The Romans

 When the Roman army arrived in the north in AD 71, it decided to build a fortress on a hill in the triangle of land between the rivers Ouse and Foss. The fortress was used as a base from where the Romans could set off on campaigns to conquer the northern part of Britain. The fortress soon became an important place and it was called Eboracum.

On the other side of the river Ouse a civilian town sprang up. Families of soldiers lived in this area and tradespeople made a living by selling goods to them and the soldiers in the fortress.

In the year 214, Emperor Caracalla divided Britain into two provinces. Londinium, now London, was made the capital of Britannia Superior and Eboracum became the capital of Britannia Inferior. The civilian town was given the title of Colonia, the highest status a Roman town could get. Roman governmental officials moved to the Colonia and Eboracum prospered.

Between the years 235 and 300, several civil wars erupted within the Roman Empire, sometimes leaving Eboracum without a legion. Peace returned to the empire for a short while around 300 and it was at this time that the whole south-west wall of the fortress was rebuilt into an imposing stone structure with a large south-west gate and multangular towers at the corners.

Constantine was declared emperor in York in 306 and in 313 he decided that Christianity instead of the Roman State religion was going to be the new religion of the Roman Empire.

From 350 onwards civil wars again raged within the Roman Empire and in 410 the Romans soldiers were recalled from Britain for good.

Multangular Tower, Museum Gardens, York

Around 290, the whole south-west wall of the fortress was rebuilt. The two corners were given fancy multangular towers, unique in the whole Roman Empire. The multangular tower in the Museum Gardens was the north-west corner of the rebuilt fortress wall. Bands of red brick were used to strengthen the walls.

The top part of the tower, with the larger stones and narrow windows, was built on top of the Roman tower around 1250.

Stonegate, York

In Roman times Stonegate, Via Praetoria, was straighter, but the present-day street still runs very close to the original course of the Roman road. The headquarter building of the fortress was visible at the end, while the barracks, where the soldiers lived, lined the street on both sides. The barracks were made of stone and wood.

Bootham Bar, York

Present-day Bootham Bar was built on the foundations of the Roman north-west gate of the fortress. Like the main gate in St Helen’s Square, it had two towers and two arches.

The Roman road leading out of the fortress towards the north-west is now called Bootham. It was along this road that the troops of Emperor Hadrian set off to build the famous Hadrian’s Wall, which in the end became the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire.