How Rome built and supplied an army at the edge of the Empire
The Roman occupation of Scotland required much more than soldiers.
Thousands of men had to be moved, housed, supplied and connected across difficult terrain.
That required engineers, surveyors, builders, potters, blacksmiths, carpenters and other specialists.
Roman technology transformed parts of the Scottish landscape — sometimes for only a few decades, but on an extraordinary scale.
Roman engineering
Roman engineers were particularly skilled at organising large projects.
They had to:
survey routes, establish gradients, calculate distances, move building materials and coordinate large numbers of workers.
The Antonine Wall is the most spectacular surviving result.
Nearly 60 kilometres of frontier had to be surveyed and constructed, together with forts, fortlets, roads, bridges and drainage.
Building with turf, timber and stone
Roman engineering did not mean everything was constructed in stone.
Many Scottish forts were built largely from timber and turf.
These materials could be obtained locally and used quickly.
The Antonine Wall itself had a stone foundation but a predominantly turf superstructure.
Roman technological skill often lay in choosing the most practical material for the job.
Roads
The army required dependable communication.
Roman roads linked forts to one another and connected Scotland with the supply network farther south.
Their construction required surveying, drainage and repeated maintenance.
Bridges
Rivers were essential transport routes but also obstacles to marching armies.
Roman engineers therefore constructed bridges at strategically important crossings.
Timber was particularly important, though stone could also be used.
Aqueducts and water supply
Scotland never had the enormous arcaded aqueducts familiar from Mediterranean cities.
Roman military sites nevertheless needed controlled water supplies.
Aqueducts or channels are associated with sites including Cramond/Inveresk and Carpow.
Water supplied bathhouses, animals and everyday fort life.
Underfloor heating
Bathhouses needed large quantities of heat.
Roman hypocaust systems allowed hot air from furnaces to circulate beneath raised floors and, in some buildings, through hollow wall tiles.
The technology is clearly visible in excavated bathhouses.
Drainage and toilets
Roman engineers understood how to move water effectively.
At Bearsden, bathwater was reused to help flush the fort latrine.
The latrine itself then discharged through the fort’s drainage system.
Pottery production
Pottery did not all arrive from elsewhere.
Kilns and production evidence demonstrate that vessels and tiles were manufactured at several Scottish military sites.
Potters could adapt continental styles to local materials and demand.
Mortaria, cooking pots and tiles therefore reveal another group of skilled workers supporting the army.
Metalworking
Soldiers required constant repairs to:
weapons, armour, tools, carts, buildings and horse equipment.
Ironworking evidence has been identified at Roman sites in Scotland.
The fort workshop — fabrica — was therefore an essential part of military life.
Glass
Roman glassmaking technology produced drinking vessels, containers and window glass.
Cramond is particularly notable for evidence of glazed windows.
Glass might be imported, reused and recycled.
Concrete
Roman concrete was one of the characteristic technologies of Roman architecture.
Its importance in Scotland was far less than in monumental Mediterranean buildings because Scottish military construction relied heavily on timber, turf and local stone.
But understanding concrete helps explain the wider building technology from which Roman military engineering developed.
Roman houses
Building technology also shaped domestic life.
Officer accommodation could include substantial houses with multiple rooms and sophisticated fittings.
Civilian buildings also developed around some military bases.
Technology used to discover Roman Scotland
Technology is also changing archaeology.
Many Roman sites now known in Scotland were not discovered through excavation.
They were found or better understood using:
aerial photography, magnetometry, electrical resistance survey, ground-penetrating radar and LiDAR.
These methods allow archaeologists to see buried archaeology without removing the soil.
LiDAR
LiDAR uses laser measurements to create extremely accurate models of the landscape.
It can reveal subtle banks, ditches, roads and other features which may be difficult to recognise from ground level.
It has become particularly important in understanding complex landscapes such as the Antonine Wall.
Geophysics
Magnetometry and resistance surveys can reveal:
fort ditches, roads, buildings, fortlets and settlements.
Recent geophysical work along the Antonine Wall has identified previously unknown installations and changed our understanding of how the frontier was planned.
The technology therefore allows archaeologists to keep discovering Roman Scotland without necessarily digging it up.
