Download Roman Britain

HI 303X – 01
Roman Britain
Bringing civilization to the Celtic tribes
John Lewis D'Antonio
4/8/2015
Col Sheldon
Help Received: Col Sheldon
Rome has always been known for its expansive empire in Western Europe. Roughly
nine-hundred miles from Rome in the north most corner, sits the province of Britain.1 From the
early invasion attempts of Caesar to the later conquest and occupation initiated by Claudius, the
Roman way of life began to slowly change Britain.
This all began with a man most commonly known for the amount of knives that pierced
his body, Julius Caesar. Now Caesar had already defeated the cousins of Celts, the Gauls, in
modern day France. It was here that he first learned about Britain. What followed were a series
of embarrassing tactical and military blunders that resulted in two failed invasions by the famous
general, one in 55 BC and another the next year in 54. Despite rumors of more invasions to
come, Britain was left in relative peace for about one hundred years until Emperor Claudius. 2
In 43 AD at the order of the emperor, consul and accomplished general, Aulus Plautius,
led an army of four legions (IInd August, IXth Hispana, XIVth Gemina, and XXth Valeria) to
the shore of Britain to expand the borders of the Empire.3 This force of around twenty-two
thousand4 men was nearly unstoppable and before the year was over, Claudius himself arrived to
take command for the final battle of the invasion at Colchester.
After taking Colchester,
Claudius declared it the capital of the new province. The Romans had finally arrived again, and
they were here to stay.
Although the Romans had established themselves in Britain, it would not be a peaceful
transition. In the early 50’s minor rebellions appeared and but were quickly quashed. It wasn’t
until 60 BC that a major rebellion would occur. This revolt came from southern Britain and was
1
Google Maps
H. H. Scullard, Roman Britain Outpost of the Empire, pp 27
3
T.W. Potter, Roman Britain, pp 44
4
Wooliscroft, The Flavian Occupation of Northern Scotland, pg 21
2
led by the wife of a deceased king, her name was Boudicca. 5 In the campaign that followed an
estimated seventy to eighty thousand Romans and Brits would die.
Emperor Nero even
considered withdrawing from Britain entirely.6 Eventually however, her army was defeated and
she committed suicide thus ending the major revolts of southern Britain.
The Flavian emperors continued the march into northern Britain, and by the year AD 82
they had taken the lowlands of Scotland. The next year Emperor Domitian ordered the invasion
and capture of the rest of Scotland, but was forced to stop due to troubles in Romania.7 It was
here that the Roman advance would be stopped; future efforts would be slightly successful but
would also be pushed back within a few years. The famous Wall of Hadrian would be roughly
built along the border left by Domitian, a physical marker showing the farthest northern reach of
mighty Rome.8
Now that Britain was officially a province of Rome, life would begin to change. The
most striking change to Britain would be urbanization. As seen by the large number of city
states, Mediterranean civilizations have all been based on the life of the city, examples of this
includes Sparta, Athens and Corinth. This was something that Rome brought with them to
civilize its provinces, and Britain was no different. Before the Romans arrived there were
virtually no real towns as the Celtic people lived in conglomerations of huts protected by dikes.9
For the Roman Empire, moving these people into towns was no different than what they had
done in Italy, Spain and Gaul. Several types of towns sprang up all over southern Britain,
colonai (colonies of Roman citizens), civitates (towns of different tribesmen) and municipia
5
Tacitus, The Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, 16
Roman Britain, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain
7
Scullard, pp 46
8
John Ward, The Roman Era In Britain, pp 61-62
9
Scullard, pp 49
6
(civitates that had been given Roman or the more limited Latin rights.10 These towns were
extremely important in the process of Romanizing Britain because it helped introduce the Celts
and Britons to the culture of Mediterranean life. Examples of these towns can still be seen today
such as Londinium (London) and Mamucium (Manchester).11
Another important part of the Romanization of Britain was the fifty-five thousand Roman
soldiers required for the defense and pacification of Britain. The army was split between two
types of soldiers, legionaries, who were citizens from Italy or more pacified provinces such as
Gaul or Spain, and auxiliaries, soldiers from the more frontier provinces who had joined the
army to gain their citizenship. Both of these types of soldiers would settle in Britain after
retiring. Because this was a large amount of people used to living the life of a Roman, it helped
to encourage the local populace to not only stay peaceful, but to adopt the more civilized lifestyle
of Rome.
The last major factor in the Romanization of Britain was religion. Although the beliefs
and practices of the Celts would change very little in the remoter parts of the country, those
within the towns would quickly adopt the Roman gods.12 Usually the Romans did not ban your
religion and in fact were content to let you continue to worship your gods as long worshiped the
Roman gods as well. However it was slightly different in Britain. The Romans were particularly
disgusted by the Celtic practice of human sacrifice.13 They were repulsed enough that they
banned most practices of the Celtic religion. They did not ban the worship of their gods but only
allowed them to be worshiped if done in the “normal” or “Roman” way. So in a way, even
though they did not ban the worship of Celtic gods, they expedited the Romanization process by
10
Scullard, pp 50
Roman Britain, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain
12
H. H. Scullard, Roman Britain Outpost of the Empire, pp 154 - 156
13
Scullard, 156
11
requiring them to worship like the Romans. All these factors led to a more Roman people in
Britain.
Much of what we know about the way that the Romans ran Britain we know from what
they have left us. Perhaps the most valuable are the writing of Cornelius Tacitus who has
provided the majority of what we know about the early years of Rome in Britain. Primary
among these is biography of Gnaeus Julius Agricola.
We also know much from the
archeological finds. As we know, members of the Roman army were not only soldiers but
trained field engineers who were adept at building their own bridges, fortifications and
weaponry.14 The archeological sites of around forty different Roman forts have been found in
Flavian Scotland alone.15 The amount of these sites has allowed archeological finds such as
inscriptions, pottery, and coins, just to name a few, from the Roman era to survive today. It is
items like these that have given historians an insight into Roman life in ancient Britain.
In conclusion, the towns, the citizens and even the worship of gods were changes that, for
good or ill, the Roman Empire made on the people of the province of Britain. It would be wrong
to state that the Romans left Britain. The Roman citizens that settled did not get up and leave.
They did not pack up and take their arches and public bathes with them. In the year 410 the
Empire of Rome did cease control of Britain and that was all that happened. In a sense the
government did “leave”, but what they left behind was a land that was forever changed from how
it was found.
14
15
Wooliscroft, The Flavian Occupation of Northern Scotland, pg 21
Wooliscroft, pg 33
Bibliography
Collingwood, R. G., Roman Britain, Oxford U.K., The Clarendon Press, 1944
Google Maps (for calculating distances)
Potter, T. W. and Johns, Catherine Roman Britain, Los Angeles California, The University of
California Press, 1992
“Roman- Britain” Wikipedia, 4/20/15, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain
Scullard, H. H. Roman Britain Outpost of the Empire, London U.K., Thames and Hudson Ltd,
1979
Tacitus, Cornelius, The Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, New York. Random House Inc. 1876
Ward, John The Roman Era In Britain, London U.K., Methuen & CO. LTD, 1911
Woolliscroft, D. J. and Hoffmann B. Rome’s First Frontier: The Flavian Occupation of
Northern Scotland, Cloucetershire U.K., Tempus Publishing, 2006