5.2 Material Culture

In order to provide and maintain the governmental system they introduced in provinces, the Romans brought a lot of new things in the sphere of material culture.

Among the most peculiar things left by the Romans are the roads, which were built right in the process of conquering the territory. They were built so well that they survived when later roads broke up. All in all the Roman Army built more than 80,450 kilometres of roads connecting the Empire. The Roman administration needed a good network of roads to connect its new towns and army posts and to speed the flow of both trade goods and troops. In building their network of roads the Romans mostly ignored the Celtic paths, partly because the Roman towns and forts were built on new sites away from the Celtic settlements.

The minor roads (sometimes called "economic roads") were also built by the Roman army to link economic centres, such as the Mendip lead mines and the Nene potteries, with administrative capitals like Silchester, and the coastal ports. At a best guess there were between 8,000 - 10,000 miles of roads constructed during the first hundred years of Roman occupation.

There were also roads of the local level, connecting villas, temples, farms, and villages to larger roads and market towns. The full extent of this road building is apparent when you consider that according estimates by historians, no village or farm was more than 7 miles from a purpose-built road!

It is a fallacy to think that Roman roads are always straight. The Roman engineers were no fools – if there was a natural obstacle in the way, the road naturally deviated to go around it. That said, for the most part Roman roads were laid out in straight lines between sighting landmarks. Small hills were cut through, and wet ground covered by causeways, or timber embankments.

So, how did the Romans build these famous roads of theirs? The roads were literally highways, raised up on a cambered bank of material dug from roadside ditches. In general there were 3 layers. The first layer of large stones was covered by a second layer of smaller stones, then a top layer of gravel or small stones. Each layer varied in depth from 2 to12 inches.

The choice of material depended upon what was locally available; in the chalk areas like the Wessex Downs a mix of chalk, flint, and gravel was used. The paved area was edged with upright stones to provide stability, and the major roads had ditches to each side, about 84 feet apart.

These roads continued to be used long after the Romans left, and became the main roads of modern Britain.

The towns, connected by these roads were the most obvious characteristic of Roman Britain as they were the basis of Roman administration and civilisation. Many grew out of Celtic settlements, military camps or market centres. The Romans left about twenty large towns of about 5,000 inhabitants, and almost one hundred smaller ones. Many of these towns were at first army camps, and the Latin word for camp, castra, has remained part of many town names to this day (with the ending chester, caster or cester – the latter is often pronounced shorter as [stǝ]): Gloucester, Lei­cester, Doncaster, Winchester, Chester, Lancaster and many others besides. The Romans built towns in lowland areas, such as at fords across rivers, in contrast to the earlier Neolithic and Iron Age practice of sticking to the slopes and higher ground above the valleys.

Broadly, there were three different kinds of town in Roman Britain depending on their status, two of which were towns established by Roman charter. These were the coloniae, towns peopled by Roman settlers, and the municipia, large cities in which the whole population was given Roman citizenship. The third kind, the civitates, included the old Celtic tribal capitals, through which the Romans administered the Celtic population in the countryside.

A colonia was the highest rank of Roman city. Normally all citizens of a colonia were also Roman citizens. Throughout the Empire period former legionary bases were often converted to coloniae by granting land to retired legionaries. The thinking was that these legionaries would raise families and provide future recruits to the legions, which were only open to Roman citizens. Each colonia was governed by an ordo (council), under the control of four quattuoviri (annually appointed magistrates).

The veterans in provinces were given special diplomas as proof of his honorable service, his newly granted Roman citizenship for himself and his children.

The first colonia established in Britain was at Camulodunum (Colchester), around 49 AD. Camulodunum was followed by Lindum (Lincoln), and Glevum (Gloucester) at the end of the 1st century.

In place of the military gate in Camulodunum at the western entrance to the fort, a monumental arch was built, commemorating Claudius’ conquest of Britain. Later, when the city acquired walls, this was incorporated into the western gate of the city and though nothing of the actual arch now remains, what is left of the gate and its walls still stand at the Balkerne Gate. A monumental Roman temple was built at Camulodunum in 44 AD, which grandiose structure was dedicated to the emperor Claudius himself, following the urges of his sycophantic court. The site chosen for it lay just outside the fortress to the east, in the middle of the large civilian settlement or canabae, which had been assembled in the short year following the invasion, the intention was probably to forcefully remind the natives that they were now vassals of Rome. The 'Temple of the Divine Claudius' at Colchester was the first monumental Roman temple in Britain.

The town walls were completed by the early 2nd century and enclosed an area of one hundred acres, the interior of the colonia being divided into city-blocks measuring on average about 330 feet square.

A municipium was the second-highest rank of Roman city, following after colonia. Unlike those of coloniae, inhabitants of municipia were not automatically Roman citizens, but magistrates and their families did become citizens at the end of their time in office.

Only one municipium is known to have been established in Roman Britain, at Verulamium (St. Albans). It has a unique Roman Theatre. Built in about 140 it is the only example of its kind in Britain, being a theatre with a stage rather than an amphitheatre. Initially, the arena would have been used for anything from religious processions and dancing, to wrestling, armed combat and wild beast shows. From about 180 the stage came into greater use and the auditorium extended. By about 300, after some redevelopment work, the Theatre could seat 2,000 spectators. The ruins one can see today were unearthed in 1847. Subsequent excavations revealed a row of shop foundations, a Roman Villa and a secret shrine, all thought to date from the 1^st century.

The rest of Roman Britain was divided into civitates, or town territories loosely based on pre-existing Celtic tribal territories. The civitates were independent administrative centres, governed by the Celts themselves, though under the supervision of Roman provincial administration based in London. These civitates generally used the same structure of government as municipia, that is, an elected council and magistrates.

The Romans invited the old Celtic aristocracy to administer the civitates. By involving their conquered foes in the government, they made allies of possible enemies, and at the same time avoided the expense of administering their new province on their own. Thus, in a gradual way, the Celtic aristocracy became Romanised. Like elsewhere in the Empire, the local "councils" in the towns were encouraged to build civic buildings as a mark of civilization. There was no standard plan to adhere to, so there was a great deal of local variety in the way that the towns interpreted the Roman ideal.

In a typical Roman town you could see a forum in its centre – a large building often with an open courtyard that was used by the people of the town as a meeting place, a place to do business, discuss town matters and hold markets. It was the center of most towns. The roads were laid out in a neat grid, and outside the town walls there was a circular amphitheatre. Best survived civitates in England are Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), Caistor in Norfolk and Wroxeter in Shropshire. Today the interior of Silchester is buried and laid to pasture, and apart from the town walls and the amphitheatre there are no visible remains to be seen. The entire circuit of the town wall has survived and it is one of the best examples of its kind.

At first these towns had no walls. Then, probably from the end of the 2nd century to the end of the 3rd century ad, almost every town was given walls. At first many of these were no more than earthworks, but by 300 all towns had thick stone walls.

Town boundaries, unlike military forts, were not laid out in rigid rectangles or squares, but they did contain a regular grid-like network of streets. These towns were built with stone as well as wood, and had planned streets, markets and shops. Some buildings had central heating.

The Romans also built water and sewage systems. The Romans built aqueducts and sewers to keep the water clean. The water system included siphons, tunnels, filter tanks, and arched bridges to carry the water across valleys. Soldiers built the aqueducts, and slaves maintained them. It was an offence to obstruct the flow of water, punishable by a fine of ten thousand sesterces.

Every town had public baths. The baths were a Roman institution, and most town dwellers would have attended daily before their evening meal. They were open to both sexes, though at different times of day, and served as a combination of health club, healing spa, and meeting place. The order in which people went through the baths seems to have been up to the individual, though they were generally arranged in the order of exercise area, disrobing area, cold, warm, and hot rooms. Some baths further divided up the hot rooms into steam and dry heat areas. Bath-houses had their own water supplies.

In the major towns of Roman Britain, citizens would have lived in apartment-style accommodation in square houses. These apartments were usually made from wattle and daub, and could have been up to six storeys high, but in most cases – 2 storeys. Built with the ground floor used as a shop (or a workshop), the upper floors would feature one room living quarters. Several generations of a family might share this small space.

Living conditions in Roman houses would have been primitive if you were a member of the poorer class. Cooking quarters were rare. Fire was a real concern in these one-room residences when home-cooking was a must.

Running water into these Roman houses was not the norm. Water would have been carried in buckets from the public well or fountains in the streets, and most probably up several flights of stairs. Sanitary facilities were either shared in the basement, or public latrines had to be utilized. Public toilets consisted of several seats arranged in a row. The Romans used sponges on sticks instead of toilet paper.

Many towns also offered the entertainments of the theatre and amphitheatre. The theatre, an open air tiered clam-shell, would have offered fare from classical plays, pantomime, and religious festivals. The amphitheatre, an open air oval, usually built outside the city walls, would have appealed to a less discriminating taste, offering gladiatorial combats, contests between men and animals, and public executions. The number of theatres and amphitheatres in Britain is small, so these particular entertainments may not have been so popular.

The first Roman capital of the new province of Britannia was at Colchester. It didn't take the Romans long, however, to realize the strategic importance of the Thames as a communication and transport highway. A small existing settlement was built up to become a trade and administrative centre. The Romans called it Londinium, it was a capital city of about 20,000 people. The city was quickly rebuilt after Boudicca’s uprising, with a cluster of timber-framed wooden buildings surrounding the imposing Roman civic buildings. The city continued to grow in size and splendor over the next century, reflecting the increasing importance of trade in Britain. By the middle of the 2nd century AD, Londinium possessed the largest basilica (town hall) west of the Alps, a governor's palace, a temple, bathhouses, and a large fort for the city garrison. Gracechurch Street, in the City, runs through the middle of the old Roman basilica and forum (market place). London became the hub at the centre of a major network of roads built primarily to serve troop movement and administrative communication. Not entirely by accident they also served the expansion of trade that quickly made London the most important town, and eventually the capital, of the new province of Brittania. London was twice the size of Paris, and possibly the most important trading centre of northern Europe, because southeast Britain produced so much corn for export.

Outside the towns, the biggest change during the Roman occupation was the growth of large farms, called "villas". Most Roman villas in Britain are in the south and east. They belonged to the richer Britons who were, like the townspeople, more Roman than Celt in their manners, that is to a tribal client king or even a Roman governor. Each villa had many workers. The villas were usually close to towns so that the crops could be sold easily.

Individual houses were as different then as they are now, but the villas followed some general patterns. To make a house bigger the wings were extended around a courtyard. Then another courtyard and more wings might be added. They were half-timber frame houses on stone foundations, one story in height, capped with slate or clay tiled roofs. Central heating (hypocaust) systems, based on circulating hot air under floors and through walls, weren’t universal. They were installed in bath suites, and sometimes reception rooms. But most rooms had hard floors, and were heated by braziers. Tile floors were common, and most larger villas contained at least one room with a mosaic floor. Walls may have been decorated with mosaics or painted scenes. Furniture was made of wood, in patterns similar to Roman style throughout the Empire. Many villas also had separate bath houses.

Every villa in Roman Britain was unique. Most conformed to a basic type but with huge differences in detail. The major materials used for Roman house building were timber for posts and beams, stone for footings and foundations, wattle-and-daub, clay bricks for walls, ceramic tiles for roofs.

 Sure, villas represented a tiny proportion of the population in terms of accommodation. We know of around 1100 villas but these range from farms to palatial establishments. Suppose on average an extended family of 15 lived there and they had three times as many household slaves, that makes 66,000 people but that is probably an exaggeration. Anyway as Roman Britain probably had population of about 3-5 million people (based on medieval comparisons) it means just 1.3-2.2 percent of the population lived in villas. Even taking towns and the army into account by far and away the majority lived on the land in nameless and unnoticed farmsteads, roundhouses and villages though many of these people might have worked on the land of villa estates. We pay villas a lot of attention because of their visibility to us.

The Romans used local chiefs and leading families to rule for them, by installing them in positions of responsibility. The descendants of tribal leaders that had fought against Rome probably sat on city councils and built those early stone townhouses. It was probably these families that later owned many of the villas. Others might have been owned by retired soldiers, or even immigrants from Gaul. Getting out of town became fashionable with wealthy townspeople in the late 3rd century. They retreated to the privacy of rural estates and spent their money there, where they could parcel up local economies and politics in peace. They’d also started to model themselves on the Romans of old. Their mosaics had classical myths depicted on them, and some of the most pretentious had Latin verse laid out on the floors.

Following the Roman conquest, there appeared a growing difference between the rich and those who did the actual work on the land. These, and it was the majority, still lived in the same kind of round huts and villages, which the Celts had lived in four hundred years before the Romans arrived.

In some ways life in Roman Britain seems very civilised, but its luxuries could be afforded by very few. The bodies buried in a Roman graveyard at York show that life expectancy was low. Half the entire population died between the ages of twenty and forty, while 15 per cent died before reaching the age of twenty.

To Be Followed by Test 1

Lecture 4 Sub-Roman Britain (2 h.)