categories of potential women’s

items were from senior officers’ houses.

In Forts I and II at Rottweil, fifteen of the sixty-three artefacts selected

were likely to be associated with women and children. Remains of a woman’s

mirror casing were from the identified tribune’s house in the south-east

corner of the earlier fortress, Fort I (Allison 2012: Rottweil Interactive

Map <RGEN01>). At least three, and possibly four, others were from

the building identified as a fabrica which, as discussed in the previous

section, may have been a senior officer’s residence. These latter items are




from Period I phase 2 and Period II contexts. Another fifteen artefacts

from these excavations were associated with either men or women (‘male?/

female?’), of which one was from the tribune’s house and possibly three from

the fabrica, two from Period I and one undated (Allison 2012: Rottweil

Interactive Map <RGEN06>). While the number of selected artefacts at

Rottweil is small and the excavation in the latter area (Hoferstraße 1990

excavations) produced a higher density of artefacts than other parts of the

fort (Figure C.3), this evidence suggests at least the presence of women, and

possibly children, in these potential officers’ residences in both Forts I and

II. Interestingly the percentages (c. 26–33 per cent) are not so dissimilar

from those in senior officers’ residences at Vetera I.

Fifty-nine of the artefacts in the fort at Oberstimm are likely to have been

associated with women and children (Allison 2012: Oberstimm Interactive

Map <ObGE08b>). At least nine of these were recorded in Building 7,

identified as the commanding officer’s residence, but another eleven were

found in and around Building 1, identified by Schonberger as a fabrica

although possibly also a senior officer’s residence (see Groenman-van Waa-

teringe 1991; Allison n.d.). Three of those from Building 7 may date to

Period 1d and one to Period 2. In Building 1 two are datable to Period 2

and the rest are undatable. Another seventy-five artefacts at Oberstimm are

associated with either men or women (Allison 2012: Oberstimm Interactive

Map <ObGE06>). Nine, and possibly another fifteen, of these were from

Building 7 and nine, and possibly another four, from Building 1. Again, at

least three of those in Building 7 are datable to Period 1d and two from

Building 1 are datable to Period 2 but the rest are undatable. As a transi-

tional period it is possible that Building 7 was not serving as a commanding

officer’s house during Period 1d. However, the percentages of female-related

material across this building and in Building 1 (c. 34–5 per cent) are not

so dissimilar from those in the senior officers’ residences at Vetera I and

Rottweil, although somewhat higher. This can perhaps be used to argue

that Building 7 was indeed a commanding officer’s residence during that

period. The only clearly datable female-related material from Building 1 is

dated to Period 2, when its layout was less clear but when it still had much

industrial and domestic material.

Seventy-six of the selected artefacts in the fort at Ellingen, including peri-

natal skeletal remains, are associated with women and children (Allison

2012: Ellingen Interactive Map <EGEN01>). Of these only two items are

associated with the building identified as the commanding officer’s residence

during Period 2 (Building F), although one perinatal skeleton was possibly

associated with the earlier building in the Area H which is a likely candidate




for an officer’s residence during Period 1. Another 102 of the selected arte-

facts recorded in this fort are associated with either men or women (Allison

2012: Ellingen Interactive Map <EGEC02>).2 Seven of these were recorded

in the vicinity of Building F and are mostly undatable although one is dat-

able to Period 2. Two such items recorded in Area H are also undatable.

While these items suggest the presence of women and families in this area

they are rather low in number compared with those in other parts of the

fort (c. 4–12 per cent). However, as argued in Chapter 11, p. 316, some of

the female-related material redeposited in Building C may have originated

from the Period 1 building in Area H.

These figures indicate that somewhere between 20 and 33 per cent of the

artefacts associated with women and children from these forts was likely to

have been associated with the households of the senior officers. The lower

percentages associated with Building F at Ellingen, during Period 2, seem

to confirm that this building was unlikely to have had an occupancy similar

to those of other senior officers’ residences. It is notable, though, that in all

the military bases more than half the artefacts that can be associated with

women and children were not from senior officers’ residences.

No centurions’ residences are identified at Vetera I and associated with

the selected artefacts in this study. Also at Rottweil no centurions’ houses

were clearly identified and associated with such artefacts. At Oberstimm,

however, three items potentially associated with women and children were

found in the head buildings of Building 6. One of these is from a Period 1d

context, but the other two are undatable. It is also conceivable that at least

one of the two melon beads found in wells in Building 9, dated to Period

2, was in a head building and centurion’s house at the end of this barracks.

Another gaming counter from this well and a bone spoon from the west

end of Building 6 may have been associated with men or women. Again,

in the fort at Ellingen, no such residences have been identified through the

structural layout of the buildings although it is likely that Buildings B and

C, in particular, could have had parts set aside for centurions’ quarters. The

evidence for the presence of centurions’ families is essentially too limited

to draw any conclusions, not least because so few of their residences can be

identified in the sites in this study.

The artefactual evidence from these sites gives little information about

the ethnicity and status of the women in officers’ households – whether

the officers brought families and households with them, or whether they

took local wives. That said, we potentially get some hint of their ethnicity

2 The skeletal remains are not included in this map.




through specific types of artefacts. For example, as much of the evidence

for the presence of women is based on items of dress, are we able to assess

whether these female members of officers’ households were wearing tra-

ditional Roman or local dress, or types worn in other regions? At Vetera

I, women’s dress-related items from officers’ residences included one late

Latene belt hook (cat. no. B115 – Figure G.59), in Building M, and one late

Latene collared brooch (cat. no. B4), in Building J. These items may have

been from the dress of local women who were members of these officers’

households. The lack of other items of dress that are identifiably local, or

provincial, among the female- and child-related items in these residences

might suggest that family and household members wore traditional Roman

dress, or conceivably ‘Gallic ensembles’ (Roth 2012: esp. 239), that did not

require brooches. Wild had argued (1968: esp. 190, 217, and 223) that the

wives of higher officials probably wore Roman dress without brooches,

and Bohme suggested (Bohme, pers. comm., April 2003) that the slaves

in these officers’ households would have worn Roman dress. An apparent

lack of provincial women’s dress items in the officers’ residences at this site,

however, may rather be because only 6 of the 115 brooches recorded here

are identified as possible women’s brooches. This distribution pattern does

not seem adequate to argue for the ethnicity of the officers’ households,

although might alternatively be used to argue that they were wearing dress

that did not require such accessories. Two disc brooches from the so-called

fabrica at Rottweil (cat. nos. 873 and 919 – Figures G.66–G67) are likely to

have been part of local woman’s dress, to fasten undergarments, while the

silver mirror casing decorated with a cupid from the tribune’s house would

seem to point to a woman in this household of reasonably high status,

but not necessarily indicate her ethnicity (cat. no. 225 – Figure G.69). At

Oberstimm two of the nine items from Building 7 were enamelled brooches

(cat. nos. B395 and W26) and a woman’s bronze buckle was recorded in

Building 1 (cat. no. B139 – Figure G.75). These items were again probably

worn as part of provincial dress, the later Noric–Pannonian. At Ellingen

the only likely item of woman’s dress from Building F or Area H was a

possible bronze necklet, which is of a simple form found throughout the

Roman world (e.g. in Britain: Allason-Jones and Miket 1984: 132 no. 3.249;

see also in Pompeii: Allison 2006a: cat. no. 803), so it is not possible to

draw any conclusions about the identity of its wearer. Even if items of local

and provincial dress were worn by women in these officers’ residences, it

is not possible to argue whether or not such women were members of the

officers’ immediate family or of the household, or even if such a distinction

is relevant. That said, it seems unlikely that the actual wives of equestrian




officers would have been peregrine, although, taken together these items

do suggest at least some presence of possibly indigenous women in officers’

residences wearing local types of dress.

Soldiers’ families and households

The evidence for skeletal remains associated with the barracks at Ellingen

presents a strong argument that women and children were indeed living with

ordinary soldiers inside forts prior to the third century. Given that women

and children might be expected as residents in officers’ residences and that

items of women’s dress and jewellery are indeed found in these houses,

it seems credible that a comparable presence of such artefacts in soldiers’

barracks would also present a strong case for the residency of women and

families there.

Most of the buildings that can be identified as soldiers’ barracks at

Vetera I are not well excavated. Only two artefacts selected for this study

were recorded in the partially excavated Building N (Allison 2012: Vetera

Interactive Map <VGE01>). In the more completely excavated Buildings

V, W and Y, the artefact distribution patterns suggest that these buildings

were likely to have had workshops, although they may also have been bar-

racks, possibly for craftsmen working in the workshops. One item found

in front of each of Buildings Y and V was possibly associated with women

or children and a woman’s brooch was found in the fortification trenches

close to Buildings V and W. These items represent only 2–3 per cent of

the artefacts associated with women and children from Vetera I. Another

six items potentially associated with men or women were recorded in the

vicinity of Buildings W and V, being c. 8.4–9.4 per cent of all such artefacts.

At Rottweil, one melon bead was a stray find in the vicinity of the barracks

of Fort I in the south-east corner and another was from a Fort II context

associated with what were probably barracks in the north-east area. A fur-

ther three items associated with either men or women in the south-east

barracks of Fort I and the barracks in the north-east are undated.3 These

items constituted some 13–16.66 per cent of all items potentially associated

with women and children at this site.

As no centurions’ quarters were identified at either of these legionary

fortresses these percentages could encompass centurions’ families. In any

3 A further bronze pendant in the Fort I barracks in the north-west area was found in a Period II

context.




event, they are somewhat lower than those for senior officers’ residences

in these fortresses. In the case of Vetera I, this may be attributable to the

lack of excavation and not necessarily to the more limited presence of

centurions and soldiers’ families. At Rottweil the percentage of all potential

women’s and children’s items, including possibly men’s or women’s items,

is comparable to that at Ellingen.

In the fort at Oberstimm, Building 6 and the small excavated area of

Building 14 constitute the main excavated areas of what were probably

standard infantry barracks. Three melon beads were scattered across the

central area of Building 6, one from a Period 1b–c context. Two further

potential women’s and children’s items were found associated with Building

14. These finds constituted c. 8.5 per cent of the artefacts from this fort,

associated with women and children. The area of Buildings B, C and 3 may

also have provided accommodation for soldiers. Interestingly, this area had

one of the highest concentrations of women’s and children’s items in the

fort at Oberstimm (30 per cent). These items are datable to both Periods 1

and 2, and notably to phases 1b–c. Thus, up to 38.5 per cent of the artefacts

associated with women and children in this fort were from likely soldiers’

barracks, a percentage which is equatable to that in the commanding officer’s

residence in this fort, and substantially higher than that in the centurions’

quarters. Another four items recorded in Buildings 6 and 14 were potentially

associated with either men or women, and another ten artefacts from the

area of Buildings B, C and 3, making a total of some 26.7 per cent of all such

items found at this site potentially being associated with soldiers’ families.

Building 1 may also have included residences for craftsmen but is discussed

below under industrial areas.

In the fort at Ellingen, Buildings B, C and D were all potentially soldiers’

barracks, although all three had evidence for workshop activities during at

least one of the occupation periods of this fort. Six artefacts from Building

B and its porticoes are associated with women and children, one datable

to Period 2 when there had been a double barrack building here. Another

three items were found just to the east of the south-east corner of this

building, including the partial skeleton of a neonate. Twenty-two items

from Building C, including from Well 4, were likely to have been associated

with women and children. However, some twelve of these were potentially

redeposited, excluding five finds of perinatal skeletal remains. This still leaves

ten items associated with women and children that can be associated with

this building. In contrast, no items potentially associated with women and

children were recorded in Building D. The items associated with Buildings B

and C constitute over 30 per cent of all such items found in this fort, which




is a considerably higher percentage than those from the supposed officers’

residences in Building F and Area H. And, irrespective of the overwhelming

amount of material in Building C, there is still more evidence for women

and children in the Building B (c. 17 per cent) than there is in any possible

officers’ residence (c. 4 per cent) – over four times as much. Again, the

distribution of some of the items in Building B at Ellingen might be used

to argue for the locations of centurions’ residences but they are scattered

throughout these barracks.

A further nine items recorded from Building B are associated with either

men or women, most datable to Periods 1b–2, and two more male or female-

related items were recorded in the same context as the neonate skeleton in

the south-east corner (Allison 2012: Ellingen Interactive Map <EGEC02>).

Another twenty items from Building C were potentially associated with men

or women but most of these are from the excavations in 1981, below the

stone floor in this building, and so possibly redeposited. Nine such items

were recorded from Building D. The items that can be associated with these

three buildings with any surety constitute c. 13.5 per cent of all such items

from this fort, a percentage which is similar to that in the region of the

supposed officers’ residences. Given that this fort probably housed mainly

a work vexillatio, and was likely to have been administered from elsewhere,

the expectation for the presence of women and families might be low, but in

fact this small fort had numbers comparable with the large double legionary

fortress at Vetera I.

These percentage patterns suggest that, in the later auxiliary forts in

particular, women and children were as much part of the lives of ordinary

soldiers as they were of senior officers, if not more so. This may be a factor

of these types of units, and less rigid control than in legionary fortresses, or

it may point to increasing numbers of ordinary soldiers’ families from the

second half of the first century to the end of the second century.

Industrial spheres

The main industrial activity identified in the forts in this study was metal-

working. Schonberger also argued for a meat-working area in the fort at

Oberstimm, Zanier for a whetstone industry in the fort at Ellingen and

there seem to have been mixed workshops (with mainly woodworking,

agricultural and weighing equipment) just inside the main gates at Vetera I.

Another industry that is often overlooked in the activities of military sites,

and which is the most likely one to involve women, is cloth production.




As indicated in the previous chapter, industrial areas are not always

clearly identifiable and not necessarily separated from residential areas. As

also discussed, Buildings V and Y at Vetera I may have been both workshops

and soldiers’ barracks. No other buildings at this fortress can be identified as

industrial areas so the low percentages for presence of women and children in

soldiers’ barracks are repeated for industrial areas in Table 12.1. No definite

cloth-working material was recorded at Vetera I but there is a scattering of

fifteen possible cloth-working items, associated with either men or women.

Only one, in the area in front of Building Z, was possibly associated with

women.

In both Forts I and II at Rottweil a metalworking area (fabrica) was

identified in the central section. As argued in Chapter 11, p. 314, though,

this may also have been a residential area. Three, and possibly four, dress-

related items from this area are associated with women and children, from

both Periods I and II. Three other items from this building are associated

with either men or women. Given that this so-called fabrica is also discussed

above as a senior officer’s residence, it is not possible to make comparisons

concerning the relative presence of women, and children, between these

types of areas in this fort. Rather women and possibly children would seem

to be engaged in the activities of this particular building, which may well

have been both residential and industrial.

In the fort at Oberstimm, Building 1 is the most likely industrial area,

mainly for metalworking. However, as discussed above and in Chapters 8,

pp. 209–10, and 11, p. 289, metalworking activities seem to have also been

prominent in the area of Buildings B, C and 3 (see Allison 2012: Oberstimm

Interactive Map <ObGE01>). As also discussed in Chapter 8, p. 205, while

Schonberger argued for meat processing in Building 1, there is more evi-

dence for animal bone in the area of Buildings B, C and 3 and associated

with Building 12. The former area is discussed under soldiers’ barracks and

the latter below under commercial areas. Associated with Building 1 are

six of the fifteen definite women’s dress items from this fort and another

five items that were possibly associated with women’s and children’s dress,

datable to both Periods 1 and 2. Another ten to thirteen items from this

building are associated with either men or women, again datable to both

periods. Thus, the association of women and children with industrial activi-

ties in this building is less apparent than with the activities in senior officers’

residences or soldiers’ barracks, but it is more evident than in centurions’

residences. However, the percentage here, and the high percentage associ-

ated with the area of Buildings B, C and 3 where there appears to have been

industrial activity, seem to confirm a strong association of women with the




productive activities of this fort. While there are no definite cloth-working

items in this fort, some thirteen possible cloth-working items were found,

mainly associated with the commanding officer’s residence (Building 7) and

categorised as being used by either men or women.

Based on the distribution of metalworking equipment and whetstones,

Zanier identified workshops in the fort at Ellingen: in the southern area

of Building B, during Period 1b; possibly in Building D during Period 1;

in Area G during Period 2; and also probably in Building C. As discussed

above, no material associated with women and children was recorded in

Building D. One millifiori glass bead and one infant burial were recorded in

Area G, the latter possibly associated with remains of a bronze pin (Allison

2012: Ellingen Interactive Map <ED03>). However, there were numerous

items associated with women and children in Building C, in addition to

those potentially redeposited. Industrial activities may also have been asso-

ciated with a Period 1 building in Area H (Allison 2012: Ellingen Interactive

Map <EGEAC01>), where another infant burial has been identified. The

association of these two infant burials with possible industrial areas is inter-

esting, particularly the one in Area H, as this one is datable to the Period 1

building which was conceivably also an officer’s residence. One possible

woman’s or child’s finger ring outside the southern end of Building B may

date to Period 1b, when there was likely to have been a workshop here, but

the other two female- and child-related items in this area are undated. Cloth-

working activities seem rather scattered throughout the fort at Ellingen, with

potential items in all areas. The spindle whorls, most likely to be associated

with women, were found in Building C and in the street areas in the vicinity

of Buildings B and E (Allison 2012: Ellingen Interactive Map <EC06>).

This particular industry may have been carried out in all parts of this fort.

This seems logical as it is a transportable industry that could be carried

out anywhere at any time. Using multivariate analysis, Spradley-Kurowski

had noted a strong disassociation of artefacts related to cloth production

and private areas of the fort (n.d.: 160). However, she concluded that this

meant either women were spending more time in non-private areas, or cloth

production was not purely a female task. While her conclusions have some

relevance, they make unwarranted assumptions about gendered and socio-

spatial practices. The distribution of spindle whorls in the fort at Ellingen,

as evidence of a specifically female task, indicates that women were indeed

not restricted in their movements, around all part of this fort at least.

In summary, it is difficult to find an identifiable spatial pattern for the

association of women and children with specific industries and specific

industrial areas. The evidence at Oberstimm implies that they were involved




with any industrial activities taking place in Building 1. This can also be

argued from the evidence in the so-called fabrica at Rottweil, and that in

Building C at Ellingen, and possibly in Areas G and H in this latter fort.

The evidence is, admittedly, not totally convincing but it points to a need

to consider that women who were members of these military communities

were not necessarily excluded from taking part in non-combatant industrial

activities that might include metalworking.4 There was more likely to be

a status than a gender separation of such tasks although this is hard to

verify from artefact distribution. Nevertheless, the potential for women to

be contributors to the other productive activities inside these military bases,

besides producing the next generation of soldiers, needs to be taken into

account when considering the activities and use of space in Roman military

bases.

Commercial spheres (shops, taverns, market areas, main streetsand gateways)

As discussed in Chapter 11, p. 295, there are a number of areas within these

military bases that seem to have been involved in the exchanging of good

and services. Such ‘exchanging’, which could include financial transactions,

is likely to take place where people from outside the fort could come inside to

trade goods and services with soldiers who were on regular pay. In a supply

fort like that at Oberstimm, particularly, or a work fort like that at Ellingen,

goods and services might also be purchased from the military by outsiders.

Such complex market relationships have been identified in the Vindolanda

tablets (see Grønlund Evers 2011: esp. 23–4 and 31–2) and would also

explain the location of workshops inside the gateways at Vetera I and the

relative concentrations of coins in the main streets and fort entranceways

(see Figures B.4, C.4, D.4 and F.6).

At Vetera I the main areas identified for ‘exchanging’ activities were the

buildings that lined the main street, the central open area opposite Building

A and possibly also Building a. The discovery of twenty-one necklace beads

in the latter building, together with gaming equipment and considerable

quantities of fine ceramics (Figure B.7), suggest a tavern or inn here which

involved women (see Allison 2012: Vetera Interactive Map <VGE01> and

<VGE06>). Including these beads and two female- and child-related items

4 Dıaz-Andreu (2005: 32) has highlighted the need to consider the involvement of women in the

discovery of metallurgy.




found in front of Buildings Y and V, some forty-two items in the area of the

via principalis are probably associated with women and children, nearly half

of all items associated with women and children from this fortress. Another

five were recorded along the route to the North Gateway, but little else

was excavated in this part of the fortress for comparison. This distribution

pattern implies that many of the women in the fortress at Vetera I were

likely to have been involved in commercial activities, whether as women

from outside offering goods and services, or women who resided in this

fortress and either provided such services or were engaged in purchasing

them for their households. Another nineteen items from the via principalis

area were associated with either men or women which is again one of

the highest counts for such items in any of the activity spheres discussed

here.

At Rottweil three items associated with women and children were found

in the via decumana, and another seven potentially associated with men or

women, datable to both Forts I and II. These are relatively small numbers

but they are potentially significant, given the overall limited quantities

of selected artefacts from this site, and their concentration in the central

section of the principia and fabrica. These comparable numbers in the via

decumana, as in the latter area, suggest that, like at Vetera I, women and

children were most evident in the areas with greater access to outside the

fortress and to opportunities for commercial activities. This implies that

many of these women frequenting these areas may not have been resident

within these first-century legionary fortresses.

In the fort at Oberstimm, in contrast, relatively few items associated with

women and children can be assigned to streets and open areas. This is also

the situation for coins in this fort, although there is a notable concentration

in the north-west area of Building 1 immediately inside the gateway, a

possible commercial area. In both the areas of Buildings 1 and 12, also a

possible commercial area, relative concentrations of women’s and children’s

items are reported. Associated with the former building were four such items

mainly datable to Period 2. Five such items were associated with the latter

building, mostly datable to Period 1. The north-west area of Building 1

also had another three items potentially associated with men or women and

Building 12 had six. While these two areas are likely locations for commercial

activity, there was also evidence for a certain amount of commercial activity

in the area of Buildings B, C and 3. This pattern in the fort at Oberstimm is

different from that at Vetera I and at Rottweil. In the latter fortress there are

comparable proportions of women’s and children’s items in the industrial

areas and senior officers’ residences as in the commercial areas, while at




Vetera I the highest percentage was in the commercial areas. This suggests

that women in the fort at Oberstimm were less likely to be involved in

commercial activities than in industrial or domestic activities, as part of

the households of senior officers and craftsmen. Thus there is a stronger

pattern for resident women at this supply fort than was perhaps the case at

the earlier legionary fortresses.

An exception might be in Building a at Vetera I. The finds in this building

would support the concept of inns and entertainment within the fortress

and of women being involved in these commercial activities which no doubt

required them to be domiciled within the fortress walls. While Speidel

did not actually argue this (Speidel 1996: 53 and 80; 1997: 54; 1999: 78–

80), the women who were employed in, or perhaps owned, establishments

inside the walls of the fortress at Vindonissa were highly likely to have

been accommodated there. This situation would also seem practicable for

Building a at Vetera I and probably also for Building 12 in the fort at

Oberstimm, where the evidence points to women working in shops and

possibly taverns.

In the fort at Ellingen it is difficult to identify a particularly commercial

area although Building D is a potential candidate, as is the open area in

the centre of the fort. As noted above no women’s and children’s items are

associated with Building D although there are eight possibly associated with

men or women, mostly undatable. In the North Gateway and central open

area, including between Buildings C and D, there are seven items potentially

associated with women. Three of these are in the Period 1a Well 1 but the

rest are undatable. There are another eight items, from these open areas

and from the South Gateway, potentially associated with men or women.

Thus, the likely commercial areas at Ellingen have an even lower percentage

of artefacts associated with women and children than at Oberstimm. They

also have a lower percentage than the barracks. Again, this suggests that

women may have been more prominent as members of these servicemen’s

families within this fort than as commercial traders and market women

coming into the fort from outside.

In summary, these distribution patterns for women’s and children’s items

suggest that women would have played a very visible role in the commercial

sphere across all the sites in this study. They were most prominent in this

sphere in the first-century fortresses and comparatively less so in the later

auxiliary forts. This may be because there are more women engaged in the

other non-combatant activities of these forts, and not necessarily because

they were less involved in commercial activities. In these forts they were

more prominent in industrial and residential areas, particularly those of




craftsmen and ordinary soldiers, and so were likely to have been inhabitants

and very probably members of soldiers’ families.

Other spheres

It is possible that women were also involved in other activity spheres inside

military bases but, because of the parameters of this study and the state of

our knowledge about women’s activities in the Roman world in general, it

is not possible to analyse these here.

One activity which women are known to take part in, and which this

study can give insights into, is medical activities. Not only is this one of

the few professions that we know women were engaged in (for references:

Evans 1991: 123–7, 212–13; see also Jackson 2005: 208), we also know that

at least some women took part in medical activities in the military sphere. A

prominent example is Germanicus’ wife Agrippina who reportedly dressed

soldiers’ wounds, while resident on a military base as the commanding

officer’s wife (Tac. Ann. I.69). Patricia Baker (2004: 45) does not exclude the

possibility of women as military doctors.

At Vetera I, there are four items potentially associated with women and

children which are associated with the area in front of the so-called valetu-

dinarium, Building Z. As argued above this building may not in fact have

been a hospital, not least because no potential medical-related items were

found here (Allison 2012: Vetera Interactive Map <VT01>). Rather, items

most likely to be associated with medical activities (i.e. probes and tweezers)

are found in the senior officers’ houses, Buildings K and M, and in the cen-

tral market area. And two such items were also recorded in Buildings T–U.

This complex is discussed above as a likely schola, and/or bath complex (see

Chapter 6, p. 146, and Chapter 11, p. 313). Interestingly these three areas –

officers’ residences, central area, and Buildings T–U – also have some of the

greatest concentrations of women’s and children’s items at Vetera I. Most

notable among these are two women’s hairpins associated with Buildings

T–U. Hairpins, beads and delicate combs were recorded in the baths at

Vindolanda (Birley 1977:37), which Birley associated with male and female

civilian use of these baths at ‘separate times during the day’. Cool and Baxter

also noted a general association of personal female and gaming items with

bath-houses (2002: 370).

At Rottweil, two potential medical implements were found in the via

decumana. In the fort at Oberstimm eleven of the twelve potentially medical

items (ligulae, probes and tweezers) were found in Buildings 1 and 7 and




the area of Buildings B, C and 3, the areas with the highest concentrations

of women’s and children’s items (Allison 2012: Oberstimm <ObT01> and

<ObGE08b>). In the fort at Ellingen definite ‘toilet’ items (ligulae and

probes) were mainly found where most items associated with women and

children were recorded – that is, associated with Building C and in the north

end of Building B (Allison 2012: Ellingen Interactive Map <ET01>). One

was also found in Shaft 5 of Building F where two possible female-related

items were recorded, and can perhaps be associated with the fragments from

three bronze needles or pins found in the vicinity of this building.

Thus, in all these military bases there is a noted incidence of association of

‘toilet’ items that are potentially medical implements with items associated

with women and children. Some of these associations may result from a

close relationship between women’s beauty and personal hygiene, rather

than with medical activities. However, it is evident from the distribution

patterns of surgical implements in Pompeian houses that many medical

activities were part of household activities rather than specialist intervention

(see Allison 2009: 27) and may have been carried out by women. It would

seem quite feasible that this was also the case in many military sites where

women were present, as is evident in the case of Agrippina.

This section has examined various spheres of activity in these military

sites and has found that women were likely to be involved in all of them,

to some degree. Exactly who these women were and what status they held

in these communities is difficult to assess. It is apparent that women and

families were more prevalent in the later auxiliary forts than in the earlier

fortresses. From dress accessories in all these forts, some at least wore local

dress and were likely to be local women. However, these artefact analyses

are not able to identify traditional Roman dress or other forms of dress

which had no such accessories. It is also not possible to assess whether

the same women who inhabited officers’ residences or soldiers’ barracks

also carried out industrial and commercial activities, although this seems

quite plausible. The strong association of some cloth-working material with

residential buildings suggests that the women who produced cloth were

likely to have been members of these households. Again, as cloth production

is a main household industry, this would seem logical.

Not included in the above discussion are many stray finds potentially

associated with women and children. At Vetera I seven of the recorded

women’s and children’s items were stray finds, which is over 7 per cent of

them (Table 12.1). This contrasts with the percentage that recorded stray

finds constitute of the overall assemblage at this site (less than 3 per cent).

Only one such stray find was reported at Rottweil and two at Oberstimm. In



Their impact on military communities 335

the fort at Ellingen, though, 37 per cent of the items related to women

and/or children were unprovenanced or stray finds (see Allison 2006c:

fig. 44), which is higher than for any other artefact category at this fort.

For example, 30 per cent of the fine ceramics from the fort at Ellingen were

stray finds; 26 per cent of combat items; 20 per cent of gaming counters;

6.25 per cent of dress items; and no ‘toilet’ items. It is possible that some of

the female- and child-related stray finds at Ellingen were from the vicus but

over half of them are definitely from the fort. The relatively high percent-

ages of women’s and children’s items recorded as stray finds at Vetera I and

Ellingen suggests a reluctance on the part of the excavators and recorders to

assign such finds to the fort proper, considering them to be out of place in

this context.

NUMBERS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND THEIRIMPACT ON THESE MILITARY COMMUNITIES

As a double legionary fortress, Vetera I would have held some 10–12,000

military personnel. Franke’s estimates, based on the size of the forts at

Rottweil, suggest that more than 6,000 combatants were accommodated

in the fortress, Fort I (2003: 91), and probably some 1,000 in Fort II.

Schonberger commented (1978: 15) that the 3.75 hectare fort near Ober-

stimm, Alenkastell Koschung, would have had c. 480 men and 500 horses,

presumably implying that the 1.75 hectares at Oberstimm would have

accommodated about half that number, although possibly fewer horses.

Zanier (1992: 174) estimated that the inner buildings of the fort at Ellingen

were constructed to accommodate some 250 men.

These figures are largely estimates, but they are used in this section as

approximations for calculating the likely numbers of women and children

in each military base. There are obvious problems with this approach which

concerns the chronological phasing of each site. However, this will affect the

quantities of all types of artefacts in a similar fashion so each fort is analysed

here as if it had a single occupation phase. For the forts at Rottweil the

higher numbers of combatants in the legionary fortress are used. Table 12.2

uses the percentages that women’s and children’s items constitute of all arte-

facts recorded at these sites, to produce a minimum count for the number

of women within each of these military bases. It also uses the percentages

such items make up of those artefacts selected for this study, to produce a

maximum count. The latter count is more likely to be closer to reality as it




Table 12.2 Percentages of female- and child-related items as indications of potential

numbers of women and children in these military bases.

Vetera Rottweil Oberstimm Ellingen

Ellingen

(excl. slag)

Total no. of artefacts 12,736 2,845 4,700 15,537 14,394

No. of selected artefacts 1,280 63 800 1,700 556

Total no. of ‘female’, ‘female?’, ‘female?/

child?’ artefacts

97 15 59 76 76

% of all artefacts 0.76 0.52 1.25 c. 0.5 0.52

% selected artefacts 7.75 23.81 7.37 4.47 13.67

Likely no. of combatants c. 11,000 c. 6,000 c. 300 c. 250 c. 250

Min. likely no. of women and children c. 84 31 c. 4.5 1.25 1.3

Max. likely no. of women and children c. 850 1,428 c. 22 c. 11 c. 34

makes a more direct comparison between those artefacts potentially asso-

ciated with women and children and those potentially associated with male

members of these communities. These percentages and the corresponding

counts, particularly in the latter calculation, indicate perhaps unexpectedly

high numbers of women in legionary fortresses and also fairly high numbers

in the auxiliary forts.

As discussed in Chapter 2, p. 26, centurions as well as higher-ranking

officers may have resided with their ‘wives’ and families inside the fort

or fortress during the early empire. This suggests that, during the first

and second centuries, besides the families of higher-ranking officers, any

one legionary cohort may have had some six other families who legally

accompanied their husband, father or perhaps brother, into active service

and who would have been housed inside these military bases. In a legionary

fortress, each legion was likely to have had at least eight senior officers and

some sixty centurions (Johnson 1983: 17–18), each of whom could have

been legitimately accompanied by at least one woman. This suggests that

some sixty-eight women, at least, were likely to have resided within Fort I

at Rottweill and some 136 women in the double legionary fortress at Vetera

I. In Table 12.2 the minimum likely numbers of women and children are

somewhat lower than these, but the maximum numbers are substantially

higher. The numbers of women and children likely to have been members

of officers’ households could be potentially doubled, or tripled, to include

other female family members (i.e. daughters, mothers, sisters and female

slaves – see Wells 1997), bringing the figure for Rottweil to 136–204 and for




Vetera I to 272–408. While the figures in Table 12.2 for Rottweil may not be

very reliable,5 those for Vetera I are considerably higher than this doubling,

or even tripling. This suggests that many of the women and children in these

fortresses, possibly one half, were not members of officers’ households but

other women such as ‘camp-followers’ and soldiers’ families. The high

number of c. 850 women and children at Vetera I indicates that they would

have had a very visible presence within this fortress.

The numbers of officers in an auxiliary fort is less clear but a single cohort

auxiliary unit of c. 500 men is likely to have had at least six centurions, who

could each probably be legitimately accompanied by a wife. Thus, we can

estimate that in each of the forts at Oberstimm and Ellingen there might

have been about three officers’ wives present. Table 12.2 indicates greater

numbers of women in both maximum and minimum counts for Oberstimm

and a considerably greater maximum for Ellingen. These figures again imply

that there were many more women inside these two forts than those in any

officers’ families. Obviously, the interpretation of these percentages is very

subjective, with an apparent diversity of the percentages and numbers of

women across these forts, but this analysis gives an impression of the visibil-

ity of these women and their potential participation in these communities,

in both legionary fortresses and auxiliary forts.

In an attempt to counter some of the subjectivity in the above analysis,

the most prolific material that has a potentially female association was

assessed – i.e. dress-related material and notably brooches. As discussed

in Chapter 5, p. 72, Michael Gechter (1979) compared the percentages

of certain brooch types in military bases with those on civilian sites to

establish which types were more likely to have been soldiers’ brooches. A

different approach is taken here, based on the gendered categorisations

used in this study. Table 12.3 shows the numbers of brooches at each site

most likely to be associated either with men (‘male’ and ‘male?’) or with

women (‘female’ and ‘female?’). Less distinctive brooch types that have been

categorised as being worn by either men or women (‘male?/female?’) are not

included.

Again the data for Rottweil is unlikely to be reliable, as is no doubt

demonstrated by the 1:1 ratio of men’s and women’s brooches at this site.

Interestingly, the brooch ratios at the forts at Oberstimm and Ellingen

show even higher numbers of women than in Table 12.2, while those at

5 The high percentages at Rottweil are possibly related to the abandonment procedures here.

These types of items are more easily lost while the large potentially male items – brooches,

weapons, tools etc. would have been taken with the departing soldiers.




Table 12.3 Numbers and ratios of men’s and women’s brooches as indications of potential

numbers of women and children in these forts.

Vetera Rottweil Oberstimm Ellingen

Ellingen minus

vicus finds

Total no. of ‘female’ and ‘female?’

brooches

6 3 6 4 2

Total no. of ‘male’ and ‘male?’brooches 104 3 33 14 14

Ratio of ‘male’ to ‘female’ brooches 1:17.33 1:1 1:5.5 1:3.5 1:7

Likely no. of men c. 11,000 6,000 c. 300 c. 250 c. 250

Likely no. of women 635 ? 54 71 36

Vetera I show relatively comparable numbers, if slightly lower. Two of the

potentially women’s brooches recorded at Ellingen were found in the vicus

area, making the ratio for inside the fort 1:7, and the count for women

about thirty-six. This figure is closer to the maximum count in Table 12.2,

although marginally higher. Zanier commented that equal proportions of

bow and disc brooches were recorded at Ellingen and noted that this differed

from Gechter’s findings (Zanier 1992: 114–16). These higher numbers for

women, through the ratios of brooches rather than percentages of overall

selected artefacts, could be explained by the fact that women often wore

more than one brooch, whereas men would more usually wear only one.

However, this argument suggests a consistency of loss which would be

accounted for by women spending a large proportion of their time within

the fort. Thus, these figures suggest either that relatively large numbers of

women came into the fort or that these women resided there. A lost brooch,

and especially two, might cause a certain amount of consternation, not

to mention exposure, to the wearer if she were far from home and in a

male-dominated sphere!

As discussed above, female members of officers’ households may have

worn traditional Roman dress that did not require brooches and belts.

However, items of local dress were found in some of the officers’ houses at

Vetera I. It is conceivable that the probability of the presence of women in

senior officers’ houses at Vetera I who did not wear brooches can explain

the slightly lower figure for the numbers of women in this fortress, reached

through brooches alone rather than through overall artefact types.

In summary, these absolute figures for the numbers of women and chil-

dren in each of these forts are subjective, but serve to give an impression of

the likely percentages and impact of women within the communities inside




each of these military bases. They suggest that, at any one time, some 600–

850 women might have frequented the fortress at Vetera I, many of whom

probably lived there. This quantity is substantially more than the number

that might have constituted the few officers’ households, in the officers’ res-

idences identified at this site, and suggests that women and children could

have made up some 8 per cent of the inhabitants inside this fortress. This

is not an overwhelming proportion but, in terms of numbers, nonetheless

indicates that such women would have impacted on the organisation of

space and were likely to have been active participants of this community.

In the fort at Oberstimm the percentages of women’s and children’s items

are comparable to those at Vetera I (Table 12.2). The ratio of brooches,

though, is about three times higher than that at Vetera I. Together these

two analyses of the percentages of artefacts and brooch ratios indicate that

there may have been some twenty to fifty-four women, being some 6–18

per cent of the inhabitants of this relatively small fort, at any one time. The

higher percentage may indicate that the women inside this fort were more

likely to have been wearing local dress than Roman dress, and probably

more than one brooch. This might fit well with the non-Roman names of

auxiliary soldiers’ wives recorded on diplomas (see Scheidel 2007: 423–4).

It also suggests that this fort accommodated proportionately more local

women who were not members of senior officers’ households, but who

were associated with ordinary soldiers’ families and with the industrial and

commercial spheres of this fort.

In the fort at Ellingen both the percentage of artefacts (excluding slag), and

the brooch ratios suggest that there may have been about thirty-six women

in this fort at any one time, being some 14 per cent of the total inhabitants.

As in the fort at Oberstimm, this number is substantially higher than any

expected number for officers’ families. It again suggests that a considerable

proportion of the men accommodated within this fort resided with their

families, or alternatively that other women made up part of the work force

in this fort. The discovery of infant skeletal remains and the distribution

pattern for women’s and children’s items in this fort suggests that the former

was probably the most likely scenario, but that this does not necessarily

exclude the latter.

Comparisons across these forts, between the percentages of selected arte-

facts (Table 12.2), suggest that women and children were likely to have

made up over 5 per cent of the members of these communities inside the

walls. These percentages could be as high as 18–20 per cent in a supply

fort like Oberstimm. Gechter found that women’s brooches constituted less

than 5 per cent of brooches in early imperial military bases in the Rhine




region (1979: 77). This is equatable with the ratio at Vetera I. The higher

brooch ratio at the later forts potentially accords with changing practices,

and perhaps increasing relaxation of the legal restrictions on soldiers, and

particularly in auxiliary units, over these two centuries.

It might be argued, from the minimum percentages of overall artefacts

that can be associated with women and children, that these artefacts con-

stitute such small percentages of the overall assemblages that this evidence

is inadequate. However, given our limited knowledge of gender-segregation

of activities in the Roman world that leave material traces, and particularly

on the peripheries of that world, one should not expect to find large quan-

tities of artefacts that can easily be gendered either masculine or feminine.

As mentioned above (Chapter 2, p. 28), it is equally difficult to trace a

definitive male presence within such communities through the gendering

of artefacts which is not reliant on analogies or biases (see also van Driel-

Murray 2008: 82). Roth has similarly argued that a lack of confrontation

with adequate intellectual frameworks that take seriously the archaeolog-

ical record of both male and female has resulted in the disregard of the

roles of women and children in the economy of Roman agricultural villas

(2007: 58).

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

As well as informing on the various activities among these military bases,

these artefact distribution analyses provide information on some of the

inhabitants – notably women, children and other members of the familia.

However, a lack of comprehensive understanding of the specific material evi-

dence for the activities of women in civilian contexts makes an exploration

of women’s roles in the military sphere rather restricted. Only artefacts from

certain types of dress, and from cloth-working and personal hygiene activ-

ities, have been associated with women in this study. Tomaskova (2006: 24)

and Casella (2006: 27) cautioned about the potential for changed gender

roles in the military sphere. The reliance of past Roman military scholarship

on the authority of ancient authors, particularly the views of such authors

that effeminacy or homosexual practices by Roman soldiers were severely

punished and, like the presence of women, were considered disruptive to

military discipline (see Phang 2001: 262–95), have played a large part in

removing all but the most masculine from the military arena. However,

Roman distaste for homosexual practices did not include pederastic rela-

tionships with male inferiors, ‘pleasure’ slaves or male prostitutes (Parker



Concluding comments 341

1997), who may well have cohabited with soldiers, as van Driel-Murray

(1995: 19–20), Phang (2001: 266–77) and James (2006: 34) have discussed

(see also the pueri: Bowman and Thomas 1994: Vindolanda Tablet II, 255).

It is not inconceivable that these males may have carried out the more

‘feminine’ tasks, and even worn some of the ‘feminine’ clothing identified

in these military contexts.6 That said, the skeletal evidence at Ellingen, and

the epigraphical evidence, especially that at Vindonissa, indicate that the

dress items and activities discussed here more probably document biologi-

cal women inside these military bases, who no doubt also carried out many

other activities that are less easily attributable to them.7 Focusing on a con-

cept of the ‘ female’, whether biological or social, and expressed as ‘women

and families’, and on the spatial distribution of ‘female’ activity within

these masculine domains is an important approach to breaking traditional

perspectives on the character of Roman military communities.

Despite the subjectivity of the counts for numbers of women, they suggest

that several women and families could be found in these military bases, and

not merely a handful of senior officers’ families. These women could have

been of different statuses that included female slaves and other female

dependents in officers’ households, but, more importantly, the wives and

families of ordinary soldiers. Many of these women may have been female

slaves owned by soldiers, whom they later married (Varon 1994). Speidel

argued that by the Claudian period about half the soldiers would have had

‘wives’ (Speidel 1999: 77). However, James has subsequently argued that

the assumed late marriage of soldiers, based on military regulations, would

have meant that only a minority would have married and therefore had

‘wives’ (James 2006: 32; see Phang 2001: 164–90). These analyses give a

very strong impression that at least some, if not all, such women were likely

to have resided within their respective ‘households’, inside these forts and

fortresses, and did not live apart outside the walls, as ‘part-time families’

(Rawson 2011: 6). They also indicate that women involved in commercial

and industrial activities may have frequented these military bases and also

resided there, either independently or, again, as part of these servicemen’s

‘households’. Among such women may well have been ‘prostitutes, acrobats,

singers, dancers and jugglers’ (see Allason-Jones 1989a: 65).

6 It is perhaps notable that no earrings were recorded in the early imperial military bases in this

study, which Allason-Jones proposed (1995: 26) might be worn by soldiers from the East (see

Chapter 5, p. 82).7 Gera (1997) studied short notices of fourteen women in fifth- and fourth-century bce Greek

writers, who performed notable deeds on the battlefield.




These analyses also indicate that women and their activities can be found

in many parts of these military bases and that they were not necessarily

spatially and temporarily restricted, as argued by Speidel (1999: 78–80).

From the structural evidence of military turrets on Hadrian’s wall, from

an assumed normalcy of male presence and from the lack of identifiably

female artefacts, Allason-Jones (1988) argued that the other material culture

excavated there must be gendered male (see also Allason-Jones 2001). The

finds in the north-west tower in the fort at Ellingen, although admittedly

limited, hint that women could have been present in such locations and

potentially involved in a greater range of ‘military’ activities.8

The likely presence of these numbers of women and children would have

had an impact on the number of military personnel housed in these military

bases and also on the organisation and running of these communities. If

space within these military bases was taken up by these non-combatants,

not to mention the considerable amount of space taken up by other, male,

non-combatants, then this may have had implications for the capacity of

fighting personnel each base could accommodate. However, we should be

wary of assumptions about how much space an individual soldier required

(see Allison 2006b: 18–19). As van Driel-Murray demonstrated for the

families of soldiers in Dutch Indonesia (1995: 12–16), arrangements for the

accommodation of soldiers’ families, and any other support personnel, were

probably unidentifiable in the structural layouts of these barrack buildings

and may have had little impact on the number of military personnel that

could be housed there and the strength of the unit.

The numbers of women in each of these military bases may have had an

impact on the concept of a strict military life that is often attributed to the

Roman army, not least because authors such as Tacitus and Juvenal com-

plained about the problems women’s presence caused to army discipline (see

Chapter 2, p. 13). This artefactual evidence suggests that such complaints

fell on deaf ears. The apparent evidence for women involved in industrial

and commercial activities inside these military bases also warns that it is

unreasonable to assume that they and their families were merely a hin-

drance to military life. Rather, they were likely to be actively involved in the

maintenance of these establishments. A comparison can be made – both per-

ceptually and methodologically – with investigations of nineteenth-century

8 A cache of copper alloy artefacts, including brooches and jewellery, was found in the west guard

chamber of the south gate at Great Chesters (Allason-Jones 1996a). Again, it is difficult to

associate this material, in this individual case, directly with women’s activities in this location,

as this may have been scrap metal stored here.



Concluding comments 343

gold-mining in Australia, an arena in which past scholarship has played

down the roles of women and children to present a masculine ‘frontier’

landscape. Through study of the complete material record and a feminist

critique of the documentary evidence, Susan Lawrence (2000) demonstrated

the considerable presence of women and families and their active and pro-

ductive roles in such isolated communities.

The substantial evidence for the presence of women and children in these

Roman military bases should lead us to consider their presence as normal

military practice. Elite women on the Roman frontier, despite the apparent

home comforts, no doubt suffered some hardship and boredom, not least

because of the social and family connections they may have left behind

to follow their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers in their line of duty.

However, this would only have been short-lived, given that a commanding

officer’s tour of duty usually only lasted three years. For women further

down the social scale this would have been an even harsher life, but for many,

both those who had followed their husbands or male family members, and

local women who had entered into a liaison with a soldier, whether legally

married or not, access to their ‘husband’s’ wage would have provided some

economic security, at least as long as he was alive.



people and spaces in roman military bases || status and gender identity – the roles and impact of...

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