Saxon Shore

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This article is about the Roman fortification system. For other uses, see Saxon Shore (disambiguation).

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The Saxon Shore (Latin: litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Shore". In the late 4th century, his functions were limited to Britain, while the fortifications in Gaul were established as separate commands. Several Saxon Shore Forts survive still in east and south-east England.

Contents

[edit] 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 came under increasing external pressure, 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 Already in the 230s, under Severus Alexander, several units had been withdrawn from the northern frontier and garrisoned at locations in the south, and built new forts at Brancaster, Caister-on-Sea and Reculver.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.

[edit] Meaning of the term and role

The complete fortification system of the Saxon Shore extended on both sides of the Channel.
The complete fortification system of the Saxon Shore extended on both sides of the Channel.

The only reference we possess about the name "Saxon Shore", 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.[1] However, due to the absence of further evidence, theories have varied between scholars as to the exact meaning of the name, and hence the nature and purpose of the chain of forts it refers to.

Two interpretations were put forward as to the meaning of the adjective "Saxon": either a shore attacked by Saxons, or a shore settled by Saxons. The latter hypothesis receives at least partial support from archaeological finds, as there Germanic-style artifacts have been found in burials, while the settlement of Saxons in large numbers in the area of SE England and the northern coasts of Gaul is clearly attested from the middle of the 5th century onwards.[2] The other interpretation, supported by Stephen Johnson, holds that these fulfilled a coastal defense role against seaborne invaders, mostly Saxons and Franks,[3] and acting as bases for the Classis operating against them. This view is reinforced by the fact that the system initially also extended across the Channel to the northern coasts of Gaul, where a parallel chain of fortifications (by the time of the Notitia placed under separate officers, the dux tractus Amoricani and the dux Belgicae Secundae) existed, suggesting a unified defensive system.[4] 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 by them 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.[5]

Another theory, proposed by D.A. White, was that although in its initial form it was established to counter seaborne raids, the extended 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: they were to guard against an attempt at reconquest by the Empire. This view is supported by archaeological evidence at Pevensey, which dates the fort's construction in the early 290s.[6]

[edit] The Forts

[edit] In Britain

The nine British Saxon Shore forts in the Notitia Dignitatum.
The nine British Saxon Shore forts in the Notitia Dignitatum.

The nine forts mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum for Britain are listed here, from north to south, with their garrisons.[1]

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. Other sites likely connected to the Saxon Shore system are the sunken fort at Skegness, and the remains of possible signal stations at Thornham, Corton and Hadleigh.[10]

Further north on the coast, the precautions took the form of central depots at Lindum (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. Further up the coast in North Yorkshire, a series of coastal watchtowers (at Huntcliff, Filey, Ravenscar, Goldsborough, and Scarborough) was constructed, linking the southern defences to the northern military zone of the Wall.[11] Similar coastal fortifications are also found in Wales, at Cardiff and Caer Gybi.

[edit] In Gaul

As mentioned above, the Notitia also includes two separate commands for the northern coast of Gaul, both of which belonged to the Saxon Shore system. It must be noted, though, that when the list was compiled, in ca. 420 AD, Britain had been abandoned by Roman forces. In Belgica II, under the local dux, with headquarters at the Portus Aepatiaci:[12]

  • Marcae (unidentified location near Calais, possibly Marquise or Marck), garrisoned by the Equites Dalmatae. In the Notitia, together with Grannona, it is the only site on the Gallic shore to be explicitly referred to as lying in litore Saxonico.
  • Locus Quartensis sive Hornensis (likely at the mouth of the Somme), the port of the classis Sambrica ("Fleet of the Somme")
  • Portus Aepatiaci (possibly Étaples), garrisoned by the milites Nervii.

Although not mentioned in the Notitia, the port of Gesoriacum or Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer), which until 296 was the main base of the Classis Britannica, would also have come under the dux Belgicae Secundae.

To this group also belongs the Roman fort at Oudenburg. Further west, under the dux tractus Armoricani et Nervicani were the coasts of Normandy and Armorica, up to the mouth of the Loire. The Notitia lists the following sites:[13]

  • Grannona (disputed location, either at the mouths of the Seine or at Port-en-Bessin[14]), the seat of the dux, garrisoned by the cohors prima nova Armoricana. In the Notitia, it is explicitly mentioned as lying in litore Saxonico.
  • Rotomagus (Rouen), garrisoned by the milites Ursariensii
  • Constantia (Coutances), garrisoned by the legio I Flavia Gallicana Constantia
  • Abricantis (Avranches), garrisoned by the milites Dalmati
  • Grannona (uncertain whether this is a different location than the first Grannona, perhaps Granville), garrisoned by the milites Grannonensii
  • Aleto or Aletum (Aleth, near Saint-Malo), garrisoned by the milites Martensii
  • Osismis (Brest), garrisoned by the milites Mauri Osismiaci
  • Blabia (perhaps Hennebont), garrisoned by the milites Carronensii
  • Benetis (possibly Vannes), garrisoned by the milites Mauri Beneti
  • Manatias (Nantes), garrisoned by the milites superventores

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ. XXVIII
  2. ^ CBA Report 18: The Saxon Shore, pp. 63-67
  3. ^ Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus XXXIX.20-21
  4. ^ Fields, pp. 39-42
  5. ^ Fields, pp. 43-45
  6. ^ Fields, pp. 42-43
  7. ^ CBA Report 18: The Saxon Shore, pp.3-5
  8. ^ CBA Report 18: The Saxon Shore, p. 8
  9. ^ Attested by the only inscription found (see Regulbium at RomanBritain.org)
  10. ^ D. White (1961)
  11. ^ Roman Frontier Studies, pp. 124-147
  12. ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ. XXXVIII
  13. ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ. XXXVII
  14. ^ CBA Report 18: The Saxon Shore, p. 67

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

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