Britain After the Romans

The Romans legacy

It is important to remember that the Romans brought many good things to Britain. They improved trade and the quality of life for many Britons.

Roman towns showed the Britons that life could be comfortable and pleasant.

Roman laws meant that arguments could be settled peacefully. Some of our modern laws are based on Roman laws.

The Romans brought milestones to Britain. This drawing shows a stone milestone from Hadrian’s reign. Originally it would have stood 2-3 metres high. The letters ‘MPIIII’ mean ‘four miles from...’

Other things the Romans brought to Britain

 Lead pipes

Roof tiles

Cats

Wigs

 False teeth

Cabbages

Carrots

Peas

 Cherries

Plums

Roses

Pansies

Poppies

Stinging nettles

Many of our words are based on Latin words. The Romans gave us the names of all our months.

JANUARY named after the Roman god JANUS. He could look both ways at once because he had two faces, and was the god of gateways

FEBRUARY named after the Roman festival of FEBRUA

MARCH named after MARS, the Roman war god

APRIL from the Latin word APERIRE meaning ‘to open’ – because of the unfolding of buds and blossom in spring

MAY named after MAIA, the Roman mother goddess

JUNE named after JUNO, wife of Jupiter, King of the Roman gods

JULY named after JULIUS Caesar, who decided that the year should begin in January. Until then it had begun in March.

AUGUST named after the Roman Emperor AUGUSTUS

SEPTEMBER from the Latin word SEPTEM, meaning ‘seven’. It was originally the seventh month of the year

OCTOBER from the Latin word OCTO, meaning ‘eight’. It was originally the seventh month of the year

NOVEMBER from the Latin word NOVEM, meaning ‘nine’. It was originally the ninth month of the year

DECEMBER from the Latin word DECEM, meaning ‘ten’. It was originally the tenth month of the year

RomanTimeChart

Boudicca's Revolt, AD 60

The fighting  continued  for almost twenty years after the Roman invasion.The Romans won many victories and it seemed as though nothing could stop  them  from  ruling  the whole country. Then,  in AD  60, the Iceni tribe  led  by their queen, Boudicca, revolted. 

Boudicca's army burnt the Roman city of Colchester, St Albans  and London. They destroy the entire legion.

Boudicca meet  Sueltonlus.  

Other  tribes  joined Boudicca  and  soon  she  had  a  huge army of 100,000 soldiers.

Sueltonlus, the Roman governor of Britain, was  in Anglesey  fighting  the Druids. Hearing news  of  Boudicca's army, he  marched quickly south east with two legions to  meet  the Iceni. The great battle  took  place  in  the  Midlands. Most  of  the  British  were  killed and Boudicca  herself  took  poison  rarther than be  captured  by  the Romans. The rebellion  was  over.

The New Britons

After Boudicca's revolt, the Romans brought a new order order to  Britain. It  became part of  the  Roman Empire  and  the Romas  began to settle there. Latin became thу  main language for administration. Everyone had to obey Roman and follow  the Roman way  of  life. Soon  it  was  hard  to  tell who had  been  born in Britain and  who  was  a foreigner. Britons  became 'Roman Britons'.
The Romans built towns and cities which became cetres  of  trade. 

Some Roman Britons grew wealthy by selling  goods  to the Romans.
Roman governers were sent  to  rule  Britain. The new  laws  brought peace although Roman Britons now had to pay taxes to Rome.    
British nobles  were  trained to  rule  their  tribes in  the Roman way. This brought peace and riches to many, although some Britons who continued to fight against  their new rulers were  captured and became  slaves. The Roman army built  good  roads so the legions  could  march to any  part of  the  country to keep  the  peace.

The Roman House

Rich Romans and Roman Britons lives in the towns, in fine house-

villas, which were  built  in Roman  the style. There were bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet with sewer, a sitting room in the house with central heating system.

Hot air from a fire in the cellar passed  under the floor and up the walls  to heat  the  house. This central heating system was called hypocaust.



The floor were covered with mosaics - pictures or patterns made from tiny pieces of coloured marble stuck in cement.Walls were decorated with paintings or painted panels.

The Roman Army

       The Roman soldiers who invaded Britain were part of the best army in the world. They were better trained and armed than the wild Britons.

       The Roman army was divided into legions, each one containing roughly 5000 legionaries who signed up for 25 years. Each legionary was highly trained with daily sword practice and marching. Legionaries were also trained to build road, bridges, and forts. 

       A legionaries wore heavy armor had a large shield for protection! He carried 2 javelins and a short sharp sword. Each legionary took food, cooking gear, an axe and two sharp stakes to help to build a wall round the camp at night. The Roman army also contained many auxiliaries. These  were  soldiers from conquered tribes all over the Roman Empire. 
Some auxiliaries had special skills:                       

 Archer  - many came from Syria.The Roman also used moutain archers.

Slingers - many came from Bolearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.  

                     

 The cavalry was used for scouting and carrying messages. They  also  chased fleeing enemy soldiers during  battles.

 

  The Roman Emperor, Claudius, even  had  some elephants. 

Battle

       Legionaries were taught to fight in different formations. This usually gave them an advantage over their enemies who were not so well organized. In battle the whole army could fight as one man or split into smaller groups. Trumpets were used to give the signals.

 Cohort (about 480 soldiers) - the smallest unit that would normally ever operate independantly. The  were 10 cohorts in a legion.

A standard bearer. Each legion had its  own standard called an eagle.

 An experiened officer called  a centurion was incharege of a century (about 80 soldiers). There  were  6  centuries in a cohort.

British hills forts

      The British tribes had built many hill forts. The Romans could not conquer Britain until they had captured these strongholds. 

      There were different kinds of hill forts. Many had several ditches and walls round the hill top. A maze sometimes hid the main gate

      The tribe lived in huts built inside the walls. They brought their animals into the enclosure for safety when the fort was attacked. 

 Maiden Castle - one of the largest  of over 3,000 hill  forts in Britain. 

 The Romans used large wooden catapults called ballistas to fier giant spears or bolts into a hill fort.

 The Romans locked their shield  together to protect themselves from rocks  and spears. The foemation, which looked  like a hard shell, was called tortoise.

Food and Feasts

Food in a rich household.

             The kitchen was an open hearth filled with charcoal. Most of the cooking pots were made of pottery althoughsome were iron. The burning charcoal must have made the kitchen very hot for slaves who were getting thefood ready. The kitchen slaves washed the vegetables and herbs in a stone sink. Baking was very difficult because there was no oven in the house, so bread, cakes and puddings were usually bought from a baker.
      A Feast

Most people were  too poor  to  buy  fish  or  meat. They ate  mainly porridge, green vegetables, pancakes, washed  down  with watered  wine.This is  what  a ferast in a rich Roman houshold  may  have looked  like. For the first  course they ate raw vegetables, shellfish,eggs  or  stuffed dormice. For the second  course they ate boiled or roast  meat, doves,chicken, pork  or roast  boar. For the third course they had fruit, honey cakes, spiced  loaf or stuffed dates.Guests who  were  invited to a feast  in a rich person's house  lay  on  a couches  and  ate  with  their  fingers. Slaves cut  up  the  meat for them, served out  the food and  brought  round  bowls of  water  so that the  guests  could  wash their  hands  between  courses.  Poets  and  musitians provided entertainment. They played string instrument called a cithara.

Roman Lifestyle . What People Wore

       
Women wore sleeveless tunics made from linen or cotton ,or if they were very rich silk.They wore coloured shawls over their tunics and as much jewellery as they could afford.

       
Men wore togas - loose robes made from the best wool if they were rich or from coarse cloth if they were poor.Togas could be any colour but officials usually wore white togas decorated with a coloured stripe to show that the wearer was an important person.

Roman School

Only the children of rich parents went to school,starting at about the age of seven. They left primary school at the age of twelve.Boys went on to secondary school but girls,who were allowed to marry at the age of twelve,usually stopped going to school or had a home .
Lessons  were  dull  with lots  of  copying and learning by  heart. Schoolmasters  were  very strict and some beat  their  pupils. 
Math was  taught with an abacus. Pupils wrote on wooden boards spread with wax. They wrote in the wax with the point of a bronze or wooden stilus and rubbed  out  mitakes with the  flattened end. The wax  was  smoothed and  used  many times.  

       The school began at dawn and lasted about six houres, with a mid-day break for the pupils to eat their picnic lunch. As the Romans had no weekends,the pupils had to work for seven days before they had a day off for market day.

       School were very small,just one teacher with a class of ten pupils.Young children learned reading,writing and maths. Older children learned grammar, history, geography and how to speak well in public.

Roman Britain - Time Chart

 Data             What happened

55 BC Roman fleet appears off British coast

54 BC Julius Caesar lands in Britain

AD 43 Claudius invades Britain with his general Aulus Plautus. Most of England conquered in four years. The legionaries begin to build fortresses. Caratacus defeated in Wales and taken prisoner Suetonius becomes Governor of Britain and attacks the Druids on Anglesey

AD 60 The lceni tribe, led by Boudicca, revolts, burns London, and is then defeated.
The Brigantes tribe is conquered Wales is conquered and many legionary forts built there Agricola becomes Governor of Britain and marches into Scotland (Caledonia) defeating the Caledonians at the battle of Mons Graupius Roman  towns built at Lincoln and Gloucerester

AD 100 Scotland abandoned

AD 122 The Emperor Hadrian visits Britain Hadrian’s wall is begun

AD 140 Romans advance into Scotland again and start to build the Antonine wall north of Hadrian’s wall

AD 150 Rebellions in northern Britain defeated Antonine wall abandoned Hadrian’s wall overrun by Scottich tribes and many forts destroyed

AD 200 Hadrian’s wall rebuilt. Romans attack Scotland again and Scottish tibes surrender. Britain divided into two provinces

AD 250 Saxon pirates raid the south coast and other tribes attack from the north Britain divided into four provinces

AD 300 Emperor Constantius attacks Scotland

AD 313 Christianity accepted throught the Roman Empire

AD 350 Irish, Scots and Saxons raid Britain Legions on Hadrian’s wall defeated. Count Theodosius clears invaders from Britain and rebuilds Hadrian’s wall Hadrian’s wall overrun and rebuilt

AD 400 Romans troops begin to leave Britain

AD 410 British towns told to protect themselves from new invaders

The Romans Leave Britain

 The Romans ruled Britain for over three hundred and fifty years. For some Roman Britons this was a time of peace and plenty,but many soldiers were needed to keep Britain safe. After AD 250, this task became harder.
       Raiders from Scotland and Ireland began to make attacks on Britain. Saxon pirates made raids across the North Sea. The Roman forts on the south and east coasts could not keep them out.

       The Roman Empire itself was being attacked by barbarians. Gradually legions left Britain to defend other parts of the Empire. In AD 411, no more pay was sent from Rome and few Roman soldiers stayed after that.
The Britons were left to protect themselves from the new invaders. With the Romans gone there was no strong leader to rule the whole country and gradually the Roman way of life disappeared. Many people returned to the countryside and allowed the towns to fall into ruins.

Conquest.

The Romans attack Britain in  55 BC.  On a late summer morning in 55 BC,a  Roman  fleet  appeared off  the  British  coast  near Dover. Consul  Julius Caesar  had brought  an army  of  10,000 men  to see  if  Britain  was  worth  invading. He  also wanted  to  punish those  British tribes who  had  been helping  the  Celts  in  Europe in their  fight  against  the Romans.

The Britons fought desperately, but they were no match for the well trained Romans, and soon fled.

After  his  victory, Caesar left Britain. He  returned  with another  army in the following year but left  shortly  after. But  the  Romans  did not return to Britain for ninety seven years.

At  first  the  Romans were afraid  of  the  thousands  of  British  warriors  waiting  to fight  them  on  the  beach. It  was  not  until  the  standard  bearer  of  the  10^th  legion jumped  into  the  water  that  the  rest  of  the Roman  soldiers  followed. 

In AD 43, the Roman Emperor, Claudius,decided to make Britain part of the Roman Empire. An army  of 40,000 Roman  soldiers landed at Richboroug in Kent.

  This time the Romans had  come  to  stay.Roman soldiers  swam  across  the  water in  their armours  to  carture the island Anglesey, the centre of  the Druid religion. The chief enemy of Roman, Caracatus, King  of Catuvellauni, fought  the Romans in Wales. But  he  was  betrayed by the Queen  of  Brigantes, captured and  sent to Rome as a slave. The  Roman  swept  the Britons aside and marched deep  into  the countryside. The made alliances with  some  tribes and conquered others, one by one. Slowly, they drive  their enemies  into the moutains of Wales and Scotland. The Romans did not invade Scotland until AD 84. Although they won spme battles they could  not conquer Scotland. Wherever they  went, they built roads and forts  to  control the Britons.

The Roman Army

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ST GEORGE

ST GEORGE - PATRON SAINT

OF ENGLAND
ST GEORGES DAY - APRIL 23RD
      Every nation has its own ‘Patron Saint’ who in times of great peril is called upon to help save the country from its enemies. St George being the patron saint of England.
Very little is known about St. George’s life, but it is thought he was a high ranking officer in the Roman army who was killed in around AD 303.
      It seems that the Emperor Diocletian had St. George tortured to make him deny his faith in Christ. However despite some of the most terrible torture even for that time, St George showed incredible courage and faith and was finally beheaded near Lydda in Palestine. His head was later taken to Rome where it was interred in the church dedicated to him.

       King Edward III made him the Patron Saint of England when he formed the Order of the Garter in St. George's name in 1350, and the cult of the Saint was further advanced by King Henry V, at the battle of Agincourt in northern France.
       King Henry himself, who was both warlike and devout, was thought by his followers to possess many of the saint’s characteristics.
       St. George’s Day is still celebrated, and his flag flown, on his feast day, April 23rd all over  England.

The Romans legacy
     It is important to remember  that the Romans brought many good things to Britain. They improved trade and the quality of life for many  Britons.
      Roman towns showed the Britons that life could be comfortable and pleasant.
     Roman laws meant  that arguments could be settled peacefully. Some of our  modern laws are based on Roman laws.
      The Romans brought milestones to Britain. This drawing shows a stone milestone from Hadrian’s reign. Originally it would have stood 2-3 metres high. The letters ‘MPIIII’ mean ‘four miles from...’
Other things the Romans brought  to Britain

 Lead pipes  

Roof tiles 

Cats        

Wigs       

False teeth 

Cabbages

Carrots 

Peas

Cherries 
 

Plums 

Roses 

Pansies 

Poppies 

Stinging nettles



 

Many  of our words are based on Latin  words. The Romans gave us the names of all our months.
JANUARY    named after the Roman god JANUS. He could look both ways at once because he had two faces, and was the god of gateways
FEBRUARY  named after the Roman festival of FEBRUA
MARCH  named after MARS, the Roman war god
APRIL  from the Latin word APERIRE  meaning ‘to open’ – because of the unfolding of buds and blossom in spring
MAY  named after MAIA, the Roman mother goddess
JUNE  named after JUNO, wife of Jupiter, King of the Roman gods
JULY named after  JULIUS Caesar, who decided that the year should begin in January. Until  then it had begun in March.
AUGUST  named after the Roman Emperor AUGUSTUS
SEPTEMBER  from the Latin word SEPTEM, meaning ‘seven’. It was originally the seventh month of the year
OCTOBER  from the Latin word OCTO, meaning ‘eight’. It was originally the seventh month of the year
NOVEMBER  from the Latin word NOVEM, meaning ‘nine’. It was originally the ninth month of the year
DECEMBER  from the Latin word DECEM, meaning ‘ten’. It was originally the tenth month of the year