Military Households of Roman Auxiliary Commanders in Western Europe and North Africa

Latin inscriptions, Vindolanda letters, and praetorium archaeology

Millington, Claire

This book systematically examines evidence for Roman auxiliary commanders’ households on frontiers in western Europe and North Africa during the first three centuries CE. Although the existence of these households has long been known this is the first time they have been comprehensively studied. Until recently, the typicality of letter-writing evidence from the first century fort at Vindolanda near Hadrian’s wall has been disputed, and therefore its applicability to frontiers more widely has been questioned. This book therefore surveys and critically evaluates three types of evidence for auxiliary commander households from across Europe and North Africa: praetorium archaeology; Latin inscriptions on stone; and the first century letters of the officers’ households at Vindolanda. By bringing together perspectives from these three evidence-types the book gives insight into how these households, including women and children, were constituted and the likely roles of different household members living on the frontiers.