The grim life of a Roman legionary

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Harry Mount has narrated this article for you to listen to.

Over the heather the wet wind blows,

I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose.

The rain comes pattering out of the sky,

I’m a Wall soldier, I don’t know why.

The mist creeps over the hard grey stone,

My girl’s in Tungria; I sleep alone.

W.H. Auden was right. Life for a Roman legionary on Hadrian’s Wall was bloody miserable. The Vindolanda letters sent to and from legionaries living near the wall – on show in a new British Museum exhibition – chime with Auden’s lines in ‘Roman Wall Blues’.

The Romans hated the English weather. In one letter found at Vindolanda fort, near Hexham, Northumberland, a legionary hears about some prized woollen underpants. The letter, from Gaul to the freezing legionary, tells him about the care package he’s getting: ‘Paria udonum ab Sattua solearum duo et subligariorum duo’ – socks, two pairs of sandals and two pairs of underpants.

Other objects in the British Museum show confirm the Romans’ grim intention in Britannia: conquest and control. You’ll see a sword from Pevensey; greaves and a scutum (shield) from Hadrian’s Wall; and a scabbard, tent peg and goatskin tent from Vindolanda. Most beautiful is the Crosby Garrett helmet from Cumbria; the Phrygiancap style with an attached griffin is associated with Asia Minor – showing how far-flung the legionaries’ influences were. The fort at Ribchester, Lancashire, housed troopers from Sarmatia (now southern Russia) – former enemies turned employees of Rome.

With all this fighting life in the frozen north, it’s no wonder that, of the 40,000 troops the Emperor Claudius brought to Britannia in 43 ad, only half lived to retirement age.