Full Tour of a Roman Fort - Fort Vindolanda

This video features a 3D reconstruction of a famous fort in England, located at Vindolanda, near Hadrian's Wall. It was the Northmost border of the empire for centuries, carefully guarded and managed by foreign auxiliary forces. The model in the video is that of a 3rd century fort, which would gradually changed as the centuries went by until it was abandoned.

It is because of the unit's hurried departure that so many remains were left at the fort, to be uncovered by archeologists and researchers at the Vindolanda Trust. It is from very close reference to dozens of documents regarding their excavations and conclusions that this model was made possible.

Of course, this video would also not be possible without the help of my loyal researcher, Jon and the talented Tony, from TKMV Studio. We all hope you enjoy!

Primary Sources:

Tab. Vindol. nº 154
Tab. Vindol. nº 155
Tab. Vindol. nº 180
Tab. Vindol. nº 248
Tab. Vindol. nº 292
Tab. Vindol. nº 310
Tab. Vindol. nº 312

Written Sources:

-Bidwell, P. T. The Roman Fort of Vindolanda. London: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, 1974.
-Birley, A. & Blake, J. Vindolanda The Excavations of 1999 Interim Report on the Work on the Southern Defences of Stone Fort Two. Hexham: Vindolanda Trust, 2000.
-Birley, A. & Blake, J. Vindolanda Research Report: The Excavations of 2005-2006. Hexham: Vindolanda Trust. 2007.
-Birley, R., Blake, J., Birley, A. The Excavations at Vindolanda: Praetorium Site Interim Report. Carvoran: Roman Army Museum Publications & Vindolanda Trust, 2002.
-Birley, A. Vindolanda Research Report 2003 Volume I: The Excavations of 2001-2002. Hexham: Vindolanda Trust, 2003.
-Birley, A. The Vindolanda Granary Excavations. Brampton: Roman Army Museum Publications. 2013.
-Birley, A., Meyer, A., Greene, E. M. “Recent Discoveries in the Fort and Extramural Settlement at Vindolanda: Excavations from 2009–2015”. Britannia, 47 (2016): 243-285.
-Birley, E. “An Introduction to the Excavation of Chesterholm-Vindolanda. Archaeologia Aeliana, IV, vol. 8 (1931): 182-212.
-Birley. E. “Excavations at Vindolanda-Chesterholm 1931”. Archaeologia Aeliana, IV. vol. 9 (1932): 216-221.
-Birley, E., Richmond, I. A., Stanfield, J. A. “Excavations at Vindolanda-Chesterholm Third Report”. Archaeologia Aeliana, IV, vol. 13 (1936): 218-257.
-Birley, E. & Birley, M. “Fourth Report on Excavations at Vindolanda”. Archaeologia Aeliana, IV, vol. 15 (1938): 222-237.
-Birley, E., Birley, R., Birley, A. Vindolanda Research Reports, New Series Volume II: Early Wooden Forts. Carvoran: Roman Army Museum Publications & Vindolanda Trust, 2002.
-Van Driel-Murray, C., Wild, J. P., Seaward, M., Hillam, J., Birley, R. Vindolanda Research Reports, New Series Volume III: Early Wooden Forts. Carvoran: Roman Army Museum Publications & Vindolanda Trust, 2003.
-Birley, R. E. “Excavations at Chesterholm Vindolanda 1967-1969”. Archaeologia Aeliana, IV, vol. 48 (1970): 97-155.
-R. E. Birley. “Vindolanda Chesterholm 1969-1972: Some Important Material from the Vicus”. Archaeologia Aeliana, V, vol.1 (1973): 111-122.
-Birley, R., Blake, J., Birley, A. The 1998 Excavations at Vindolanda: The Praetorium Site Interim Report. Carvoran: Roman Army Museum Publications & Vindolanda Trust, 1999.
-Blake, J. Vindolanda Research: The Excavations of 2007-2012 in the Vicus or Extramural Settlement (“Area B”). Brampton: Roman Army Museum Publications. 2014.
-Bowman, A. K. Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and Its People. London: British Museum Publications, 1994.
-Spaul, J. Cohors: The evidence for and a short history of the auxiliary infantry units of the Imperial Roman Army. BAR International Series 841, 2000.
-Wilson, P. “Roman Britain in 2013”. Britannia, 45 (2014): 317-343.

Intro (0:00)
Sponsor (1:16)
Fort construction (2:06)
Tour through the fort (3:33)

[HistoriaMilitum]

In my videos, I always try my best to explain the lifestyle in ancient Rome, and in this video, we decided to go to the next level! I'm glad to say that the team I put together to make this video decided to make this a full series, so you can expect a lot of fort/castle recreations from various locations and periods! (We just started the next one, which will be in a desert!) This one took a lot of sleepless nights, but we have no regrets for how it turned out.
I would like to hear some recommendations from your side, as to which ancient/medieval site to model next!

[shroomusomus]

You might not even believe this but my great grandfather started excavations on this site, his name was Eric Birley and his two sons Robin and Anthony (my grandfather) carried on the work after he died. Today my cousin Andy runs and oversees excavation. Very proud moment to see such a good video about Vindolanda released online! 😎

[thomashenderson]

I will be showing this video in class at the nearest possible opportunity. Your presentation is fantastic. Thanks you all for this.

[orryvanvaerenbergh]

The amount of knowledge from all the details and their implications are enormous.

[musicandbooklover-po]

People should note that, just as you show in this excellent video, public roads were made in the same way that the internal fort roads were, and in England there are still quite a few of these roads still being used today, albeit with modern tarmac over the top of the old roman road underneath. This includes the main Londinium to Eboracum (London to York) road. You might also be interested in taking a look at the remaining available ruins of the Roman town Verulamium (Ave Verulamium - my home town) which are open to be seen - below the hill with the Cathedral standing on it, and also contains the countries oldest pub still in use - including the remains of a hypercaust and some lovely mosaic and tiled floors. Well worth a visit. And would love to see a 3D rendition of how Verulamium might have looked at the end of the 1st century/into the 2nd century.

[alexvann]

This was absolutely amazing! I was at Vindolanda a couple of years ago as it's only a couple of hours from me, and it's one of the best museums/historical sites I've ever been to! Interestingly, they have the largest collection of preserved Roman leather shoes anywhere. Some of them even have the initials or signets of their owners who can be traced back through the book keeping ledgers, which is incredible! If you are ever in the UK visiting the North of England you must go there, and this video really helps to get a real vision of what it must have looked like. The only thing it doesn't portray is the sheer scale of the site - it's absolutely huge!

[billcole]

What a fabulous recreation of a Roman fort! I used to teach Latin, and I wish I could have shown this to my second-year students who read Caesar. They would have loved it. What's particularly appealing is the description of life around the fort and its complexity and humanity. Filaxim, te saluto!

[angelostriandos]

Extraordinary ! Great job, I am diehard Roman fan and this is new and excrptional. Romans civilized the world and centralized knowledge and wealth !

[ryang]

Had the pleasure of visiting Vindolanda when I was in the UK, such an amazing place, one of the better preserved Roman fortifications in the UK. What an awesome video

[garychristie]

I visited this wonderful place in Dec 23 and loved every minute of the guided tour. The tour operator was very knowledgeable and answered many questions. I personally would like to thank her for she had a coffee with me at the cafe after the visit and answered more questions that I had thought to ask. And this guide is done voluntary. Would highly recommend a visit to this wonderful site and a beautiful place to stay is Laingley Castle. The castle is near Hexam

[Sqwompy]

Love the skyrim background music. Love you filaxim historia

[dianahernandez]

Thank you so much for doing this, everything is perfect! the explanation, animation, etc. I really value the effort and heart that your team puts into this videos. I can't wait to see more from you all! ❤️

[WildWombats]

This was so cool to see. Way under appreciated, this givves you such an in depth look at daily life of Romans and the soldiers and how they operated. I love this kinda stuff too.

[krahiizdok]

I hear that 'From Past to Present' in the background during the start. Love it.

[ronaldreagan]

The greatest empire in world history. Rome turned straw villages into cement and brick cities. At the height of the Roman Empire, there were over 1 million people living in Rome (!!). You’d have to wait until 19th century Victorian London to get a city of that size again. Unreal.

[Mazon]

Makes lot of sens, modern deployed army units use same basecamp and outposts rotations system of the soldiers! Great video.

[erikallder]

Excellent and informative video, as always! Yours is one of the few channels where I can hit the "Like" button at the start of the video. As a soon-to-graduate engineer, whenever I see anything about Roman engineering and construction I can't help but be disgusted at how almost nothing is built to last these days. The idea of "planned obsolescence" especially drives me insane. The West today may be the most technologically advanced civilization in known history, but as far as I am concerned the Roman Empire remains the pinnacle of human civilization in many ways.

[AdelVinss]

Thank you for putting so much effort into this video! I didn’t want it to end. Hope to see more in the future!

[sudetenrider-pili]

That Stronghold OST really made my day. Epic. Thank you

[wanderingsoul]

I've been there many times, don't live that far from it and Hadrian's wall, both fascinating places to visit.