Roman Britain

Ingrid Vooglaid

Pre-Roman Britain 

map ca 55 BC - AD 43

 

First mapped at the request of Julius Caesar (54, 55 BC) a year before the invasion.

 

 

 

 

https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesBritain/BritishMapAD10.htm

Roman Britain

ca 150 AD

 

The main Roman roads, cities, and Brythonic tribes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.ancient.eu/image/575/map-of-roman-britain-150-ad/

 

 

Basic facts

 

*Julius Caesar`s Gallic wars 55-54 BC -> diplomacy, gifts to kings. 

*Roman Britain AD 43 - ca 410.

*Claudius invaded AD 43 to boost his prestige at home.

Started from southern England.

*AD 60 Boudicca, queen of the Iceni of East Anglia.

*AD 70 Wales and the north were conquered.

*Hadrian`s Wall AD 122. 

*Antonine Wall AD 140-60. 

*AD 410 Romans left -> chaos, local wars, towns abandoned.  

 

 

 

 

Roman heritage

Towns

 

*Living in towns.

*Town planning: in a grid,

streets in blocks,

forum in the middle.

*Towns: London - Londinium.

Corbridge Roman Town. http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/what-did-the-romans-do-for-us/​

Roman roads and plumbing

 

Partly still in use. Some roads have been converted to modern roads. Drainage in towns, aqueducts, concrete, a grid of roads.

Roman toilets and baths near the Hadrian`s wall and a bit of Roman road between Manchester and Yorkshire.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqtf34j/articles/z2dr4wx

http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/what-did-the-romans-do-for-us/​

Roman ruins

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hadrian%27s_Wall​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Baths_in_Bath_Spa,_England_-_July_2006_edit3.jpg​

Celtic wood, round -> Roman stone, straight lines.

Christianity

 

Britons originally pagans.

First Christians in AD 2nd century.

Banned, persecutions.

AD 313 Constantine - Christian freedom.

AD 391 Christianity the official religion

of the Roman Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Roman_Britain#/media/File:Saint_Patrick_Catholic_Church_(Junction_City,_Ohio)_-_stained_glass,_Saint_Patrick_-_detail.jpg​

Language

 

*Literacy.

*Latin in towns, Celtic languages in the

countryside.

*Words: Britain, exit, pedestrian, sinister,

plumbing (plumbum - lead), … . 

*Place names: -chester (Manchester),

-caster (Doncaster), -cester (Gloucester).

Castrum - a fort.

*Month names: July - Julius; August - Augustus.

*Roman numbers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqtf34j/articles/z2dr4wx​

More curious things

*Street food vendors, burgers.

*Advertising with billboards and signs.

*365 days in the calendar. Julian calendar

was the first.

*Currency, coins for buying things.

The same across the empire.

*Bureaucracy.

http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/what-did-the-romans-do-for-us/​

http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/roman-burger/​

Sources 

Gray, A. (19 May 2015). Did Romans invent the burger? http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/roman-burger/

Kessler, P. L. Map of Pre-Roman Britain 55 BC - AD 43. History Files. https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesBritain/BritishMapAD10.htm

An introduction to Roman Britain (AD 43 - c. 410). English Heritage.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/romans/

Isca Roman Amphitheatre. https://vimeo.com/70406500  

How did the Romans change Britain? Bitesize.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqtf34j/articles/z2dr4wx

English Heritage. (31 Aug. 2016). 10 things the Romans did for us. http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/what-did-the-romans-do-for-us/