CHAPTER V
Traces of Successive Occupations
Records of Change
ON many of the Roman sites which have been excavated, both in this country and on the continent, we find evidences of changes and alterations—traces of successive occupations. Forts rapidly constructed to hold an expeditionary force were strengthened as settlement became more permanent. New methods of fortification gave place to old. Increased garrisons made enlargement necessary. These were among the more obvious causes of the phenomena that have been observed. Abroad, for example, the various occupations brought to light at the Saalburg, at Kapersburg, and at Zugmantel have been already noted. The changes which have been revealed in these cases through the recovery of the ground plans, have in others been commemorated by inscriptions. Thus, an inscription from Dacia of the year A.D. 140 tells of an addition to the size and strength of a fort which had become too small for its garrison.[1] The inscription telling of the restoration of the walls of a fort from Bumbesti in Wallachia has already been cited.[2]
Again, in England on the line of the great road leading from the Wall of Hadrian into Scotland, we have evidence of restorations of older work both at Bremenium and at Habitancium. At Bremenium a cohort of the Varduli commemorate the entire reconstruction of a ballistarium.[3] At Habitancium a tablet in honour of the Emperor Septimus Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta celebrates the rebuilding of the gate with the walls. 'Portam cum muris vetustate dilapsis a solo restituit.'[4] Lastly, in Scotland the excavation of Birrens brought to light beneath the buildings
1 IMP. CAES. TITO AELIO HADRIANO ANTONINO. AUG. PIO. TRIB. POT. III. COS. XII. CASTRA N. BURG(ARIORUM) ET VERED(ARIORUM) QUOD ANGUSTE TENDERET DUPLICATO VALLI PEDE ET IMPOSITIS TURRIBUS AMPLIAVIT PER AQUILAM FIDUM PROC. AUG. C.I.L. iii. 13796.
2 See supra, p. 28, footnote 2.
3 Bruce, The Roman Wall, p. 322; C.I.L. Vii. 1045.
4 Ibid. p. 336; C.I.L. vii. 1003.
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