Crispinus Leontivs at Bremetenacvm is set in the Roman fort of Bremetenacvm Veterenorvm. It was a real place. As Chrístõ explains, it later became the town of Ribchester on the River Ribble in central Lancashire a mere dozen miles from Preston, where his favourite football team is.

I think I went on a school trip to Ribchester every year from the age of 7 to 15, when I went to school in Oxfordshire and it was too far. I got so bored with it I hated the very mention of Romans or their ruins. It took a while to appreciate them again, and to appreciate Ribchester.

It has to be said that the remains at Ribchester are not too spectacular or inspiring. Don’t go there on a rainy or dull day. On a sunny day, it’s a lovely place for a picnic. There’s a part of the river safe for swimming in. But honestly, the Roman ruins are dull. It was much more exciting in the days when it was the most important Roman Settlement west of Manchester.

Oppius Niger is a name I came across in the course of researching Bremetenacvm. There actually was an officer of that name at the fort at one time. His family are fictional. Valerius, his brother, Venita his wife, come from a list of Roman names. Likewise Cicero Antonium and his daughter Lucia.

The description of the inner court of the Commander’s residence, with two wells and the statue of Jupiter between, also comes from the research into Bremetenacvm. Two wells were found by archeologists who remarked that this was unusual for the time. They could think of no good reason for two wells in the same courtyard. Neither can I, but it made for a nice detail.

These are not Roman conquerors putting down the natives. As explained in the story, the Fort trained young Roman cavalrymen. It was also home to veterans of the Roman military force who were granted land in the area as reward for their service. Hence ‘Veterenorvm’. They were intermarried with the indigenous people. When the Roman empire fell in a couple of generations, it is likely that the descendents of Oppius Niger stayed there. They would have known no other life.

It all sounds less dramatic than films like Gladiator suggest. And it was. All the intrigue was in Rome. On the edge of the empire, in the county that would come to be called Lancashire, people were too busy breeding horses. It probably comes as a bit of a shock to most people. But there you are.

http://www.roman-britain.org/places/bremetenacum.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribchester
http://www.aboutbritain.com/RibchesterRomanMuseum.htm