A Study of the People of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

A Study of the People of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain 0112tima.dg.doc A Study of the People of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain by David G. A. Gibb A thesis presented for the degree of Master of Arts in the Centre for Molecular Immunology and Instrumentation and The Department of Classics and Ancient History University of Western Australia Presented February, 2002 1 0112maabs.dgibb.doc A Study of the People of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain Abstract Chapter 1 An introduction to what is known about the Pre-Roman Iron Age (PRIA), the Roman and Post-Roman periods and the people from written, archaeological and burial sources. Chapter 2 The literary evidence about the people of Britain of this time is limited, but what is available may be expanded and built upon from other sources, such as epigraphy, tablets, settlements and their patterns, burials and cemeteries, anthropology, demography and paleopathology. Chapter 3 The Iron Age people of North Western Europe, called Celts by their Mediterranean neighbours, developed common cultures known in the order of their occurrence as Hallstatt and La Tene and their impact on the people of Britain and their language is examined. Chapter 4 Contrary to the low population estimates of earlier historians, more recent evidence of land settlement in Britain, beyond the fringes bordering Continental Europe, disproves these claims for the PRIA and Roman Britain. In the Post-Roman period, population growth and stability are seen in decline. In support of increases and decreases in population growth an analysis of the evidence is presented. Chapter 5 Studies using mitochondrial DNA would indicate that, genetically, the peoples of Britain have remained relatively unchanged. Genetic markers such as the ii male Y-chromosome and profiling by the genomic matching technique (GMT) on DNA extracted from modern and ancient Britons, it is anticipated, would produce another scenario. Molecular genetics in population studies and their applicability to the ancient people of Britain are reviewed. Chapter 6 Methods of extracting and analysing ancient DNA, including their limitations, are discussed. In principle GMT offers a new approach to kinship and population studies. Chapter 7 A case study based on human teeth from the remains found in a small Romano-British burial site was carried out. Difficulties encountered through limitations imposed on the samples through quantity, probable inhibition and their possible resolution are presented. A successful analysis on similar material from a European site demonstrates the potential of the technology in contrast to the pitfalls. Chapter 8 The population of LPRIA Britain was greater than has been postulated in the past. Evidence of increased settlement numbers, their productive capacity and a developing material culture, pre-existing the Roman period, provides a launching pad for population increases in Roman Britain. Demic diffusion or residential movement of people bringing agriculture from the Levant to Britain is not supported by the present molecular genetic analysis of the European gene pool. The major component of the European gene pool as determined by genetic analysis is thought by some to have arisen from survivors of the last European glacial period, and not from demic diffusion of farmers from the Levant. Delayed by adverse climatic conditions, farming in Britain is said to have taken 5 or 6 millennia to arrive from the Middle East. From the gene pool analysis, I believe that agriculture in Britain was introduced through a combination of innate and colonising development that led to population growth long before the advent of the Romans. iii Population growth in Roman Britain cannot be seen solely as a direct effect of the inclusion of foreign genes but due to the stabilising influence of a unifying administration. The decline in the population in the Post-Roman period may be attributed to a variety of reasons, including system collapse, new invaders, climatic effects on food production and pestilence. Future population studies using genetic markers such as GMT on aDNA extracted from the skeletal remains, particularly teeth, of contemporary LPRIA and Roman Britons will assist in elucidating the source of population expansion, that is, through either demic or cultural diffusion, or both. IV 0202macont.dgibb.doc Table of Contents Pages Abstract i - iii Table of Contents iv - vi Acknowledgements vii- viii Figures and Tables ix - x Abbreviations xi - xii Chapter 1 Introduction 1-12 Preamble Archaeology Population in the PRIA Population in the Roman period The written evidence The burial evidence Complementary evidence. Chapter 2 The Evidence Introduction 13-33 Literary Epigraphic Tablets Settlements and patterns Burials Cemeteries Anthropology Cemeteries Demography Palaeopathology Chapter 3 Celts, Culture and Language 34-52 Introduction Literary sources Material culture The Hallstatt culture La Tene culture Iron-Age culture in 5th century BC V Hallstatt Art La Tene art La Tene in Britain; Language Celtic in the British Isles Continental and Insular Celtic Insular Celtic Celtic in Roman Britain. Chapter 4 Archaeological and Historical Demography 53-68 Population growth Coins and writing The Druids Censuses LPRIA Britain Archaeological evidence Burial evidence Population size - Roman Britain Population size - Settlement data Population size - Post Roman Britain Roman army Climatic change Chapter 5 Molecular Genetics in Population Studies 69-81 Introduction Peopling of Europe - mitochondrial DNA Populating Britain Y-chromosome in population studies The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Genomic Matching Technique Ancient DNA. Chapter 6 Ancient DNA: Recovery from Archaeological Teeth 82-95 Introduction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA in soft tissues DNA in hard tissues - population studies DNA in teeth and bone - kinship and ancestry Methodological challenges with ancient DNA Contamination Selection of material Microscopy Amino acid racemization Procedures to minimise contamination Procedures (Austin et al 1997, 304) Authentication Conclusion. VI Chapter 7 Archaeological Teeth - A case Study in aDNA Analysis 96-113 Introduction Bradley Hill cemetery DNA analysis of Bradley Hill teeth Extraction of DNA from Bradley Hill teeth Chelex 100 Sequencing of extracted aDNA Analysis of results Quantity of sample for extraction Inhibition of PCR Degradation of aDNA Conclusion Chapter 8 Conclusion 114-123 Introduction Celts or Iron Age People Molecular Genetics Arrival of Agriculture Molecular Genetic Studies on the Ancient People of Britain The Population of the Period Future Developments in the Study of the People of the PRIA and Roman Britain Bibliography 124-144 vii 0111maack.doc.dgibb ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was made possible by the patience and forbearance of my wife, Moira, to whom I am eternally grateful. I am much appreciative and very grateful for the support and encouragement that I received from my supervisors, Professor Roger Dawkins and Professor David Kennedy. I gratefully acknowledge and record my appreciation to the Somerset Museums Service and its Assistant County Museums Officer, Mr Stephen Minnitt for supplying the Bradley Hill teeth used in this study. I also am indebted to Associate Professor Gary Heathcote of the University of Guam for providing the 19 century teeth. Dr Wei Wang of Edith Cowan University kindly carried out the mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Bradley Hill teeth and provided me with helpful advice and encouragement. I also wish to record my thanks for the help of my daughter, Kathryn, who provided dental expertise in obtaining samples from the teeth for DNA analysis and restoring the integrity of the Bradley Hill teeth, I am indebted and appreciative of the advice, expertise and support with laboratory procedures received from past and present members of CMII staff, who included Associate Professor Yurek Kulski, Dr Guan Tay, Dr Silvana Gaudieri and Mr Nikitas Economou. For the understanding and goodwill of my fellow students, past and present, in helping me out with new technologies, I am particularly grateful. Thank you Natalie Jacobsen, Jemma Berry, Jenny Hui, Rebecca Laird, Craig McClure, and Joe Williamson for Vlll untangling my inexpert use of computers and instrumentation. I also would like to include Graeme Miles and thank him for helping me with the Greek translations. Finally, I acknowledge the support of the Immunogenetics Research Foundation (IRF) and the CMII in providing laboratory facilities for the project. IX 0112mafig.dgibb.doc FIGURES AND TABLES Page Figure 1. Europe in the Hallstatt period. 38 (Cunliffe 1997, 271) Figure 2. Centres of power: Hallstatt to La Tene 39 (Cunliffe 1997, 64) Figure 3 Chieftain's burial at Hochdorf. 40 (Cunliffe 1997, 59} Figure 4 La Tene art. 43 (Cunliffe 1997,113) Figure 5. Europe in the late La Tene period. 49 (Cunliffe 1997, 274) Figure 6. Bilingual inscriptions in Latin and Celtic. 54 (Cunliffe 1997, 22) Figure 7. Nature's book of life. 70 (Ridley 1999) Figure 8. HLA-A and B phylogenetic tree of 80 ethnic groups. 78 (Gojobori and Imanishi 1993, 71) Figure 9. Tree representative of 29 Mediterranean and European samples. 79 (Piazzo and Lonjou 1997, 380) Figure 10. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). 83 (Powledge and Rose 1996, 38) Figure 11. Cross section of Mammoth femur - microradiograph. 91 (Herrmann and Hummel 1994, 5) Figure 12. Contamination by microorganisms in ancient femur. 92 (Herrmann and Hummel 1994,10) Figure 13. Extirpating tooth pulp cavity for DNA analysis. 104 Figure 14. Electropherogram - test for PCR
Recommended publications
  • This PDF File of Your Paper in the Later Iron Age Belongs to the Publishers Oxbow Books and Is Their Copyright
    This PDF file of your paper in The Later Iron Age belongs to the publishers Oxbow Books and is their copyright. As author you are licenced to make up to 50 offprints from it, but beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web or in any other form. THE LATER IRON AGE IN BRITAIN AND BEYOND edited by Colin Haselgrove and Tom Moore Oxbow Books Published by Oxbow Books, Park End Place, Oxford OX1 1HN © Oxbow Books and the authors, 2007 ISBN 978-1-84217-252-0 1-84217-252-0 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library This book is available direct from Oxbow Books, Park End Place, Oxford OX1 1HN (Phone: 01865-241249; Fax: 01865-794449) and The David Brown Books Company PO Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA (Phone: 860-945-9329; Fax: 860-945-9468) or from our website www.oxbowbooks.com Cover by Christina Unwin based on an idea by Rachel Pope; reconstruction of burial by Simon James Printed in Great Britain at Short Run Press, Exeter Contents 1. New narratives of the Later Iron Age 1 Colin Haselgrove and Tom Moore 2. The dynamics of social change in Later Iron Age eastern and south-eastern England 16 c. 300 BC–AD 43. J. D. Hill 3. Life on the edge? Exchange, community, and identity in the Later Iron Age 41 of the Severn–Cotswolds Tom Moore 4. Central places or special places? The origins and development of ‘oppida’ in Hertfordshire 62 Stewart Bryant 5. Cultural choices in the ‘British Eastern Channel Area’ in the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age 81 Sue Hamilton 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain
    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-16-2016 12:00 AM Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain Robert Jackson Woodcock The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Professor Alexander Meyer The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Classics A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Robert Jackson Woodcock 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Indo- European Linguistics and Philology Commons Recommended Citation Woodcock, Robert Jackson, "Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3775. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3775 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Language is one of the most significant aspects of cultural identity. This thesis examines the evidence of languages in contact in Roman Britain in order to determine the role that language played in defining the identities of the inhabitants of this Roman province. All forms of documentary evidence from monumental stone epigraphy to ownership marks scratched onto pottery are analyzed for indications of bilingualism and language contact in Roman Britain. The language and subject matter of the Vindolanda writing tablets from a Roman army fort on the northern frontier are analyzed for indications of bilingual interactions between Roman soldiers and their native surroundings, as well as Celtic interference on the Latin that was written and spoken by the Roman army.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Conquest, Occupation and Settlement of Wales AD 47–410
    no nonsense Roman Conquest, Occupation and Settlement of Wales AD 47–410 – interpretation ltd interpretation Contract number 1446 May 2011 no nonsense–interpretation ltd 27 Lyth Hill Road Bayston Hill Shrewsbury SY3 0EW www.nononsense-interpretation.co.uk Cadw would like to thank Richard Brewer, Research Keeper of Roman Archaeology, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, for his insight, help and support throughout the writing of this plan. Roman Conquest, Occupation and Settlement of Wales AD 47-410 Cadw 2011 no nonsense-interpretation ltd 2 Contents 1. Roman conquest, occupation and settlement of Wales AD 47410 .............................................. 5 1.1 Relationship to other plans under the HTP............................................................................. 5 1.2 Linking our Roman assets ....................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Sites not in Wales .................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Criteria for the selection of sites in this plan .......................................................................... 9 2. Why read this plan? ...................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Aim what we want to achieve ........................................................................................... 10 2.2 Objectives.............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A Very Rough Guide to the Main DNA Sources of the Counties of The
    A Very Rough Guide To the Main DNA Sources of the Counties of the British Isles (NB This only includes the major contributors - others will have had more limited input) TIMELINE (AD) ? - 43 43 - c410 c410 - 878 c878 - 1066 1066 -> c1086 1169 1283 -> c1289 1290 (limited) (limited) Normans (limited) Region Pre 1974 County Ancient Britons Romans Angles / Saxon / Jutes Norwegians Danes conq Engl inv Irel conq Wales Isle of Man ENGLAND Cornwall Dumnonii Saxon Norman Devon Dumnonii Saxon Norman Dorset Durotriges Saxon Norman Somerset Durotriges (S), Belgae (N) Saxon Norman South West South Wiltshire Belgae (S&W), Atrebates (N&E) Saxon Norman Gloucestershire Dobunni Saxon Norman Middlesex Catuvellauni Saxon Danes Norman Berkshire Atrebates Saxon Norman Hampshire Belgae (S), Atrebates (N) Saxon Norman Surrey Regnenses Saxon Norman Sussex Regnenses Saxon Norman Kent Canti Jute then Saxon Norman South East South Oxfordshire Dobunni (W), Catuvellauni (E) Angle Norman Buckinghamshire Catuvellauni Angle Danes Norman Bedfordshire Catuvellauni Angle Danes Norman Hertfordshire Catuvellauni Angle Danes Norman Essex Trinovantes Saxon Danes Norman Suffolk Trinovantes (S & mid), Iceni (N) Angle Danes Norman Norfolk Iceni Angle Danes Norman East Anglia East Cambridgeshire Catuvellauni Angle Danes Norman Huntingdonshire Catuvellauni Angle Danes Norman Northamptonshire Catuvellauni (S), Coritani (N) Angle Danes Norman Warwickshire Coritani (E), Cornovii (W) Angle Norman Worcestershire Dobunni (S), Cornovii (N) Angle Norman Herefordshire Dobunni (S), Cornovii
    [Show full text]
  • Two Studies on Roman London. Part B: Population Decline and Ritual Landscapes in Antonine London
    Two Studies on Roman London. Part B: population decline and ritual landscapes in Antonine London In this paper I turn my attention to the changes that took place in London in the mid to late second century. Until recently the prevailing orthodoxy amongst students of Roman London was that the settlement suffered a major population decline in this period. Recent excavations have shown that not all properties were blighted by abandonment or neglect, and this has encouraged some to suggest that the evidence for decline may have been exaggerated.1 Here I wish to restate the case for a significant decline in housing density in the period circa AD 160, but also draw attention to evidence for this being a period of increased investment in the architecture of religion and ceremony. New discoveries of temple complexes have considerably improved our ability to describe London’s evolving ritual landscape. This evidence allows for the speculative reconstruction of the main processional routes through the city. It also shows that the main investment in ceremonial architecture took place at the very time that London’s population was entering a period of rapid decline. We are therefore faced with two puzzling developments: why were parts of London emptied of houses in the middle second century, and why was this contraction accompanied by increased spending on religious architecture? This apparent contradiction merits detailed consideration. The causes of the changes of this period have been much debated, with most emphasis given to the economic and political factors that reduced London’s importance in late antiquity. These arguments remain valid, but here I wish to return to the suggestion that the Antonine plague, also known as the plague of Galen, may have been instrumental in setting London on its new trajectory.2 The possible demographic and economic consequences of this plague have been much debated in the pages of this journal, with a conservative view of its impact generally prevailing.
    [Show full text]
  • Annals of the Caledonians, Picts and Scots
    Columbia (HnitJer^ftp intlifCttpufUmigdrk LIBRARY COL.COLL. LIBRARY. N.YORK. Annals of t{ie CaleDoiuans. : ; I^col.coll; ^UMl^v iV.YORK OF THE CALEDONIANS, PICTS, AND SCOTS AND OF STRATHCLYDE, CUMBERLAND, GALLOWAY, AND MURRAY. BY JOSEPH RITSON, ESQ. VOLUME THE FIRST. Antiquam exquirite matrem. EDINBURGH PRINTED FOR W. AND D. LAING ; AND PAYNE AND FOSS, PALL-MALL, LONDON. 1828. : r.DiKBURnii FIlINTEn I5Y BAI.LANTTNK ASn COMPAKV, Piiiri.'S WOKK, CANONGATK. CONTENTS. VOL. I. PAGE. Advertisement, 1 Annals of the Caledonians. Introduction, 7 Annals, -. 25 Annals of the Picts. Introduction, 71 Annals, 135 Appendix. No. I. Names and succession of the Pictish kings, .... 254 No. II. Annals of the Cruthens or Irish Picts, 258 /» ('^ v^: n ,^ '"1 v> Another posthumous work of the late Mr Rlt- son is now presented to the world, which the edi- tor trusts will not be found less valuable than the publications preceding it. Lord Hailes professes to commence his interest- ing Annals with the accession of Malcolm III., '* be- cause the History of Scotland, previous to that pe- riod, is involved in obscurity and fable :" the praise of indefatigable industry and research cannot there- fore be justly denied to the compiler of the present volumes, who has extended the supposed limit of authentic history for many centuries, and whose labours, in fact, end where those of his predecessor hegi7i. The editor deems it a conscientious duty to give the authors materials in their original shape, " un- mixed with baser matter ;" which will account for, and, it is hoped, excuse, the trifling repetition and omissions that sometimes occur.
    [Show full text]
  • Storiografi Della Britannia Medievale: Tematiche Storiche E Letterarie
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by AMS Tesi di Dottorato Università degli Studi di Bologna Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale _______________________________________________________________ DOTTORATO DI RICERCA IN FILOLOGIA GRECA E LATINA Ciclo XXI Settore scientifico disciplinare: L-FIL-LET/04 STORIOGRAFI DELLA BRITANNIA MEDIEVALE: TEMATICHE STORICHE E LETTERARIE Tesi presentata da Alberto Zama Coordinatore del Dottorato Relatore Chiar.mo Prof. Chiar.mo Prof. Renzo Tosi Marco Scaffai Anni Accademici 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 PREMESSA Lo studioso che decida di analizzare un testo storiografico, di qualsiasi natura esso sia, ha la possibilità di farlo sotto molteplici punti di vista. Sotto questo aspetto, la storiografia è un genere poliedrico, caleidoscopico, che si presta ad indagini e fruizioni diverse. Si può in primo luogo trattare un testo storiografico come semplice fonte per un periodo storico: in tal caso, fondamentale sarà cercare di capire quali informazioni siano degne di fede e storicamente corrette. Si può invece analizzare il testo sotto l’aspetto letterario e filologico, valutandone aspetti di tradizione testuale e stilistici. Si può da ultimo scegliere di “far parlare” il testo, cercando di carpire dalle sue pieghe, dalla sua littera , il pensiero dell’autore, le sue convinzioni, la sua cultura, i suoi rapporti con le fonti e l’opinione che egli aveva del periodo storico che descriveva. Si tratta di un aspetto sottilmente ma significativamente diverso dal primo, in quanto non è in gioco la ricostruzione della storia del periodo, ma l’ idea che di quel periodo aveva lo storico in questione, giusta o sbagliata che fosse.
    [Show full text]
  • A Modern History of Britain's Roman Mosaic Pavements
    Spectacle and Display: A Modern History of Britain’s Roman Mosaic Pavements Michael Dawson Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 79 Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG www.archaeopress.com ISBN 978-1-78969-831-2 ISBN 978-1-78969-832-9 (e-Pdf) © Michael Dawson and Archaeopress 2021 Front cover image: Mosaic art or craft? Reading Museum, wall hung mosaic floor from House 1, Insula XIV, Silchester, juxtaposed with pottery by the Aldermaston potter Alan Gaiger-Smith. Back cover image: Mosaic as spectacle. Verulamium Museum, 2007. The triclinium pavement, wall mounted and studio lit for effect, Insula II, Building 1 in Verulamium 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com Contents List of figures.................................................................................................................................................iii Preface ............................................................................................................................................................v 1 Mosaics Make a Site ..................................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Dumnonia
    ancient Dumnonia. BT THE REV. W. GRESWELL. he question of the geographical limits of Ancient T Dumnonia lies at the bottom of many problems of Somerset archaeology, not the least being the question of the western boundaries of the County itself. Dcmnonia, Dumnonia and Dz^mnonia are variations of the original name, about which we learn much from Professor Rhys.^ Camden, in his Britannia (vol. i), adopts the form Danmonia apparently to suit a derivation of his own from “ Duns,” a hill, “ moina ” or “mwyn,” a mine, w’hich is surely fanciful, and, therefore, to be rejected. This much seems certain that Dumnonia is the original form of Duffneint, the modern Devonia. This is, of course, an extremely respectable pedigree for the Western County, which seems to be unique in perpetuating in its name, and, to a certain extent, in its history, an ancient Celtic king- dom. Such old kingdoms as “ Demetia,” in South Wales, and “Venedocia” (albeit recognisable in Gwynneth), high up the Severn Valley, about which we read in our earliest records, have gone, but “Dumnonia” lives on in beautiful Devon. It also lives on in West Somerset in history, if not in name, if we mistake not. Historically speaking, we may ask where was Dumnonia ? and who were the Dumnonii ? Professor Rhys reminds us (1). Celtic Britain, by G. Rhys, pp. 290-291. — 176 Papers, §*c. that there were two peoples so called, the one in the South West of the Island and the other in the North, ^ resembling one another in one very important particular, vizo, in living in districts adjoining the seas, and, therefore, in being maritime.
    [Show full text]
  • The World's Measure: Caesar's Geographies of Gallia and Britannia in Their Contexts and As Evidence of His World Map
    The World's Measure: Caesar's Geographies of Gallia and Britannia in their Contexts and as Evidence of his World Map Christopher B. Krebs American Journal of Philology, Volume 139, Number 1 (Whole Number 553), Spring 2018, pp. 93-122 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ajp.2018.0003 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/687618 Access provided at 25 Oct 2019 22:25 GMT from Stanford Libraries THE WORLD’S MEASURE: CAESAR’S GEOGRAPHIES OF GALLIA AND BRITANNIA IN THEIR CONTEXTS AND AS EVIDENCE OF HIS WORLD MAP CHRISTOPHER B. KREBS u Abstract: Caesar’s geographies of Gallia and Britannia as set out in the Bellum Gallicum differ in kind, the former being “descriptive” and much indebted to the techniques of Roman land surveying, the latter being “scientific” and informed by the methods of Greek geographers. This difference results from their different contexts: here imperialist, there “cartographic.” The geography of Britannia is ultimately part of Caesar’s (only passingly and late) attested great cartographic endeavor to measure “the world,” the beginning of which coincided with his second British expedition. To Tony Woodman, on the occasion of his retirement as Basil L. Gildersleeve Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia, in gratitude. IN ALEXANDRIA AT DINNER with Cleopatra, Caesar felt the sting of curiosity. He inquired of “the linen-wearing Acoreus” (linigerum . Acorea, Luc. 10.175), a learned priest of Isis, whether he would illuminate him on the lands and peoples, gods and customs of Egypt. Surely, Lucan has him add, there had never been “a visitor more capable of the world” than he (mundique capacior hospes, 10.183).
    [Show full text]
  • 'J.E. Lloyd and His Intellectual Legacy: the Roman Conquest and Its Consequences Reconsidered' : Emyr W. Williams
    J.E. Lloyd and his intellectual legacy: the Roman conquest and its consequences reconsidered,1 by E.W. Williams In an earlier article,2 the adequacy of J.E.Lloyd’s analysis of the territories ascribed to the pre-Roman tribes of Wales was considered. It was concluded that his concept of pre- Roman tribal boundaries contained major flaws. A significantly different map of those tribal territories was then presented. Lloyd’s analysis of the course and consequences of the Roman conquest of Wales was also revisited. He viewed Wales as having been conquered but remaining largely as a militarised zone throughout the Roman period. From the 1920s, Lloyd's analysis was taken up and elaborated by Welsh archaeology, then at an early stage of its development. It led to Nash-Williams’s concept of Wales as ‘a great defensive quadrilateral’ centred on the legionary fortresses at Chester and Caerleon. During recent decades whilst Nash-Williams’s perspective has been abandoned by Welsh archaeology, it has been absorbed in an elaborated form into the narrative of Welsh history. As a consequence, whilst Welsh history still sustains a version of Lloyd’s original thesis, the archaeological community is moving in the opposite direction. Present day archaeology regards the subjugation of Wales as having been completed by 78 A.D., with the conquest laying the foundations for a subsequent process of assimilation of the native population into Roman society. By the middle of the 2nd century A.D., that development provided the basis for a major demilitarisation of Wales. My aim in this article is to cast further light on the course of the Roman conquest of Wales and the subsequent process of assimilating the native population into Roman civil society.
    [Show full text]
  • Was Galatian Really Celtic? Anthony Durham & Michael Goormachtigh First Published November 2011, Updated to October 2016
    Was Galatian Really Celtic? Anthony Durham & Michael Goormachtigh first published November 2011, updated to October 2016 Summary Saint Jerome’s AD 386 remark that the language of ancient Galatia (around modern Ankara) resembled the language of the Treveri (around modern Trier) has been misinterpreted. The “Celts”, “Gauls” or “Galatians” mentioned by classical authors, including those who invaded Greece and Anatolia around 277 BC, were not Celtic in the modern sense of speaking a Celtic language related to Welsh and Irish, but tall, pale-skinned, hairy, warrior peoples from the north. The 150 or so words and proper names currently known from Galatian speech show little affinity with Celtic but more with Germanic. Introduction In AD 386 Saint Jerome wrote: Apart from the Greek language, which is spoken throughout the entire East, the Galatians have their own language, almost the same as the Treveri. For many people this short remark is the linchpin of a belief that ancient Celtic speech spread far outside its Atlantic-fringe homeland, reaching even into the heart of Anatolia, modern Turkey. However, we wish to challenge the idea that Galatians spoke a language that was Celtic in the modern sense of being closely related to Welsh or Irish. Galatia was the region around ancient Ancyra, modern Ankara, in the middle of Turkey. Anatolia (otherwise known as Asia Minor) has seen many civilisations come and go over the millennia. Around 8000 BC it was a cradle of agriculture and the Neolithic revolution. The whole family of Indo-European languages originated somewhere in that region. We favour the idea that they grew up around the Black Sea all the way from northern Anatolia, past the mouth of the river Danube, to southern Russia and Ukraine.
    [Show full text]