Next stop: Gender. Women at Roman military forts in Germany

Abstract

Artefacts from military bases of the early Roman Empire potentially indicate not only the presence of women and children inside the walls, but also their movements, activities and impact on fort life. This paper explores dynamic approaches to categorizing and gendering artefacts for more holistic investigations of artefact assemblages. It uses GIS mapping techniques to analyse the distribution patterns of 'gendered' artefacts within three forts on the German frontier -Vetera I, Ellingen and Oberstimm. It investigates the social significance of these patterns within and between the forts to better understand women's place in this sphere.2 discussion army on campaign. These 'camp-followers' and their impact on this frontier community have taken a more prominent place in recent investigations of the Roman military (e.g. Goldsworthy and Haynes 1999). However, the general understanding is that, for the early empire, the only families accommodated within the fort were those of senior officers. Well-known examples are Sulpicia Lepidina and Claudia Severa -wives of two commanding officers stationed in northern Britain ca A.D. 95-105 (Bowman and Thomas 1994, no. 291). Commanding and senior officers' residences were often laid out and furbished in a seemingly appropriate manner for a household comprising a family and servants (Birley 1977, 90), with hypocaust heating, wall-painting, sculpture and private bath suites, similar to well-appointed urban and rural houses.The perceived wisdom has been that other non-military personnel, such as tradespersons, were housed in settlements outside the fort, the vici and the canabae, and that there were no families of other serving men in this community because ordinary soldiers were not permitted to marry.