II.5. Inscriptions, Literacy and Art

As might be expected, the fullest evidence for literacy in Britain comes from the forts and fortresses of the Roman army, which have not only yielded many official dedications of buildings, altars recording vows made to the gods, and the inscribed tombstones of soldiers, but even (at Vindolanda, in Northumberland, just south of Hadrian's Wall) files of correspondence written on wooden tablets.

However, reading and writing were also widespread among the civilian population of Britain, as is proved by graffiti scratched on walls, and on pieces of pottery and tiles. Occasionally (in waterlogged deposits of London) archaeologists discovered a letter written in ink or scratched too deeply through the wax of a wooden writing tablet. All are in the Latin language..

Towns have yielded a few formal inscriptions, some of them very grand, such as the dedications of the forums at Verulamium and Wroxeter set up respectively by the civitates of the Catuvellauni and the Cornovii. There was also the statue which, as the inscription on its base indicates, was erected by the ordo or senate of the Silures at Caerwent in honour of the one-time legate of the Second Augusta legion which was based at Caerleon near by, probably because he was their patron representing the interests of the civitas to the far-away imperial government. Other inscriptions are religious in nature: among them are the dedication of the Temple of Neptune and Minerva at Chichester and various altars, including one to the genius (spirit) of the city of Cirencester and another to the mother goddesses at Winchester. Funerary inscriptions range from the grand lettering on the tomb of the procurator, Classicianus, from London to the touching epitaph of a little girl called Corellia Optata at York.

In the matter of material culture, Pre-Roman Britain was the home of a vigorous and refined native tradition in art and produced, during the Iron Age, masterpieces of Celtic bronze metalwork such as the 'Battersea shield' (British Museum), the 'Torrs chamfrein' (possibly a pony-cap; National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh), the Bird lip mirror (Gloucester Museum), and the gold torcs (heavy neck rings) from the hoard unearthed as Snettisham, Norfolk.

The Roman conquest did not destroy this tradition, as was once thought, but transformed it. Under the Romans, British metalworkers turned their attention to a wider range of items, including figures that combine Roman classicism with the Celts' delight in texture and sinuous forms. Among the notable achievements of British metalworkers during the Roman occupation are a small statue of a muse ('Reading Museum'), from Silchester, and an image of the Roman god Mars (British Museum) from Foss Dyke, Lincolnshire. British artisans were probably involved in casting large statues. Even the head of Hadrian (British Museum), from London, appears to be local work, the convoluted hair certainly looks Celtic.

It is certain that many Britons more than mastered the carving of stone; fine examples include the celebrated male Gorgon from the pediment of the temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath and the great capital, meant for a free-standing column, carved with the figures of Bacchus and his companions (Cirencester Museum).

The existence of a Cotswold school is attested by the fine representations of Mercury in relief (from Cirencester) and in the round (from Uley). A related school was located further North: high-quality sculptures are known from Ancaster and Lincoln. A striking female mask (British Museum) with curving S-scroll tresses from Towcester, Northamptonshire, is also attributed to this school. A third school has been identified at Carlisle, where it produced a number of distinctive gravestones.

The mosaics are perhaps the most famous Roman artworks. In the 2nd century, mosaic workshops were set up in several major towns, including Colchester, Verulamium, and Cirencester, where fairly simple but attractive designs were produced, mainly geometric but some showing figural work.

Cirencester was again a major centre, with a brilliant series of floors featuring a concentric design in which Orpheus is depicted with animals and birds circling around him. The largest mosaic, found on the site of the palatial villa at Woodchester, near Cirencester, is currently on display in the Corinium Museum, Cirencester.

Other floors from the same school, one with a Bacchic theme, can be seen at Chedworth villa. Another workshop specializing in rather fleshy animals and plants was based at Dorchester, in Dorset. The great villa-like complex at Frampton included a large number of mythological scenes, such as Perseus and the sea monster, Aeneas plucking the golden bough, and Cadmus slaying the serpent of Mars.