Roman Britain

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Roman Britain

• 55 BCE410 AD

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Anglo-Roman Britain
The Anglo-Roman (55 BCE. - ca. 410 AD) period
began with Julius Caesars first invasion of
England and ended with the withdrawal of the last
Roman Legion to the mainland. This period is
clearly distinguished from the tribal Celtic and
Anglo-Saxon period that preceded and followed it.
There is evidence that while Roman customs, laws,
and government dominated English life, many
Celtic traditions, like a strong sense of local
or regional order remained and were adapted to
Roman Lawas, for example, the hero-leader-chieft
ain.. After the withdrawal of political Rome
from England in the mid-5th century, cultural
Rome remained in the strong respect for law as
the basis of social order.
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Timeline
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The Ledenhall Mosaic

• Ledenhall Street, London
• Illustrates the extensive Roman influence on
  English life
• The image is of a young god or noble.

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The Rudge Cup

• This inscribed cup, found in Hadrians Wall
  lists, the names of five wall forts. The
  occupation of the fort illustrates Roman
  administration and maintenance of public order.
  The refined style shows the development of a high
  culture

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Iceni Coin (ca 60 AD)

• From the time of Boudicca found in a buried
  cache. The incorporation of Celtic design and
  Roman coining techniques shows the mixture of
  Celtic and Roman styles on Romano-Britain. Shows
  the extent of the instability fear at the time
  of the Iceni rebellion.

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An Exemplary Text
Tacitus the Roman historian provides an account
of Boudiccas rebellion )60-61 ad in The Annals,
Book XIV, Chapters 29-35. Tacitus account was
written between 110-120 ad. It provides a summary
of the military campaign of Paulinus Suetonius,
an ambitious general reversed previous Roman
policy of consolidating rather than extending
their rule in Britain. His campaign in Wales,
particular on the Isle of Mona was vicious and
brutal. Prasutagus, king of the Iceni tried
secure peace and stability for his kingdom by
bequeathing half in prosperous kingdom to the
Roman governor.
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Tacitus (cont.)
However, Roman troops ravaged the kingdom,
raping his wife and daughters and enslaving the
royal family. Boudicca, with the help of
neighboring tribes, sought to rectify the wrong.
Tacitus characterizes their motivation as the
neighboring states, not as yet taught to crouch
in bondage, pledged themselves, in secret
councils, to stand forth in the cause of
liberty. Boudiccas speech to his troops before
the final battle with the Romans recorded by
Tacitus certainly characterizes the reason for
the revolt as one of protecting traditional
freedom and a protest against the injustices that
Roman inflicted on the Britons.  
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Tacitus (cont.)
"This is not the first time that the Britons
have been led to battle by a woman. But now she
did not come to boast the pride of a long line of
ancestry, nor even to recover her kingdom and the
plundered wealth of her family. She took the
field, like the meanest among them, to assert the
cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for
her body seamed with ignominious stripes, and her
two daughters infamously ravished. . . . Behold
the proud display of warlike spirits, and
consider the motives for which we draw the
avenging sword. On this spot we must either
conquer, or die with glory. There is no
alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is
fixed the men, if they please, may survive with
infamy, and live in bondage."
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Significance of this text

• Many dimensions of the British social and
  political thinking are shaped by the key idea,
  acting to assert or protect public liberty,
  expressed by Boudicca.

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Link to the Summative Essay
History Social Change