Huddersfield in Roman Times
By Ian A. Richmond

SOCIAL CONDITIONS, A.D. 80-125.

LIFE IN THE ROMAN FORTS: GENERAL CONDITIONS
We may now consider general conditions of life involved in the system of which the forts at Castleshaw and at Slack formed part. But we should remember that their occupation coincided only with the earlier Roman period, and belonged to an early stage in the development of the Imperial Frontier System. Yet for long the organisation only changed in detail as time went on, and its essence was transformed only at the end of the fourth century, therefore the loss is not so great as it might seem. How to remedy it is not doubtful: it consists in excavating a site occupied at a later date by Roman troops.

Leather Sandals from the Fort at Slack

That the Roman army was better housed and cared for than any fighting force until the later years of the last century is clear even from the remains in the district, although the soldiers connected with these belonged to the less esteemed part of the army. The barracks were not cramped; the commandant’s house, to judge from elsewhere, was comfortable and even commodious; sanitation was good, and in matter of bathing Roman practice surpassed that of our own time. At Castleshaw the first fort seems never to have been occupied long enough to attract settlers, and the second was a mere block-house, half-way on the day’s march between Manchester and Slack; but at Slack there grew up quickly a fair sized settlement which apparently was well-filled with squatters. That women lived there is shown by sandals, spindle-whorls of stone, and a small silver ring. Clearly the picture to be envisaged in Southern Yorkshire is not that of garrisons hemmed in by hostile tribesmen; indeed the only weapons found in the district which suggest attack are the long wooden stakes from Castleshaw, which were used to defend ramparts. But these belonged to the small fort, as a coin of Hadrian found with them showed, and do not affect the general picture. We may think of them as a defence against brigands than against numbers of hill-folk, whom such a tiny place could not resist.

Spindle-whorls from the Forts at Slack and Castleshaw

Ordinarily, in fact, the duties of the troops quartered in the district resembled those of our Indian frontier police. They ensured that disturbances were rare; they stamped out illicit practices, such as Druidism; they kept the road safe, and perhaps, in good repair; they afforded shelter and, upon occasion, a convoy to travelling officials. But to compare these conditions with those of modern Tripolitana, where sharp-shooters are common and conditions of lawlessness have reigned for centuries, goes beyond or contradicts evidence on this side; and conditions of life and warfare are too widely different to allow of comparison. Perhaps in northern Yorkshire the high fells at times sheltered desperate outlaws, but when once the Pennine country near Huddersfield became settled it did not offer any extensive refuge from the Roman peace.

An Amphora, used in place of a cask for wine and oil

We can visualise thus the occupation of soldiers at Slack. Work was always plentiful. Each commandant, an intelligent young Roman citizen beginning his career as a Civil Servant had to prepare a report on his district and to keep his information up to date. Thus the whole locality would need inspection and would be described in a document something like the Norman Domesday Book. Later still this report would be used as a basis for the tax officials when the began to register property in detail, as they were doing in the Peak District before A.D. 114. Local judicial administration also would vest itself in the commandant. Couriers and officials would be passing continually between the G.H.Q. at York and at Chester, on horseback or in the covered government posting-cars with their armed guards; each of these would need entertainment of some kind. Supplies would arrive from time to time, now sacks of corn, now wine or oil, stored in jars with narrow necks and bodies either long and thin with pointed base, or short and stumpy with rounded bottom. When the work palled or became less pressing, there were plenty of opportunities for the commandant to go hunting deer or even the boar. Thus while life may have been something of a trivial round, there is no reason to suppose that it was dull. There were no late nights. The men rose early and lay down early upon their straw mattresses, for the best illuminants were not very good; the oil lamps needed constant trimming, and a tallow candle, more common in the north, could not provide much light. During any of the four watches between sunset and sunrise, those on sentry-go would have no light to look on but the stars.

© Copyright of Kirklees Museums and Galleries