The Romans - Who Where They?

The Romans were a civilization from Rome, Italy.

The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire extended from the Channel coast to the Caucasus, from the northern Rhineland to the Sahara. In 43 AD Britain became part of that empire, spanning at its height in 160, the southern three-quarters of the island of Great Britain.

Britain was an afterthought not about riches as Rome's rulers were already the richest men in history. It wasn’t about military security as the Channel was as effective a defence from barbarians. What could be better than a glorious military victory in Britain?

There was one problem with the Romans settling: the Britons and they were not happy about foreigners stealing their land and livelihood. Tribes rebelled up against the Romans. Boudicca of the Iceni (East Anglia) began the upraising, burning Colchester, London and St Albans and killing many Romans.

After the Romans invaded southern Britain, they had to defend it so they built roads, so that soldiers could march quickly to deal with trouble. They also built three very large army forts, and lots of smaller camps, for soldiers to live in.

Scotland was not part of Roman Britain, although in A.D. 84, the Romans fought  the Picts who lived in Scotland and won. In 122 A.D.  the Emperor Hadrian ordered his soldiers to build a wall between Roman Britain and Scotland which ran from Wallsend in the east to Bowness in the west. The Romans added another wall further north 18 years later called the Antonine Wall.

Like their predecessors, the Celts, the Romans had a strong sense of religion and faith. The druids were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). However, under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship their gods freely, and they often conflated with the Roman gods.

Caister Roman Fort

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain but it was thought to be around 200 AD, "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ".

I live near a village called Caister in Norfolk that has the ruins of Roman fort in good condition. The fort acted as a defense against invader from across the sea, a home for soldiers and their families and a way to travel into the county.

The Romans maintained unity and order in Britain that it had never had before. But they also brought us fruits, good quality roads, democracy, politics, literature, the baths and a good way to live. Future generations wanted to follow in their example from the Normans to the Victorians.