User:Yusuftaguri/Fishbourne Roman Palace

[Feedback from Dr Austen - a wonderful first draft here Yusuf. You have added a lot of additional content, which demonstrates your engagement with scholarship. Your peer reviewer provided very thorough feedback, and I would use this as your main guide for areas of improvement. It would also be great if you could find some additional images to add to the page during your next phase of edits (if possible with copyright, of course). I have also noted a few thinks in brackets below that I think need a little tidying up.]

Lead Section
The Fishbourne Roman Palace (or Fishbourne Villa) is located in the village of Fishbourne, Chichester in West Sussex. The palace is the largest residential Roman building discovered in Britain and has an unusually early date of 75 CE, approximately thirty years after the Roman conquest of Britain.

Much of the palace has been excavated and is preserved, along with an on-site museum. The rectangular palace consists of four major quadrants and is surrounded by formal gardens, the northern parts of which have been reconstructed.

Extensive alterations were made to the palace in the 2nd and 3rd centuries when many of the original black and white mosaics were overlaid with more sophisticated coloured work, including the perfectly preserved dolphin mosaic in the north wing. These mosaics are believed to be the oldest and most elaborate ones that remain from the Roman period in Britain. Additional alterations were in progress when the palace burnt down in around 270 CE, after which it was abandoned.

Discovery and excavation
The site itself was accidentally discovered in 1805, during the construction of a new home on the grounds of the ancient Roman ruin. '''Workers discovered 13-foot-wide pavement as well as fragments of columns. In the following years, additional remains such as pottery fragments and portions of mosaic tiles were unearthed by local inhabitants who lived within close proximity to the site. However, the locals were unable to conceive the fact that the findings were part of a larger unknown structure that remained below the surface. It wasn’t until 1960, that Aubrey Barrett, an engineer working for the Portsmouth Water Company, discovered the foundations of a “masonry building” located north of the main road while digging a trench for a water main.'''

This rediscovery of the ancient structure caught the attention of the Sussex Archeological Society and triggered the first series of excavations, directed by archeologist Barry Cunliffe and his team in 1961. Cunliffe’s findings from his digs provide the most significant portion of the information associated with the site. In the years following the initial excavations led by Cunliffe, a series of further excavations were conducted, each of which focused on unearthing various other areas of the ancient site.

To the surprise of archeologists and historians alike, each stage of excavations revealed previously unknown details surrounding the site’s vast and complex history. For instance, from 1995 to 1999, archeologists John Manley and David Rudkin conducted digs that focused on southern portions of the site, which exposed significant evidence of human activity prior to the Roman conquest in 43 CE. Over the course of five years, Manley’s team of archeologist discovered nearly twelve thousand artifacts, including flint tools that are believed to date back to the Mesolithic period (around 5000-4000 BCE) and could indicate the presence of a hunter and gather settlement near the present-day location of the Fishbourne palace.   Although, the most intriguing and significant evidence of pre-Roman human activity at the site comes from a ditch containing nearly seven hundred fragments of pottery and a cup that can be traced back to a period within the Late Iron Age. The findings made by Manley and his team challenge Cunliffe’s earlier assumptions by suggesting the likely presence of significant human activity at Fishbourne prior to 43 CE.

The site of the excavated Roman villa  was so large that it became known as Fishbourne Roman Palace. In size, it is approximately equivalent to Nero's Golden House in Rome or to the Villa Romana del Casale near to Piazza Armerina in Sicily, and in plan it closely mirrors the basic organization of the emperor Domitian's palace, the Domus Flavia, completed in 92 CE upon the Palatine Hill in Rome. Fishbourne is by far the largest Roman residence known north of the Alps. At about 500 feet (150 m) square, it has a larger footprint than Buckingham Palace.

Owner of the Palace
The accepted theory, first proposed by Barry Cunliffe, is that the early phase of the palace was the residence of Tiberius Claudius Togidubnus (or Cogidubnus), a pro-Roman local chieftain who was installed as king of a number of territories following the first stage of the conquest. Togidubnus is known from a reference to his loyalty in Tacitus's Agricola, and from an inscription commemorating a temple dedicated to Neptune and Minerva found in nearby Chichester. 'Furthermore, around 60 CE, Togidubnus was granted the prominent title of legatos Augusti'', which normally restricted to the statesmen and aristocrats of Rome. Cunliffe correlates this event with the construction of a large masonry extension of the palace in 70 CE, which was fitting for an individual of such a high status in order to support his theory.'''

Another theory is that it was built for another native, Sallustius Lucullus, a Roman governor of Britain of the late 1st century who may have been the son of the British prince Adminius. Two inscriptions recording the presence of Lucullus have been found in nearby Chichester and the re-dating of the palace to the early 90s CE by Miles Russell, would resonate more securely with such an interpretation. If the palace were designed for Lucullus, then it may have only been in use for a few years, for the Roman historian Suetonius records that Lucullus was executed by the delusional emperor Domitian in or shortly after 93 CE.

Additional theories suggest that owner of the palace was either Verica, a British client king of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Claudian invasion, or even one Tiberius Claudius Catuarus, whose gold signet ring was discovered nearby in 1995.

Sitting
The location of Fishbourne, in proximity to Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum), is often looked to when discussing the opulent wealth represented at Fishbourne as well as solidification for the claim of Cogidubnus as the villa owner. The city of Chichester was in the heart of the dominant Atrebates tribe, but their early introduction to Roman imperialism created a pseudo-friendly relationship between the Romans and the Atrebates. The tribal people in the area were later called the Regnii after being ruled by Roman client kings for an extended period of time. A research article written by David Tomalin, suggests that the Fishbourne palace may have possibly been designated as a "seat of lordship", which meant that it may have had greater financial and social authority as opposed to other palaces or villas in its vicinity. Furthermore, the palace's proximity to the Fishbourne channel, which provided ships with access to the sea, meant that it could have potentially had its own harbour that received trading ships.

Destruction and aftermath
'''There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that the north wing was completely destroyed in a fire around 270 CE. For instance, some of the rubble from the collapsed roof as well as its tiles and melted fittings were scattered on the ground floor, while some of the burnt doors remained standing. There is also evidence of extreme heat that can be found on the tiles, which were discoloured. The fire did not consume the east wing of the palace, although the decision was later made to demolish the baths located in said wing around 290 CE.'''

'''It is unclear whether the fire was accidental or intentional, however, its destruction correlated with a period of instability. During this period, Rome’s control over Britain was contested by a former Roman military commander named Carausius, who revolted against the Roman hegemony and declared himself ruler of the Isle around 280 CE. In turn, it is possible that the palace’s destruction was a part of a more widespread period of disruption caused by the revolt, although this scenario is not certain.'''

All objects and furnishings within the palace were completely destroyed and the only thing that remained standing was the palace walls. '''The damage was too great to repair, and the palace was abandoned and later dismantled. Furthermore, the rising water levels and subsequent flooding in the surrounding area may have also influenced the decision to not restore the structure. Over the course of the following years, the local inhabitants of Chichester raided the site for its building stones, which is why the ground-stone foundations of the walls are the only part of the ancient structure remaining today.'''

'''The site of the palace was later used as a burial ground during the early Saxon period, which became clear upon the discovery of four corpses within the foundation of the ancient ruin. During the Medieval period, the palace laid below several feet of built-up soil and was forgotten about until its re-discovery in the 19th century. '''
 * Fishbourne Roman palace corpse.jpg

Legacy
A museum was erected over the excavated palace by the Sussex Archaeological Society, in order to protect and preserve some of the remains in situ. The museum incorporates most of the visible remains including one wing of the palace. The gardens were re-planted using authentic plants from the Roman period, including roses, lilies, rosemary, various fruit trees and boxed hedges. A team of volunteers and professional archaeologists are involved in a continuing research archaeological excavation on the site of nearby, possible military buildings as well as a harbour area located on the southern portion of the Fishbourne site. The latest excavation season was conducted in 2002.

'''The Fishbourne Roman Palace Museum was closed to the public in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sussex Archaeological Society lost an estimated £1 million in income from visitors, and in June began a fundraising appeal so that it could continue maintaining Fishbourne Roman Palace along with other properties.'''