Brougham

Brocavum

Auxiliary FortBritannia · Brougham, near Penrith, Cumbria, EnglandBuilt 79 CE

About

Agricola's forces built this fort around 79 CE where the Rivers Eamont and Lowther meet, at the junction of the main north-south and east-west roads through Cumbria. Covering some 3.4 acres, it remained garrisoned through Trajan's reign and continued in use to the end of the fourth century. A large adjoining civil settlement and extensive cemetery grew up around the fort over its long life. A medieval castle later rose directly beside the Roman remains, reusing the same strategic river crossing.

What happened here

Five hundred men, sometimes a thousand, recruited from a province rather than from citizens, and often stationed a long way from where they were raised. Cavalry units get a bigger fort and far more stabling; the smell tells you which kind you are in before the plan does. The layout copies a legionary fortress at a quarter of the size — headquarters, commander's house, granaries, barracks, a bath house usually built outside the walls because of the fire risk. Duties are patrolling, escorting, customs, and policing rather than pitched battle. After twenty-five years a man is discharged with citizenship for himself and his children, recorded on a bronze diploma he keeps for life. A village grows outside the gate within a decade.