The roll was not written yet but since military drummers were about the only available drummers they would often embellish the boring parts as they were accustomed to. There were a dozen or so of what we would call rudiments that were used. Bach first used a trill sign to indicate a roll on a sustained note in 1794 in one of his cantatas. His next roll was 21 years later. He never used it on fermatas or on long final notes.
Most modern timpanists do use a roll on the final fermata.
Handel had available two large drums captured in war in 1709. He used the timpani, trumpets and trombones to give a festive air to his music. Handel sometimes used the timpani to anticipate the harmony or on the third of the chord. Handel was the first composer to indicate a change of tuning within a work. It only happens twice and may have been accidental.