ABSTRACT
Military sites in the frontier have benefited from the most attention from archaeologists, meaning that there is a far larger dataset available for considering military communities in the 4th and 5th centuries when compared to urban and rural settlements. The most frequent type of military site was the fort, with milecastles placed along Hadrian’s Wall and a number of fortlets occupied at strategic points. The majority of forts generally retained a Hadrianic layout, with significant buildings such as the principia, horrea, and praetorium situated in a central range with barracks and other structures in front and rear ranges, all contained in defenses characterized by a playing-card shape. There are some exceptions to this rule, as in the late 3rd/early 4th century reorganization at South Shields that placed the praetorium in the corner of the praetentura (Bidwell and Speak 1994). The fort at Newcastle, built in the late 2nd century, was slightly irregular in shape, and its principia lacked a forecourt, possibly due to the topographical restrictions of its hilltop location (Bidwell and Snape 2002). The large fort at Piercebridge, also built in the late 2nd/early 3rd century, may have had a different layout, as did some of the outpost forts north of the Wall, though these were not occupied very far into the 4th century (Cool and Mason 2008a). The 2nd and occasional 3rd century layouts were never abandoned in the north British forts. Nor were there upgrades to the defensive architecture, with the exception of the Yorkshire coastal fortlets, which were built de novo and not actually upgraded. Large, polygonal, or semi-circular projecting towers on frontier forts seem to be related to status and visual display along a single frontage rather than defense, as at York (Figure 4.1) and Lancaster, and possibly Maryport. Despite the general conservatism in fort layout in the frontier, details between forts varied in the exact placement and alignment of structures. Forts and their internal structures were regularly refurbished through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries, but by the late 4th century, things were different.
