BRIGANTES
Britain has around 600 Roman villa sites. The Northfield Villa differs in that most of them are within ten miles of major urban centres south of the Fosse Way that ran north-east from Exeter to Lincoln, south of the river Trent. They were generally occupied by goverment officials enjoying mosaic or marbled floors, painted plaster walls, and central heating. They were more than just luxury houses for the elite though, they were centres of rural industry, agriculture and industrial processes depending on the local resources available. Apart from the landowner and his family the complex would house servants & skilled workers.
The Villas were occupied by ‘Romanised Britons’, rather than Romans in the sense of 'from Rome'. After the invasion, the Romans followed their successful 'Client Kingdom' policy that was the basis of their Empire that avoided the expense of conquering a wide territory by force. The former tribal ‘aristocracy’ were encouraged to seek fertile land in order to develop Roman style farmsteads from which to govern & integrate into the highly organised Roman Empire.
The area of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire & Lincolnshire was inhabited by the Corieltauvi tribe who were relatively peaceful and willing to accept their Roman masters. The key to successful relations were trade agreements from which tax was raised for the Roman goverment. The tribes who occupied fertile land such as the Trent Valley with access to east coast shipping ports would benefit substantially by exporting their produce and importing Roman luxury goods. |
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| In stark contrast, the Pennine region and up into North Yorkshire was occupied by the Brigante tribe, a Client Kingdom amalgamation of Northern tribes whose less sophisticated upland farms and poor road communications were of little commercial importance to the Romans. A very unstable Client agreement had existed since 43AD, made by their Queen, Cartimandua, but dissatisfied rebels within the tribe, unwilling to 'Romanise', eventually forced her exile in 69AD. What followed then was the best part of a decade of war between the Romans and the Brigantian tribe. In 70AD Governor Petillius Cerialis moved the IX 'Hispanic' legion from the Lincoln fort to build the new forward fort at Eboracum (York), 15 miles south of the Brigantes administrative capital of Aldborough in North Yorkshire. From the fort at York he eventually defeated and annexed the remains of the Brigantes tribe into Caledonia (Scotland) in 77AD. |  |
Iulius Agricola In 78AD a new governor was appointed, former legion commander, Iulius Agricola whose military achievements were already legendary after serving under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus at the Battle of Watling Street where 10,000 Roman soldiers routed 250,000 of Boudica's army. He immediately launched a campaign in North Wales against the Ordovices tribe who had massacred the Roman cavalry stationed there. After defeating them he repeated this success in Anglesey where tribal fugitives had gathered. He then proved his skills as administrator by encouraging Romanising measures, helping communities to build towns on the Roman model and educating the sons of the tribal nobility in the Roman manner. The total defeat of the Brigantians who had merged with the Caledonians remained his priority. The Pennines became an exclusion zone whilst the military established mines. Lutudarum was the Roman centre of lead mining with many now believing it was situated at Wirksworth, south of Matlock Bath where slaves were used to extract the lead-ore. Also around this period, on the edge of the exclusion zone, Northfield was established at Pleasley Vale, on the fertile soil of the magnesium limestone east of the Penines, with a connection to the military northsouth route, Ryknild Street, via a supply road to the auxiliary fort at Chesterfield. Agricola's greatest military success was in 84AD when he faced an estimated 30,000 Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the battle of Mons Graupius. Agricola put his auxiliaries in the front line, keeping the legions in reserve, and relied on close-quarters fighting to make the Caledonians' large/slashing swords useless. The Caledonians were defeated but 20,000 managed to escape and hide in the Scottish highlands aka the "trackless wilds". Satisfied with his victory, Agricola instructed the prefect of the fleet to sail around the north coast, confirming for the first time that Britain was in fact an island. Agricola was recalled by Emporer Domitian from Britain in 85 and by 90AD a lack of administrative resolve caused the abandonment of their fortifications. The Caledonians subsequently reclaimed their land. The reason for Agricola's recall to Rome is claimed to be that of envy because Emporer Domitian had very little military success. Agricola was awarded triumphal decorations and a statue, however, Agricola never again held a civil or military post, in spite of his previous success. |
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The occupants of Northfield would live to regret Agricola's recall to Rome after the defeat of the Caledonians. They were probably farmers from the Romanised Corieltauvi tribe in the Trent Valley contracted to supply the military at the Ryknild Street forts with farm produce. They were not warriors but there does appear to be a fortification in Pleasley Park that Rooke considered to be of Roman build, however, it does not follow the normal style of Roman defense earthworks. Maybe the Romano-British occupants felt uneasy moving out of the safety zone of the Trent Valley and decided to shore up a weakness where the Vale's vertical walls temporarily give way to a steep but penetrable banking from the north. What is sure is that they had some help digging it out as this fortification contains 2 parallel ditches and ramparts 22 yards apart, 4 yards wide and 900 yards wide! I've researched extensively to find out more concerning the Pleasley Park earthworks but most texts simply refer to Rooke's conclusions. Still fearing raiding parties of Brigantes rebels, it wasn't until well into the next century that other Romanised Corieltauvi settlers came to the area.
It appears that the Northfield settlers were right to be worried. Around 122AD Northfield was burnt to the ground and again in 180AD. The rebuilt Villa, after 180AD, was constructed in stone but again it was partially destroyed by fire in c250AD. Of course the fires could have been accidental, Rooke did find coal on site and ovens, fireplaces and the base of an iron smelting furnace. But around the same time of the first fire in 122AD, there were other incidences of fires at sites in the Trent Valley. The first two fires do coincide with recorded Brigantes revolts.
Additionally, in 122AD, the Emporer himself, Hadrian, came to Britain to plan the building of Hadrian's Wall. The presence of Hadrian in Britain leads some to conclude that a catastrophic event had occurred to provoke the visit and build the mighty wall, which some believe is a Brigantes assault on York and the massacre of the 9th Hispanic legion. There are no records of this legion existing after this date. Hadrian came to Britain with the 6th legion, subsequently remaining at York after Hadrian's return to Rome with the British governor, Falco, who had been sent to Britain in 118AD by Hadrian to quell a Brigante uprising. Further Brigantes revolts are recorded in 155AD and 180AD.
The Brigantes were never ever contained. They allianced with Scottish tribes after 180AD under a treaty with Rome, forming the Maeatae. However, by 210AD they revolted again. The recorded Brigantes/Maeatae tribal revolts can be identified on this timeline at:.http://www.roman-britain.org/timeline.htm
The 3rd century Roman Empire became embroiled in internal politics with many usurpers & assassinations, subsequently, the records are sketchy but this 4th century entry in 360AD, regarded as the time that Northfield was vacated, is very succinct.........
'In 360AD Emperor Julian sends Lupicinus to Britain as governor to repel raids by the Scots and Picts.'