Roman Britain

Britannia
Civitas Life?
The End?
Roman Ireland?
Bibliography

Britannia
Between 43 and 410 CE Britain was the Roman Province of Britannia.
Caesar's invasion of 55-54 BCE marked the first official Roman presence in Britain, though throughout the late Iron Age there had been considerable contact between Britain and the Classical world. Aspects of Roman Culture were already beginning to be found, particularly in southern Britain, where trade between the two brought the British ruling caste into contact with Roman life. When Caesar invaded he classed the people of Britain as two seperate peoples. The civilised Britanni in the south and the savage Brittones in the interior and northwards. Although it is an over-simplification, the south seems to have taken to Roman social, economic and agricultural methods with more vigour than their northern cousins.
The Romans followed the usual method of arranging treaties with client kingdoms to act as a buffer system and allow military
resources to be used elsewhere. The Iceni, the Atrebates and the Brigantes were allowed to rule themselves with assistance from the Romans. Of course this was open to revue, hence the Boudicca uprising of 60 CE and the later Brigantian War.
The foundation of many of todays cities were layed by the Romans, who would build a fortification, often close to a 'Oppida' or Tribal Centre. London, Colchester, Canterbury, Winchester, Silchester, Chester and Lincoln are all examples of this. Within these Roman towns life followed a similar pattern to that of Roman towns throughout the Empire. Each Civitas would be built with the Roman eye for order, regular streets layed out, with baths, temples, basilica and forum. Each Civitas would have its own council which consisted of up to a hundred local dignitaries. They would be responsible for the day-to-day running of the town, tax-collection, laws would be made and enforced, etc.
The Romans sought to destroy the influence of the Druids within the society, though they didn't try to supress local cults. A great many 'reasons' for the Romans desire to obliterate the Druids, but it is probably their politic power that the Romans wanted to remove. Without the Druids the Romans only had to deal with Tribal Aristocrats, easier to control through wealth or threats.
Overall the Romans tolerated local cults and supported a cross-pollenization of beliefs. The interpretato Romano demonstrated the similarities between Celtic Deities and those worshiped by the Romans. Thus we find Nodens is equated with Mars, Silvanus, or even Neptune depending on which function of the deity is been called upon. Throughout Britain, but particularly in the uncivilized and wild north local deities are linked with Mars, as it is the martial aspect that is obviously to the fore.

Civitas Life?
Making statements about life in Roman Britain is fraught with a number of problems, the most obvious been how we interpret what we find. Iconographic and archaelogical finds would suggest a fusion between indiginous belief systems and Roman, however these finds need to be seen in a wider context. Most are found in the civitates and colonae and in legionary forts, areas where you would expect to find a great deal of Romanization, so it is not unrealistic to think that life away from the civilian centres, especially in the north and west of Britain, continued relatively untouched. Away from the towns people still lived in Iron Age circular Wattle houses that their ancestors had lived in, and apart from certain improvements in animal stock life would have continued as though the Romans had never invaded.
 

The End of Roman Britain?
The year 410 CE marks the end of Britannia as a Roman Province but not the end of Roman Britain. It was never a case of 'Will the last Roman out of the country please turn off the light!` and welcome to the Dark Ages!
It is known that the aquaduct in Carlisle was kept in full working order until the 7th Century, the early Christian Church in Britain continued to grow (Well enough that one of their number managed to convert the whole of Ireland!), Roman administrive titles where still in use, etc. Roman life continued in part throughout the Fifth Century CE.

Roman Ireland?
It is without doubt that Ireland was never a Roman Province, yet recent discoveries point to a high level of influence and interaction. The Geographer Ptolemy clearly knew enough about Ireland to be able to draw a detailed map complete with tribal names.
Tacticus wrote of his father-in-law Agricola:-
       Agricola had given shelter to one of the minor kings (reguli) who had been driven out by a conspiracy at home and
       under the guise of friendship had held him in reserve to be used as opportunity offered. I have often heard my
       father-in-law say that with one legion and a small force of auxiliaries Ireland (Ibernia) could be over-powered
       and held.
The most striking evidence, though still open to debate, was the discovery of  a Castrum, a fortified military base, at Drumanagh, on the coast of County Dublin. Whereas Roman finds have been discovered in Ireland before, this site yielded something different, evidence of Romans living in Ireland. Roman finds in Ireland have an unusual distribution, they are mutually exclusive from Native finds. Roman-style burials found in Leinster complete with Roman objects do not contain a single native find.
Drumanagh may have been a trading post or a military base. Roman coins date to the First Century CE. Perhaps the story of Tuathal Teachtmhar, an Irish Prince born in exile in Britain, has him return to Ireland with an army when he was twenty-five. After invading the central plains he was proclaimed High-King at Tara. Traditionally these events are placed in the later half of the First Century CE. Perhaps Tuathal returned to Ireland at the head of a force of Roman soldiers and Drumanagh was his beach-head?

Bibliography

Pagan Celtic Britain - Dr Anne Ross            ISBN 0-89733-435-3
Animals in Celtic Life and Myth - Miranda Green     ISBN 0-4151-8588-2
Iron Age Britain - Barry Cunliffe        ISBN 0-7134-7299-5
Roman Britain - Peter Salway    ISBN 0-19-821717-X
Understanding the Countryside - Ron Scholes     ISBN 1-8747-2334-6
Britain and the Celtic Iron Age - Simon James and Valery Rigby         ISBN 0-7141-2306-4
The Atlantic Celts - Simon James         ISBN 0-7141-2165-7
Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture - Bernhard Maier    ISBN 0-8511-5660-6
The Celtic Heroic Age - John T Koch     ISBN 0-9642446-1-6