"Romano-British Mosaics (Shire Archaeology)" by Peter Johnson.

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  DESCRIPTION:  Softcover.  Publisher: Shire Publications  (2002).  Pages: 72.  Size:  8¼ x 6 inches; ½ pound.  Summary:    This book is a concise introduction to the floor mosaics of Roman Britain. It first chronicles the history of mosaic discovery in Britain and discusses the changing attitudes towards mosaics, no longer considered merely art objects but social documents. It deals with the different periods of mosaic laying from the first-century pavements at Fishbourne, of Italian craftsmanship, to the Hadrianic and Antonine periods, when mosaic was first established in the towns. It traces the apparent collapse of the craft in the third century and the remarkable fourth-century revival, when many villas were decorated with sophisticated mosaics, and it examines the probable techniques of the Roman mosaicist by reference to both literary and archaeological evidence. A chapter deals with the recording, conservation and research of mosaics, and a list of sites where mosaics can be seen includes comments on items of outstanding interest. Mosaics are illustrated by photographs and distribution maps show the fourth-century schools of mosaic. There is a glossary of technical terms. 

CONDITION:  NEW.  New oversized softcover. Shire Publications (2002) 72 pages. Unblemished, unmarked, pristine in every respect. Pages are pristine; clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 14 days! #6639a.

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  PUBLISHER REVIEWS: 

  REVIEW:  Osprey Publishing (Shire) has been providing books for enthusiasts since 1968 and since then it has grown, evolved and taken on new challenges until it stands today as one of the most successful examples of niche publishing around.

REVIEW:  Peter Johnson has written and presented numerous papers on Roman mosaics, notably at successive International Colloquia on Ancient Mosaics at Ravenna and Trier. He organized the fifth International Colloquium on Ancient Mosaics held at Bath in 1987 and co-edited the papers published in 1994. In 1978 he co-founded ASPROM, the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics, of which he is Vice-Chairman.

REVIEW:  After graduating in archaeology from the University of Leicester in 1978, Peter Johnson undertook post-graduate research at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne on the geometric repertory and dating of Romano-British mosaics. He has written and presented numerous papers on Roman mosaics, notably at successive International Colloquia on Ancient Mosaics at Ravenna and Trier. He organized the Fifth International Colloquium on Ancient Mosaics held at Bath in 1987 and co-edited the papers published in 1994. In 978 he co-founded ASPROM, the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics, of which he is Vice-Chairman. Peter Johnson has excavated widely at Roman sites in Britain, France, and Spain. After his archaeological career he entered law. He is now Chairman of the Bath Archaeological Trust.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

List of Illustrations.

Introduction.

Design, Construction, and Materials.

First-Century Beginnings.

Second-Century Expansion.

Third-Century Depression.

Fourth-Century Revival.

Recording, Conservation and Research.

Collections of Roman Mosaics.

Glossary.

Bibliography.

Index.

  PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS: 

  REVIEW:  Exceptional overview on the history, techniques, discovery, and conservation of Romano-British Mosaics. Very informative, well-written, compact.

    READER REVIEWS: 

  REVIEW:  The most famous Roman mosaics are probably those of Pompeii and Herculaneum; in the Roman Empire at large, the mosaics of the Byzantine Empire and Near East (e.g., modern-day Syria) come to mind. However, the artistic and cultural influences of Rome and the Near East extend to the western reaches of the Empire as well. In fact, the cover photograph of the magnificent Orpheus Mosaic at Littlecote Park (Wiltshire) well illustrates these Near Eastern influences.

  As with other titles in the venerable Shire Archaeology series, this book offers the general reader a short but reasonably detailed introduction to the many beautiful mosaics that have been found and preserved in England. Author Peter Johnson starts out with the design and construction of mosaics, as well as the materials used. Subsequent chapters discuss the First Century beginnings, Second Century expansion, Third Century collapse, and Fourth Century revival (when many villas were decorated with beautifully crafted mosaics), followed by a listing of important collections of or individual mosaics throughout Britain.

  As an introduction to the subject of Romano-British mosaics, Dr. Johnson does a remarkable job in just highly readable 72 pages. Anyone wishing to find further information might wish to consult one of the more detailed books on the subject, most notably 'Roman Mosaics in Britain' by David S. Neal or the works of Patricia Witts, 'Mosaics in Roman Britain: Stories in Stone (Revealing History),' Margaret Rule, 'Floor Mosaics in Roman Britain,' or Anne Rainey, 'Mosaics in Roman Britain.' 

REVIEW:  I've got a bigger book on Roman mosaics, but actually that's not as good as this. This is small, compact and gets loads of key facts into it. It's particularly useful in charting the development of different styles of mosaic. Well worth buying if you're interested in Roman mosaics in Britain.

REVIEW:  Five stars! Outstanding text.

  ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: 

  REVIEW:  A spectacular Roman mosaic described as the best find of its kind in half a century has been partly uncovered in Berkshire, during a community archaeology project that only had two weeks left to run. Anthony Beeson, an expert on classical art and a member of the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics, described it as “without question the most exciting mosaic discovery made in Britain in the last fifty years”.

  Luigi Thompson, an artist known for his meticulous paintings of mosaics, called the find, which dates from about A.D. 380, “the most delightful, lively and charming pavement I have ever seen”. Less than half the mosaic, a six-meere strip richly patterned with mythical characters, was uncovered in the last two weeks. It has now been buried again to protect it. The central panels depict the Greek hero Bellerophon riding the winged horse Pegasus.

  They are shown attacking the fire-breathing monster Chimera, then being offered the king’s daughter as a reward, a legend that would later be Christianized as St George and the dragon. Other scenes on the mosaic include imagery not known from any other British site, according to the experts. The find was made at a Roman site near Boxford where residents and amateur archaeologists and historians, supervised by Cotswold Archaeology, have been excavating since 2011.

  In the the last three summers, backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, they have found the remains of a large villa and bath house, a farm building, and now the mosaic. The volunteer excavators, many with no previous experience, hope to raise funds to return next year. [The Guardian (UK) 2017].

REVIEW:  The Rudston villa is situated within the territories of the Parisi tribe of the East Riding of Yorkshire (now Humberside) and has been dated to the 4th century, fairly late in the scheme of Roman Britain as a whole. It contained some of the best examples of Roman mosaics and painted wall plaster from the North of England. The villa was constructed from chalk blocks which were searched locally and sandstone probably imported from the West Riding.

  The Rudston charioteer mosaic has been lifted and now resides in the Hull Museum of Transport and Archaeology. The Rudston Venus mosaic, discovered in 1933, has also been lifted and is now on display in a back room of the East Riding and Hull Museum. The Rudston Venus mosaic is interesting in that two of its animals have been assigned names or titles, the bull depicted to the right of the central figure has the words TAV-RVS OMICIDA "the man-killing bull", while the lion figure in the lunette (semicircular area) below the central figure bears the words LEO FLAMITER "the flaming lion".

  It is possible that the four hunting figures surrounding the central figure are depictions of venatores, professional gladiators which specialized in the killing of wild animals in the arena - no doubt displaying the predilection of the villa owner. It is very likely that the Rudston mosaics were the work of a northern school centered at York, and they share characteristics in common with other mosaics at Brantingham, Aldborough and Malton, also tessallated pavements at Horkstow and Winterton. Wall plaster recovered from the site prove that many of the rooms were painted, although the room which housed the Venus mosaic was decorated with the only polychrome mural.

  The Rudston villa was first excavated in 1839 and reported in the Gentleman's Magazine 1839 also the Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette on 09/08/1839. Initial excavations on the site of the Roman villa by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society were conducted during the years 1933-1935 and reported in The Yorkshire Archaeological Journals, and also in The Journal of Roman studies. The Yorkshire Archaeological Society also conducted excavations on the Roman villa during 1935-1937 which were reported in The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal.

  The site was extensively researched by the YAS during the period 1962-1972, during which time evidence of Iron-Age settlement and burials were uncovered along with further details of the Roman villa including a well and field systems, reported in The Yorkshire Archaeological Journals, also in The Journal of Roman Studies. A full excavation report entitled "Rudston Roman Villa" was also penned by I.M. Stead in 1980. [Roman-Britain.co.uk].

  REVIEW:  Dig season was coming to a close when amateur archaeologists in southeast England made one of their most important discoveries to date: a Roman mosaic, dating back more than 1,000 years. Since 2015, the dig led by the Boxford History Project and the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group has brought together local archaeology enthusiasts and professional archaeologists. The team's work has focused on three Roman sites near the small village of Boxford.

  But when the first, vibrant colors of the mosaic poked through the broken dirt of the excavation site, "I was stunned into silence," said the leader of the Boxford History Project, Joy Appleton, in an interview with the New York Times. Anthony Beeson, a member of the Association for Roman Archaeology, initially thought it might be a hoax. "It was so unlike anything that has ever turned up in this country," he said in an interview with science news outlet Live Science. Luckily for Appleton and Beeson, the mosaic was not a hoax but instead a glimpse into life in Britain under ancient Roman rule.

  The mosaic itself is large, measuring just over 19 feet long. So far, only one side of the panel has been revealed by excavators, but characters and beasts from Roman myths can be clearly seen. Initial studies of the scene depicted on the mosaic reveal it shows the mythological character Bellerophon at the court of characters believed to be either Lobates or Proteus. At the bottom of the mosaic is a creature known as the chimera, which had a lion's head, a goat's torso, a serpent's tail, and breathed fire. In Greek legends, Bellerophon was sent to kill the chimera, and the scene depicts the creature ready to attack.

  The mosaic may also depict the Greek hero Hercules fighting with a centaur. In a statement, Roman expert Neil Holbrook explained that the find was one of the most important mosaics ever found in Britain. "Not only is it a fantastic new piece of Roman art from Britain, but it also tells us about the lifestyle and social pretensions of the owner of the villa at Boxford," he stated. The villa's owner, Holbrook claimed, was likely of British origin and trying to forge a close relationship with the Romans. By commissioning a mosaic with Roman iconography, it may have signaled a willingness to embrace the Roman government that occupied Britain.

  The Roman Empire invaded ancient Britain in 43 A.D. and occupied the region until 410 A.D. During this time, Britain became one of the western fronts of the expansive empire, and a number of representatives built villas throughout the country. Mosaics have been found in England of varying quality and preservation, but the archaeologists in Boxford claim this find is significant for its intact quality and what it can reveal about the inhabitants who commissioned it.

  In a press release detailing the find, Cotsworld Archaeology, one of the organizations that contributed to the excavation, explained that the site likely contained a moderately sized villa with a series of adjoining rooms. They believe the mosaic and a bath suite where residents could plunge into a cold-water pool were added over time. While the mosaic has been the most exciting find from this summer's dig, it wasn't the only artifact found at the site. During the beginning of the year, the team found a child's bracelet and coins. Volunteers also uncovered what they theorize was a barn and a courtyard gateway.

  Excavations have finished for this season, but the team of archaeologists and enthusiasts plans to return to the site next year in the hopes of unearthing more remnants of an ancient society. [National Geographic].

  REVIEW:  Not far from Cunetio in the Kennet valley is a Roman villa at Littlecote. The site has the best visible Roman remains in the county; it is now in the grounds of a late Elizabethan/early Jacobean house, and was excavated by Bryn Walters from 1978 to 1991. Knowledge that a significant Roman monument existed in Littlecote Park first came to the attention of antiquaries in 1727, when its Orpheus mosaic was discovered. Roger Gale the following year called it ‘the finest pavement that the sun ever shone upon in England’.

  The site was then lost, probably deliberately, as the park’s owner Sir Francis Popham said that its position was quarter of a mile west of the real one. The remains were rediscovered in 1976 and a long-term excavation began in 1978 under the patronage of Sir Seton Wills. Excavation continued with a permanent team for thirteen years. The principal Roman structures were fully conserved while the excavations progressed and it is estimated that approximately one million visitors saw the work.

  Use of the site began in the mid first century, and it was occupied intermittently thereafter. The Roman remains were buried beneath part of an extensive medieval village, which was dismantled in the fifteenth century to make way for a hunting park, within which a hunting-lodge was constructed in the seventeenth century, adjacent to the buried mosaic. Controversy has arisen over the excavator’s interpretation that the famous mosaic floored an ‘Orphic-Bacchic’ cult chamber, contradicting the orthodox view that it had been the summer dining-room of the villa (Walters 1984; 1994).

  The excavation revealed that the complex was being extensively modified by the end of the third century, and that all agricultural activity had ceased by the mid fourth. The site was then converted into a ‘Bacchic-collegium’, a form of pagan monastery. During this period of change remarkable architectural innovations took place. An elaborate twin-towered gatehouse had been erected and the south tower on the main house was enlarged, both structures being fitted with larger upper chambers above the smaller ground-floor rooms, the upper levels supported on projecting external arched vaults.

  This was followed in about 360 by the rapid construction of a towered and polygonally faceted triconch chamber, housing the ‘Orpheus’ mosaic. This building is unique in Roman Britain and is considered, by the excavator, to be the earliest in this style yet dated from the Roman Empire. Such chambers have been referred to as ‘The House of the Lord’ (Lavin 1962). The particular form of triconch building is generally believed to have evolved in the Aegean in the fifth century, several decades after its potential use at Littlecote, and became the pattern adopted for early Byzantine churches (Krautheimer 1965).

  Littlecote House is a fine brick-built mansion, with a few earlier elements incorporated; it is either very late Elizabethan or early Jacobean. The main front is viewed at its best from the slope above, as its owners probably always intended visitors to see it first. It contains a splendid baronial hall, chapel and other rooms. These were re-created when the complex was owned by Peter de Savary in the 1980s. The new owners, Times-Warner, have maintained some elements of the theme park, and have restored the walled garden.

  The parkscape around is basically eighteenth-century in its concept, with a ha-ha (a dry ditch to prevent deer entering the gardens) to preserve the illusion of the house and its surrounds as a seamless whole. [Royal Archaeological Institute (UK)].

REVIEW:  Littlecote Roman Villa is a Roman winged corridor villa and associated religious complex at Littlecote Park in the civil parish of Ramsbury in the English county of Wiltshire. It has been archaeologically excavated under the direction of Bryn Walters, and is on display to the public. The settlement may have begun life as a small short-lived military establishment guarding a crossing of the River Kennet. This was replaced by local circular farming huts around A.D. 70 and a Roman-style rectangular building fifty years later.

  Activity involved baking ovens, malting tanks and grinding stones. After another fifty years, this was replaced by a large two-storied winged corridor villa with integral bath suite. This building went through a number of changes over the subsequent centuries, notably a major rebuilding around A.D. 270. The villa had a number of mosaics and there were detached workshops, barns and a large gatehouse. Around A.D. 360, from numismatic evidence, agricultural activity seems to have ended and the complex acquired a religious use.

  A large barn was converted into a courtyard and a very early triconch hall was built alongside with its own bath suite. Upon its floor was laid a now famous Orpheus mosaic, first discovered in 1727 by the Steward of the Littlecote Park estate. This mosaic is usually interpreted in very complicated pagan religious terms involving not only Orpheus, but Bacchus and Apollo, the hall being seen as a cult centre for these two gods.

  Other buildings may have been converted to accommodate visiting pilgrims. This development has been associated with the pagan revival under Julian the Apostate (361-363). Many of the buildings were demolished or fell into decay around A.D. 400, shortly after the Theodosian legislation against paganism and before the Roman withdrawal from Britain. Two sub-Roman timber structures have also been identified on the site. [Wikipedia].

REVIEW:  At the north-eastern edge of Wiltshire, bordering the county of Berkshire beside the River Kennet, sits historic Littlecote House, a Grade I listed building and now a hotel, although by no means your average run-of-the-mill generic accommodation. In its day, it has played host to such regal personages as Henry VIII and his third par amour, Jane Seymour, his progeny Elizabeth I, and later, Charles II. Yet before the great house had even been built, these grounds were utilized by a particularly imaginative Roman architect who oversaw the building (or perhaps the refurbishment) of a unique Roman villa.

  Initially, construction on the site began as a small military establishment set up to guard a ford across the River Kennet. From there, it evolved into farming huts and, from around 120 A.D., was converted into a villa-type building. For a time, activities still revolved around farming and its associated traditions, work which incorporated baking ovens, malting tanks and grinding stones. After another fifty years or so, this building was replaced by a large two-storey winged corridor villa with an integral bath suite.

  The site continued to go through a number of changes over the next few centuries, notably a major rebuilding around 270 A.D. After another hundred years, agricultural activity ended and the complex acquired a distinctly religious bent. A large barn was converted into a courtyard and a very early triconch (a square space with three semicircular extensions, usually found as throne rooms in Roman or, more usually, Byzantine palaces) hall was built alongside with its own bath suite.

  Rediscovered in 1730 when the now-famous Orpheus Mosaic and a coin hoard, supposedly containing coins of emperor Vespasian (A.D. 69-79), was found, the area was only excavated from 1978 onward. Now it is the only fully exposed villa compound in Britain and has metamorphasized into a site of some controversy amongst archaeologists. The controversy centers around the interpretation of its now restored mosaic of the divine musician Orpheus, considered by many archaeologists to be covering the floor of a ritual chamber associated with the cult of Bacchus, the pre-eminent pagan god of the Romans in post Biblical times.

  The building, still labeled a villa despite this argument, does indeed resemble the form of later, Christianized, Byzantine churches. Other aspects of the architecture are also suggestive of an architect working on refurbishment of the building in the 4th century AD, when it may have been converted to accommodate visiting pilgrims. Many of the buildings seem to have been demolished or fallen into decay by around 400 AD -- corresponding with the beginning of the British Dark Ages and a prolonged period of inter-tribal fighting.

  There is an especially massive gatehouse to the site -- the largest yet found on any villa in Britain. A display of material and artifacts from the excavations can be found within Littlecote House, which is in possession of its own enigmatic history. The estate includes 34 hectares of historic parklands and gardens, including a magnificent walled garden dating from the 17th century. [TimeTravelBritain.Com].

REVIEW:  Roman mosaics were a common feature of private homes and public buildings across the empire from Africa to Antioch. Not only are mosaics beautiful works of art in themselves but they are also an invaluable record of such everyday items as clothes, food, tools, weapons, flora and fauna. They also reveal much about Roman activities like gladiator contests, sports, agriculture, hunting and sometimes they even capture the Romans themselves in detailed and realistic portraits.

  Mosaics, otherwise known as opus tesellatum, were made with small black, white and colored squares typically measuring between 0.5 and 1.5 cm but fine details were often rendered using even smaller pieces as little as 1mm in size. These squares (tesserae or tessellae) were cut from materials such as marble, tile, glass, smalto (glass paste), pottery, stone and even shells. A base was first prepared with fresh mortar and the tesserae positioned as close together as possible with any gaps then filled with liquid mortar in a process known as grouting. The whole was then cleaned and polished.

  Flooring set with small pebbles was used in the Bronze Age in both the Minoan civilization based on Crete and the Mycenaean civilization on mainland Greece. The same idea but reproducing patterns was used in the Near East in the 8th century B.C. In Greece the first pebble flooring which attempted designs dates to the 5th century B.C. with examples at Corinth and Olynthus. These were usually in two shades with light geometric designs and simple figures on a dark background. By the end of the 4th century B.C. colors were being used and many fine examples have been found at Pella in Macedonia.

  These mosaics were often reinforced by inlaying strips of terracotta or lead, often used to mark outlines. Indeed, it was not until Hellenistic times in the 3rd century B.C. that mosaics really took off as an art form and detailed panels using tesserae rather than pebbles began to be incorporated into patterned floors. Many of these mosaics attempted to copy contemporary wall paintings. As mosaics evolved in the 2nd century B.C. smaller and more precisely cut tesserae were used, sometimes as small as 4 mm or less, and designs employed a wide spectrum of colors with colored grouting to match surrounding tesserae.

  This particular type of mosaic which used sophisticated coloring and shading to create an effect similar to a painting is know as opus vermiculatum and one of its greatest craftsmen was Sorus of Pergamon (150-100 B.C.) whose work, especially his Drinking Doves mosaic, was much copied for centuries after. Besides Pergamon, outstanding examples of Hellenistic opus vermiculatum have been found at Alexandria and Delos in the Cyclades. Because of the labor involved in producing these pieces they were often small mosaics 40 x 40 cm laid on a marble tray or rimmed tray in a specialist workshop.

  These pieces were known as emblemata as they were often used as center-pieces for pavements with more simple designs. So valuable were these works of art that they were often removed for re-use elsewhere and handed down form generation to generation within families. Several emblemata could make up a single mosaic and gradually, emblemata began to resemble more their surroundings when they are then known as panels. With a subject such as mosaics where there are difficulties of dating, tremendous variance in artistic quality, public taste and regional conventions, it is problematic to describe a strictly linear evolution of the art form. However, some major points of change and regional difference can be noted.

  Initially, the Romans did not diverge from the fundamentals of the Hellenistic approach to mosaics and indeed they were heavily influenced in terms of subject matter - sea motifs and scenes from Greek mythology - and the artists themselves, as the many signed Roman mosaics often bear Greek names, evidencing that even in the Roman world mosaic design was still dominated by Greeks. One of the most famous is the Alexander mosaic which was a copy of a Hellenistic original painting by either Philoxenus or Aristeides of Thebes. The mosaic is from the House of the Faun, Pompeii and depicts Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus and facing Darius III on his war chariot at the Battle of Issus (333 B.C.).  

  Roman mosaics often copied earlier colored ones, however, the Romans did develop their own styles and production schools were developed across the empire which cultivated their own particular preferences - large scale hunting scenes and attempts at perspective in the African provinces, impressionistic vegetation and a foreground observer in the mosaics of Antioch or the European preference for figure panels, for example. The dominant (but not exclusive) Roman style in Italy itself used only black and white tesserae, a taste which survived well into the 3rd century A.D. and was most often used to represent marine motifs, especially when used for Roman baths (those from the first floor of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome are an excellent example).

  There was also a preference for more two-dimensional representations and an emphasis on geometric designs. In circa 115 A.D. at the Baths of Buticosus in Ostia there is the earliest example of a human figure in mosaic and in the 2nd century A.D. silhouetted figures became common. Over time the mosaics became ever more realistic in their portrayal of human figures and accurate and detailed portraits become more common. Meanwhile, in the Eastern part of the empire and especially at Antioch, the 4th century A.D. saw the spread of mosaics which used two-dimensional and repeated motifs to create a ‘carpet’ effect, a style which would heavily influence later Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.

  Floors could also be laid using larger pieces to create designs on a grander scale. Opus signinum flooring used colored mortar-aggregate (usually red) with white tesserae placed to create broad patterns or even scattered randomly. Crosses using five red tesserae and a central tesserae in black were a very common motif in Italy in the 1st century B.C. and continued into the 1st century A.D. but more typically using only black tiles. Opus sectile was a second type of flooring which used large colored stone or marble slabs cut into particular shapes.

Opus sectile was another technique of Hellenistic origin but the Romans also expanded the technique to wall decoration. Used in many public buildings, it was not until the 4th century A.D. that it became more common in private villas and, under Egyptian influence, began to use opaque glass as the primary material. Mosaics were by no means limited to flooring. Vaults, columns and fountains were often decorated with mosaic (opus musivum), again, especially in baths. The earliest example of this use dates to the mid-1st century B.C. in the nymphaeum of the ‘Villa of Cicero’ at Formiae where chips of marble, pumice and shells were used.

  In other locations pieces of marble and glass were also added the whole giving the effect of a natural grotto. By the 1st century A.D. more detailed mosaic panels were also used to embellish Nymphaea and fountains. In Pompeii and Herculanum the technique was also used to cover niches, walls and pediments and once again these murals often imitated original paintings. The walls and vaults of later Imperial Roman baths were also decorated in mosaic using glass which acted as a reflective of the sunlight hitting the pools and created a shimmering effect.

  The floors of the pools themselves were often set with mosaic as were the floors of mausolea, sometimes even incorporating a portrait of the deceased. Once again, the Roman use of mosaics to decorate wall space and vaults would go on to influence the interior decorators of Christian churches from the 4th century A.D. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

REVIEW:  Roman mosaics decorated luxurious domestic and public buildings across the empire. Intricate patterns and figural compositions were created by setting tesserae — small pieces of stone or glass — into floors and walls. Scenes from mythology, daily life, nature, and spectacles in the arena enlivened interior spaces and reflected the cultural ambitions of wealthy patrons. Introduced by itinerant craftsmen, mosaic techniques and designs spread widely throughout Rome’s provinces, leading to the establishment of local workshops and a variety of regional styles.

  Drawn primarily from the Getty Museum’s collection, Roman Mosaics across the Empire  at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, California, presents the artistry of mosaics as well as the contexts of their discovery across Rome’s ever growing empire — from its center in Italy to provinces in North Africa, southern France, and ancient Syria. In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks to Dr. Alexis Belis, assistant curator in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, about the various kinds of mosaics found within the former Roman Empire.

  AHE (Ancient History Encyclopedia): "Why do mosaics so captivate and enthrall us, Dr. Alexis Belis? Additionally, why did the Getty Villa decide to undertake an exhibition devoted to Roman mosaics?"

  Belis (Dr. Alexis Belis): "Above all, mosaics are visually impressive in their size and appearance. They offer a vivid picture of ancient Roman life, revealing how Romans lived in surroundings filled with art and imagery. Their subjects — frequently dramatic narrative scenes that range from mythological and literary subjects to images of athletic contests and daily life — provide insight into Roman cultural values and artistic preferences. Since many are preserved in their original architectural contexts, usually decorating floors, mosaics also give us an idea of how the Romans experienced interior spaces."

  "The Getty Villa decided to organize an exhibition not just on Roman mosaics, but specifically on the Getty’s collection of Roman mosaics. Most have been in storage for decades, and some have never been displayed at all. The collection is significant because many of the mosaics were excavated during the early twentieth century and have known findspots. We also had the opportunity to present new research on the mosaics in an online publication — Roman Mosaics in the J. Paul Getty Museum."

  AHE: "Mosaics made their initial appearance during the Hellenistic Period thanks to the Greeks, but it was under the Romans that they became omnipresent across the Mediterranean world and beyond. In what ways did the Romans differ from their Greek predecessors in their creation and appreciation of mosaics as an art form?

  Belis: "While the Greeks refined the art of figural mosaics using pebbles embedded in mortar, the Romans took the art of mosaics to a completely new level, using tesserae of brightly colored stone and glass to create intricate patterns and figural scenes. Mosaics are closely aligned with Roman culture, and the use of mosaic floors in this technique followed the spread of Roman power throughout the empire. We find a combination of Italian styles and local traditions in mosaic designs in many of the provinces, especially in what is present-day France and North Africa."

  AHE: "In your own words, what else do mosaics tell us about ancient Rome and daily life across the empire? Mosaics were certainly a means through which wealthy Roman delineated their wealth and cultural pursuits, but what else did they convey and what secrets do they conceal?"

  Belis: "Mosaics tell us a great deal about ancient architecture. Because of their durability and the fact that they were built into the foundations of buildings, mosaics are among the best-preserved forms of Roman art. The locations and architectural settings of many mosaics have been recorded, and their placement sometimes relates to the function of the spaces they decorated."

  "For example, the Getty’s mosaic from Antioch, once decorated the entryway of a small public bath building. Other mosaic floors of the building depict busts of Soteria and Apolausis, the Greek personifications of Salvation and Enjoyment, respectively. Such themes would have been appropriate for spaces where Romans gathered for social interactions, entertainment, and to experience the revitalizing waters of the baths."

  "Some mosaics encourage the viewer to experience a space or room from different perspectives. A mosaic in the exhibition from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a central narrative scene bordered on all four sides by a hunting frieze. As the viewer follows the hunters and animals they walk around the mosaic and look at the images from different angles."

    AHE: "Which scenes or subject matter did the Romans favor most when creating mosaics, Dr. Belis?"

  Belis: "Scenes from Greek and Roman mythology as well as literature were especially prevalent. Two mosaics from the same villa in Gaul, found near the modern town of Villelaure, France, depict highly original scenes from Roman literature: a scene of Diana and Callisto from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and a boxing match between Dares and Entellus from Virgil’s Aeneid. At the same time, a mosaic in the Getty’s collection found at Saint-Romain-en-Gal, also in France, represents the popular Greek myth of Orpheus charming the animals."

  "Scenes of hunting and capturing animals for the arena were also widespread, as shown in an enormous mosaic of a bear hunt from Baiae on the Bay of Naples. Wealthy Romans often financed the capture of wild animals for spectacles in the arena, which were therefore fitting subjects for mosaic floors in luxurious private villas. Mosaics with these themes frequently decorated dining rooms and reception areas — spaces in which the owner could entertain and impress guests with his wealth, prestige, and social status."

  AHE: "You mentioned that Roman Mosaics across the Empire consists of mosaics drawn largely from the Getty Museum’s own collection. Among these, which do you find remarkable and worthy of further discussion in particular? Is there a pièce de résistance? "

  Belis: "Since most of the objects in the exhibition are from the Getty Museum’s own collection, they also give us a sense of J. Paul Getty’s own interest in mosaics. Getty acquired his first Roman mosaic (the one depicting a bust of Orpheus surrounded by animals) in 1949, and had it installed over the floor of one of the rooms in his new museum — a Spanish Colonial style ranch house where his collection was displayed until the Getty Villa opened in 1974."

  "The two mosaics from Villelaure, France, which are on view together for the first time in over a century, are especially interesting. They are remarkable in part because they decorated adjacent rooms of the same villa, revealing the diversity of the owner’s preferences. However, the Getty’s mosaic of Dares and Entellus also suggests a regional connection, as this uncommon scene occurs in at least four other mosaics in southern France."

  "Another significant mosaic is the one from the small bath complex at Antioch, which depicts a hare eating grapes and small birds surrounded by elaborate geometric designs. Since it was discovered during a series of campaigns in the 1930s, we have excavation photos that document the appearance of the mosaic in situ before it was removed from the building."

  AHE: "Dr. Belis, I thank you so much for speaking with me about this lovely exhibition. I wish you many happy adventures in research!"

  Belis: "Thank you, James — I have really enjoyed talking with you about the exhibition!"

  Dr. Alexis Belis is currently assistant curator in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She received her BA in art history and music from the University of Notre Dame in 2000, and her PhD in classical archaeology from Princeton in 2015. She has been an intern at the Princeton University Art Museum and at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, and served as a research assistant at the Harvard Art Museums, working on their collection of ancient bronzes. She has contributed to several museum handbooks, including a publication of the Classical collection of the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame. [AncientHistoryEncyclopedia].

  REVIEW:  Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. The earliest known examples of mosaics made of different materials were found at a temple building in Ubaid, Mesopotamia, and are dated to the second half of third millennium B.C. They consist of pieces of colored stones, shells and ivory. Excavations at Susa and Choqa Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 B.C.

  Mosaics of the 4th century B.C. are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic villas, and Roman dwellings from Britain to Dura-Europos. Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across north Africa, in places such as Carthage, and can still be seen in the extensive collection in Bardo Museum in Tunis, Tunisia. The most famous mosaics of the Roman world were created in Africa and in Syria, the two richest provinces of the Roman Empire. Many Roman mosaics are found in Tunisian museums, most of which date from the second to the seventh century A.D.

  The most popular subject for mosaics was mythological scenes, such as the triumphs of Neptune or Dionysos, which are frequently found. The Orpheus myth (with animals) and the muses (Clio, Melpomene, Thalia, Terpsichore, Urania, Euterpe, Calliope, Polyhymnia and Erato), sometimes with the god Apollo, are also often illustrated. Inspiration could also come from daily life, like hunting (often with dogs), agriculture, fishing, as well as arts and crafts.

  Amphitheater and circus games were also a much-appreciated subject for mosaics. The four seasons and the sea (fish, the god Oceanos) are also the subject of numerous mosaics. The seasons were illustrated like people, with a caracteristical object to identify them. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

  REVIEW:  Conservators have completed work on a fourth-century A.D. mosaic that was discovered in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Augusta Traiana in 2011, reports Archaeology in Bulgaria. The mosaic was discovered during rescue excavations, and once decorated a triclinium, or formal dining room. It depicts followers of the god Dionysus during a celebratory procession. On the right is Silenus, the tutor and companion of the god, who leads two dancing women. Local archaeologists describe the work as skillfully done, pointing to the subtle use of color and the depiction of shading in the clothing of the dancing women. The work likely dates to the reign of Emperor Julian Apostate who ruled from A.D. 360 to 363. [Archaeological Institute of America (2015)].

  REVIEW:  A mosaic floor dating back to the 4th century AD has been unearthed in Cyprus. It illustrates scenes from chariot races in the hippodrome. Previously, another team working on the island found a mosaic showing scenes from the labors of Hercules. That mosaic is two centuries older than the one that was just excavated. Together, these mosaics provide a fascinating glimpse into the interests of ancient Romans that once lived on the Mediterranean island.

  The chariot race mosaic was discovered in Akaki village, 19 miles (30.58 km) from the capital city of Cyprus – Nicosia. The mosaic’s existence had been known since 1938 when farmers discovered a small piece of the floor. However, it took 80 years until researchers decided to unearth the whole thing. This magnificent find made the village world famous. The mosaic is the only one of its kind in Cyprus and one of just seven in the world.

  According to the Daily Mail, the floor is 11 meters (36 ft.) long and 4 meters (13 ft.) wide. It probably belonged to a nobleman who lived there during the Roman domination on Cyprus. The mosaic is stunningly detailed, decorated with complete race scenes of four charioteers, each being drawn by a team of four horses.

  The researchers believe that the mosaic shows different factions that competed in ancient Rome. They say that the hippodrome was a very meaningful place in ancient Roman times and it was a center for many events. It was not only a place for sports competitions, but also where the emperor appeared in front of the people and projected his power.

  The name “hippodrome” comes from the Greek words hippos ('horse') and dromos ('course'). It was sort of an open-air stadium, used in ancient Greece, Rome, and Byzantine civilizations. The hippodrome was used for many different purposes, but the most spectacular ones were the chariot and horse races. Inscriptions are seen near the four charioteers depicted in the mosaic which are believed to be their names and the name of one of the horses as well.

  Three cones can also be seen along the circular arena. According to Daily Mail, each one of them is “topped with egg-shaped objects, and three columns seen in the distance hold up dolphin figures with what appears like water flowing from them.” As Marina Ieronymidou, the director of the Department of Antiquities told journalists during a press conference: “It is an extremely important finding, because of the technique and because of the theme. It is unique in Cyprus since the presence of this mosaic floor in a remote inland area provides important new information on that period in Cyprus and adds to our knowledge of the use of mosaic floors on the island.''   The floor reveals some information about the interests of the upper classes during the 4th century AD. It sheds light on the ancient past of the island's interior and shows that the Roman nobles still cultivated Roman cultural traditions in the 4th century. In July 2016, a team of researchers working in the coastal city of Larnaca in Cyprus discovered a 2nd century floor showing the labors of Hercules. It is 20 meters (65 ft.) long and seems to be a part of some ancient baths. It depicts Hercules performing his feats of strength as penance for killing his wife and children in a rage. Larnaca was an ancient city state of Kition, and it was destroyed by earthquakes in the 4th century A.D.

  Cyprus was a very attractive place for the nobles during the Roman Empire’s domination of the Mediterranean. Arguably, the most fascinating site on Cyprus is the ancient city of Salamis, which was settled circa 11th century BC. The motif of the chariot also appeared in tombs that were discovered there, showing a continued interest in chariot-related traditions. As April Holloway from Ancient Origins explained in her article from April 6, 2015: “Salamis was a large city in ancient times. It served many dominant groups over the course of its history, including Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Romans. According to Homeric legend, Salamis was founded by archer Teucer from the Trojan War. The city contains large, arched tombs, dating back to the 7th and 8th century, B.C.

  As with any culture, the tombs give a glimpse into the social hierarchy of the ancient residents of the city. Royalty was not buried within the tombs, as they were reserved for nobles. The tombs were constructed from large ashlars (fine cut masonry) and mud brick. When one was buried, the horse and chariot from the procession would be sacrificed in front of the tomb. The sacrifice of a horse in this method was a common ritual for funerals. Tombs also included grave good such as weapons and jewelry.” These discoveries help show how the Roman nobility’s interests transformed over the ages. While some motifs remained popular over the years, others were introduced or altered to reflect current practices. [AncientOrigins.Net].

  REVIEW:  It wasn’t good policy that saved ancient Zeugma. It was a good story. In 2000, the construction of the massive Birecik Dam on the Euphrates River, less than a mile from the site, began to flood the entire area in southern Turkey. Immediately, a ticking time-bomb narrative of the waters, which were rising an average of four inches per day for six months, brought Zeugma and its plight global fame. The water, which soon would engulf the archaeological remains, also brought increasing urgency to salvage efforts and emergency excavations that had already been taking place at the site, located about 500 miles from Istanbul, for almost a year.

  The media attention Zeugma received attracted generous aid from both private and government sources. Of particular concern was the removal of Zeugma’s mosaics, some of the most extraordinary examples to survive from the ancient world. Soon the world’s top restorers arrived from Italy to rescue them from the floodwaters. The focus on Zeugma also brought great numbers of international tourists—and even more money—a trend that continues today with the opening in September 2011 of the ultramodern $30 million Zeugma Mosaic Museum in the nearby city of Gaziantep. But Zeugma’s story begins millennia before the dam was constructed.

  In the third century B.C., Seleucus I Nicator (“the Victor”), one of Alexander the Great’s commanders, established a settlement he called Seleucia, probably a katoikia, or military colony, on the western side of the river. On its eastern bank, he founded another town he called Apamea after his Persian-born wife. The two cities were physically connected by a pontoon bridge, but it is not known whether they were administered by separate municipal governments, and nothing of ancient Apamea, nor the bridge, survives. In 64 B.C., the Romans conquered Seleucia, renaming the town Zeugma, which means “bridge” or “crossing” in ancient Greek. After the collapse of the Seleucid Empire, the Romans added Zeugma to the lands of Antiochus I Theos of Commagene as a reward for his support of General Pompey during the conquest.

  Throughout the imperial period, two Roman legions were based at Zeugma, increasing its strategic value and adding to its cosmopolitan culture. Due to the high volume of road traffic and its geographic position, Zeugma became a collection point for road tolls. Political and trade routes converged here and the city was the last stop in the Greco-Roman world before crossing over to the Persian Empire. For hundreds of years Zeugma prospered as a major commercial city as well as a military and religious center, eventually reaching its peak population of about 20,000–30,000 inhabitants. During the imperial period, Zeugma became the empire’s largest, and most strategically and economically important, eastern border city.

  However, the good times in Zeugma declined along with the fortunes of the Roman Empire. After the Sassanids from Persia attacked the city in A.D. 253, its luxurious villas were reduced to ruins and used as shelters for animals. The city’s new inhabitants were mainly rural people who employed only simple building materials that did not survive. Zeugma’s grandeur and importance would remain forgotten for more than 1,700 years. This may sound difficult to believe, considering that at least 25 percent of the western bank of the ancient town now sits below almost 200 feet of water and the city’s eastern bank is completely submerged, but there is still much left to see—and to excavate—in Zeugma.

  With the imminent threat of the rising water having abated, archaeologists including Kutalmis Gorkay of Ankara University, who has directed work at Zeugma since 2005, have focused their attention on new projects as well as on conservation and preservation of what remains above the water. Fortunately, these excavations are still relatively well funded, Gorkay says, although the budget is not comparable with the monies that came in during the salvage excavation.

  Gorkay is now looking for more evidence of how this multicultural city functioned as the transition between east and west, and the Persian and Greco-Roman worlds. He is also seeking to understand how the shift from the Hellenistic Greek world to the domination of the Roman Empire affected the city. “We don’t know of any other big cities in this area that changed from a Hellenistic city into a Roman garrison city in such an important geopolitical location, making it an ideal place to study the cultural changes between the two,” says Gorkay.

  Just 50 yards from the shore of the large reservoir created by the dam sits a shiny $1.5-million steel-textile and polycarbonate structure that contrasts boldly with the desolate landscape. Constructed to protect the remains of five Roman houses, it has multilevel viewing platforms that allow visitors to see the carefully excavated buildings and streets. Most of the structures under the shelter were built in the first and second centuries A.D., during the Roman imperial period. The residents of this once upscale neighborhood were likely high-ranking civil and military officials and merchants grown wealthy from trade.

  There is ample evidence of a sophisticated sewage and water supply system. Grooves cut into the stone streets once held pipes that delivered water from at least four reservoirs and cisterns on the Belkis Tepe, the city’s highest point, through spouts capped with bronze lion heads. Sunny courtyards in the center of the houses allowed fresh air to circulate inside. Some had shallow pools, called impluvia, to collect rainwater and cool the air before it entered the house. These courtyards also once contained some of Zeugma’s most famous mosaics, many of which have water themes: Eros riding a dolphin; Danae and Perseus being rescued by fishermen on the shores of Seriphos; Poseidon, the god of the sea; and other water deities and sea creatures.

  Zeugma's residents built sophisticated water systems, including the limestone channels that once carried wastewater out of wealthy private homes. Now only geometric mosaics remain visible at the site. Although archaeologists prefer to restore and leave mosaics in situ so that visitors can understand their original setting, protection from the elements is difficult and expensive. Theft is also a great challenge in Zeugma, where looting has long been considered a legitimate source of income for an impoverished local population. One night in 1998 all the figures were stolen from a mosaic depicting the wedding of Dionysus and Ariadne that archaeologists were working on. In response to this incident, the Gaziantep museum removed all the previously excavated figural mosaics, and the site now has armed guards around the clock.

  According to Gorkay, the mosaics were an important part of a house’s mood, and their function went far beyond the strictly decorative. Many of the mosaics were selected according to a room’s function. For example, bedrooms sometimes featured lovers’ stories, such as that of Eros and Telete. The choice of images in the mosaics also reflected the owner’s taste and intellectual interests. “They were a product of the patron’s imagination. It wasn’t like simply choosing from a catalog. They thought of specific scenes in order to make a specific impression,” he explains.  “For example, if you were of the intellectual level to discuss literature, then you might select a scene like the three muses,” Gorkay says.

  The muses were thought to be the inspirations for literature, science, and the arts. “They are also a personification of good times. When people drank near this mosaic, the muses were always there, accompanying them for atmosphere,” he says. Other popular themes in these reception and dining areas were love, wine, and the god Dionysus. However, it was not only subject matter that was important in choosing the mosaics. It was also their placement. “In a dining room off a courtyard, the couches on which people were sitting or lying, drinking, and having parties were positioned around the mosaics so people could see them, as well as the courtyard and pool,” Gorkay says.

  He also explains that there was an order in which the mosaics were intended to be viewed. When guests first entered the house, there was a salutory mosaic positioned to make an impression on people coming through the doorway. This mosaic might give introductory hints to the guests about the favorite subjects, taste, or themes of the host. In the next room, they were invited to recline on couches in order to view other mosaics. After the guests were seated, the convivium, or feast, would begin. Currently Gorkay and his team of 25 students are excavating two first-century A.D. houses about 300 feet from the area under the shelter, where work has been completed. Here the team will learn more about the private lives of Zeugma’s former residents.

  For every room of each house being excavated, there is always the hope of a fantastic mosaic waiting for them when they reach the floor level. The team also hopes to find examples of graffiti, a term archaeologists use to mean any images or text written on a building’s wall. Graffiti can be an important type of evidence in determining the religion, profession, or ethnicity of a house’s inhabitants. For example, in Zeugma, a painted or scratched-on name could determine whether an inhabitant was Semitic, Persian, Greek, or Roman. Gorkay has also supervised preliminary studies in the Hellenistic agora, the commercial and administrative center of the city, some 100 yards away from the shelter.

  As yet there has been little excavation there, but Gorkay hopes that future digging will reveal more about Zeugma’s civic identity. In 2000, a team excavating a market building in the agora uncovered an archive room containing tens of thousands of official seals, giving previously unknown details about the administration of the military and trading center. Other excavations across the site have yielded several bronze statues, thousands of coins, and hundreds of pounds of ceramics. When they are catalogued and studied, these too will reveal valuable information about the city’s residents, their customs, and the types of goods being used and traded there.   A team from Ankara University is excavating the remains of a Roman house in hopes of learning more about the private lives of Zeugma's ancient residences. There is also much yet to learn about the practice of religion in Zeugma. Through further excavation, Gorkay wants to examine the place of politics and nationality in the practice of religion during the transformative periods in Zeugma’s history. In 2008, atop the Belkis Tepe, archaeologists excavated a temple and sanctuary where three colossal cult statues of Zeus, Athena, and probably Hera, were found, marking it as one of the city’s most important religious sites.

  But there are still many questions left to answer about the ways in which the traditional Greco-Roman gods were worshipped alongside the Persian deities who were also honored in the city. Similarly, says Gorkay, “In the time of the Commagene rulers, Antiochus I consecrated many sanctuaries and depicted himself in all of them,” including stelae on which the king is shown shaking hands with gods. But during the Roman period, these temples were stripped of their political character and the gods were portrayed alone, signifying a change in the cult dedicated to the worship of the ruler.

  In the future, Gorkay hopes to continue to explore the civic, sacred, and private identities of the city, and to focus his excavations on the sanctuaries, civic buildings, houses, and necropolises that give Zeugma its cosmopolitan character. While many of the mysteries of this ancient city will remain forever sealed under the waters of the Euphrates, Gorkay is convinced that Zeugma has only started to tell its story.  [Archaeological Institute of America].

  REVIEW:  Britain was a significant addition to the ever-expanding Roman Empire. For decades Rome had been conquering the Mediterranean Sea - defeating Carthage in the Punic Wars, overwhelming Macedon and Greece, and finally marching into Syria and Egypt. At long last, they gazed northward across the Alps towards Gaul and ultimately setting their sights across the channel (they believed it to be an ocean) into Britannia. After Claudius' invasion in 43 A.D., part of the island became a Roman province in name, however, conquest was a long process. Constantly rebellious and twice reorganized, it was finally abandoned by the Romans in 410 A.D.

  At the time of the Roman arrival, Britain (originally known as Albion) was mostly comprised of small Iron Age communities, primarily agrarian, tribal, with enclosed settlements. Southern Britain shared their culture with northern Gaul (modern day France and Belgium); many southern Britons were Belgae in origin and shared a common language with them. In fact, after 120 B.C. trading between Transalpine Gaul intensified with the Britons receiving such domestic imports as wine; there was also some evidence of Gallo-Belgae coinage.

  Although Julius Caesar’s presence did not result in conquest, it was this intense trade - some claim it was partly ego - that brought the Roman commander across the Channel in both 55 and 54 B.C. Previously, the Channel, or Mare Britannicum, had always served as a natural border between the European mainland and the islands. During his subjugation of Gaul during the Gallic Wars, Caesar had wanted to interrupt Belgae trade routes; he also assumed the Britons were assisting their kindred Belgae.

  Later, he would rationalize his invasion of Britain by telling the Roman Senate that he believed the island was rich in silver. Although the Republic was probably aware of the island’s existence, Britain, for the most part, was completely unknown to Rome, and to many more superstitious citizens, only existed in fables; traders repeatedly told of the islanders’ barbarous practices. To the disgust of many Romans, they even drank milk.

  Nevertheless, Caesar’s initial contact with the islanders went poorly, and he had to quickly reorganize his army to avoid defeat. During his second 'invasion' when he was accompanied by five legions, he pushed further northward across the Thames River to meet the Briton chieftain Cassivellaunus. Although he was joined for battle by several local chieftains, to avoid crossing the Channel in poor weather, Caesar feigned growing problems in Gaul, arranged a peace treaty with Cassivellaunus, and returned to the European mainland without leaving a garrison.

  While many Romans were enthusiastic about Caesar’s excursion across the Channel, Caesar’s worst enemy Cato was aghast. The Greek historian Strabo, a contemporary of the late Republic, said the only things of value were hunting dogs and slaves.  More important to Caesar was the difficulties developing in Gaul, a failed harvest, and possible rebellion. The Romans would not return to Britain for another century.

  With the death of Caesar and the civil war that followed, the Republic was no more, and the new empire’s interest in Britannia intensified under both Emperors Augustus and Caligula as the Romanization of Gaul progressed. While Augustus’s attentions were drawn elsewhere, Caligula and his army stared across the Channel towards the British Isles - the emperor only ordered his men to throw their javelins at the sea - there would be no invasion. The actual annexation fell to the most unlikely of emperors, Claudius (41 – 54 A.D.).

  In 43 A.D., Emperor Claudius with an army of four legions and auxiliaries under the command of Aulus Plautius crossed the English Channel, landing at Richborough. They began the conquest of the island.  Some believe the emperor’s only goal was personal glory; years of humiliation under Caligula left him longing for recognition.  Although he had only been there sixteen days, Claudius would take credit, of course, for the conquest with a glorious triumphant return to Rome in 44 A.D.

  The Roman army had landed on the British shore and marched northward towards the Thames River; it was there that Claudius joined them. Rome's army quickly overran the territory of the Catuvellauni with a victory at Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester). Afterwards, the army quickly moved to the north and west, and by 60 A.D. much of Wales and the areas to the south of Trent were occupied. Client kingdoms were soon established including the Iceni at Norfolk and the Brigantes to the north. While one legion was sent northward, the future emperor Vespasian led another legion southwest where he would capture 20 tribal strongholds. Cities such as London (Londinium) - because of its proximity to the Channel - and St. Albans (Verulamium) were established.

  There was, however, considerably resistance; the Britons were not about to quit without a fight. Caratacus, a member of the Catuvellauni, rallied considerably support in Wales only to be captured in 51 A.D. After his defeat, he escaped and made his way to a region controlled by Brigantes whose queen quickly turned him over to the Romans. He and his family were taken to Rome in chains. In Rome, a triumph was held to glorify Claudius, but the captured chieftain was given the opportunity to speak to the Roman people:

  "Had my lineage and rank been accompanied by only moderate success, I should have come to this city as friend rather than prisoner, and you would not have disdained to ally yourself peacefully with one so nobly born … If I had surrendered without a blow before being brought before you, neither my downfall nor your triumph would have become famous.  If you execute me, they will be forgotten.  Spare me, and I shall be an everlasting token of your mercy (Tacitus, Annals, 267). His life, together with that of his wife, daughter, and brothers, was spared by Claudius.

  While Caratacus’s revolt was a failure, Rome had yet to tangle with the mighty Boudica. She was the wife of Prasutagus, a Roman ally and client king of the Iceni, a tribe in eastern Britain. His death in 60/61 A.D. left a will that gave one-half of his territory to Rome and one-half to his daughters; however, Rome did not wish to share the kingdom and, instead, decided to plunder it all. The result left Boudica flogged and her daughters raped. Although she and her army would eventually be defeated, she rose up, gathered an army, and with the neighboring Trinovantes went on the offensive. Towns were sacked and burned, including Londinium, and residents killed - possibly as many as 70,000 (these are Roman numbers and may or may not be completely accurate). In his Annals Tacitus wrote,

  Boudicca drove around all the tribes in a chariot with her daughters in front of her. "We British are used to woman commanders in war." she cried. "I am descended from mighty men! But now I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters." She prayed that the gods would grant her the vengeance the British deserved. Unfortunately, her prayers went unanswered, and instead of surrendering to the Romans, she committed suicide. Tacitus believed that had it not been for the quick response of Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, Britain would have been lost.

  Although progress was relatively slow, Rome considered the conquest of Britain necessary. While Julius Caesar had dismissed the island as having little of value, the truth was far from it. The Battle of Watling Street was the last serious threat to Roman authority in the lowlands. Aside from his victory against Boudicca, in his desire to strengthen Roman presence, Paulinus also eliminated the Druid stronghold at Anglesey; the Druid religion had always been considered a threat to the Romans and their imperial cult.

  Accordingly, the governor’s rather vigorous response to the Boudica’s surrender led not only to his recall by Rome - he was replaced by Turpilianus - but a change in Roman policy towards Britain. Gradually, Britons were adopting Roman ways. With a stronger presence in Britain, Rome began to make significant changes. Burnt towns were rebuilt. Soon, London (Londinium), serving as the administrative capital, would have a basilica, a forum, a governor’s palace, and a bridge crossing the Thames.  

  Although progress was relatively slow, Rome considered the conquest of Britain necessary. While Julius Caesar had dismissed the island as having little of value, the truth was far from it. Not only was it important for its tax revenue but it was also useful for its mineral resources - tin, iron, and gold and as predicted hunting dogs and animal furs. Mining developed. In addition, there was its grain, cattle, and, of course, slaves. Roads were built; Watling Street which linked Canterbury to Wroxeter on the Welsh border and Ermine Street which ran between London and York. And, with any burgeoning economy, merchants arrived, resulting in increased trade and commerce. However, despite the presence of a strong military, resistance continued, so expansion remained gradual.

  From 77 to 83 A.D. the military commander Gnaeus Julius Agricola - ironically the father-in-law of Tacitus - served as governor. It was not Agricola’s first time In Britain. He had served there as a young man on Suetonius Paulinus’ staff as a military tribune. In his On Britain and Germany, the historian wrote about Agricola’s previous stay in Britain stating that he was energetic but never careless. Concerning the state of affairs in Britain at the time, he wrote:

  "Neither before nor since has Britain ever been in a more uneasy or dangerous state. Veterans were butchered, colonies burned to the ground, armies isolated. We had to fight for life before we could think of victory". The Britons were on the defensive. "We have country, wives and parents to fight for: the Romans have nothing but greed and self-indulgence" .

  The tribune studied his craft well, and in his return to the island as governor, he was prepared. His first order of business was to restructure the army’s loose discipline and reduce abuses, thereby giving men a reason to "love and honor peace." With his new army, he marched northward to Caledonia (Scotland) conquering much of northern England along the way.

  In a series of conflicts, Agricola was able to achieve victory, subduing northern Wales and finally meeting the Caledonians at Mons Graupius. The governor even eyed the neighboring island of Ireland, claiming it could be taken with only one legion. Unfortunately, Agricola was forced to withdraw from Scotland when one of his legions was recalled by Emperor Domitian (81 - 96 A.D.) to confront intruders along the Danube. However, despite his attacks against rebels, Agricola was not a cruel conqueror. Aside from the forts he built to the north, he fostered 'civilizing' or Romanizing the Britons, encouraged urbanization, moving into towns that were equipped with theaters, forums, and baths. And, like other conquered lands, Latin was to be taught.

  Unfortunately, his success would not go unnoticed by Domitian, who, in a fit of jealousy, recalled Agricola. The territory he had long desired to the north, Scotland, would not be fully conquered for years to come. Eventually, a 73 mile (118 km) long stone and turf wall would be built between the province of Britain and barbarian territories under Emperor Hadrian (117–138 A.D.). The emperor had visited both Gaul and Britain in 121 and 122 A.D. and believed that in order to maintain peace the frontier had to be secured. He realized that external expansion meant an increased reliance on strengthening frontier defenses. Although taking years to build and manned with 15,000 soldiers, it seems that it was not to keep the barbarians out but designed solely for surveillance and patrols.

  By 130 A.D. military garrisons had been established throughout Britain. It was at this time that Rome realized the need to further strengthen their army on the European continent and began to recruit from the 'barbaric' provinces of the empire, namely the Balkans and Britain. In 139 A.D. another wall, the 37 mile (60 km) long Antonine Wall (named for the Emperor Antonius Pius), was built c. 100 km to the north between the Firth of Forth and the River Clyde; however, it was too difficult to defend, and therefore it was abandoned in 163 A.D.

  Further changes soon came to the island. In order to rule more efficiently, the island was divided in half, Britannia Superior governed from London, and Britannia Inferior governed from York (Eboracum). Emperor Diocletian would later divide the province into four separate regions. Because of Diocletian’s tetrarchy, Britain was then placed under the watchful eye of the emperor in the west. 

  Trouble continued to haunt Britain. During the 3rd century A.D., the island had been under constant attack by the Picts of Scotland, the Scots from Ireland, and the Saxons from Germany.  After a rebellion led by Carausius and then Allectus enabled Britain temporarily to become a separate kingdom, the Roman emperor of the west Constantius (293 – 306 A.D.) regained control in 296 A.D. The emperor had served as a military tribune combatting Celtic tribes earlier in his career. In celebration of his victory, he received a much-deserved title from the people of London 'The Restorer of the Eternal Light.' 

  However, along with the arrival of Christianity, by the end of the 4th century A.D., Rome was having trouble maintaining control of Britain. After Alaric’s sack of Rome in 410 A.D., the western half of the empire began to undergo significant changes; Spain, Britain, and the better part of Gaul would soon be lost. The eastern half of the empire, based in Constantinople, became the economic and cultural center. The loss of the rich grain-producing provinces doomed Rome. According to historian Peter Heather in his The Fall of the Roman Empire, Britain, unlike other provinces, was more prone for a revolt or break with Rome because many civilians, as well as military personnel, felt left out; attention (primarily defense) was being given elsewhere. Emperor Valentinian I (364-375 A.D.), who had defeated Saxon insurgents in 367 A.D., gradually began to withdraw troops.

  In 410 A.D. Honorius, one of the last emperors of the west, pulled out completely; the emperor even wrote letters to individual British cities informing them that they were to 'fend' for themselves. In the final days, Roman magistrates were expelled and local governments were established. Britain was no longer a province of Rome; however, the years that followed could not erase all of the empire’s impact on the people and culture of the island. There was occasional contact with Rome. Missionaries helped Christians battle the heretics, and in the 5th century A.D., as attacks from Saxons increased and marauders from Ireland and Scotland raided the English coast, an appeal went out to the Roman commanding general Aetius for help. He never replied.

  As Europe fell under the veil of the 'Dark Ages,' Britain would break into smaller kingdoms. The Vikings would cross the sea in the late 8th century and cause havoc for decades. Finally, one man would ward off the Viking attempt at conquest and claim to be king of England, Alfred the Great. Britain would recover. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

  REVIEW:  Roman Britain (Britannia to the Romans) was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from 43 to 410 A.D. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 B.C. as part of his Gallic Wars. The Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. He received tribute, installed a friendly king over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 B.C.

  In 40 A.D., Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel, only to have them gather seashells. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore an exiled king over the Atrebates.[5] The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain (Latin: Provincia Britannia). By the year 47 A.D., the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

  Under the 2nd century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never directly controlled. Around 197 A.D., the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains.

  A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410 A.D.; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

  Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. 46,323 Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

  Britain was known to the Classical world; the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century B.C. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century B.C. and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. However, it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed at all.

  The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 B.C., as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honor the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgian tribes on returning to the continent.

  The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

  Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 B.C., but circumstances were never favorable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could.

  Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 A.D., they came back with tales of monsters.

  Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 A.D., when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 A.D., it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

  The invasion force in 43 A.D. was led by Aulus Plautius, but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61 A.D., and were probably there since the initial invasion. However this is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary.

  The Legio IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 A.D. and on a building inscription there dated 108 A.D., before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt. The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent, although at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

  The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest,[28] Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

  After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla attack campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51 A.D., Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him.

  The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. However, the Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

  In 60–61 A.D., while Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was campaigning in Wales, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. Boudica was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested.

  In consequence, Rome punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Suetonius Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans).

  Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Suetonius regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being heavily outnumbered, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

  There was further turmoil in 69 A.D., the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country.

  After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively. Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

  In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78 A.D. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 A.D.at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in northern Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

  For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

  There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged, although others appear to have been abandoned. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100 A.D., indicating growing Romanization.

  Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110 A.D. These tablets provide vivid evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

  Around 105 A.D. however there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts of Alba. Several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armor at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in southeast Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site. There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene.

  However, Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

  A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign (117 A.D.): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120 A.D., he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior.

  This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context. In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161 A.D.) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

  The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157 A.D., when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to dispatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 A.D. it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made.

  The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time, however: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180 A.D. During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved.

  Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts. In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180 A.D. Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus.

  Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 A.D. he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia.

  Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny. The future emperor Pertinax was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control. However, a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192 A.D.

  The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant.

  His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralized however, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia — though it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

  Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195 A.D. where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196 A.D., and the ensuing battle was decisive. Although Albinus came close to victory, Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathizers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment.

  Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions; but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere, however, would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenseless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

  The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 A.D. describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction".

  In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject — although the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defenses of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, however, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

  An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209 A.D., crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians.

  By 210 A.D. Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, again went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

  As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest.

  A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts. During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, although increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 A.D. a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 A.D. when Aurelian reunited the empire.

  Around the year 280 A.D., a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

  The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296 A.D. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings.

  An invasion in 288 A.D. failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293 A.D. the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

  As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese subordinate to a praetorian prefect resident with an emperor and from 318 A.D. a prefect based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier), Julius Bassus, prefect to Constantine's son Crispus. Prior to this appointment two was the canonical number of prefects (not counting those of usurpers). The territorial prefectures first appear circa 325 A.D. Four are listed in 331 A.D.

  It is certain that the diocesan vicar was based at Londinium as the principle city of the diocese as it had been for250 years; that Londinim and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals; and that the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency and presence as the governors, heretofore mainly judicial and administrative officials, assumed more financial duties (as the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century years).

  The governors were stripped of military command (a process completed by 314 A.D.), which was hand over to duces. Civilian and military authority would not longer be exercised by one official with rare exception until the mid-5th century when a dux/governor was appointed for Upper Egypt. The tasks of the vicar were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with daily routing functioning the performance of the Treasury and Crown Estates which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces.

  In short as the sole civilian official with superior authority he had general oversight of the administration, though having only direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture while the other two fiscal departments were not. The early-4th century Verona List, the late-4th century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis.

  All of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources, however, list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its created by Count Theodosius in 369 A.D. after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a recreation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name and others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

  Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 A.D. Council of Arles. Unfortunately, the list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium).

  In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

  A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicar; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[60] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

  Constantius Chlorus returned in 306 A.D., despite his poor health, aiming to invade northern Britain, with the provincial defenses having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. He died in York in July 306 A.D. with his son Constantine I at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

  In the middle of the century, for a few years the province was loyal to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353 A.D., Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

  As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts was already being built, starting around 280 A.D., to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when a general assault of Saxons, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate in 367 A.D. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius with a string of military and civil reforms.

  Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383 A.D. and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384 A.D. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish.

  His rule was ended in 388 A.D., but not all the British troops may have returned. The Empire's military resources were struggling after the catastrophic battle of Adrianople in 378 A.D. Around 396 A.D. there were increasing barbarian incursions into Britain, and an expedition — possibly led by Stilicho — brought naval action against the raiders. It seems peace was restored by 399 A.D., although it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; and indeed by 401 A.D. more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

  The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. However, consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation, though some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "black earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts.

  Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanization of Roman Britain. The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had formerly been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There were growing barbarian attacks, but these were focused on vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy, although many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century.

  The story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430 A.D. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centers, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates. Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 A.D. are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87 A.D.

  Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, although it never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402 A.D., although minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 A.D. there were no new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 A.D. it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Pottery mass production probably ended a decade or two previously; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor probably adopted leather or wooden ones.

  Towards the end of the 4th century Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks, and there were not enough troops to mount an effective defense. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407 A.D. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius. It is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed.

  A Saxon incursion in 408 A.D. was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 AD. Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. However, Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai.

  A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 A.D> has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Laycock has investigated this process and emphasized elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

  In British/Welsh tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts and Irish, though Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries. The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600 A.D. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland.

  A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446 A.D. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577 A.D., after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea. Most scholars reject the historicity of the later legends of King Arthur, which seem to be set in this period, but some such as John Morris think there may be some truth to them.

  During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, though there were also more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

  Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (Samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products.

  Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well. These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources.

  Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached circa 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island. It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century A.D. and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports.

  Evidence has, however, been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century A.D., from circa 165 A.D. onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars. From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; however, vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century.

  During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centers of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

  Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine was probably first worked by the Roman army from circa 75 A.D., and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock.

  If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for crushing and comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from circa 75 A.D. through to the end of 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

  The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Although mining had long been practiced in Britain (see Grimes Graves), the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits.

  The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued. Although Roman designs were most popular, rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions.

  Local pottery rarely attained the standards of the Gaulish industries although the Castor ware of the Nene Valley was able to withstand comparison with the imports. Most native pottery was unsophisticated however and intended only for local markets. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanized north. The design of Hadrian's Wall especially catered to the need for customs inspections of merchants' goods.

  Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability.

  In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

  To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and in time of war probably directly ruled troublesome districts.

  Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organizing military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services. Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections.

  The different forms of municipal organization in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitas sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

  Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents. The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people.

  Londonium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, both within Britannia and from other Roman territories, including North Africa, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, and continental Europe.

  During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which still survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Though place names survived the deurbanized Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a center of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianizing mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

  Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

  The Druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 A.D. 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 native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham. The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely.

  Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica.

  By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century. Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

  It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is actually a Christian artifact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain.

  The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, circa 200 A.D., in which he described "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". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough.

  The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively.

  A large 4th century cemetery at Poundbury with its east-west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period. The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314 A.D.. Represented at the Council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln.

  No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (although some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313 A.D.

  Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391 A.D., and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labeled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived circa 354 to 420/440 A.D. A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to circa 363, had been widely publicized as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times.

  According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. However, this translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text, in fact, has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

  The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia.] There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern Mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066.

  During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and sewage systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans. However, unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language - or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. [Wikipedia].

  REVIEW:  Britain (or more accurately, Great Britain) is the name of the largest of the British Isles, which lie off the northwest coast of continental Europe. The name is probably Celtic and derives from a word meaning 'white'; this is usually assumed to be a reference to the famous white Cliffs of Dover, which any new arrival to the country by sea can hardly miss. The first mention of the island was by the Greek navigator Pytheas, who explored the island's coastline, circa 325 B.C.

  During the early Neolithic Age (circa 4400 B.C. – 3300 B.C.), many long barrows were constructed on the island, many of which can still be seen today. In the late Neolithic (circa 2900 B.C. – 2200 B.C.), large stone circles called henges appeared, the most famous of which is Stonehenge.  Before Roman occupation the island was inhabited by a diverse number of tribes that are generally believed to be of Celtic origin, collectively known as Britons. The Romans knew the island as Britannia.

  It enters recorded history in the military reports of Julius Caesar, who crossed to the island from Gaul (France) in both 55 and 54 B.C. The Romans invaded the island in 43 A.D., on the orders of emperor Claudius, who crossed over to oversee the entry of his general, Aulus Plautius, into Camulodunum (Colchester), the capital of the most warlike tribe, the Catuvellauni. Plautius invaded with four legions and auxiliary troops, an army amounting to some 40,000.

  Due to the survival of the Agricola, a biography of his father-in-law written by the historian Tacitus (105 A.D.), we know much about the first four decades of Roman occupation, but literary evidence is scarce thereafter; happily there is plentiful, if occasionally mystifying archaeological evidence. Subsequent Roman emperors made forays into Scotland, although northern Britain was never conquered; they left behind the great fortifications, Hadrian's Wall (circa 120 A.D.) and the Antonine Wall (142 -155 A.D.), much of which can still be visited today. Britain was always heavily fortified and was a base from which Roman governors occasionally made attempts to seize power in the Empire (Clodius Albinus in 196 A.D., Constantine in 306 A.D.).

  At the end of the 4th century A.D., the Roman presence in Britain was threatened by "barbarian" forces. The Picts (from present-day Scotland) and the Scoti (from Ireland) were raiding the coast, while the Saxons and the Angles from northern Germany were invading southern and eastern Britain. By 410 A.D. the Roman army had withdrawn. After struggles with the Britons, the Angles and the Saxons emerged as victors and established themselves as rulers in much of Britain during the Dark Ages (circa 450 -800 A.D.). [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

  REVIEW:  A collection of Roman jewelry, including three gold armlets, a silver chain necklace, two silver bracelets, a silver armlet, four finger rings, a box containing two pairs of gold earrings, and a bag of coins, was discovered during the renovation of a department store in Colchester, Britain’s oldest recorded town. The cache of jewelry had been buried in the floor of a house that had been burned to the ground at the time of the Boudiccan Revolt of A.D. 61, marked by a thick red and black layer of debris over much of the modern city.

  According to Philip Crummy, director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust, “our team removed the find undisturbed along with its surrounding soil, so that the individual items could be carefully uncovered and recorded under controlled conditions off site.” In addition, a piece of a human jaw and a shin bone that had been cut with a heavy, sharp weapon were recovered. “We also discovered food that was never eaten on the floor of the room in which the jewelry was found, including dates, figs, wheat, peas, and grain,” Crummy said. The food was probably stored in the room, and was carbonized and preserved by the fire. [Archaeological Institute of America].

REVIEW:  Hadrian’s Wall (known in antiquity as the Vallum Hadriani or the Vallum Aelian) is a defensive frontier work in northern Britain which dates from 122 A.D. The wall ran from coast to coast at a length of 73 statute miles (120 km). Though the wall is commonly thought to have been built to mark the boundary line between Britain and Scotland, this is not so; no one knows the actual motivation behind its construction but it does not delineate a boundary between the two countries.

  While the wall did simply mark the northern boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain at the time, theories regarding the purpose of such a massive building project range from limiting immigration, to controlling smuggling, to keeping the indigenous people at bay north of the wall. Its military effectiveness has been questioned by many scholars over the years owing to its length and the positioning of the fortifications along the route. Regarding this, Professors Scarre and Fagan write:

  "Archaeologists and historians have long debated whether Hadrian’s Wall was an effective military barrier…Whatever its military effectiveness, however, it was clearly a powerful symbol of Roman military might. The biographer of Hadrian remarks that the emperor built the wall to separate the Romans from the barbarians. In the same way, the Chinese emperors built the Great Wall to separate China from the barbarous steppe peoples to the north. In both cases, in addition to any military function, the physical barriers served in the eyes of their builders to reinforce the conceptual divide between civilized and non-civilized. They were part of the ideology of empire."

  The suggestion that Hadrian’s Wall, then, was built to hold back or somehow control the people of the north does not seem as likely as that it was constructed as a show of force. This seems to be the best explanation for the underlying motive behind the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. The Romans had been dealing with uprisings in Britain since their conquest of the region. Although Rome’s first contact with Britain was through Julius Caesar’s expeditions there in 55/54 B.C., Rome did not begin any systematic conquest until the year 43 A.D. under the Emperor Claudius.

  The revolt of Boudicca of the Iceni in 60/61 A.D. resulted in the massacre of many Roman citizens and the destruction of major cities (among them, Londinium, modern London) and, according to the historian Tacitus (56-117 A.D.), fully demonstrated the barbaric ways of the Britons to the Roman mind. Boudicca’s forces were defeated at The Battle of Watling Street by General Gaius Suetonius Paulinus in 61 A.D.  At the Battle of Mons Graupius, in the region which is now Scotland, the Roman General Gnaeus Julius Agricola won a decisive victory over the Caledonians under Calgacus in 83 A.D.

  Both of these engagements, as well as the uprising in the north in 119 A.D. (suppressed by Falco) substantiated that the Romans were up to the task of managing the indigenous people of Britain. The suggestion that Hadrian’s Wall, then, was built to hold back or somehow control the people of the north does not seem as likely as that it was constructed as a show of force. Hadrian’s foreign policy was consistently “peace through strength” and the wall would have been an impressive illustration of that principle. In the same way that Julius Caesar built his famous bridge across the Rhine in 55 B.C. simply to show that he, and therefore Rome, could go anywhere and do anything, Hadrian perhaps had his wall constructed for precisely the same purpose.

  Emperor Hadrian (born Publius Aelius Hadrianus in 76 A.D.) ruled the Roman Empire from 117-138 A.D. His building projects, especially in Greece, are legendary and his penchant for ambitious monuments is exemplified in his eponymous wall. The work was begun in stone (unlike other fortifications which began with timber) in the east and proceeded westward across uneven terrain to create an impressive reflection of the power of Rome. The wall was originally 9.7 feet wide (3 meters) and 16-20 feet high (six meters) east of the River Irthing, all built of stone, and 20 feet wide (6 meters) by 11feet high (3.5 meters) west of the river, made up of stone and turf, stretching 73 miles (120 km) across the breadth of the land.

  This ambitious building project was completed within six years through the labor of the Roman legions stationed in Britain. Plans for the construction of the wall were in place prior to Hadrian’s visit to Britain in 122 A.D. and, perhaps, construction had already begun before the traditional date assigned for the initial work on the wall, possibly as early as 118 A.D. There were between 14-17 fortifications along the length of the wall and a Vallum (a ditch purposefully constructed of earthworks) which ran parallel to the wall. The Vallum measured 20 feet (6 meters) wide by 10 feet (3 meters) deep, flanked by large mounds of tightly packed earth. It is this composition of the site which has given rise to the traditional interpretation of the wall as a defensive work built to repel invasion from the north.

  The Vallum was built after the construction of the wall and the forts as evidenced by its deviation from existing ruins and the clear indication of causeways across the ditch at intervals which correspond to established fortification sites. When the Antonine Wall was constructed further north (in c. 142 A.D. by Emperor Antoninus Pius) the Vallum appears to have been partially filled in for easier passage.

  The Antonine Wall was built after Hadrian’s Wall had been abandoned as an outpost and was positioned further to the north in present-day Scotland between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. The Antonine Wall was perhaps constructed to serve the same purpose as Hadrian’s Wall but is thought to have functioned more pragmatically than the earlier construct.

  Hadrian’s Wall is thought to have been plastered and white washed so that it would be a shining beacon of the might of Rome, visible from considerable distances. The Antonine Wall does not suggest this same grandeur nor, in spite of the many fortifications along its route, the same intent in design and construction. Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161-180 A.D.) drew the Roman legions back from the Antonine Wall to Hadrian’s Wall under his reign and fortified the garrisons in his efforts to maintain the boundaries of the Empire. Hadrian’s great monument to Rome’s might continued as an impressive affirmation until 410 A.D. when the Roman legions left Britain. Activity around and along the wall seems to have continued as evidenced by archaeological finds but a disciplined Roman presence after 410 is not signified.

  Following the Roman withdrawal, large portions of the wall were carried off for personal building projects by the local inhabitants. Huge sections were removed to provide paving for British troops heading north on muddy tracks to quell the Jacobite Uprising of 1745 A.D.  Hadrian’s Wall may have disappeared entirely were it not for the efforts of one man, the antiquarian John Clayton (1792-1890 A.D.) who, in 1834 A.D., began buying the land around the wall in an effort to preserve it. Clayton’s excavations and enthusiasm for the site kept what remains of Hadrian’s Wall intact and, in 1987 A.D., it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Today it is under the care of English Heritage commission and is cared for largely by volunteers who recognize its immense historical significance. [Archaeological Institute of America].

  I always ship books Media Mail in a padded mailer.  This book is shipped FOR FREE via USPS INSURED media mail (“book rate”).  All domestic shipments and most international shipments will include free USPS Delivery Confirmation (you might be able to update the status of your shipment on-line at the USPS Web Site) and free insurance coverage.  A small percentage of international shipments may require an additional fee for tracking and/or delivery confirmation.  If you are concerned about a little wear and tear to the book in transit, I would suggest a boxed shipment - it is an extra $1.00.  Whether via padded mailer or box, we will give discounts for multiple purchases. International orders are welcome, but shipping costs are substantially higher. 

    Most international orders cost an additional $9.99 to $37.99 for an insured shipment in a heavily padded mailer, and typically includes some form of rudimentary tracking and/or delivery confirmation (though for some countries, this is only available at additional cost). There is also a discount program which can cut postage costs by 50% to 75% if you’re buying about half-a-dozen books or more (5 kilos+).  Rates and available services vary a bit from country to country.  You can email or message me for a shipping cost quote, but I assure you they are as reasonable as USPS rates allow, and if it turns out the rate is too high for your pocketbook, we will cancel the sale at your request.  ADDITIONAL PURCHASES do receive a VERY LARGE discount, typically about $5 per book (for each additional book after the first) so as to reward you for the economies of combined shipping/insurance costs.  Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment.  We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers.

    All of our shipments are sent via insured mail so as to comply with PayPal requirements.  We do NOT recommend uninsured shipments, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for the loss of an uninsured shipment.  Unfortunately the contents of parcels are easily “lost” or misdelivered by postal employees – even in the USA.  That’s why all of our domestic shipments (and most international) shipments include a USPS delivery confirmation tag; or are trackable or traceable, and all shipments (international and domestic) are insured.  We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex).  Please ask for a rate quotation.  We will accept whatever payment method you are most comfortable with.  If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked return policy.  Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price (less our original shipping costs).

    Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years.  However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers.  Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology.  After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well.  Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world - but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe.  I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe.  In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.

    I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with.  Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry.  My wife also is an active participant in the "business" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia.  I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me.  There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover.  Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail.  If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail.  But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent.  And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email.  Please see our "ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE."