Bowes (Lavatris ) Roman Fort is on the S side of the Catterick-Carlisle Roman road, on the bank of the River Greta. Excavations in 1966-7 suggest that occupation of the fort lasted from the time of Agricola to the late 4th century; the earliest defences were revetted with timber later replaced by stone. Further digging to the N of the fort (at about NY 9827 1385) uncovered a ditch with an original causeway, considered by the excavators to be the boundary of an annexe to the fort.

The only building inscriptions recovered from the Roman fort at Bowes (Lavatris) are those of auxiliary regiments, which is unusual because it is thought that all Roman auxiliary forts were built by the highly trained citizen troops of the Roman legions, not by the auxiliary soldiers themselves. In all likelihood, the absence of any legionary stones at Bowes is probably due to the fact that they still remain to be discovered, perhaps re-used within the walls of one of the old farms in the area.

The Garrison Units of Bowes (Lavatris ) Roman Fort

RIB 739 - Dedication to the Emperor Hadrian

For the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son of the deified Trajan, conqueror of Parthia, grandson of the deified Nerva, pontifex maximus, with tribunician power, consul for the [third] time, father of his country, the Fourth Cohort of … (set this up under) Sextus Julius Severus, imperial propraetorian legate.

IM[...] CAESARI DIVI TRAIANI [...  ]
DIVI NERVAE NEPOTI TRAIA[...]
NO AVG PONTIFICI MAXI[...]
COS I[...] P P COH IIII [...]
[...]IO SEV[...]

This is later than the acceptance by Hadrian in A.D. 128 of the title pater patriae. Sextus Julius Severus: governor of Britain from about 130 to about 133.

It is possible, however, that this unit may be identified with the Cohors IIII Breucorum who were known to be the garrison of Vindomora (Ebchester, Durham; RIB 1101) during the Severan campaigns of the early third century.

RIB 730 - Altar dedicated to Fortune

To the goddess Fortune Virius Lupus, imperial propraetorian legate, restored this bath-house, burnt by the violence of fire, for the First Cohort of Thracians Valerius Fronto, cavalry prefect of the Cavalry Regiment of Vettonians, had charge of the work.

DAE FORTVNAE
VIRIVS LVPVS
LEG AVG PR PR
BALINEVM VI
IGNIS EXVST
VM COH I THR
ACVM RESTI
TVIT CVRAN
TE VAL FRON
TONE PRAEF
EQ ALAE VETTO

Virius Lupus was governor a.d. 197-c. 202. This inscription precedes 3 May 198, when Caracalla became Augustus (see l. 3 Leg. Aug.). For Virius Lupus see RIB 637 (Ilkley). For the ala Vettonum see Birley, AC 102 (1952) 10. Attention should be drawn to the relationship between the senior cavalry commander stationed at the adjacent fort of Binchester and the infantry cohort at Bowes, whose prefect, not here mentioned, would be junior to the praefectus equitum.

The First Cohort of Thracians is attested on six – possibly seven – inscriptions on stone recovered from the site, two of which have dated to the end of the second century (vide supra) and the beginning of the third (vide infra). The regiment was originally recruited from among the tribes of the Roman province of Thracia, modern Bulgaria.

RIB 740 - Inscription

For the Emperor-Caesars Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax, conqueror of Arabia, conqueror of Adiabene, Most Great Conqueror of Parthia, and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius, both Augusti, and for the most noble Caesar Publius Septimius Geta, on the order of Lucius Alfenus Senecio, the Emperors’ propraetorian legate, the First Cohort of Thracians, part mounted, (set this up).

IMP CAES L SEPTIM
SEVERO PIO PERTINACI
ARAB ADIAB PART MAXI
ET M AVR ANTON PIO AVG
ET P SEPT GETAE NOB CAES IVS
SV L ALFENI SENECIONIS LEG
AVGG PR PR COH I THRAC EQ

L. Alfenus Senecio: governor of Britain a.d. 205-about 208 (see RIB 722).

This auxiliary regiment has also been identified – together with Cohors I Aelia Dacorum – on a building inscription from Camboglanna (Birdoswald, Cumbria; RIB 1909; 205-208AD) that dates to a period concurrent with a stone from Bowes (vide supra); it is possible that the unit was split between the two sites, though it is more likely that the building work here at Lavatris was completed first, and the unit then moved en masse to Birdoswald.

The unit is also attested on an undated building stone from Hadrian’s Wall (Rib 1323), close to milecastle-4 in the centre of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

RIB 741 - Building inscription

[For the Emperor …] Aemilianus, prefect of cavalry, for the First Cohort of Thracians, built this, under the direction of …, prefect [of the cohort].

[...]
[...]
[...]VS AEM[...]VS [...]
[...]H I TḤAC[...] IN
[...]LLO PRAEF
[...] FECIT

The long erasure in (surviving) ll. 1, 2 would best fit Geta or Severus Alexander with Julia Mamaea.In l. 3 …]us Aemilianus is presumably the praefectus equitum from Binchester (cf. RIB 730) rather than the provincial governor, who, on a building-inscription such as this appears to be, could hardly be mentioned except in an oblique case.

Numerus Exploratorum – The Company of Scouts

Praefectus numeri exploratorum, Lauatres

“The prefect of the Company of Scouts at Lavatris.”

(Notitia Dignitatum xl.25; 4th/5th C.)

The Numerus Exploratorum were an irregular, part-mounted unit and are recorded only in this single classical reference. Other units of exploratores are known from inscriptions at Bremenivm (High Rochester, Northumberland; RIB 1262) and Habitancvm (Risingham, Northumberland; RIB 1235), and another unit is reported at Portvs Ardaoni (Portchester, Hampshire) in the Notitia.

The Gods of Bowes (Lavatris ) Roman Fort

Milestones from the Road West

RIB 2281 - Milestone of Carus

For the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Carus Pius Felix Augustus, … miles.

IMP C
M
AVR CARO
P F AVG
M

Carus, A.D. 282-3.

IMP C M AVR CARO P F AVG M

“For Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Carus Pius Felix Augustus [Pontifex] Maximus³”

(RIB 2281; milestone; dated: 282-283AD)

  1. The emperor Florianus was the praetorian commander who took over the empire following the murder of emperor Tacitus in July 276AD, and was to rule for two months and twenty days before being murdered by his own soldiers near Tarsus in September the same year.
  2. The emperor Probus was the former commander of Rome’s eastern frontier who succeeded Florianus after instigating the military coup which resulted in the latter’s death. He ruled until September 282AD when he was himself murdered by his own soldiers near Sirmium.
  3. The emperor Carus was the praetorian commander of Probus who succeeded to the empire after engineering the latter’s death. He was “killed by lightning” near Ctesiphon on the banks of the Tigris in July/August 283AD. There is another milestone of Carus near the marching camp at Rey Cross, 5 miles to the west of the Bowes fort.

Excavations at Bowes (Lavatris ) Roman Fort

NZ993135 – The principia and buildings to the immediate north were examined in 1970 and revealed six phases of development, two in timber and four in stone, the first stone buildings appearing during the Hadrianic period. Other buildings within the central-range of the fort displayed evidence of metal-working during the 3rd century.

Classical References for Bowes (Lavatris ) Roman Fort

The Roman name for the Bowes fort is well documented, being recorded in three of the major classical geographical sources. It occurs twice in the Antonine Itinerary, as Lavatris in Iter II (from Hadrians Wall to Richborough in Kent) and as Levatris in Iter V (from London to Carlisle on the Wall), in both cases appearing between the entries for Verteris (Brough Castle, Cumbria) and Cataractonivm (Catterick, North Yorkshire). The distance to Brough Castle is recorded as fourteen Roman miles whereas the distance to Catterick is variously reported as sixteen miles in Iter II and eighteen miles in Iter V.

The name appears as Lauatres in the Notitia Dignitatum, where it is listed among the forces commanded by the ‘Duke of the Britains’, between the entries for Concangis (Chester-le-Street, Durham) and Brough Castle. In the Ravenna Cosmology (R&C#135) it appears as Lavaris, between the entries for Vinovivm (Binchester, Durham) and Catterick.

References for Roman Fort at Bowes (Lavatris )

  • Chronicle of the Roman Emperors by Chris Scarre (Thames & Hudson, London, 1995);
  • Britannia ii (1971) p.251;
  • The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965);

Roman Roads near the Roman Fort at Bowes (Lavatris )

NE (18) to Binchester (Vinovia) Fort (Binchester, Durham) Itinera II et V: E (5.5) to Greta Bridge (Durham) W (13) to Verteris (Brough-under-Stainmore, Cumbria) W (11) to North Stainmore W (6.5) to Rey Cross

Sites near Bowes (Lavatris) Roman Fort