Objects found inside and near the fort reveal wide trading links and a comfortable military and domestic life.
Finds from Caister have provided us with a vivid picture of life and trade between the fort and the wider Roman world. There is a cobbled surface which is part of a road from the centre of the fort, which continues through the south gate to a bay on the estuary, where boats were beached for unloading goods.
Finds of personal items such as brooches, beads, bracelets, necklaces, rings and hairpins suggest that women and children lived in the fort, perhaps as families alongside the soldiers. From the military side of life are parts of old and broken equipment including spearheads, arrowheads and belt buckles. Clues as to what people ate are provided by charred grain, fish bones, over 10,000 oyster shells, and the bones of cows, hares, foxes, badgers and ducks.
A glimpse of devotion
A figurine of Mercury, the Roman messenger god and protector of trade, was found inside the fort. A bronze plaque, which may have originally been pinned on a temple or shrine wall, was found outside the fort. It states that a man named ‘Aurelius Atticianus has fulfilled his vow to Mercury’.
Disclaimer
The text and pictures on this page are derived from the 'Heritage Unlocked' series of guidebooks published in 2004. We intend to review, update and enhance the content in the near future as part of the Portico project, whose objective is to provide information on the history, significance, research background and sources for all English Heritage properties.
