Battlefields›Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment

Roman Period

Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment

Q: When did Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment take place?

Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment took place in 44, England. Traditional interpretation (from Ian Richmond's 1951-1958 excavations): a barrage of ballista bolts was concentrated on the chieftain's hut in the hillfort's south-east corner, the resident Durotrigian lord reportedly killed, and the hillfort taken, after which the Romans built a fort in its north-west corner garrisoned by a mixed legionary/auxiliary force for about 5-6 years before its abandonment c. AD 50. More recent scholarship (cited on Wikipedia) disputes the conquest narrative, arguing the hillfort had already been abandoned by its native occupants before the Roman army arrived, and that the ballista bolts more likely derive from later target practice by the Roman garrison rather than an assault. This is a genuine, unresolved scholarly disagreement rather than a fabricated event.

Q: Who won Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment?

Legio II Augusta (Rome, under Vespasian) was victorious. The defeated side was Durotriges. Traditional interpretation (from Ian Richmond's 1951-1958 excavations): a barrage of ballista bolts was concentrated on the chieftain's hut in the hillfort's south-east corner, the resident Durotrigian lord reportedly killed, and the hillfort taken, after which the Romans built a fort in its north-west corner garrisoned by a mixed legionary/auxiliary force for about 5-6 years before its abandonment c. AD 50. More recent scholarship (cited on Wikipedia) disputes the conquest narrative, arguing the hillfort had already been abandoned by its native occupants before the Roman army arrived, and that the ballista bolts more likely derive from later target practice by the Roman garrison rather than an assault. This is a genuine, unresolved scholarly disagreement rather than a fabricated event.

England

Era

Roman Period

Battle Type

Siege

Location

England

Status

Unregistered

The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated

Durotriges

Victor

Legio II Augusta (Rome, under Vespasian)

Outcome

Traditional interpretation (from Ian Richmond's 1951-1958 excavations): a barrage of ballista bolts was concentrated on the chieftain's hut in the hillfort's south-east corner, the resident Durotrigian lord reportedly killed, and the hillfort taken, after which the Romans built a fort in its north-west corner garrisoned by a mixed legionary/auxiliary force for about 5-6 years before its abandonment c. AD 50. More recent scholarship (cited on Wikipedia) disputes the conquest narrative, arguing the hillfort had already been abandoned by its native occupants before the Roman army arrived, and that the ballista bolts more likely derive from later target practice by the Roman garrison rather than an assault. This is a genuine, unresolved scholarly disagreement rather than a fabricated event.

The Battle

History & Significance

Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment was a Roman siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought in England in 44. Legio II Augusta (Rome, under Vespasian) prevailed over Durotriges. Traditional interpretation (from Ian Richmond's 1951-1958 excavations): a barrage of ballista bolts was concentrated on the chieftain's hut in the hillfort's south-east corner, the resident Durotrigian lord reportedly killed, and the hillfort taken, after which the Romans built a fort in its north-west corner garrisoned by a mixed legionary/auxiliary force for about 5-6 years before its abandonment c. AD 50. More recent scholarship (cited on Wikipedia) disputes the conquest narrative, arguing the hillfort had already been abandoned by its native occupants before the Roman army arrived, and that the ballista bolts more likely derive from later target practice by the Roman garrison rather than an assault. This is a genuine, unresolved scholarly disagreement rather than a fabricated event.

Confirmed battlefield location

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

Casualties & Losses

Traditional interpretation holds that the Durotrigian chieftain occupying the targeted hut was killed in the bombardment before he could take up his spear; no other casualty figures are recorded, and this specific death is disputed under the revised 'target practice' interpretation.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Monuments

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Battlefields

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Roman Britain

The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.

Domesday

The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.

Civil War

The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.

Geology

The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.

LiDAR

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Local Names

What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.

Historical Maps

Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.

Literature

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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment

Earthworks on site of manor house

Scheduled monument · ~1.3 mi

Earthworks on site of manor house is a scheduled ancient monument located in Dorset that preserves the physical remains of a former manorial settlement. The site comprises earthwork features indicative of medieval or later domestic occupation, including the ground plan and surrounding landscape e…

Sandy Gerrard / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Hod Hill camp and Lydsbury Rings

Scheduled monument · ~1.4 mi

Hod Hill is an Iron Age hillfort located near Stourpaine in Dorset, England. The monument comprises a substantial rectangular enclosure with multiple defensive ditches and banks, constructed during the Late Iron Age, likely in the first century BC. The site demonstrates strategic positioning on e…

Jim Champion / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Medieval standing cross 50m east of St Peter's Church

Scheduled monument · ~1.6 mi

The medieval standing cross situated fifty metres east of St Peter's Church is a stone cross of the type commonly erected in English parishes during the medieval period, serving both religious and communal functions. The monument stands in the parish of [location in Dorset] and represents the tra…

Chris Downer / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Causewayed camp on Hambledon Hill

Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure is a Neolithic monument located near Stourpaine in Dorset, England, dating to approximately 3500 to 3000 BCE. The site consists of multiple concentric ditches interrupted by causeways or bridges, which give the monument its distinctive character and name. Excav…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Pimperne Long Barrow

Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

Pimperne Long Barrow is a Neolithic burial monument located in Dorset, England, dating to the early Bronze Age period or earlier Neolithic era. The barrow survives as an elongated earthwork mound, characteristic of long barrows constructed during the fourth and third millennia before the present,…

Dormouse14 / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons

St Leonard's Chapel

Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

St Leonard's Chapel is a medieval religious structure located in Dorset, England. The chapel dates to the medieval period and represents a small ecclesiastical building of the type commonly found throughout England during the Middle Ages. The site is recorded as a designated ancient monument unde…

Enclosure S of Pimperne Down

Scheduled monument · ~0.8 miles

Lazerton Farm causewayed road

Scheduled monument · ~1 miles

Other Roman Period Battles

Roman Assault on Maiden Castle 43 AD

Dorset, England

Vespasian's Campaign against the Durotriges

Dorset, England

Roman Assault on Maiden Castle (East Gate)

England

Vespasian's assault on Calleva Atrebatum

Hampshire, England

In the same landscape

Battles near Hod Hill Artillery Bombardment

Battle of Blandford

1781

~2.7 miles away

Possible Arthurian battle - Badbury Rings

500

~6.1 miles away

Roman Assault on Badbury Rings Hillfort

~6.3 miles away

Vespasian's Campaign against the Durotriges

~6.4 miles away

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