Carpow was one of the three largest permanent Roman bases in Scotland, alongside Inchtuthil, also in Perthshire, and Newstead in the Borders.  Carpow was garrisoned by detachments of at least two Roman legions, the Second and the Sixth, and could have housed around 3000 men.  Legions were made up of smaller cohorts of soldiers and cavalry and could include up to 5500 men.

The soldiers would have been expected to help build the fortress, by carrying out the more basic but physical work such as constructing the turf ramparts or digging out the defensive or drainage ditches, but the more specialist tasks, such as constructing the Governor’s residence or carving the inscriptions which would go above the gate, were left to the craftsmen, such as stonemasons and carpenters, who were attached to the legions.

Carpow Finds

One of the most significant finds made at Carpow was a piece of scale body armour, the only example yet to be found anywhere in Britain.  Scale armour shirts were standard issue to all Roman soldiers and consisted of small, rectangular scales made from sheet-bronze, which were sewn onto a linen background with linen thread.  The shirt’s neck would have been reinforced with a leather binding to prevent chafing.  This particular piece of armour is of a very high quality and may have belonged to a high-ranking officer.

Thirty-seven Roman coins, including denarii, are known have been found in or around the site, helping to date the building and occupation of the fort to the Severan campaign.  The weekly wage for a Roman soldier in this period was six denarii, so the loss of these coins must have been quite significant for the soldier concerned! Other finds included iron nails, used in timber buildings, of which a large number were found in the defensive ditches and in pits around the site.  They had been deliberately buried when the Romans withdrew and the fort had been systematically burnt, demolished and levelled.  The numerous pottery finds included fragments of amphorae, large storage jars used for wine and fish oil, which were brought, possibly by sea to Carpow, from Gaul and the Mediterranean.  There were also pieces of coarse, everyday pottery such as storage pots, drinking cups and mixing bowls, and Samian ware, a high quality pottery found across the empire, which was probably used in the praetorium or for entertaining important guests who came north.

Orrea

Carpow may have been Orrea, one of the places marked on Ptolemy’s map of the second century AD, near the ‘Tavae’ (Tay).  The similar sounding Poreo Classis is listed in the Ravenna Cosmology between the unidentified towns of Leviodanum and Levioxava, and from their position in the text they would all appear to be located around the Fife / Tayside area of Scotland.  As classis means fleet, this would seen to strengthen the argument that Carpow was a sea base, and between Orrea is probably a scribal slip for horrea, meaning granary or storehouse.  Granary buildings were found during the excavations, and it is likely that Carpow was used to store grain supplies, which could be transported by boat.

Carey

There was another temporary camp within the parish of Abernethy.  At Carey, in the west of the parish, crop marks have indicated a camp of about 46.5 hectares (115 acres) which is thought to be one of a chain of marching camps used during the Agricolan campaign.  As the huge Roman army advanced across Scotland they needed somewhere to stay at the end of each day’s march.  They travelled with leather tents that could be put up quickly and protected them from the elements, and as a safety precaution quickly put up turf walls or ramparts and ditches around the camp site.  Although the tents left little mark on the landscape for archaeologists today to see, the defences, as well as pits dug for latrines and rubbish, often survive as crop marks.  Because the camps on each campaign were so often similar in style and size, and were spaced at regular distances, archaeologists have been able to link particular sites to particulars campaigns and armies, even where no datable finds exist, and can sometimes calculate where camps which can no longer be seen would have been.

Further reading    

D Breeze, 1996, Roman Scotland
LJF Keppie, 1986, Scotland’s Roman Remains:  An Introductory Handbook
G Maxwell, 1998, A Gathering of Eagles: Scenes from Roman Scotland
JN Dore and JJ Wilkes, 1999, ‘Excavations directed by JD Leach and JJ Wilkes on the site of a Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire, 1964-79’, in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Volume 129

Places to visit    

There are no visible remains at Carpow and the site is not open to the public.
Finds from Carpow can been seen in the McManus Galleries, Dundee