The Roman site at Ribchester, Bremetenacum Veteranorum, comprised a fort and civilian settlement or vicus. The earliest Roman fort in Ribchester was established by Roman governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis in about 72 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian, as part of a network of defensive forts across the north of the new Roman Province of Britannia. This first iteration of the fort, which stood for about 60 years was built from turf and timber, with a rampart constructed from turf topped with a wooden palisade. In the early 130s AD the ramparts, gatehouses, towers and principal buildings of the fort were all rebuilt in stone by men of the 20th Legion. The barrack blocks, although undoubtedly reconstructed at this time, stayed as substantial timber constructions. The substantial granaries were also amongst the fort buildings reconstructed in stone, and the ends of these can be seen today in the exposed excavation on the Eastern side of the churchyard.
The fort was built to accommodate a garrison of primarily cavalry troops whose initial role was probably to patrol the surrounding area, keeping any rebellious elements of the local Brigantes tribe under control and providing military escorts to officials travelling by road. The first unit of cavalry posted at Bremetenacum originated from northern Spain, the Ala Secunda Asturum, or the ‘Second Cavalry Wing of the Astures’. In 175 AD, or shortly after, they were reposted to Cilurnum (Chesters) on Hadrian’s Wall. They were replaced by an exotic unit of horsemen, the Sarmatians, who originated from the Eurasian Steppe. Roman historian Lucius Cassius Dio (165AD – 235AD) records that 5,500 Sarmatians were pressed into Roman service and sent to Britain in the aftermath of their defeat in the Marcomannic Wars in 175AD, by emperor Marcus Aurelius. The majority of these riders must have been deployed elsewhere in Roman Britain – although to date we do not know where – since the fort at Bremetenacum would not have been able to accommodate more than about 300 mounted men.
The settlement then took unusual veteran status (the Veteranorum of the name) indicating that a high level of importance was attached to the site. At this point, if it had not already, Bremetenacum became the focal point for governance of the area. The civilian site outside the fort was extensive and covered an area more or less corresponding to that of the modern village. Narrow plots were occupied perpendicular to the main Roman roads. Excavations have revealed rectangular wooden buildings used as workshops and dwellings. Craftsmen plied their trades in the vicus providing essential goods for both civilians and military personnel alike. Metalworkers and leather workers were particularly abundant, supplying all kinds of military and cavalry equipment. The vicus was also the site of the baths, the most substantial stone built construction outside the fort, and at least two temples, and a likely mansio (inn), fulfilling important social and religious functions.
The fort at Ribchester was occupied into the late fourth century, although archaeological evidence points to there being reduced activity in the vicus after the 2nd century. The Notitia Dignitatum, a late Roman administrative list of military units, records the presence of the Sarmatians still at Bremetanacum around the end of the 4th Century. We do not know exactly when they left, although there are several likely candidate dates. Firstly, in AD 383 Magnus Maximus was proclaimed as a rival emperor in Britain
and crossed to Gaul to make his bid for the imperial throne, taking a substantial force with him. Then, in AD 402 Stilicho, a top tier military commander of the period, is recorded as having pulled troops from Britain to help defend Italy during the wars against Alaric, king of the Visigoths. Following 402 AD it seems that the army in Britain was no longer being paid in coinage and became increasingly disgruntled with the central imperial administration. Consequently, in 406 AD, a politically astute common soldier in Britain named Flavius Claudius Constantinus was proclaimed as a rival emperor to the continental emperor Honorius by his comrades and withdrew most of the remaining 6000 or so troops from Britain to pursue his bid for the imperial throne on the continent, in which endeavour he was finally successful in 421 AD, being recognised as co-emperor by Honorius, albeit for a brief seven months. The troops Constantinus stripped from Britain never returned and the Britons looked to their own defences against the ever increasing assaults of Saxon pirates. At any of these three key dates, therefore, it is highly likely that the remaining force at Bremetenacum left for good. The subsequent post Roman history of the fort and settlement is very hard divine, although there is no evidence that the site was ever abandoned completely and its Roman origins were certainly never forgotten. Substantial ruins remained visible well into the medieval period and were commented on by a variety of scholars and antiquarians of the time.
