English History (Part 6): Roman Britain
While the Romans didn't like the sea, they were greatly attracted to England for its wealth and surplus of corn. Caesar's invasion of 55 BC was more of a scouting mission; he said that he wanted to acquaint himself with “the lie of the land”. Britain was already a trading partner of Rome, and was rumoured to be rich in metal and wheat. Some of the British tribes were already allied with the northern Gauls, whom Caesar was fighting.
Several of the tribal leaders sent emissaries to him, as they were informed in advance of his preparations. Caesar sent an envoy in return, who urged the tribal leaders to collaborate with him.
The Romans set sail with two legions (each with about 5000 men) in 80 ships. They landed near Deal (Kent), where the English were watching them. There was a skirmish on the beach, which the Romans won, and the tribal leaders sued for peace.
But a storm arose, made worse by a high tide at the full moon. The Romans weren't aware of this phenomenon, and all their ships were damaged.
The English took the opportunity to attack, breaking the peace agreement. A number of skirmishes took place in the immediate vicinity of Deal. Caesar was hard-pressed, and knew that he had to retreat back across the water. He managed to get the ships repaired, and sought material aid from Gaul. He left, with many hostages from the English, vowing to return.
He returned the next year, this time with 800 ships, 25,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. This was a proper invasion, and the English tribes, instead of warring among each other, were now united in the face of this threat. They chose Cassivellaunus, who was king of territory north of the Thames, as their war leader.
The English fought the Romans as they usually fought each other. There were warriors in chariots, on horseback and on foot, with each attacking & withdrawing at appropriate moments. Cassivellaunus had an army of 4000 chariots, and they had a specific strategy – the chariot-driver would drive to the front line, let the warrior jump out, and then retire and wait for him to return. According to Caesar, by steady practice the English “attain such proficiency that even on a steep incline they are able to control the horses at full gallop, and to check and turn them in a moment.”
But the discipline of the Roman army was enough to withstand all this. There were a number of battles, and then the English were forced to retreat into the woods. Caesar followed them, and destroyed Cassivellaunus' stronghold. The chieftains sought peace, and Cassivellaunus capitulated in the end. Caesar took hostages and tribute, and returned to Rome.
There wasn't another invasion for 90yrs, but the Romans had left their mark. Southern Britain was gradually Romanized, with tribal leaders beginning to import wine and luxury goods from Rome. The elites' dwellings began to change shape from round to rectilinear – strong evidence of cultural transition. The southern tribal leaders would have wanted to imitate the victors.
Some of them changed their allegiance and became the client kings of Rome. Strabo states that they sent embassies and paid court to Augustus (first Emperor of the Roman Empire), in order to gain his friendship. They exported grain, iron and slaves; and they imported glass vessels, amberware and other goods. Of course, they had to pay duty to the Roman state on these goods – an excellent way of binding them to Rome.
In the early 40s AD, the Atrebates (a Belgic tribe) were conquered, and their king Verica fled to Rome, appealing for help. Emperor Claudius was new to his position, and was yet to prove himself in the field. He now had the excuse he needed for the proper invasion of Britain, which came in 43 AD.
Four legions of about 20,000 men, under the leadership of Aulus Plautius, landed at two separate locations so as to confuse any English counterattack. The tribes dispersed, but rallied for a major battle by the River Medway, in south-east England. There the fighting lasted for two days, with the English (under the leadership of Caratacus) were being defeated. The exact location of the battle is not known.
Plautius sent for Claudius, who arrived two months later with 28 elephants. He stormed the native capital of Camulodunum, and Caratacus fled westwards. Eleven kings surrendered to Claudius, and he was celebrated for it when he returned to Rome. The Roman conquest of Britain had begun, but it would take nearly 40yrs for it to finish.
Camulodunum became the first Roman capital of Colchester. They built a great fort on the site of the native earthworks, as a token of dominion. The army then spread outwards in three directions – north, west and north-west.
Vespasian, leader of the western army, drove towards Wales and England's south-west peninsula, fighting 33 battles along the way. On the banks of Maiden Castle (a hill fort in Dorset), the body of a man with a Roman crossbow bolt in his spine has been found. By 49 AD, Roman soldiers were supervising mining operations in Somerset.
The other two armies proceeded slowly along already-existing roads such as Ermine Street. They built forts in areas they conquered, so that each tribal zone was dominated by at least one military settlement. By 51 AD, Cartimandua (queen of the Brigantes in the north) had become a client queen. She was receiving Roman wine in Roman vessels, and also building tiles.
Although Roman historians describe a smooth process of colonization, it is unlikely that it was as simple as that. They did advance steadily, but they were beset by tribal rebellions, and occasionally army mutinies. Ambushes, raids and battles were common. South of the Fosse Way (running from Exeter to Lincoln), all the land was under Roman control, but in the north it was more treacherous. Some tribes had divided allegiances, and some fought against each other.
The Iceni, a tribe living deep within East Anglia (a pacified zone) revolted in 47 AD over the right to bear arms. It was put down easily.
King Prasutagus of the Iceni died in 60 AD, and the agents of the Roman provincial government tried to appropriate Iceni wealth. Boudicca, Prasutagus' widow, was flogged and her two daughters were raped. Boudicca rose up and led a rebellion against the Romans.
She gathered other English tribes into a confederacy and led her army southwards, burning and pillaging any evidence of Romanization, or the beginnings of it. They destroyed villas and killed inhabitants by the sword. The object of their advance was the capital of Colchester, which harboured hundreds of military veterans who had taken control of adjacent land. The English set the city on fire and destroyed it, and looted the shops.
The veterans sheltered in the central temple, but two days later they were overwhelmed and hacked to pieces. The English beheaded a great statue of Claudius and threw it into the river, and destroyed the temple itself.
They then moved further southwards, towards London. On the way, they sacked Chelmsford and St. Albans, and killed an entire legion.
Suetonius Paulinus was the Roman military governor at that time, and he had been campaigning in Wales. Well aware of the threat to his regime, he marched quickly back, but he didn't save London when he arrived there. He needed to focus on saving the whole imperial province, and to do that he had to pick the time & place for the battle.
Many London inhabitants hastily left the city, going further south to safety with pro-Roman tribes. Those who remained were killed – Tacitus states that 70,000 peoplle were killed in the attack. London was razed by fire, leaving a red level of oxidized iron that is still beneath the streets of modern London. 48 human skulls have been found embedded in the track of the Walbrook river.
Boudicca now went after Suetonius Paulinus, but the site of the battle is not known for certain. There were 10,000 Roman troops, and 100,000 English. The Roman legionnaires had a forest behind them, and a plain in front of them. The English ran across the plain towards them, but many were killed by javelins. Then the Romans began to move forward with shields and shortswords. It was their discipline that held them together, and slowly the tide began to turn against the English. 80,000 of them died during the battle, but only about 400 Romans. It was one of the worst massacres on English soil.
It is not know what happened to Boudicca after that. Some say she poisoned herself so the Romans wouldn't capture her; some say that she fell sick and died. There is a monument to her on Westminster Bridge.
The monument Boudicca and Her Daughters on the Westminster Bridge.
Now the Romans had to deal with the Druids, who had retreated steadily westwards, harried and pursued all the while. Their last stand was on the island of Anglesey (off the north-west coast of Wales). According to Tacitus, the troops crossed from the mainland, and were confronted by a “dense line of armed warriors along the foreshore, while women were rushing about between the ranks garbed in black like the Furies, holding up lighted torches.” The Druids stood close to the women, offering sacrifices, holding their arms in the air and screeching terrible curses. But they were killed, and their sanctuaries were burned down.
Once the east and south of England were pacified, Julius Agricola (the next Roman governor of England) focused on the north and west. He conquered Wales in 78 AD. In 79 AD he sent legions to the north-east (through Corbridge) and north-west (through Carlisle). He divided the enemy, and had a network of forts built so that he could supervise the tribes that had surrendered. These northern tribes were more hostile than the southern ones, and according to Tacitus, there were “many battles, some not unbloody”. The goal of the Romans was to create & control a northern frontier. To do this, troops were sent northwards to deal with modern-day southern Scotland.
York and Chester had permanent fortresses, with a legion each. Manchester and Newcastle were built around the site of Roman forts. Manchester's original name was Mamucio (after the Latin word for a hill shaped like a breast), and this was misread as Mancunio, and eventually became Manchester.
A series of nearly-straight roads were built to link the forts together. The Romans built garrison towns at Lincoln and Gloucester, in which retired legionnaires lived. A network of forts, encampments, defensive walls and defensive walls emphasized the Roman colonial presence. Posting stations (or staging posts) were set up on the main roads, and they eventually became villages.
According to Tacitus, one tribal chief complained that “our goods and money are consumed by taxation; our land is stripped of its harvest to fill their granaries; our hands and limbs are crippled by building roads through forests and swamps under the lash of our oppressors.”
The military zone (which included Wales and northern England) required a standing force of 125,000 men, But the legionnaires were not only Roman – during the first 100yrs of occupation, 40,000 soldiers were recruited from Gaul, Spain and Germany; and English soldiers also joined. The troops mixed with the native population, and within 2-3 generations, it had become a native army.
After the Emperor Hadrian's visit to Britain in 122 AD, Hadrian's Wall was built on his orders. It separated Roman England from the tribes of Scotland. Then in 142, the Antonine Wall was built north of Hadrian's Wall, separating south and north Scotland.
The Antonine Wall is in modern-day northern England.
The Romans had no intentions of advancing into the Scottish highlands. They had also dropped any plans for the invasion of Ireland. Now they focused on protecting their borders so they could enjoy peace. The land south of the wall was intensely cultivated, and a great agricultural regime was established on the Cumbrian Plain. England was once again as rich and productive as it had been during the Iron Age.
Romanization was gradual and local. In the countryside, people mostly stuck to the old ways, and Iron Age conditions prevailed. The towns was where things were different.
The administrative elite of English leaders worked in the towns. These men had welcomed (or exploited) the Romanization of the country, and the rising of Roman officials within it. With the advice of the Roman officials, they began to build temples, public buildings and public squares; they learned the Latin language; they began wearing togas. The children of leading English families were educated in the “civilized arts”, and some were even sent to Rome.
Bathing establishments and assembly rooms were built, and according to Tacitus, the English began to attend “smart dinner parties”. There were many more plates, dishes, bowls and drinking vessels than during the Iron Age. The English imported amphorae (storage vessels), which contained wine, olive oil, olives and fish sauce. Tacitus wrote that “they called it civilization when in fact it was part of their servitude”.
Fragment of an amphora found underneath a Roman road in Devon.
The old hierarchies still existed, now with Roman trappings. The landowners had coloni (tenants who were tied to the land). The trival leaders who owned extensive land and property were at the top; the large community of slaves at the bottom. The word servus (“slave”) eventually became the word “serf”. The social patterns of the Bronze & Iron Ages were still entrenched, now strengthened and deepened by the rule of a strong central power.
The Romans turned the old tribal regions into civitates (government districts). Each district had a central town, often the old tribal capital or oppidum, re-dressed in stone instead of wood. The centre of the town was represented by a forum complex of civic buildings.
Roman architectural forms were imposed, with monumental arches, sculptures, bath-houses and altars (for example). Many of these public buildings were constructed as part of a state initiative that continued well into the 100s AD. There would be a forum, temple, basilica and amphitheatre rising above the smaller buildings – closely-packed houses, workshops and shops, still mostly built out of wood and clay, and with earthen floors. Many of the houses were single-room lodgings; other buildings consisted of a shop at the front, a workshop behind it, and a room for living in at the back. Many wells & hearths have been found in the areas of settlement. Beyond the streets were the kilns, quarries, livestock enclosures and cemeteries.
A curia (council) of the larger landowners controlled the town's government, and they had many clerks and other officials. Kinship and tribal ties slowly transformed into group relations on an economic basis.
The larger towns were independent and self-governing. Magistrates & councillors dealt with things such as drainage, sanitation, and road re-paving. The most common Roman artifact found in England is the writing tablet.
The native elites began to build Roman-style villas in the countryside. The earliest of them (such as the one at Fishbourne, Sussex) were of very high status, probably for Romanized tribal leaders or great officials of the empire. They spread to other native leaders, with more modest villas being built in south-eastern England – appropriate for a wealthy landowner, or the most important family of an agricultural community.
Dolphin mosaic from the Fishbourne villa.
The villas had stone walls and expensive mosaics; there was also underfloor heating and window glass. Their roofs may have been made of ceramic tiles instead of thatch and wattle. Some (most?) of the smaller houses were plastered and decorated with wall paintings (plaster was used as external protection from the elements).
However, hill forts were still important, especially for England's leading families who had stayed closer to their social & cultural traditions.
At the beginning of the 100s AD, in Keston (Kent), an Iron Age farm was still being used. By the middle of the 100s a new wooden farmhouse was built, with painted walls. At the beginning of the 200s a stone house was built, with a Roman-style bath-house. There were wooden barns in the farmhouse, one of which was later rebuilt in stone. Ovens were used for malting or corn-drying, and the owner/s of the villa probably employed potters, blacksmiths and bronze-workers. There was an early Roman cremation cemetery, and a circular mausoleum from a later date. Romanization was gradual.
Bronze & Iron Age practices were kept on in the farming of the soil itself. In some regions (such as the south-west) old practices continued without any change. There is only evidence of change in the south-east, and only among the leaders. The Romans brought in cherries, figs and mulberries (all previously unknown); peas, cabbages and turnips first appeared during the Roman era. Even in the Romanized regions, the natives still preferred beef to pork.
Overall, most people were still living in the Iron Age, and would continue to do so for several centuries.
By imperial decree, the fens of East Anglia were drained, and reclaimed soil was made productive. Hundreds of villages and farms were established in a pre-ordained manner. The region became an imperial estate, with taxes for the central government. The prosperous Salisbury Plain also became an imperial estate.
Taxation included land tax and a poll tax, and it was the key of Roman exploitation. With the northern invaders, the cost of maintaining the army increased, so taxation increased as a result. The old tribal economy was changing to a monetary economy, and the Romans hastened this process. Imperial coinage replaced the old tribal coinage.
The Romans levied taxes on goods that were traded. Industrial centres (e.g. the potteries at the village of Castor in Cambridgeshire) altered parts of the landscape. Ironworks were established in all areas of England, and lead mines were in continuous use during the Roman era. Coal was used for working iron, heating the bath-houses, and the sacred fire at Minerva's temple in Bath.
There were two native woollen products in demand by the English people – the birrus Britannicus (a type of waterproof cloak & hood), and the tapete Britannicum (a woollen rug). The men wore cattle-hide jackets and leather breeches.
Also traded were bears and bulldogs for the Roman arena. It was said that Caesar had invaded England so he could get some exxcellent oysters.
In the early 200s AD, England was divided into two provinces. Brittania Superior's capital was London, and Brittania Inferior had York as its centre. (These were geographical terms, not implying that the former was better than the latter). These two provinces were later subdivided into four provinces, and then into five. The country was being closely administered and exploited.
Provinces in the 200s and 300s AD.
England's role changed as it became a settled part of the empire. The armies of occupation became armies of defence; they became naturalized, and had specific local/regional identities. Over 1/10 of the Roman imperial army was stationed in England, meaning that its forces had a lot of power over events in Rome. Mutinies and uprisings weren't uncommon.
In 268, Carausius (the governor of England) proclaimed himself Emperor, and took his forces to the continent. While he was away, the towns and cities of England took measures to defend themselves against potential reprises from Rome.
A century later, another Roman commander seized the province of England and declared it to be independent. A battle somewhere in central England dealt with this.
England had a lot of significance in imperial calculations, and it was worth a fight. Its taxes, ports and metals helped to sustain Roman commerce. Its agriculture, however, was what made England so wealthy and productive.
In 359 AD, the Emperor Julian organized a fleet of 600 ships to transport English corn to the warzones of the Rhine. England was now one of the “bread baskets” of Europe, and by the 300s AD it had never been so prosperous. The villas became larger and more luxurious, but social stratification increased as well. The Roman English controlled the Iron Age English.
The Scots and Picts were always pressing against the northern borders, but England's other frontiers also developed problems. The Saxon Shore is an alignment of forts in southern England whose purpose is not entirely certain. They may have defended the coast against Saxon invaders from north-west Europe; or they may have harboured Saxon fighters and traders – i.e. designed to protect the seaways between England and Europe.
The Saxon Shore (it had fortifications & military commands on both sides of the Channel).
Christianity was introduced to England in the 100s AD, but it was still a minority religion. The Roman English were now used to the Roman gods, and the Iron Age English probably still worshipped their old gods. Christian vessels & plaques from the 200s have been found in Huntingdonshire, near the River Nene, and are evidence of a local shrine (and the earliest examples of such vessels in Roman Britain). A Christian cemetery, around the same date, was found at Poundbury (Dorset). By the 300s AD, Christianity had spread as far north as Carlisle (in north-west England).
Constantine converted in 312 AD. He had been appointed Emperor at York in 306, and later seems to have considered England to be one of the spiritual centres of his rule. York was refashioned in honour of his elevation, and he visited England three more times. He styled himself on Britannicus Maximus (“The great victor in England”), and London was possibly renamed Augusta in his honour for a while.
Christianity was a monotheistic faith, and the emperor aspired to single rule. It had a uniform set of values & beliefs. It helped to support the legislative & bureaucratic forces of the central power, and the religion's followers were drawn from the governing class. The Romanized English were quick to embrace Christianity, and so Christianity became associated with the culture of the villas. It was also the religion of the administrative elite in the towns and cities, where there would be a bishop to care for the town-dwelling Christians.
In 314, three English bishops, a priest, and a deacon attended an ecclesiastical council in Arles (southern France). The bishops were from York, London and Lincoln, and the priest & deacon were from Cirencester.
At Tower Hill (London), remains of what may have been a Christian cathedral have been found. The building had marble and painted walls, and a holy well in the centre of the nave. This may have been the diocesan centre for Bishop Restitutus of London.
Evidence for a church has been found as Silchester as well, but there is little evidene for other churches during the 200s and 330s. The earliest churches lie beneath more recent ones.
Rome's frontiers were being threatened, and in many places they were overwhelmed. The Franks had entered northern Gaul, and the Visigoths were to settle in Aquitania. The pressure of the Scots & Picts was growing, and they had tribal allies among the Franks and Saxons. In 367, a northern force overcame Hadrian's Wall and moved southwards in dispersed bands to ravage the country. The commander of the Saxon Shore forts was murdered, and the provincial leader known as Dux Britanniarum was captured. Roman intervention and rebuilding helped, including the re-fortification of key posts. But it was a notable defeat for the English, and then the northern tribes came back 40yrs later.
At the beginning of the 400s, England was effectively stripped of its military forces, as they had gone off in search of glory – various pretenders were making bids for imperial power in Rome, weakening Roman rule. Rome's administrative machinery was beginning to break apart.
In England, the northern tribes attacked again in 408, and the Roman English had to defend themselves without the Romans. Zosimus, a contemporary historian, records that they “took up arms and, braving danger for their own independence, freed their cities from the barbarians threatening them.”
Not only that, but according to Zosimus, the English expelled their Roman governors and established their own administration.
Some Roman English would have wanted to retain the Roman administration, as it benefitted them greatly. Others would have wanted to get rid of it, because of taxation and coercion from the central government. In 410, one section of the English asked the Roman Emperor for arms and soldiers (it's unknown whether it was for fighting an external Saxon army, or another group of English). Honorius replied that the English must now fend for themselves – this was the end of Roman England.
Procopius of Caesarea (another historian) records that after the Roman officials disappeared, the cities and regions were taken over by “tyrants” or “usurpers”. They were probably the familiar English leaders, descended from tribal chiefs or large landowning families (but would have seemed like usurpers to Rome).
The English tribes and polities reacted to the end of Roman England in several ways. The Romanized English (in the towns and cities, with dependent estates all around them) probably formed themselves into self-governing administrative units, with the leaders of these small states still known as “magistrates”.
In the east and south-east of England (the civil zone), small kingdoms developed, defended by mercenaries. Those in eastern England had to use Germanic soldiers, which would cause problems for them later on.
In the more distant regions of England, where Romanization had never properly taken hold, the people returned to pre-Roman forms of social organization. The detachments that remained of the northern armies were grouped under a commander who became their chieftain. One of the first Roman leaders of the north was Coelius or Coel Hen, who became “Old King Cole” of the nursery rhyme.
There were general changes overall as well. Rome's taxation system was dismantled, and the countryside was now controlled by an aristocracy of landowners. The circulation of coinage decreased quickly because of the lack of imperial taxation. By 410, the large centres of pottery manufacturing had gone out of business, as the demand no longer existed. Brick-making disappeared, and wouldn't return to England until the 1400s. Villas were neglected or abandoned, and later settlers would use them.
The cities didn't decline, though – they merely changed their function. They were still administrative centres for the immediate area, and the local leader & bishop lived there. However, they didn't need the imperial façades of the 200s. The Silchester basilica was converted into a metal-working centre. There is evidence of rebuilding at York & Gloucester during the 400s. In the second half of the 400s, a new water supply with wooden pipes was introduced to Verulamium. So a civic organization was still in operation.
The Roman city of Wroxeter has been excavated in the fields of Shropshire, and it wasn't abandoned after the Romans left. The basilica was destroyed, and a large wooden hall built in its place – this hall became the centre for a complex of wooden buildings based on Roman models. Well into a medieval period, a prosperous and busy life continued on.
In the archaeologial strata of the 400s is a deposit, called “dark earth”, spread over many towns and cities. This is the residue of wattle-and-daub dwelling. The towns & cities during this century may have still been heavily populated, continuing on a commercial life.
Barter and local trading allowed for self-sufficiency. There was hand-made pottery, and quantities of clay have been found that may have been used for building walls. The farmers' and labourers' lives weren't changed at all by the change in leadership.
St. Patrick was taken by Saxon slavers at the end of the 300s AD, and his Confession of Saint Patrick shows that the affluent lives of villa-owners continued into the early decades of the 400s. He returned to England 6yrs later, and his father urged him to enter public service – for example, local rhetoricians were employed to guide the populace. There was some kind of a working polity based upon a Roman original.
Bishop Germanus of Gaul visited England in 429, and he was greeted by the leading men of Verulamium in a gesture of civic unity. These men were probably members of the diocesan or provincial council who had taken over the city's administration. According to Germanus, they were “conspicuous for their wealth, fashionable in their dress, and surrounded by an adoring multitude of people.”
One of the reasons for Germanus' visit was to help the English in their fight against the Picts and Saxons. However, many Saxons were already living in England, and had been doing so since the 200s AD. The urban & tribal elites needed Saxon warriors to defend their property, and many of these warriors married native women and settled down with their families. The Roman army in the north still had Germanic soldiers in it. There were Saxon traders in the towns and cities; and Saxon workers cultivated the land in Kent in exchange for occasional military service.
From the Iron Age onwards, the native English have been called “Britons”. However, that term is really only correct for the Atlantic English of the western coasts – these are the Britons who would migrate to Gaul and establish the province of Brittany; they spoke Celtic and Gaelic. There were also many Britons in the north, as a remainder of old tribal groupings.
Native English also lived in central, south and east England. However, they lived in the areas that the Saxon settlers would eventually dominate (sometimes peacefully, and sometimes by violent means). The name of England would come from one of these groups of settlers, the Angles. “Engla land” was the Viking description.
