Map sources for Vindolanda at grid reference NY770663

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort located at Chesterholm, just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, near the border with Scotland, guarding the Roman road from the River Tyne, to the Solway Firth, now known as the Stanegate. The garrison were auxiliary infantry or cavalry units, not components of Roman legions. The fort was originally constructed in turf and timber before Hadrian's Wall was built (in about AD 122) and was repaired and rebuilt several times. Later, apparently after a period of abandonment when the garrison transferred to a fort on the Wall itself (probably Housesteads fort), a new stone fort was built approximately on the same site. This fort, and the civilian community abutting it – called a "vicus", remained in existence until the end of the Roman period in Britain in AD 410. Scattered finds suggest some type of settlement, including a possible early church, well into the 5th century. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 134 KB) Usage is: {{GBthumb|135|132|OV000000}} File links The following pages link to this file: Slough Rothwell, West Yorkshire Saltaire Shipley, West Yorkshire Slaithwaite Wallsend Inverurie Mersea Island Laugharne, Wales Tardebigge Hamble-le-Rice Sandgate, Kent Broadway, Worcestershire Brean Down User:RHaworth/sandbox... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... Hadrians Wall (in Latin: Vallum Hadriani) was a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across the width of Great Britain to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes of Scotland to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the south, to define the... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country and constituent nation of the United Kingdom. ... A Roman road in Pompeii The Romans, for military, commercial and political reasons, became adept at constructing roads. ... The Tyne in Newcastle The River Tyne is a river in England. ... The Solway Firth is a body of water that borders the most north westerly county of England (Cumbria) and the most south westerly county of Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway). ... The Stanegate, or stone road, was an important Roman road in ancient Britain. ... For people named Garrison, see Garrison (disambiguation). ... Infantry, thought to be of the Royal Irish Rifles, in the First World War Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, although modern infantry may be transported in any number of fashions. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... The Roman legion (from the Latin legio, meaning levy) was the basic military unit of ancient Rome. ... Turf may refer to Sod, the surface layer of ground consisting of a matt of grass and grass roots, sometimes used as a construction material AstroTurf, or any variety of artificial turf made to resemble grass A colloquialism for the world of horse-racing Slang for territory claimed by a... Hadrians Wall (in Latin: Vallum Hadriani) was a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across the width of Great Britain to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes of Scotland to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the south, to define the... For other uses, see number 122. ... Housesteads was a Roman auxiliary fort on Hadrians Wall in Northumberland in northern England, near the border with Scotland. ... Events Alaric I deposes Priscus Attalus as Roman Emperor. ... (4th century - 5th century - 6th century - other centuries) // Events Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ...

Vindolanda is famous for the finds of fragments of half-burnt wooden leaf-tablets with writing in ink containing messages to and from members of the garrison, their families, and their slaves. For example there is a famous letter written around AD 100 from Sulpicia Lepidena, the wife of the commander of a nearby fort to Claudia Severa, wife of the commandant of Vindolanda, inviting her to a birthday party. Excavations continue at the site each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six meters. The anaerobic conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artifacts that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier.-1... Claudia Severa was the wife of the commandant at the Roman fort of Vindolanda in northern England around 100AD. She is most well known today for the birthday invitation she received from Sulpicia Lepidina, wife of a commandant at a nearby fort, which was found written on a well-preserved... Anaerobic is a technical word which literally means without air. ...

Further reading

• Birley, R., Vindolanda : a Roman frontier post on Hadrian's Wall, London: Thames and Hudson, (1977)
• Birley, A., Garrison Life at Vindolanda: A Band of Brothers, Stroud: Tempus, (2002)
• Bowman, A.K., Life and letters on the Roman frontier : Vindolanda and its people, London: British Museum Press, (1998, 2003)
• Bowman, A.K. and J.D. Thomas, The Vindolanda Writing Tablets, London: The British Musum Press, (1994)
• Bowman, A.K. and J.D. Thomas, The Vindolanda Writing Tablets III, London: The British Musum Press, (2003)

External links

• The tablets are currently being digitised and made available online at http://vindolanda.csad.ox.ac.uk:8080/
• The Vindolanda Trust operates its own Web site at http://www.vindolanda.com
• Aerial photo of Vindolanda. Other map and aerial photo sources.