The Organisation of Roman Military Timber-Supply

HE Roman army has long been regarded as the epitome of organised self-sufficiency in both ancient and more recent literature.1 That the army acted as engineers as well as soldiers is so amply attested that it needs no comment here. The manufacture of tiles by the military is well known2 and the quarrying of stone both by the soldiers themselves and under military supervision is attested ;3 but there is little evidence for the supply of building timber to the army.4 Since throughout the first and for a large part of the second century the majority of forts in Britain were built wholly or partly of timber, this represents a considerable gap in our knowledge of military building. This article is an attempt to consider the problems of timber-supplies for military purposes in Britain during that period. The first question to be raised must be the availability of suitable building-timber in the localities in which the Romans placed their military establishments. In terms of soil and climate suitability, there are few areas in Britain which under 'climatic climax' conditions would not support woodland, and it is generally agreed that in the Atlantic period forest cover was continuous over all dry land to an altitude of at least 750 metres.5