SAXON SHORE FORTS

The 'Saxon Shore Forts' is the collective name given to a series of forts (''castra'') built along the east and south-east coast of what is now England, during the latter years of the Roman occupation of Britain.

Contents

Background

The Forts

Role

In popular culture

References

Sources

External links

Background

During the latter half of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire faced a grave crisis. Internally, it was weakened by civil wars, the violent succession of brief emperors, and secession in the provinces, while externally it faced a new wave of attacks by "barbarian" tribes. Most of Britain had been a Roman province (''Britannia'') since the mid-1st century. It was protected from raids in the north by the Hadrianic and Antonine Walls, while in the Channel, the ''Classis Britannica'' patrolled, keeping seaborne raiders at bay.
However, as the frontiers became increasingly weaker, a massive fortification drive was undertaken throughout the Empire in order to protect cities and guard strategically important locations. It is in this context that the forts of the Saxon Shore were constructed. Already in the 230s, under Severus Alexander, several units had been withdrawn from the northern frontier and garrisoned at locations in the south, and built new forts at Brancaster, Caister-on-Sea and Reculver. Dover was already fortified since the early 2nd century, and when the other forts were constructed in the 270s-290s, the full chain of forts was completed.

The Forts

The nine forts mentioned in the ''Notitia Dignitatum'' are listed here, from north to south, with their garrisons:

★ ''Branodunum'' (Brancaster, Norfolk), garrisoned by the ''Equites Dalmatae Brandodunenses''.

★ ''Garrianonum'' (Burgh Castle, Norfolk), garrisoned by the ''Equites Stablesiani Gariannoneses''.

★ ''Othona'' (Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex), garrisoned by the ''Numerus Fortensium''.

★ ''Regulbium'' (Reculver, Kent), garrisoned by the ''cohors I Baetasiorum''.

★ ''Rutupiae'' (Richborough, Kent), garrisoned by parts of the ''Legio II Augusta''.

★ ''Dubris'' (Dover Castle, Kent), garrisoned by the ''Milites Tungrecani''.

★ ''Portus Lemanis'' (Lympne, Kent), garrisoned by the ''Numerus Turnacensium''.

★ ''Anderitum'' (Pevensey Castle, East Sussex), garrisoned by the ''Numerus Abulcorum''.

★ ''Portus Adurni'' (Portchester Castle, Hampshire), garrisoned by a ''Numerus Exploratorum''.
There are a few other sites that clearly belonged to the system of the Saxon Shore, although they are not included in the ''Notitia'', such as the forts at Walton, Suffolk, which has by now sunk into the sea due to erosion, and at Caister-on-Sea. In the south, Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and ''Clausentum'' (Bitterne, in modern Southampton) are also regarded as westward extensions of the fortification network.
Further north on the coast, the precautions took the form of central depots at Lincoln and Malton with roads radiating to coastal signal stations. When an alert was relayed to the base, troops could be dispatched along the road. The Lincoln out-station at ''Salinae'' could receive signals from ''Branodunum''.

Role

The main knowledge we possess about the Saxon Shore system from contemporary sources comes from the late-4th century ''Notitia Dignitatum'', which lists its commander, the ''Comes Litoris Saxonici per Britanniam'' ("Count of the Saxon Shore in Britain"), and gives the names of the sites under his command and their respective complement of military personnel.Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ. XXVIII Theories have varied between scholars as to the exact nature and purpose of the forts.
The most obvious interpretation, supported by Stephen Johnson and deriving from the very name "Saxon Shore", holds that these fulfilled a coastal defense role against seaborne invaders, mostly Saxons and Franks,^[1] and acting as bases for the ''Classis'' operating against them. This view is reinforced by the fact that the authority of the ''Comes'' initially also extended to the northern coasts of Gaul, where a parallel chain of fortified ports existed, suggesting a unified defensive system.^[2] However, many scholars consider the threat posed by Germanic raiders, at least in the 3rd and early 4th centuries, to be overstated. The early construction of the forts at Brancaster, Caister-on-Sea and Reculver is interpreted as an indication of a different role, that of fortified supply and transport points without any relation (at least at that time) to countering seaborne piracy.^[3]
Another theory, proposed by D.A. White, was that although initially established to counter seaborne raids, the system of the large stone forts was actually constructed during the secession of Carausius and Allectus (the Carausian Revolt) in 289-296, and with an entirely different enemy in mind: an attempt at reconquest by the Empire. This view is supported by archaeological evidence at Pevensey, which date the fort's construction in the early 290s.^[4]

In popular culture

★ In 1888, Alfred Church wrote a historical novel entitled ''The Count of the Saxon Shore''. It is available online.

★ The American band ''Saxon Shore'' takes its name from the ancient region.

★ ''The Saxon Shore'' is the fourth book in Jack Whyte's ''Camulod Chronicles''.

★ Since 1980, the "Saxon Shore Way" exists, a coastal footpath in Kent which passes by many of the forts.

References

1. Aurelius Victor, ''De Caesaribus'' XXXIX.20-21
2. Fields, pp. 39-42
3. Fields, pp. 43-45
4. Fields, pp. 42-43

Sources

★ Roman Forts in Britain, , David J., Breeze, Shire Publications, 1994,

★ Rome's Saxon Shore - Coastal Defences of Roman Britain AD 250-500 (Fortress 56), , Nic, Fields, Osprey Publishing, 2006,

★ The Roman Forts of the Saxon Shore, , Stephen, Johnson, Elek, 1979,

★ The Saxon Shore, a Handbook, , Valerie A., Maxfield, University of Exeter Press, 1989,

★ The Roman Shore Forts: Coastal Defences of Southern Britain, , Andrew, Pearson, Tempus Publishing, 2002,

★ Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks, , John, Ward, , 1911,

★ Litus Saxonicum: the British Saxon Shore in Scholarship and History, , Donald A., White, University of Wisconsin Press, 1961,

★ The Saxon Shore, , David E., Johnston, CBA Research Report, 1977

External links

★ History of the Pevensey Castle

★ Site on the fort of ''Branodunum'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Garrianonum'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Othona'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Regulbium'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Rutupiae'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Portus Dubris'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Portus Lemanis'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Anderitum'' from "Roman Britain"

★ Site on the fort of ''Portus Adurni'' from "Roman Britain"