Publication: The Romans are Coming!

By Charlotte Downey

 

Imagine you’re a Celtic person living in ancient Britain, originally from Central Europe. As a Celt you live in a tribe and you would normally be a farmer. As a farmer you would be expected to grow crops and vegetables such as, beans, cabbages and parsnips. You’re a very religious person because the Celts worshipped as many as 400 gods. The gods are very important to you, as they are there to protect your family, money and your health. So if you were a Celt, you would live a very simple life.

The Romans did not know, however, that the Celts were going to put up a fight after all and for the Celts, fighting was a hobby. But gradually the Romans began to win the bloody battle, unaware that they would be sailing back to Gaul very soon, as some of Julius Caesar’s ships were wrecked in a storm. The Celts went back to living their normal lives, but the Romans were planning to return.

 

Nearly one hundred years later, in 43 AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius sent another army to invade Britain. Everyday life in Britain was basically as before. In the South East, however, large settlements had developed each led by local chiefs and kings. These new settlements were called St Albans, Canterbury and Colchester.

 

The Roman army invaded at Richborough, Kent. This time there were 40,000 soldiers to defeat the Celts. Many British Kings surrendered to Claudius. Claudius stayed in Britain for sixteen days before leaving. But he did not take his army with him.

 

Therefore, this time the Roman invasion was successful and so Roman Britain begun. Caesar was the first Roman to encounter Canterbury. When he arrived he found that there was a fortress, which was run by the Cantii tribe. This was called Bigbury. Caesar once said, “By far the most civilised tribes are those who live in Kent.” This might be because Kent is the closest county to Europe and therefore have the most amount of contact with other cultures.

 

100 years later the Romans called the area Dorovernam Cantiacorum, which means “the marshy, alder-tree grove of the Cantii.” Once they had defeated the local tribes, they built the city of Canterbury. A large theatre was built, which could hold between 3000-6000 people. This was the largest in the whole of Europe outside of Rome. The Roman invasion changed the city completely. Romans were building temples, public baths, forums and a giant wall, which ran around the city.

 

The Romans had a reputation for being powerful and very violent, so as a tribal chief in Britain you would want to keep on the right side of the Romans, otherwise you may have your head cut off.

One ally to the Romans was Prasutagus of the Iceni, in Norfolk. Prasutagus’s wife, Boudicca, was queen of the Iceni. Now that’s a woman you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley! Boudicca led the Iceni into a revolt against the Romans after her husband Prastutagus died. Boudicca revolted against the Romans due to the fact that they had taken over her husband’s property and they had treated her daughters cruelly.

 

Boudicca led the Iceni into Colchester, London and St Albans and burnt everything that was worth burning. She also tortured and killed Britons and Romans. As you can imagine the Roman Governor of Britain was not very happy and so he defeated Boudicca’s army. During this battle, 80,000 Britons were killed and Boudicca eventually poisoned herself to prevent being imprisoned.

As time went on, the Romans began to settle down in Britain, building new roads and houses. During Roman Britain, trade and industry improved, farming increased and the Romans mined gold, silver, lead, iron and other minerals. Roman Britain, therefore, was very, very rich.

 

Similar to the Celts, however, religion was very important to the Romans. They had many gods despite the fact that most were household gods. All Roman families would have had a shrine in their homes. These shrines were very special, as the families offered gifts to the gods. By AD 300 some people in Roman Britain were Christians and in AD 400 Christianity was the main religion in Roman Britain.

As well as religion and industry the Romans brought slaves over from North Africa and Asia. Some of these slaves were released after a certain time and some slaves married their masters. People from other countries such as Germany, Syria and France were also in Britain at this time.

 

The Romans were seen as the creators of “civilisation.” This is due to the fact that they developed the theatre and the arts, architecture, politics and citizenship. These are the things that have made Britain what it is today.

 

And so our journey with the Romans comes to an end. The Roman army left Britain nearly 400 years after their arrival. This was due to the fact that the army was needed elsewhere. Meanwhile, the ‘barbarians’ and the Saxons invaded Britain. The Roman Empire was breaking up and the new invaders were defending Britain. By AD 400, therefore, Roman Britain was at an end.

 

As well as trade, the Romans brought architecture and entertainment to Britain. They attracted other people from other countries to come to Britain. Because of this, the Romans made Britain a multi-cultural society for the first time in its history.