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Making Sense of the Romans in Box
Alan Payne June 2021 The trouble in trying to interpret partial excavations is that later discoveries alter conclusions. Nonetheless without any interpretation we cannot understand relevance and purpose, so here goes, starting with what we actually know. Popular Roman Location There are so many mosaic and other finds in the area that probably there were many different sites of Roman occupation locally. This makes more sense that saying that the Villa stretch from The Hermitage, to Box House and The Wilderness. There are suggestions of Curiously, we know a lot about the military arterial routes of Fosse Way and the Via Julia but we don’t know about local trackways which would have been needed daily to access Bath and ensure supplies of food and other goods was available to support the local population. CHECK IF DUPLICATED IN 1967 DIG |
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Box Villa
The Box Roman Villa remains the jewel in the crown of our Roman past largely because of its size. But, despite the excavation of nearly 50 rooms, the purpose and dating of the Villa remains unclear. All agree that it was built of stone from the freestone beds of the great oolite, for which Box was famous, and that’s about the only consensus.
The Box Roman Villa may not even be a villa at all. A villa is usually defined as a grand, country house, often operated by wealthy landowners as an agricultural estate. The location would be suitable for this but no signs of any agricultural buildings have been found to date. This may not be so surprising as the site has only been partially excavated and it was much disturbed when two medieval watermills were built at The Wilderness.[1] One watermill was pulled down in the period 1822-31 and part of the west wing and courtyard are still covered by the mill pond of the Wilderness.
Date of Villa REWRITE FROM HERE
There is little firm evidence to date the Box Villa. One method of dating is by a plan of the site. In its first phase towards the end of the second century the villa had a regular classical plan with internal and external corridors. However, much of the plan is of the courtyard type, common in the late second and early third centuries with rooms around three sides and internal and external corridors. Later alterations were made during the fourth century by which time it consisted of nearly 50 rooms.
An alternative dating method uses mosaic styles to allocate periods. However, the purely geometric floors at Box are more difficult as these motifs were used in all periods and all over the Roman Empire. No Samian tesserae have been recognised at Box, which probably means the rooms are not first or early second centuries. With the exception of corridor 9, the floors in the first stage of the villa were well laid, with the designs accurately carried out in small well-cut tesserae. They look professional and competent and skilled workmen must have made them. This points to some rooms as earlier than the fourth century when not such fine work was done.
Whilst these factors suggest a second century date for some rooms, there are elements in the design that indicate a fourth century date. The elaborate nature of the design of Room 6 and its twin-petalled motif strongly suggests the fourth century. In the later additions to the building the coarse, badly-made mosaic floors in the bath house wings are fourth century copies of designs of an earlier date.
Use of the Villa
The building appears to have been carried out in phases and there is no satisfactory explanation of its use. Dr Henry Hurst suggested that its usage changed over time. He speculated in the second century there was a larger settlement with the more functional buildings for an agricultural estate and perhaps lesser dwellings and religious or funerary structures yet to be discovered.[2] As an estate villa he pointed out that we might expect a cluster of smaller villa sites closely around it. In the late third and early fourth century it increased in size with an east wing, baths and rebuilding of the north-east corner to accommodate the apsidal-ended room, a double-courtyard plan ultimately copying the architecture of the imperial palaces; and this shows that Box was at least the centre of a great estate.
He allows an alternative interpretation that the site attracted a water cult such as was common in the Celtic world.[3] He alludes to other similar sites which functioned as healing spas, which would fit well with its location close to the military site of Bath.
There is no record of when Box villa stopped functioning. In general, the fourth century shows mixed fortunes for villa lifestyles so that some flourished whilst others declined.[4] The latter half of the century probably witnessed a decline in Roman culture with population falls, large estate owners taking over open land and a breakdown in law and order in the face of marauding bands of bagaudae (brigands). Mildenhall increased its defensive walls against possible attack by people unhappy with rigid state control, overbearing taxation and a declining economy.
Troops were withdrawn from Britain throughout the period 380 to 410AD and the famous letter to the emperor Honorius in 410 asking for help was refused. But Box villa probably didn’t end. Throughout the area there is evidence of some sections of society continuing a Roman lifestyle. At Colerne a hoard of small, thin Roman silver coins (siliquae) was found dating from the reign of Arcadius (395-408). Bath, Gloucester and Cirencester continued to operate modified Roman laws. And the Battle of Dyrham in 577 suggests that the Romano-Britons had a sufficient stronghold for the Saxons to want to capture the area.[5]
The Box Roman Villa remains the jewel in the crown of our Roman past largely because of its size. But, despite the excavation of nearly 50 rooms, the purpose and dating of the Villa remains unclear. All agree that it was built of stone from the freestone beds of the great oolite, for which Box was famous, and that’s about the only consensus.
The Box Roman Villa may not even be a villa at all. A villa is usually defined as a grand, country house, often operated by wealthy landowners as an agricultural estate. The location would be suitable for this but no signs of any agricultural buildings have been found to date. This may not be so surprising as the site has only been partially excavated and it was much disturbed when two medieval watermills were built at The Wilderness.[1] One watermill was pulled down in the period 1822-31 and part of the west wing and courtyard are still covered by the mill pond of the Wilderness.
Date of Villa REWRITE FROM HERE
There is little firm evidence to date the Box Villa. One method of dating is by a plan of the site. In its first phase towards the end of the second century the villa had a regular classical plan with internal and external corridors. However, much of the plan is of the courtyard type, common in the late second and early third centuries with rooms around three sides and internal and external corridors. Later alterations were made during the fourth century by which time it consisted of nearly 50 rooms.
An alternative dating method uses mosaic styles to allocate periods. However, the purely geometric floors at Box are more difficult as these motifs were used in all periods and all over the Roman Empire. No Samian tesserae have been recognised at Box, which probably means the rooms are not first or early second centuries. With the exception of corridor 9, the floors in the first stage of the villa were well laid, with the designs accurately carried out in small well-cut tesserae. They look professional and competent and skilled workmen must have made them. This points to some rooms as earlier than the fourth century when not such fine work was done.
Whilst these factors suggest a second century date for some rooms, there are elements in the design that indicate a fourth century date. The elaborate nature of the design of Room 6 and its twin-petalled motif strongly suggests the fourth century. In the later additions to the building the coarse, badly-made mosaic floors in the bath house wings are fourth century copies of designs of an earlier date.
Use of the Villa
The building appears to have been carried out in phases and there is no satisfactory explanation of its use. Dr Henry Hurst suggested that its usage changed over time. He speculated in the second century there was a larger settlement with the more functional buildings for an agricultural estate and perhaps lesser dwellings and religious or funerary structures yet to be discovered.[2] As an estate villa he pointed out that we might expect a cluster of smaller villa sites closely around it. In the late third and early fourth century it increased in size with an east wing, baths and rebuilding of the north-east corner to accommodate the apsidal-ended room, a double-courtyard plan ultimately copying the architecture of the imperial palaces; and this shows that Box was at least the centre of a great estate.
He allows an alternative interpretation that the site attracted a water cult such as was common in the Celtic world.[3] He alludes to other similar sites which functioned as healing spas, which would fit well with its location close to the military site of Bath.
There is no record of when Box villa stopped functioning. In general, the fourth century shows mixed fortunes for villa lifestyles so that some flourished whilst others declined.[4] The latter half of the century probably witnessed a decline in Roman culture with population falls, large estate owners taking over open land and a breakdown in law and order in the face of marauding bands of bagaudae (brigands). Mildenhall increased its defensive walls against possible attack by people unhappy with rigid state control, overbearing taxation and a declining economy.
Troops were withdrawn from Britain throughout the period 380 to 410AD and the famous letter to the emperor Honorius in 410 asking for help was refused. But Box villa probably didn’t end. Throughout the area there is evidence of some sections of society continuing a Roman lifestyle. At Colerne a hoard of small, thin Roman silver coins (siliquae) was found dating from the reign of Arcadius (395-408). Bath, Gloucester and Cirencester continued to operate modified Roman laws. And the Battle of Dyrham in 577 suggests that the Romano-Britons had a sufficient stronghold for the Saxons to want to capture the area.[5]
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Conclusion
It is the size of Box’s buildings that make it so special, the largest number of rooms in civil buildings in the west of England, a sprawling complex of rooms and corridors. The pavements aren’t luxurious but they are extensive, almost half of the rooms having mosaic floors. The number of window fragments from the late third and early fourth century emphasises its grandeur, along with the huge apsidal room. With our present lack of excavation, we can’t identify the full use of the buildings but, hopefully, the information we have will be of help to those in the future. |
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Wiki
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million at the end of the second century CE. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[10] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century.[10] Roman Britain's capital city, Londinium, is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000.[11][12] Londinium was an ethnically diverse city, with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[13] There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, both within Britannia and from other Roman territories, including North Africa,[14] Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, and continental Europe.[15]
During the Industrial Revolution, child mortality decreased dramatically. The proportion of children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5 per thousand in 1730–1749 to 31.8 per thousand in 1810–1829.[16] According to Robert Hughes in The Fatal Shore, the population of England and Wales, which had remained steady at 6 million from 1700 to 1740, rose dramatically after 1740.[citation needed]
The first Census in 1801 revealed that the population of Great Britain was 10.5 million.[4][17] In 1800, the population of Ireland was between 4.5 and 5.5 million.[18][19]
The 1841 UK Census counted the population of England and Wales to be 15.9 million.[20] Ireland's population was 8.2 million in 1841.[21] The population of Scotland was 2.6 million.[citation needed]
The Great Irish Famine, which began in the 1840s, caused the deaths of one million Irish people, and caused well over a million to emigrate.[22] Mass emigration became entrenched as a result of the famine, and the population continued to decline until the mid-20th century.
The population of England had almost doubled from 16.8 million in 1851 to 30.5 million in 1901. Ireland's population decreased rapidly, from 8.2 million in 1841 to less than 4.5 million in 1901.[23]
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million at the end of the second century CE. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[10] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century.[10] Roman Britain's capital city, Londinium, is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000.[11][12] Londinium was an ethnically diverse city, with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[13] There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, both within Britannia and from other Roman territories, including North Africa,[14] Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, and continental Europe.[15]
During the Industrial Revolution, child mortality decreased dramatically. The proportion of children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5 per thousand in 1730–1749 to 31.8 per thousand in 1810–1829.[16] According to Robert Hughes in The Fatal Shore, the population of England and Wales, which had remained steady at 6 million from 1700 to 1740, rose dramatically after 1740.[citation needed]
The first Census in 1801 revealed that the population of Great Britain was 10.5 million.[4][17] In 1800, the population of Ireland was between 4.5 and 5.5 million.[18][19]
The 1841 UK Census counted the population of England and Wales to be 15.9 million.[20] Ireland's population was 8.2 million in 1841.[21] The population of Scotland was 2.6 million.[citation needed]
The Great Irish Famine, which began in the 1840s, caused the deaths of one million Irish people, and caused well over a million to emigrate.[22] Mass emigration became entrenched as a result of the famine, and the population continued to decline until the mid-20th century.
The population of England had almost doubled from 16.8 million in 1851 to 30.5 million in 1901. Ireland's population decreased rapidly, from 8.2 million in 1841 to less than 4.5 million in 1901.[23]
References
[1] See Deeds and conveyances 1729-1976, reference 3226/1, Wiltshire History Centre.
[2] HR Hurst, DL Dartnall and C Fisher, Excavations at Box Roman Villa 1967-68, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Vol.81, 1987, p.27-28
[3] HR Hurst, DL Dartnall and C Fisher, Excavations at Box Roman Villa 1967-68, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Vol.81, 1987, p.29
[4] Victoria County History of Wiltshire, Vol 1 Part 2, Editor RB Pugh, 1973, Oxford University Press, p.458
[5] Victoria County History of Wiltshire, Vol 1 Part 2, Editor RB Pugh, 1973, Oxford University Press, p.464-66
[1] See Deeds and conveyances 1729-1976, reference 3226/1, Wiltshire History Centre.
[2] HR Hurst, DL Dartnall and C Fisher, Excavations at Box Roman Villa 1967-68, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Vol.81, 1987, p.27-28
[3] HR Hurst, DL Dartnall and C Fisher, Excavations at Box Roman Villa 1967-68, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Vol.81, 1987, p.29
[4] Victoria County History of Wiltshire, Vol 1 Part 2, Editor RB Pugh, 1973, Oxford University Press, p.458
[5] Victoria County History of Wiltshire, Vol 1 Part 2, Editor RB Pugh, 1973, Oxford University Press, p.464-66