GhostOfClayton

I had a great weekend, but to tell you why, I will have to tell you a little local history. There is an entertainment venue in the north of England called Scunthorpe Baths. It gained notoriety in the mid 70s following by Jasper Carrott OBE, a renowned comedian that we never seem to hear of anymore, sadly. Watch the link - you won't regret it. Basically, Scunthorpe had an old, ornate Baths Hall dating from 1931. Lovely place to swim. The council cleverly realised that on Saturday nights, no-one was swimming, so they constructed a system of covering the pool over and creating a dance floor. Some great acts appeared there - The Kinks, Status Quo, Ocean Colour Scene, The Damned, etc. Flushed with the success of the idea, and having new swimming and leisure pools in the area, the council closed the baths, and opened it full time as an entertainment venue. It had its ups and downs, but gained a good reputation because it wasn�t too big to lose intimacy, and yet was big enough to bring in the crowds. It had a very good atmosphere, a bar in the hall itself (how many largish venues can boast that?), and a history that made everyone love the place. However, one of its downs coincided with a Conservative Council, and plans were drawn up to sell off the land for housing. This didn�t go down to well with the townsfolk, many of whom saw it as a part of their childhood (as both a courting couple and newlyweds, Mrs OfClayton and myself were no strangers to the place), and the subsequent Labour Council had saving the Baths as a manifesto item. True to their word, the Labour Council rebuilt and reopened the Baths Hall, with the opening night being last Friday. . . and that�s where I found myself. For the opener, the Baths had booked none other than Bill Bailey � the quirky musical comedian who dipped out of his regular spot on panel game �Never Mind The Buzzcocks� just when everyone should have. I�ve seen him twice before, once in Scunthorpe�s other venue, The Plowright, and once in Hull City Hall. Both times he was pant-wettingly funny, but this time he excelled. I never stopped laughing from start to finish. My sides and jaws ached to the point where the interval was a welcome break from the sheer exertion of all that hilarity. If you get a chance to see him on his current �Dandelion Mind� tour, do it. And the all-new venue? Well, no-one would knock it. It�s shiny, new, clean, well thought out, flexible, practical, etc. and the people of Scunthorpe (I�m sure) have good reason to be proud of it. But it lacks that rough and ready atmosphere that lent it such charm. Purpose-built can never seem to match cobbled-together or evolved. I wish it well, and hope the next generation of that town grow up with the same fond and warm memories. But Scunthorpe Baths� influence on my weekend didn�t end there. Saturday night was the Rock Open. A wonderful annual event in which upcoming local bands strut their stuff to be judged by seen-it-all-before-long-in-the-tooth local musicians. This is truly the event for which the old Baths was perfect. You could come in, have a few drinks, wander around, see friends, have a dance without the need to feel self-conscious, not expect too much of the music, etc, etc. all until the wee small hours. I was quite looking forward to it, but unfortunately Mrs OfClayton had volunteered us to babysit for the larger of the OfClayton niece/nephew tribes, and had told me about it at a time when I was only pretending to listen � which is tantamount to keeping it a secret, eh chaps? So, sadly I missed out on this annual festival of adequate music. Oh well, there�s always 2012.

I agree 100% with Kosmo. The Romans' mindset was that they would occupy the whole of Britannia and move on the Hibernia. These were pre-Hadrianic days when the concept of a limited Empire was to a large extent an alien concept. Like Britannia itself following Caesar's initial invasion, the Highlands of Scotland would always be something they could come back to when the time was right, so the motivation to occupy rather than just conquer was not absolute. Conquest was arguably the more important of the two - to be able to send word to Rome that all the tribes had been subdued was all the glory Agricola really wanted. No doubt, without the Dacian hoo-har, he would have stayed and made a token effort to occupy, but even then, there was little motivation. The Highlands had very little to offer the Roman Empire in terms of wealth, and that's why they were chiefly in the Empire building business. Talk of Glory was just that - talk. Denarii in the pocket were what really motivated individual Generals in the field.

If you haven't already, you might like to read 'Imperium' by Robert Harris. Although semi-fictional, this deals in detail with the subject (and is also a bloody good read!)

I can assure you, Ummidia, you've seen more of Britannia's Roman sights than I have (but hopefully I'm catching up fast!) Let's see now, what have I got to offer this time?

In that case, it can only be the forum and basilica at Venta Silurum.

Back on topic. Speaking of Fishbourne, they have an outdoor triclineum in the Roman garden.

Latest update: I have completed the review and submitted it. Over to you, Viggen.

To save this thread going off-topic, I'll PM you with the details.

My own opinion (and lets face it, nobody knows) is that Antoninus Pius saw the success of Hadrian's Wall, and thought it would be easy enough to move the line forward and repeat. He didn't know the area (he didn't have Hadrian's itchy feet, and very much ruled from Rome), and was sufficiently insecure that an easy addition to the empire would be quite useful. The tribes just to the north of Hadrian's Wall weren't particularly hostile, so occupation would be relatively risk free. The border would be shorter, which in very simple management terms seems easier and cheaper to defend. What's not to like about that idea? As usual, the devil is in the detail. Having a nice 'buffer state' of Roman friendly people just outside your border was a very succesful policy, and the Antonine Wall put the border right in the thick of none too Romanised Caledonians. This is reflected by the huge amount of extra troops required to man it, despite its shorter length. Did Anotnoninus Pius do this specifically to pick a fight with the Caledonians? I personally doubt it - there was nothing to gain materially (apart form some good arable land on the east coast, which was owned and operated to Rome's benefit by a friendly tribe anyway). Although there is some doubt about the exact date of the abandonment, the clever money is that it was soon before his death in 161, though a withdrawal following his death is supported by some evidence, and also by logic. That sort of "Alright lads, he's dead now - let's put it back how it was" happened a fair bit when the Emperor wanted something and the yes-men weren't prepared to point out the drawbacks. Also, worth remembering is that the Antonine Wall was briefly reoccupied during the Severan campaigns against the Caledonians in 208. Although Septimius Severus picked a fight with the Caledonians because one of them had upset his wife, rather than for glory per se, maybe a parallel can be drawn. If you want to fight the Caledonian's, occupy the Antonine Wall. Maybe Antoninus Pius did want to have a go at the Caledonians, after all. Another potential parallel is the withdrawal following Septimius Severus' death in 211 in the middle of the campaign. His son carried on a little bit, but his heart wasn't in it. Again, death of Emperor leads to things returning to normal.

It's a serious concern. Anyone who has walked around the crater caused by the Fauld Explosion would be gobsmacked by the size of the thing. And this was probably caused by a spark (some 'bright spark' had decided it would be a good idea to remove a detonator from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten!) Anyway the resultant explosion was heard in London, and the crater is HEE-OOJ!

Sounds interesting, Crispina. Any links?

It has the look of the bath house at Wall Roman Site, to me.

Any news on the 2nd interview yet, Doc?

I never did watch Eastenders, though I always had a bit of a thing for Dirty Den's wife, Angie. I believe she's Mrs Brian May now.

Kosmo, you display the wisdom of Solomon.

Wow! You are good! Over to you M. Hecatee.

Well . . . I had pretty much dismissed that line of research out of hand because it was so early. Did they really build stone forts on campaign as early as that? Anyway, come on everybody. Try this one for size:

In desperation, I'm going to say "is it named on the attached map?", because if it isn't, that was my last line of research (though I was going to start looking at what Tiberius Gracchus got up to in Spain, though surely that's way too early). No way this is Numantia, is it? I should change that statement. This is Numantia!

I really like the look of this. I do guided tours of Lincoln with a Roman theme, and I can really see how well it could work there. I went to see the Jewry wall, baths and museum in Leicester, and this app would have helped me see other stuff I knew nothing about. Best of luck with it, and feel free to get in touch if you need a guinea pig.

Ah - why didn't you say so in the first place? It's clearly Iltrida/Ilerda.

Caesaraugusta, maybe?

Try this site.

Inland, then. Toletum?

I don't know of any in the UK, or else I would be offering my services to them. Our Hadrian's Wall tour fits the bill, and I also do a couple of tours in the South of France (though they are hiking tours with Roman themes rather than specific Archaeological tours). I see these covered walkways as just that - a practical measure rather than a place to sit and enjoy. However, you have to imagine that they would make the best of any natural daylight, and any covered area would offer protection from the sun and rain, if required. What country are we talking about?

Is it on the Via Augusta?