DOCSLIB.ORG

Roman Britain

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Roman Britain Diagram – Map of the Roman Empire Important Places and Daily Life in the Roman Empire Key Fact: Map of the Roman In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are Children in Roman Empire (117AD) Romulus & twin brothers whose story tells the events that Where? schools were Remus led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Rome, Italy taught the story of Romulus and This map shows the Roman Roman Kingdom by Romulus. Remus. Empire at its largest, during the rule of Trajan in 117AD. Much of The Colosseum was built between around 80 AD by the Emperor Vespasian. It could seat Key Fact: what is now Europe and North Where? The Colosseum is Africa was dominated by the The Colosseum about 50,000 spectators who came to watch Rome, Italy 189m long and empire, as was virtually all of events including gladiatorial combats, wild 156m wide! animal hunts and sporting games. the Mediterranean coastline. However, with the increasing Hadrian’s Wall, begun in 122AD, was a fortification designed to stop tribes in Scotland Where? Key Fact: size, the Romans’ ability to run 73 miles along Lots of the wall still Hadrian’s Wall attacking England (part of the Roman northern exists, and can be the empire effectively was Empire). It took over ten years to build. It was decreased, meaning that there England followed by path. the most heavily fortified wall in the Empire. was a gradual loss of territory Diocletian’s Palace was built as a retirement Key Fact: from this point onwards, residence for the Roman Emperor Diocletian It is so huge that it rd Diocletian’s Where? particularly in the 3 Century. around 305AD. He lived in the palace until his makes up about Palace Split, Croatia death in 316AD. Although called a palace, it half of the old was also space for a whole army garrison! town of Split! The Aqueduct of Segovia is a well-maintained Key Fact: Aqueduct of Aqueduct in Spain. It is predicted to have been Where? At its tallest, the Segovia built around 112AD. It once transported water Segovia, Spain aqueduct reaches Roman Empire in Britain a height of 28.5m! from the Rio Frio river to Segovia. Julius Caesar (100BC-44BC) Claudius (10BC–54AD) Family was an important part of Roman life – How? Key Fact: Julius Caesar was best known for the being the first laws were written to protect the family Slaves and The ‘familia’ of Family Life servants were Roman Emperors dictator of Rome – putting to an end the Roman Claudius was the fourth Roman Emperor. He had structure. The family that you belonged to had counted as a part could extend into Republic. A powerful army general, Caesar some kind of disability, in both speech and a lot to do with your place in Roman society. of the ‘familia.’ thousands! gathered enormous support amongst Romans. In waliking, which meant he was kept from power until he was Slaves performed much of the hard work and How? Key Fact: opposition to the rules of the Senate, he marched his army the last remaining male in the family, aged 38. Claudius, Slaves and construction in the Roman Empire. Most slaves Most slaves Some people sold worked in to Rome and took control. As leader, he built many famous however, proved himself to be a good leader, expanding the Peasants were people captured in times of war, but themselves into Empire and doing a great deal for the public. He successfully building or on slavery to pay debts! buildings and changed the calendar to the type we use some children were born as slaves. farms. invaded Britain in 43 AD. today. He was eventually murdered by members of the In Ancient Rome, the city was the hub of life. It Key Fact: Senate. Caesar attempted to invade Britain twice and How? was the place where goods could be traded, The Romans used Although Rome was the failed. Life in the City biggest, there were people could be entertained, and important city grids to plan many important cities their new cities Hadrian (76AD–138AD) Why did Rome want to conquer Britain? decisions took place. across the Empire Hadrian was the Roman Emperor who is now Britain was rich in raw materials such as wool, leather, corn, Most of the Roman population lived in the How? Key Fact: best-known for building Hadrian’s Wall, which gold and tin. The Romans also planned to use captured Life in the countryside – many were farmers. Life was Crops were grown in The city of Rome had marked the northern limit of Roman territory in Britons as slaves. They also wanted to the country to be to import 6 million Country hard, with most people working from dawn shipped to cities like sacks of grain a year! Britain. He also built the Pantheon in Rome, amongst many increase their power and prestige. By right up until dusk. Rome other famous buildings. Hadrian was a kind Emperor who making the empire bigger it made it was considered the third of the ‘Five Good Emperors.’ more powerful. Emperors who conquered Roman children started school at the age of How? Key Fact: seven. Wealthy children could be taught by a Children learnt Many girls were Throughout his reign, he travelled to almost every province. new lands wanted power and glory. School reading, writing not allowed to tutor, whilst others went to public school. Poor and maths. school. children could not go to school. Boudicca What impact did the Roman Empire have on Britain? A wide variety of foods were available, How? Key Fact: A powerful Celtic Queen who led a rebellion against Roman The Romans built roads across Britain and magnificent depending upon a person’s wealth and where Foods were The poor largely Food imported all rule in Britain. Boudicca and her warriors successfully buildings which have left ruins today such as baths and they lived. The Romans ate 3 meals a day, with around the ate a porridge defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and Hadrians Wall. Christianity was the largest meal eaten in the afternoon. empire. called ‘puls.’ destroyed Colchester, London and St introduced to Britain during Roman rule Most men and women wore tunics, with a belt. Albans. Boudicca’s army was finally and the Romans influenced language, However the women’s tunic was normally How? Key Fact: stopped and defeated by the Roman the calendar and numbers. They also Most clothes The rich could Clothes slightly longer. Women wore white until they army. It is thought that Boudicca introduced towns, many of which still were made afford linen and were married. Most Romans wore sandals poisoned herself to avoid capture. exist today such as Chesterfield. from wool. silk clothes. (made of leather) on their feet. Roman Timeline 753 BC – The city 509 BC – Rome becomes a 55 BC – Emperor Caesar 54 BC– Emperor Caesar attempted 43 AD – Emperor Claudius 80 AD – The 121 AD – Hadrian’s 306 AD – Constantine 410 AD – Roman rule ended of Rome is republic. Rome is run by attempted to invade to invade Britain for a second time. successfully invaded Britain and Colosseum is Wall is built. converts to Christianity, in Britain. founded. elected senators. Britain. brought it under Roman rule built. making Rome a Christian empire. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • THE REACH of the ROMAN EMPIRE in ROUGH CILICIA by HUGHW.ELTON
    THE ECONOMIC FRINGE: THE REACH OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN ROUGH CILICIA By HUGHW.ELTON Many discussions of the Roman economy are rather vague about what they mean by 'Roman'. Phrases such as 'Roman Europe' or 'the Roman Empire' often blur two different concepts, that of the cultures of Iron Age Europe and the political institution of the Roman Empire. Cultures in Iron Age Europe varied widely. The Welsh uplands or the Atlas mountains, for example, had an aceramic culture with few public buildings, though were mIed directly by Rome for several centuries. Other regions, not under Roman control, like the regions across the middle Danube, showed higher concentrations of Mediterranean consumer goods and coins than some of these aceramic areas. 1 In Mesopotamia, many societies were urban and literate, not differing in this respect from those in Italy or Greece. Thus, determining what was imperial Roman territory by archaeological criteria alone is very difficult? But these archaeological criteria are important for two reasons. First, they allow us to analyse the cultural and economic changes that occurred in Iron Age Europe between 100 B.C. and A.D. 250. Second, they allow for the possibility of change within Europe that was not caused by the Roman state? Unlike cultures within Iron Age Europe, the Roman Empire was a political structure, imposed by force and dedicated to extracting benefits for the mling elite of the city of Rome.4 As the empire developed and matured, its form changed, but it was never about the mIed, only the rulers. If we accept that the Empire was a political, not an archaeological, structure, it follows that an examination of 'Impact of Empire: Transformation of Economic Life', has to mean an examination of the impact of the Roman imperial state.
    [Show full text]
  • Quod Omnium Nationum Exterarum Princeps Sicilia
    Quod omnium nationum exterarum princeps Sicilia A reappraisal of the socio-economic history of Sicily under the Roman Republic, 241-44 B.C. Master’s thesis Tom Grijspaardt 4012658 RMA Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Studies Track: Ancient Studies Utrecht University Thesis presented: June 20th 2017 Supervisor: prof. dr. L.V. Rutgers Second reader: dr. R. Strootman Contents Introduction 4 Aims and Motivation 4 Structure 6 Chapter I: Establishing a methodological and interpretative framework 7 I.1. Historiography, problems and critical analysis 7 I.1a.The study of ancient economies 7 I.1b. The study of Republican Sicily 17 I.1c. Recent developments 19 I.2. Methodological framework 22 I.2a. Balance of the sources 22 I.2b. Re-embedding the economy 24 I.3. Interpretative framework 26 I.3a. Food and ideology 27 I.3b. Mechanisms of non-market exchange 29 I.3c. The plurality of ancient economies 32 I.4. Conclusion 38 Chapter II. Archaeology of the Economy 40 II.1. Preliminaries 40 II.1a. On survey archaeology 40 II.1b. Selection of case-studies 41 II.2. The Carthaginian West 43 II.2a. Segesta 43 II.2b. Iatas 45 II.2c. Heraclea Minoa 47 II.2d. Lilybaeum 50 II.3. The Greek East 53 II.3a. Centuripe 53 II.3b. Tyndaris 56 II.3c. Morgantina 60 II.3d. Halasea 61 II.4. Agriculture 64 II.4a. Climate and agricultural stability 64 II.4b. On crops and yields 67 II.4c. On productivity and animals 70 II.5. Non-agricultural production and commerce 72 II.6. Conclusion 74 Chapter III.
    [Show full text]
  • Coin Inscriptions and the Origins of Writing in Pre-Roman Britain1 Jonathan Williams
    COIN INSCRIPTIONS AND THE ORIGINS OF WRITING IN PRE-ROMAN BRITAIN1 JONATHAN WILLIAMS Introduction THE subject of writing in pre-Roman Britain has, until recently, been the object of curious neglect among archaeologists and historians. One simple reason for this is that there is not very much of it in evidence. There are no lapidary inscriptions, and only a few, short graffiti and other scraps of evidence (on which see more below). Contrast this with the situation after the Roman conquest, and the overwhelming impression is that pre-Roman Britain was essentially a pre-literate society, and that writing was brought to Britain by the Romans. And yet there is the not inconsiderable corpus of coin legends from pre-Roman Britain which, if allowed to do so, might seem to tell a rather different story. The object of this paper is to see what kind of story that might be. It has always been a major blind-spot of numismatists, and increasingly archaeologists too since they stopped reading ancient texts, that they tend not to think very much about coin legends other than as a key to attributing the coin to a particular tribe, city or ruler. One result of this is that it seems to have gone more or less unremarked upon in most treatments of late iron-age Britain that the coin legends that appear on the coins in the late first century BC are the first, and by far the largest, body of evidence for the introduction of writing into these islands and of its uses in the pre-Roman period.
    [Show full text]
  • Health and Wealth in the Roman Empire
    G Model EHB 762 No. of Pages 13 Economics and Human Biology xxx (2018) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Economics and Human Biology journa l homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ehb Health and wealth in the Roman Empire Willem M. Jongman*, Jan P.A.M. Jacobs, Geertje M. Klein Goldewijk University of Groningen, the Netherlands A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Ancient Rome was the largest and most populous empire of its time, and the largest pre-industrial state in Received 30 August 2018 European history. Recent though not universally accepted research suggests that at least for the most Received in revised form 14 January 2019 populous central periods of its history standard of living was also rather higher than before or after. To Accepted 15 January 2019 trace whether this is also reflected in Roman biological standard of living, we present the first large and Available online xxx more or less comprehensive dataset, based on skeletal data for some 10,000 individuals, covering all periods of Roman history, and all regions (even if inevitably unequally). We discuss both the JEL classification: methodologies that we developed and the historical results. Instead of reconstructing heights from the C55 fi C82 long bones assuming xed body proportions or from one individual long bone, we apply exploratory N01 factor analysis and calculate factor scores for 50-year periods. Our measure of the biological standard of N33 living declined during the last two centuries B.C. and started to improve again, slowly at first, from the O01 second century A.D.
    [Show full text]
  • What Was Life Like in Roman London? Londinium (Roman London) Was Founded in About AD50 and Soon Became the Centre of Administration for the Province of Britannia
    What was life like in Roman London? Londinium (Roman London) was founded in about AD50 and soon became the centre of administration for the province of Britannia. The population was a mix of civilians, families, soldiers, sailors, workers and slaves. Many of them were from all parts of the Roman Empire, but the majority were native Britons. Daily life in Roman London was hard. Most Roman Londoners had to work long hours to make a living, rising at dawn and stopping only for a lunchtime snack. They worked a seven-day week, but there were numerous festivals and feast days in honour of the gods, which enabled them to have a break. So, although the workers lived and worked in small cramped houses and workshops, they also knew how to enjoy themselves and would go to the baths and taverns or seek entertainment at the amphitheatre. Roman London was finally abandoned in AD410. Who lived in Roman London? Roman London was a cultural melting pot. Officials were sent from every corner of the Roman Empire to help run the new province of Britannia. Administrators, merchants, soldiers, retired soldiers and specialised craft workers were needed. They would have brought their households along with them. Excavations of Roman cemeteries show that the town was overwhelmingly populated by civilians rather than soldiers. The majority were probably native Britons drawn to the new town, hopeful of making their fortunes as labourers, craft workers and shopkeepers. As well as fresh food, the busy population needed clothes, shoes, pottery and tools, all of which were made locally.
    [Show full text]