Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester.Rankov, Hassall, & Tomlin (1980), p. 352. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix in the 70s AD as the Roman army advanced north against the Brigantes, and rebuilt completely over the next few decades by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix. In the early 3rd century the fortress was again rebuilt. The legion probably remained at the fortress until the late 4th or early 5th century, upon which it fell into disuse.
A civilian settlement, or canaba, grew around the fortress. Chester's Roman Amphitheatre, south-east of the fortress, is the largest-known military amphitheatre in Britain. The civilian settlement remained after the Romans departed, eventually becoming the present-day city of Chester. There were peripheral settlements around Roman Deva, including Boughton, the source of the garrison's water supply, and Handbridge, the site of a sandstone quarry and Minerva's Shrine. The shrine is the only in situ, rock-cut Roman shrine in Great Britain.
The fortress contained barracks, granaries, headquarters, military baths, and an unusual elliptical building which had it been finished may have been intended to act as the governor of Britain's headquarters.
History Etymology As both Scottish rivers named Dee, River Dee in Galloway and River Dee in Aberdeenshire, were recorded by Ptolemy (in Greek) as Δηούα ποταμος (Dēva or Deva river), it may be assumed that also the πόλις (city) of Δηούα (Dēva or Deva) was named after the homonymous river, though the related estuary was called Σετηΐα εἴσχυσις (estuary of Setēïa) by this geographer.
The interpretation that the name of the city had been adopted directly from the British name of the river is well established.Lewis & Thacker (2003a), pp. 1–8. It is thought that the title "victrix" in the name of the fortress was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva;Mason (2001), p. 128. victrix is Latin for victorious. Retrieved on 2 May 2008. The name for the city of Chester derives from the Latin word castrum (plural: castra), meaning "fort" or "army camp"; "-chester" and "-caster" are common suffixes in the names of other English cities that began as Roman fortresses. Retrieved on 10 March 2008.
Foundation
According to the 1st- and 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy, Deva was in the lands of the Cornovii.Ptolemy (1992), Book II Chapter 2 Their land bordered that of the Brigantes in the north and the Ordovices in the west and included parts of what is now Cheshire, Shropshire, and north Wales. Retrieved on 20 May 2008. When the Romans' treaty with the Brigantes—who occupied most of what is now Northern England—failed the Romans embarked on military conquest of the area.Mason (2001), p. 41. The campaigns were initially led by Sextus Julius Frontinus and later Gnaeus Julius Agricola. Their expansion into the north of Britannia during the reign of Vespasian meant that the Romans needed a new military base. Chester was a strategic site for a fortress, commanding access to the sea via the River Dee and dividing the Brigantes from the Ordovices.Mason (2001), p. 42. Legio II Adiutrix was sent to Chester and began the construction of a legionary fortress in the mid-70s AD.
The fortress was built on a sandstone bluff, overlooking the bridge crossing the river and close to the natural harbour which is today occupied by the Chester Racecourse. The bend in the River Dee provided protection from the south and the west.Mason (2001), pp. 43–44. The river was navigable up to the sandstone ridge, so positioning the fortress beyond it would have made access to the harbour difficult. The fortress may have required up to of water a day,Mason (2001), pp. 83, 85–86. supplied by fresh water piped in from natural springs in the suburb of Boughton to the east.
Lead ingots discovered in Chester indicate that construction was probably under way by 74 AD.Mason (2002a), p. 33. There may already have been military buildings on the site, but if so they were demolished to allow the construction of the fortress.Mason (2001), p. 46. The first buildings were constructed from wood, probably for convenience. They were gradually replaced by more permanent structures built from locally quarried sandstone.Mason (2001), p. 107. Defence was provided by a rampart and a ditch wide and deep. The rampart was made from turf laid over sand, clay, rubble, and layers of logs.Mason (2002a), pp. 35–36.
The fortress was laid out in the traditional "playing card" shape—rectangular with rounded corners—and had four gates: north, east, south and west.Mason (2001), pp. 50–51. It covered , making it the largest constructed in Britain during the 70s.Mason (2002a), pp. 33–35. An estimated of timber was used in the first phase of the fortress's construction; buildings outside but associated with the fortress, such as the harbour and the amphitheatre, would have required an additional .Mason (2001), p. 47. The fortress contained barracks, granaries (horrea), headquarters (principia) and baths (thermae).Mason (2001), p. 58, 61, 64, 66. The barrack blocks each measured and were built using wattle and daub.Mason (2001), p. 59.
Under Legio XX Valeria Victrix
In 88 AD, the Emperor Domitian ordered the Legio II Adiutrix to the lower Danube. The Legio XX Valeria Victrix was deployed to garrison Deva Victrix, abandoning the fort they had been building in Scotland, at Inchtuthil.Mason (2001), p. 127. On their arrival they began to rebuild Deva, first in timber and from the end of the 1st century in stone. The new stone fortress walls were thick at the base and thick at the top.Mason (2001), p. 129. Located at regular intervals, approximately apart, along the walls were 22 towers about square.Mason (2001), p. 130. The defensive ditch was re-dug and was wide and deep. An estimated of stone were used to build the new fortress defences.Mason (2001), p. 93. The timber barracks were replaced with stone buildings of a similar size.Mason (2001), p. 132.
During the 2nd century, at least part of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix took part in the construction of Hadrian's Wall,Mason (2001), p. 155. leading to some sections of the fortress being abandoned and others being allowed to fall into disrepair. The Legio XX Valeria Victrix probably went on campaign in 196 under Decimus Clodius Albinus into Gaul, leaving Deva under-garrisoned. They would have suffered heavy losses in Gaul before returning to Britain.Mason (2001), pp. 155–156.
Following attacks against barbarians in the early 3rd century under Septimius Severus, the fortress at Deva was again rebuilt, this time using an estimated of stone.Mason (2001), pp. 161–162. During the 4th century the size of the legion, and therefore of the garrison, may have diminished in line with the rest of the empire's forces.Mason (2001), p. 195.
Decline and abandonment Most of the fortress's major buildings were still being maintained in the second half of the 4th century and the barracks were still inhabited.Mason (2001), p. 210. Before 383 AD, soldiers at Chester were being paid by coins from the imperial mints; after this the soldiers may have been removed by Magnus Maximus when he invaded Gaul in 383.Lewis & Thacker (2003b), pp. 9–15. The Notitia Dignitatum, written in around 395, does not record any military units garrisoned at Deva, indicating the fortress was no longer used by the military at this stage. If it was still used by the military, this would have ended by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia and the Western Roman Emperor Honorius told the cities of Britain to look to their own defences against invaders.Mason (2001), pp. 209–210. The civilians probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders from the Irish Sea.
Inhabitation of Chester continued on a lesser scale once the legions had left. Buildings would have fallen into disrepair, although some of the larger structures are known to have survived for some time.Mason (2001), p. 212, 214. The town nevertheless probably remained the military and administrative centre of the region. After the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, the settlement became known as Legacaestir, meaning "City of the Legions" in Old English.Mason (2001), p. 212. Medieval chroniclers believed the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul—later the site of Chester Cathedral—to be of Roman origin, although no evidence has been discovered to support this. When Chester became an Anglo-Saxon burh in 907, the walls of the fortress were repaired and incorporated into the defences.Mason (2001), p. 214. Much of the Roman masonry was reused in later periods.Mason (2001), p. 10.
Later history and investigation In the 14th century, Ranulf Higden, a monk in Chester, described some of the Roman remains, including the sewers and tombstones.Mason (2001), p. 12. Antiquarians began to take interest in the remains in the 17th century and interest continued to grow in the 18th century, fed by accounts of Roman Chester and discoveries such as an altar to Jupiter Tanarus.Mason (2001), p. 13. Jupiter Tanarus—also Taranis—was the Romanised version of the god Taranis who was the equivalent of Jupiter the god of thunder.Allies (1852), p. 124. In 1725, William Stukeley recorded the Roman arches of the east gate; they were demolished in 1768. Over the next century, accidental discoveries continued, such as parts of the Roman bath complex outside the fortress which were destroyed by a late-18th-century housing development.
The Chester Archaeological Society, founded in 1849, acquired artefacts discovered in Chester and undertook excavations where possible;Mason (2001), p. 15. the Grosvenor Museum was opened in 1886 to allow the public to view the society's collection.Mason (2001), p. 16. The society continued to work in Chester, recording information on the fortress and its surrounding settlement, often as building works destroyed the sites.Mason (2001), pp. 17–18. Between 1962 and 1999, about 50 excavations were carried out in and around the fortress, revealing new information about Deva Victrix. Between 2007 and 2009, excavations were carried out at the amphitheatre on behalf of Chester City Council and in association with English Heritage. Retrieved on 16 April 2008.
Civilian settlement
A civilian settlement (canabae legionis) was gradually established outside the walls of the fortress; it probably began as a collection of traders who became prosperous from dealing with the fortress.Mason (2001), p. 101. The settlement was administered by an elected council rather than by the legion. As legionaries retired many settled in the canabae legionis, effectively making it a veteran colony. Cemeteries were located alongside the roads leading to the settlement, beyond built-up areas.Mason (2001), pp. 101–102. The Grosvenor Museum has over 150 tombstones, the largest collection of Roman tombstones from a single site in Britain. Retrieved on 20 March 2008. Most of them were used to repair the north wall in the 4th century. Settlement extended around the fortress to the east, south, and west;Mason (2001), pp. 103–111. shops fronted the roadside for about beyond the fortress walls.Mason (2001), p. 104. To the east was the legion's parade ground, civilian baths were built to the west, and to the south was a mansio, a large coaching house for travelling government officials.Mason (2001), pp. 104–105, 108. The buildings of the canabae legionis were originally timber, but during the early 2nd century began to be rebuilt in stone.Mason (2001), p. 141. The settlement expanded throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries as the population increased.Mason (2001), p. 142, p. 159, p. 181. Once the legion had left, the civilian settlement continued, eventually becoming part of the town of Chester.