Read Online The Unknown Warrior by Richard Osgood - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Richard Osgood
Ads: Link
1992: 161â2, 184). It was not only the barracks that yielded gaming counters â at the fortress baths several small finds, particularly from a drain running from the baths, pointed to elements of gambling by the troops. Here 30 coins were recovered: âWe may presume that money was brought to the baths not only to pay for refreshments, and for such services as were available there (the massage, bath-oil, depilatory and dental services, etc) but also to gamble. Large numbers of counters (of pottery, bone, samian, glass, stone, shell and lead, on decreasing order of frequency) and dice of bone and bronze indicate that gaming formed an important function at the bathsâ (Zienkiewicz, 1986b: 20).
A similar story seems to be applicable at another legionary fortress in Wales, at Usk, where eighty-seven glass discs were found and, as Manning wrote, these âclearly ⦠had a function in life in the Fortress, and this is most likely to have been in some of the many âboardâ games which the Romans played. Such games will have helped to alleviate the boredom which was an inevitable part of the legionaryâs life, and, no doubt, there was the added spice of gamblingâ (Manning et al. : 1995: 87). These counters were less frequent in later layers within the fortress and the excavators speculated that this might mean that gaming was not so popular with native Britons now on site who did not have the âMediterranean cultural backgroundâ of the first-century legionary soldier ( ibid. : 87). In northern Britain, the same story is true â one finds gaming counters at the fort of Newstead in Scotland (Curle, 1911: 338â9) and even a probable gaming board from Corbridge in Northumberland, constructed from stone and with an incised square with lines demarcating fifty-six internal squares ( ibid. : fig. 50). Dice and counters were also present on this site.
One can picture the bored legionary trying to pass the hours in the barracks by gaming, but the pursuit may also have taken place in quieter moments on campaign â for example, when camp was struck. The Kalkriese excavations have recovered glass gaming counters ( latrunculi ) (Schlüter, 1999: 148).
Gambling by the Roman infantryman might not have been restricted to board games. Placing money on animal fights might be attested to by the large number of leg bones of fighting cocks still with spurs in place at Caerleon, in what was, perhaps, a cock-fighting pit (Zienkiewicz, 1986b: 20). Certainly this would not be a surprise given the occurrence of amphitheatres at some of these military sites, Caerleon being a case in point. Not only would legionaries have been able to watch combat in these amphitheatres, it seems likely that they would have used these sites for training.
Writings
Although I have been concentrating, insofar as is possible, simply on archaeological evidence rather than evidence provided by the classical authors, certain archaeological finds have important written elements. As we have seen, inscriptions on objects have provided clues as to the lives of the common soldier and tantalising evidence as to their names, thus deviating from the âunknownâ soldier of this work. We also see a degree of literacy among some of the soldiers â indeed a stylus for writing was found on the site of the barrack block of the II Legion at Caerleon, though this may not have been the property of a legionary (Evans and Metcalf, 1992: 169).
The work of the archaeologists Professor Robin, Andrew and Eric Birley at Vindolanda, on Hadrianâs Wall, has resulted in some of the most important finds relating to life in the Roman legions. The Vindolanda writings are a series of texts, including letters and military documents, which were written on wooden tablets preserved in the waterlogged levels of the fort and retrieved by archaeologists. They are mostly between 1mm and 3mm thick and were discarded in a short period of time
A similar story seems to be applicable at another legionary fortress in Wales, at Usk, where eighty-seven glass discs were found and, as Manning wrote, these âclearly ⦠had a function in life in the Fortress, and this is most likely to have been in some of the many âboardâ games which the Romans played. Such games will have helped to alleviate the boredom which was an inevitable part of the legionaryâs life, and, no doubt, there was the added spice of gamblingâ (Manning et al. : 1995: 87). These counters were less frequent in later layers within the fortress and the excavators speculated that this might mean that gaming was not so popular with native Britons now on site who did not have the âMediterranean cultural backgroundâ of the first-century legionary soldier ( ibid. : 87). In northern Britain, the same story is true â one finds gaming counters at the fort of Newstead in Scotland (Curle, 1911: 338â9) and even a probable gaming board from Corbridge in Northumberland, constructed from stone and with an incised square with lines demarcating fifty-six internal squares ( ibid. : fig. 50). Dice and counters were also present on this site.
One can picture the bored legionary trying to pass the hours in the barracks by gaming, but the pursuit may also have taken place in quieter moments on campaign â for example, when camp was struck. The Kalkriese excavations have recovered glass gaming counters ( latrunculi ) (Schlüter, 1999: 148).
Gambling by the Roman infantryman might not have been restricted to board games. Placing money on animal fights might be attested to by the large number of leg bones of fighting cocks still with spurs in place at Caerleon, in what was, perhaps, a cock-fighting pit (Zienkiewicz, 1986b: 20). Certainly this would not be a surprise given the occurrence of amphitheatres at some of these military sites, Caerleon being a case in point. Not only would legionaries have been able to watch combat in these amphitheatres, it seems likely that they would have used these sites for training.
Writings
Although I have been concentrating, insofar as is possible, simply on archaeological evidence rather than evidence provided by the classical authors, certain archaeological finds have important written elements. As we have seen, inscriptions on objects have provided clues as to the lives of the common soldier and tantalising evidence as to their names, thus deviating from the âunknownâ soldier of this work. We also see a degree of literacy among some of the soldiers â indeed a stylus for writing was found on the site of the barrack block of the II Legion at Caerleon, though this may not have been the property of a legionary (Evans and Metcalf, 1992: 169).
The work of the archaeologists Professor Robin, Andrew and Eric Birley at Vindolanda, on Hadrianâs Wall, has resulted in some of the most important finds relating to life in the Roman legions. The Vindolanda writings are a series of texts, including letters and military documents, which were written on wooden tablets preserved in the waterlogged levels of the fort and retrieved by archaeologists. They are mostly between 1mm and 3mm thick and were discarded in a short period of time
Similar Books
