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Vindolanda Roman Fort

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Hello and welcome to my new Roman fort build!

This is Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort that sat just behind Hadrian's Wall in northern England (only a couple miles from Housesteads, my other recent build).

Vindolanda fort was built & rebuilt over & over again for hundreds of years. The buildup of archaeological remains there is incredible. Many of the early (and deeply buried) fort levels have organics preserved -- things like the famous Vindolanda writing tablets have completely changed our understanding of Roman life. The earliest known fort dates to about AD 85, and the site remained occupied until well after the fall of the Roman Empire, sometime into the 6th Century probably.

The fort I've presented is the best-known & most-excavated of all of the layers -- the 3rd century fort. Most of what's visible at the site today dates from this fort, and 85 years of digs has revealed more about this fort than any other site on Hadrian's Wall. In my build, most of the fort buildings, and -all- of the town/vicus buildings, are known from archaeology found in the ground.

The 3rd C fort itself held about 500 soldiers -- some 400 infantry who lived in the north half, and about 100-120 cavalry who bunked in the same buildings as their horses in the southern section. You'll notice a lot of similarities with Housesteads -- the central road has granaries, headquarters, and commander's home at both forts. Bread ovens are built into the ramparts backing the stone walls, and multiple-person latrines were used by the soldiers.

The town also held some 500 people -- retired soldiers, families, shopkeepers. It was an extremely vibrant & bustling place. It held at least 4 industrial zones of workshops, and at least 3 temple districts. The huge mass of Barcombe Hill looming to the east was a source of stone from its quarry (also still visible in real life), and for ferns & bracken as "carpeting" for floors.

I've tried to add every possible known detail of the 3rd C fort, including minor quarries, all the river/stream beds & hills, plus hints of how intensively the whole area around would have been farmed. The entire landscape was alive in AD 235, and I hope you can get a feel for that walking all throughout.

I've also tried hard to keep it at 100% Sim Speed. Difficult, as placing the town buildings at their correct weird angles & elevations pushes the M.E. code to the limit! I've been mostly successful. As the code keeps maturing I hope to be able to add more detail, flesh out some interior spaces, etc.

It's been a fun build! Hope you enjoy it.