David Thorold and Simon West

David Thorold and Simon West

ContentsTimeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Find out about the Britons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6How were the Romans different? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8The Romans invade Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10The start of a revolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Boudica’s revolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14The effects of the revolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16The province of Britannia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18How the Romans changed Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20How did Britain stay the same? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22The end of Roman Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24After the Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28For teachers and parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

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In this book you will find out what happenedwhen the Romans invaded and settled inBritain. Use the timeline below to find howlong ago the Romans came to this country.

Each section of the timelinerepresents 100 years. Find the datewhen the Romans invaded Britain.How many hundreds of years agowas this? Which other peoplecame to Britain?

Britain is inhabited from about 8000 BC.In about 500 BCpeople called Celtsmove to Britain from around theRiver Rhine.

Vikings begin to attack Britain in 793.

In the mid 5th century,Anglo-Saxons fromnorthern Europeinvade Britain andeventually settle there.

In 865 a Viking armysweeps throughEngland and Vikingsset up home there.

Roman rule of Britainends in AD 410.

Julius Caesarlands in Britain,

55-54 BC.

Britain is part of the RomanEmpire for 350 years, untilAD 410. The Roman armybuilds many roads in Britain.

Why move?What reasons can you think of for peopleleaving the country where they are born, to livesomewhere new? Here are two explanations tostart you thinking.

Romans invadeBritain in AD 43,in the time of the RomanEmperor Claudius.

We left our countrybecause it was not safe

to stay there.

Our family emigratedto Australia when my dad got a job here. We love the beach!

Why the Romans came to BritainThe first Romans lived in Italy, around 2,750years ago. Gradually their villages grew into a city-state called Rome. They fought anddefeated other lands to build a great RomanEmpire. You will see a map of it on page 8.

From the first century BC, Roman tradersvisited southeast and southwest Britain. Then,in 55-54 BC, a Roman general called JuliusCaesar landed in Britain with a small army. Hewanted to stop people in Britain from helpingthe tribes in Gaul (modern-day France), whomhe was fighting. Caesar wrote a history whichtells us that he defeated an army in Britain ledby a chieftain called Cassivellaunus.

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This piece from Caesar’s writings tellsus that a tribe called the Belgae hadinvaded Britain in the past. What didthe Belgae do after that?

Caesar left Britain once the people had agreednot to help the Gauls. Nearly 100 years later,the Roman army came to conquer Britain andmade it part of the Roman Empire.

The interior portion of Britain is inhabited by those... born in the island itself: the maritime portion bythose who had passed over from the country of theBelgae for the purpose of plunder and making war... and having waged war, continued there andbegan to cultivate the lands ... The climate is moretemperate than in Gaul, the colds being less severe.

Normans invade Englandin 1066, led by Williamthe Conqueror.

You are here.

Great Fire of London, 1666.

Astronauts land onthe Moon, 1969.

Queen Victoriacomes to thethrone in 1837.Her reign lastsuntil 1901.

The first Tudor monarch comes to the throne in 1485. The Tudors rule

England until 1603.

The First World War,1914-18

The number of the people is countless, and theirbuildings exceedingly numerous, for the most partvery like those of the Gauls: the number of cattle isgreat. They use either brass or iron rings,determined at a certain weight, as their money.Tin is produced in the midland regions; in themaritime, iron; but the quantity of it is small:they employ brass, which is imported. As in Gaul,there is timber of every description, except beech and

fir. They do not regard it lawful to eat the hare,and the cock, and the goose; however, they

breed them for amusement and pleasure.

The most civilised ... are they who inhabit Kent,which is entirely a maritime district ... Most of theinland inhabitants do not sow corn, but live onmilk and flesh, and are clad with skins. All theBritons dye themselves with woad, which occasionsa bluish color, and thereby have a more terribleappearance in fight. They wear their hair long, andhave every part of their body shaved except theirhead and upper lip.

Archaeologists foundthis gold coin, markedwith the name ofTincommius, achieftain who ruledpart of southernBritain in the firstcentury BC. Doesthis archaeologicalevidence contradictwhat Caesar says?

Caesar’s writings help us to find out aboutthe Britons at the time he was in Britain in55-54 BC. What does Caesar say theBritons used for money?

Sources of informationRoman traders bought goods from Britain whichincluded woollen cloaks, hunting dogs, gold, tin,corn and slaves. What information about Britainwould these goods give to other Romans?

Julius Caesar’s writings also told the Romansabout Britain and its people, the Britons. FromCaesar’s writings here and on page 5, whatopinion do you think Caesar had of the Britons?Did he admire them?

What information given byJulius Caesar, and by Britishgoods, might make theRomans want to add Britainto their Empire?

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Most Britons lived in roundhouses,sometimes in small villages. Using evidencefrom excavations, archaeologists have builtreconstructions of the houses, which helpus to imagine what they were like.

Some houses were grouped in a hill fort, adefended area on a hilltop, surrounded byditches and ramparts. These are the remainsof a hill fort known as Maiden Castle.

Who were the Britons?The Britons were made up of differenttribes, each ruled by its own chieftain.Chieftains came from the warrior class, thetop level of society, who owned large farmsand areas of land. Priests, known as druids,were equally important.

Most other people were farmers. Some wereslaves, captured in battle or on raids. A fewcraftsmen specialised in making pots andmetal tools.

Living in a roundhouseVisit http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts/ and learn more about roundhousesand hill forts.

ClothingFrom studying Roman writings, historiansthink that the Britons wore colourful patternedtunics and trousers, with long woollen cloaks.

ReligionThe Britons worshipped many different godsand goddesses across the country, andsometimes built shrines and temples to them.It seems that human heads were important tothe Britons. Some shrines were decorated withmodel heads, or possibly real ones.

The Roman EmpireThis map shows the lands thatwere part of the Roman Empirein the early 1st century AD, andthe lands that were conquered inthe next 100 years. Each part ofthe Empire was known as aprovince. Every province was runby a governor, appointed by theEmperor. The provinces all hadto pay taxes and provide troopsfor the Roman army. So, as theEmpire expanded, Rome becamericher and more powerful.

The Roman armyThe Roman army was differentfrom most armies in the ancientworld. Soldiers in the Romanarmy served full-time for 25years and were highly trained.When a soldier retired, he wasmade a Roman citizen and givena plot of land. Often this had

The Roman army was madeup of units called legions, of3,000 to 5,000 men. Thesemen are dressed to showwhat foot soldiers, calledlegionaries, looked like.

0 500 miles Roman Empire, AD 14Provinces addedto the Empireby AD 117

0 500kilometres

• Rome

Rho

ne

Danube

Euphrates

Tigris

Nile

Compare this map of the Roman Empire with a modern atlasmap. Which modern countries were part of the Empire?

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been taken from defeated enemies. Most ancientarmies were formed from local people who wentback to work on their farms when a battle was over.

Citizens, non-citizens and slavesRoman citizens had a special status in society. They had the right to vote and did not pay taxes. At first, only men from Rome could be Romancitizens. Men in other parts of the Empire couldearn citizenship, usually by serving in the Roman army. Roman women and most other peoplein the provinces were non-citizens and had limitedrights. By the third century AD, the rules wererelaxed and more people were made citizens.

Many Romans kept slaves, some of whom wereenemy soldiers captured in battle. Slaves were oftengiven the worst jobs, such as mining,working on the land or fighting as gladiators, butsome well-educated slaves became scribes orclerks. After long service,some slaves were freed, asa gift from their master. List the differences

Make a table,showing all thedifferences youcan find between theRomans and the Britons(pages 6-7). Were theysimilar in any ways?

This carving of a banquet, from a Romantomb, gives us information about clothingand hairstyles.

This wall painting froman ancient Romanhouse at Pompeiidates from the firstcentury BC. What doesit tell you aboutRoman buildings?

Reasons to attackThe Emperor Claudius had severalreasons for attacking Britain in AD 43:

■ Roman traders had shown thatBritain was wealthy.

■ He was not popular in Rome andthought that conquering a new landwould help to change this.

■ Some people claimed that Britons were attacking and raiding Roman Gaul.

The Britons react: some for ...Some chieftains in Britain had traded with Romansand visited Roman towns. Once the Romansinvaded, it looked probable that Britain wouldbecome a province of the Roman Empire. Thechieftains saw advantages in this. They hoped theycould stay in power in the new province.

... some againstOther chieftains fought the Romans. One tribe, theCatuvellauni, had recently invaded the lands ofanother tribe, the Trinovantes, who supported Rome.The leaders of the Catuvellauni, Caratacus andTogidumnus, formed an army to fight the Romans.

Claudius was the fourthRoman Emperor, whoruled from AD 41 to 54.He hoped that a militaryvictory would make himpopular with the Romans.

The Romans conquered Britain over thecourse of nearly 40 years. Which tribe ortribes were in the area where you live?

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Conquered by Romans:

AD 43-47

AD 49-78

AD 79

AD 80

BRIGANTES

ORDOVICES

SILURES

CORIELTAVI ICENI

CATUVELLAUNITRINOVANTES

DOBUNIATREBATES

BELGAEDUROTRIGES

DUMNONII

For or against? Would you have welcomed theRomans or fought against them?What arguments would youuse to persuade someone toagree with you?

It doesn’t look as if the rest of the Catuvellaunijoined in. If they had, their lands would havebeen damaged by the Romans. Archaeologistshave found that the lands were left unharmed.

Caratacus and Togidumnus formed their armyfrom people who were willing to fight theRomans. Some tribes, including the Iceni, didnot support either side. The northern tribeswere against the Romans, but may not havejoined in the fight, believing that Claudiuswould soon leave Britain, in the same way asJulius Caesar had done.

Roman victoryAccounts by Roman writers say that the Britishwere defeated. Togidumnus was killed andCaratacus fled. After twelve weeks of battle,Claudius celebrated victory at Camulodunum(modern Colchester) with a parade includingelephants. What impression do you think theseanimals made on local people?

After this the Roman army advanced into themidlands and southern England. Caratacus ledthe fight against them. Some tribes retreated totheir hill forts, but the Romans destroyed theseeasily. It took the Romans about four years tomake sure that the south of Britain was secure.Look at the map on page 10 to find which partof Britain they attacked next.

RewardsTribes that welcomed the Roman invasion wererewarded. The Catuvellaunian town ofVerulamium (modern St Albans) was given aspecial status as a municipium. Its inhabitantswere made Roman citizens. One British leaderhad a palace built for him at Fishbourne.

The Romans attacked the hill fort at MaidenCastle in AD 44. Archaeologists haveuncovered skeletons of people killed there.One had a Roman ballista bolt in the spine.

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Prasutagus, king of the IceniThe Iceni stayed neutral when the Romansinvaded Britain, and the Romans rewardedthem for this by allowing the Iceni king,Prasutagus, to stay in full control of the tribeand its land. The Romans intended that, oncePrasutagus had died, his kingdom wouldbecome part of the Empire. But Prasutagushoped that the tribe could keep its specialstatus and so he named his daughters and theEmperor Nero as his joint heirs.

Prasutagus died in AD 60 and the Romansstarted to treat the Iceni just as other Britishtribes. They took people’s land, saying that itwas payment for debts, and gave it to Romans.

Boudica becomes a leaderWhen Boudica, the wife of Prasutagus, and herdaughters complained, the Romans replied bybeating them violently. This made Boudicaeven more angry and she rallied the Iceni torevolt against the Romans.

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This statue ofBoudica and herdaughters in theirchariot was sculptedat the very end ofVictorian times.What impression of Boudica does it convey?

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Boudica was tall, terrible to look on and giftedwith a powerful voice. A flood of bright red hairran down to her knees, she wore a golden torcmade up of ornate pieces, a multi-coloured robeand over it a thick cloak held together by abrooch. She took up a long spear to cause dreadin all who set eyes on her.

People from the Trinovantes tribe joinedBoudica’s army. Land in their area, atCamulodunum, had also been takenfrom local people and given to retiredRoman soldiers. This was normalRoman practice, but the soldiers tookmuch more land than they wereallowed. The Trinovantes, like the Iceni,believed that they were favoured alliesof Rome and they were unhappy withsuch harsh treatment.

What did Boudica look like?No picture of Boudica has survivedfrom the time when she was alive,although we have this description of herfrom a Roman historian, Cassius Dio,who lived in the 2nd century.

Wanted: BoudicaUse Cassius Dio’s description ofBoudica to make a ‘Wanted’ poster forher. Compare posters drawn by yourfriends. What is similar and what isdifferent in your pictures?

A torc was a piece of jewellery wornaround the neck. This one was madefrom more than a kilogram of goldmixed with silver.

The Norwich Castle Museum has a special sectionabout Boudica and the Iceni people.

Follow the route that Boudica’s army took,on the map at the bottom of this page.

CamulodunumFirst the army marched south to attackCamulodunum, a town of Roman citizens.There were few Roman soldiers there todefend the town. Most were with the Romangovernor, Suetonius Paullinus, fighting thetribes in Wales. Camulodunum wasdestroyed and everyone killed.

Archaeologists have foundthe remains of buildingsburned down by Boudica’sarmy at Camulodunum.

The legion closest to Camulodunum had tried tomarch to the town to help, but Boudica’s forcesdefeated them too. Paullinus ordered his army toreturn from Wales to crush Boudica’s revolt.

LondiniumBoudica’s next target was Londinium (London),another new Roman town. It was a port andcould be used to bring in more Roman soldiers.It was also full of money and valuables.

Verulamium

Camulodunum

Mancetter

Londinium

Boudica’spalace atThetford

This head from a life-sizestatue of Emperor Claudiuswas found in a river inSuffolk. It is thought thatBoudica’s army may havebroken the statue and thrownthe head into the water.

Archaeologists think that Boudica’s armyfollowed this route in AD 60-61. More andmore people joined in along the way.

40 miles

60 miles

30 miles

70 miles

possible site ofthe last battle

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HeadlinesTry writing newspaper headlinesfor reports of what happened ateach place that Boudica’s armyattacked.

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The Romans had the advantage of being at thetop of a slope, protected on one side by forest.The Britons were on the plain below. The siteof this last battle has never been found, but itmay have taken place near Mancetter inWarwickshire.

Afterwards, Boudica either committed suicideor died of natural causes. Paullinus became afamous general because of his heroic victory.

Paullinus and his cavalryreached London beforeBoudica’s army. However,they were too few to defendthe city and so Paullinuswithdrew and rejoined the restof his army. Boudica’s armydestroyed Londinium andmoved on to Verulamium.

VerulamiumThe inhabitants of Verulamium were Britonsfrom the Catuvellauni tribe who supported theRomans. They heard that Boudica was on herway and probably had time to escape beforethe town was destroyed.

The final battleBy now the Roman army was back fromWales and ready to fight. Paullinus had around10,000 men. Boudica’s army was much bigger– more than 100,000. They were so confidentof victory that they brought their families towatch the battle, from wagons behind thetroops. Yet the Britons were defeated and,when they tried to flee, they were trapped bythe wagons behind them.

A Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote that 80,000Britons and only 400 Romans were killed.

These skulls found in London may be those ofpeople massacred by Boudica’s army.

Points of viewThink what (a) a Briton and(b) a Roman

soldier wouldsay to explain how their lifechanged after the revolt.

Punishing Boudica’s followersAfter defeating Boudica and her followers,the Roman army attacked the lands of theIceni and Trinovantes. Farms and villageswere destroyed and anyone suspected ofbeing involved in the revolt was killed orsold as a slave. Land and valuables weregiven to Romans or passed into the control ofEmperor Nero, who ruled from AD 54 to 68.

Preventing more revoltsThe Romans were worried that other tribes inthe south might attack them. They stoppedfighting in Wales and northern England andspent the next ten years strengthening theircontrol in the south.

Some Britons had Roman-style villas built for them.This is a reconstructiondrawing of a villa, based onarchaeological evidencefound at Maidstone, Kent.

The new Roman governor took more notice ofthe Britons’ concerns. Important Britons weremade Roman citizens and councillors, withresponsibility for enforcing the law andcollecting taxes. Warriors from the British

tribes were encouraged togo back to farming ratherthan fighting.

After Boudica and her army were defeated,

things changed ...

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Continuing the invasionBy AD 71 the Roman army advanced againinto Wales and northwest England. Morebattles took place with the British tribes inthese regions. In AD 82 or 83 the Ninth Legion

This carving inScotland from aboutAD 142 shows aRoman cavalryman.Fighting against the British tribescontinued for many years.

The Romans built forts to protect theirsoldiers. Each had a wall of turf orstone, with a ditch outside to make itdifficult for attackers to reach. Forts had a regular layout with an officers’headquarters, barrack blocks for thetroops, and granaries to store food. Thisis Housesteads fort on Hadrian’s Wall.

was almost destroyed in battle against tribes inScotland. Very little information about thedefeat was recorded by Roman writers. Whymight this have been? Despite such problems,the Romans slowly gained control of Britain.

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Barrack blocks

Granaries

Hospital

Tower

Tower

Tower

Tower

Water tank

Latrines

Officers’ headquarters

Commander’s house

The Romans fought in Scotland but eventuallydecided not to occupy this part of Britain. InAD 122 Emperor Hadrian, the 14th RomanEmperor, ordered a wall to be built, markingthe limits of the Roman Empire. England andWales were under Roman control and wereknown as the province of Britannia.

Civilising the provinceThe Romans allowed local customs to continuein new provinces of the Empire, as long as thepeople obeyed Roman rule and paid their taxes.However, Britannia seemed backward to themand they set about civilising it by developingtowns and introducing Roman laws and customs.They hoped that the Britons would adopt aRoman lifestyle, after seeing its advantages.

Hadrian’s Wall ran from the River Solwayto the River Tyne. See if you can find it onan atlas map of Britain.

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You can see where hot air circulated belowthe floor of this mosaic. Mosaics were made from small, colouredstone squares called tesserae.

Your townThink about buildings in yourtown which have a particular purpose.Which are similar to buildings inRoman Britain?

Roman townsThe Romans built a town in each tribe’sterritory, with wooden, stone and brickbuildings that were bigger than anything builtin Britain before. Some had mosaics laid intothe floors. Some houses also had painted wallsand ceilings and even central heating. Hot airfrom a fire circulated through hollow bricks inthe walls and along spaces dug below floors.

Towns had public buildings where businesswas carried out and people could meet. Eachtown had a forum, a large open space for amarket. There were also temples and a basilica,a building for council business. Some townshad theatres for plays and religious activities,while others had amphitheatres.

The bath houseThe most popular Roman entertainment wasthe bath house, a building with heated roomsand pools of hot, warm and cold water forbathing. To the Romans, bath houses were aplace to meet, and the Britons quickly adoptedtheir use. Visit http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/and click on ‘Just for fun’ to tour a Romanbath house.

After the invasion, the Romans controlledBritain for about 350 years. During thattime, they made many changes to theBritish way of life.

Wider roads andmore tradeBritons lived near theirfarms and traded withpeople close by for goodsthat they could notproduce themselves. Theirsettlements were linked by trackways across thecountryside.

The Romans built wideroads to allow their troopsto move quickly aroundthe province. The newroads linked villas,towns and ports acrossBritannia. One importantresult was that goodsbecame more widelyavailable to more people.

The red linesrepresentRoman roads.Have you visitedany of the townson this map andseen Romanremains there?

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York

LincolnChester

CaistorLeicester

Cambridge

LondonSt Albans

Silchester

ChichesterWinchester

Exeter

BathCirencesterCaerwent

Kentchester

Wroxeter

Gloucester

Droitwich

Hadrian’s Wall

Colchester

Canterbury

Dorchester

South ShieldsCarlisle

These are the remains of aRoman road in North Yorkshire.Roman roads were built instraight sections, but zigzaggedaround difficult obstructions.

Imports todayWhich foods can you find in your kitchen today whichhave been imported? Makea list showing the countriesthey have come from. Findthem on a globe.

Buying and sellingSome British tribes made coins,although these were not widely used.Most Britons bartered their produceor services for anything they needed.By contrast, across the Empire, theRomans used coins of gold, silver orbronze to pay for goods and services.

Trade was more complicated in Romansociety. As well as farmers, there weremany people in other professions includingpotters, metalworkers, carpenters, plumbers,bakers, stonemasons and teachers. Romancraftsmen could not rely on finding a buyerwilling to barter every time they needed foodor clothes. Coins were a form of paymentthat everyone could accept. Money could also be saved to buy more or better-quality possessions.

Some British products becameso popular that they weresold across the country. Thispot made in Peterboroughwas found at St Albans.

These are amphorae,which the Romansused for transportingwine and other liquids.Roman wine waspopular with wealthy

Britons, but mostpeople drank ale.

With the spread of roads and theuse of coins, trade and industrydeveloped quickly in Britannia.Farmers could save the moneythey made from selling theircrops until it was needed.Craftsmen could sell theirwares across the country.

Trade also developed with other parts of theEmpire. New foods such as cabbages, carrots,parsnips, turnips, plums and walnuts wereimported into Britain, along with wine, oliveoil and fish sauce. British grain, wool andhunting dogs were exported.

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Sulis-Minerva was acombination of theBritish and Romangoddesses of wisdom.

Rich and poorGenerally, it was the richerBritons who adopted theRoman lifestyle. The poorhad little contact with it.Most Britons continued tospeak their local language,for example, Brythonic.Only Britons involved withlocal government, law ortrade needed to use Latin,the official Roman language. Also, anyBriton wanting to improve his position insociety needed to speak Latin.

Only the rich could afford a grand Romanvilla like the one on page 16. Most Britonscontinued to live in roundhousesand to farm as they had alwaysdone. Archaeologistsexcavating small farms fromthis time have found veryfew Roman objects. Onlyabout 10 per cent of thepopulation lived in towns,where the Roman influenceon life was stronger.

ReligionThe Britons worshipped many different gods,each responsible for a particular place oraspect of life such as the harvest, music, orsuccess. This was similar to the Romans’

religion, and so the Romans simplycombined matching gods together.

For example, Mars and Toutatis, theRoman and British gods of war,became Mars-Toutatis.

This Latin inscriptionis from the tombstoneof Marcus CocceiusNonnus, aged 6.Here are the Romannumerals for ‘6’.‘Hic situs est’ is Latinfor ‘He lies here’.

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This part of a mosaic at Chedworth Romanvilla in Gloucestershire represents ‘Winter’. It shows a Briton in a hooded cloak, atraditional British garment, which theRomans called the ‘birrus Britannicus’. Thecloaks were one of Britain’s main exports.

ClothingClothing styles changed little for most workingpeople. Amongst wealthy Britons, Romantunics, short hair and a clean-shaven face werefashionable for men, although beards werepopular in the second century. Wealthy women adopted the latest Roman hairstyles.

Togas, which were worn as a symbol ofRoman citizenship, were not common inBritain. They were complicated to put on and cold and uncomfortable to wear, sothey were kept for special occasions only.

Design a mosaicDesign and make a model of a

mosaic floor, using little squaresof coloured paper. Choose a

subject to do with RomanBritain, and make a

pattern around the edge.

This bonehairpinshows theRomanhairstyle thatwas fashionablein about AD 100.The necklaces aremade from glass, jet,shale and gold foil.

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Create a coinDraw yourself as a Roman Emperor on a coin.How can you write your name so it soundsLatinised? Give yourself an important-

sounding title, such as ‘Scorer ofGoals’ or ‘Maker of Music’.

From the map of the Roman Empire onpage 8 you can see that Britannia wasone of the most distant provinces fromRome. It provided the Empire with grainand wealth through the taxes that peoplehad to pay. On the other hand, it wasexpensive to keep in good order, withfour legions based there.

Two EmpiresBy AD 286 the Roman Empire hadbecome too big for one Emperor tocontrol. It was split into an Easternand a Western Empire, each ruledby a different Emperor. Sometimesthis worked well, usually when the twoEmperors were brothers, or a father andson. However, the two Emperors oftenplotted against each other. Eachhoped to replace the other withsomeone under their control.Sometimes this led to civil war,with Roman armies fighting eachother. Soon army generals realisedthat they could use the troops theycommanded to make a bid to becomeEmperor themselves.

One side of this goldcoin made in London atthe end of the fourthcentury shows theEastern and WesternRoman Emperors holdinga globe of the world.

The other side showsMagnus Maximus, an armygeneral in Roman Britain.In AD 383 he withdrewtroops from Britain as hetried to win power in Rome.He fought his way to Italy,killing the Emperor of theWest. Eventually he wasdefeated and put to deathby the Emperor of the East.

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BarbariansThe Romans called anyone from outside theEmpire a ‘Barbarian’. Barbarians had beenraiding or trying to settle in the provincessince the Empire was formed. By the fourthcentury, so many Barbarians were in theEmpire that more troops were needed tocontrol or fight them.

The legions leaveBy AD 400 most Roman soldiers based inBritain had been removed. Somehad left with generals who tried tobecome Emperor. Others weremoved to fight Barbarian forceswho were attacking otherparts of the Empire.

Eventually there wereno legions left inBritain. In AD 410 thepopulation asked forreplacements. EmperorHonorius replied that notroops were available and thepeople would have to defendthemselves.

Barbarians often raided Britannia. In AD 280 the Romans built forts along theeast and south coasts of the provinceto help keep out raiders who werecoming from the lands that are nowGermany and Denmark. The walls of the fort at Portchester, Hampshire,are 6 metres high and 3 metres thick.More buildings were added to the fortat later times in history.

A Roman figure of a Barbarian.

The Roman army left Britannia but otherRomans stayed, working their farms andrunning businesses in towns. For some timelife carried on as if Britain was still a Romanprovince. Some towns continued to be run inRoman ways, possibly for hundreds of years.

Less trade and smaller townsMost Roman coins were made to pay soldiers’wages. After the legions left, no more Romanmoney reached Britain. Without money, tradeand industry declined. Craftsmen could nolonger earn a living and went back to farmingor moved abroad to provide for their families.

The Roman army had looked after the roadsand kept them well repaired. Without thesoldiers, the roads were not mended andbecame more difficult to travel along. Thisalso led to a decline in trade.

With less trade taking place, towns becamesmaller. There were fewer skilled craftsmenand so many buildings could not be repaired.Some people went back to living in hill forts.

Roman buildings decayed as they were nolonger used or looked after. Stones weretaken for new buildings. This was the Romantheatre at St Albans. Remains like these arecared for now, as part of Britain’s history.

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Roman remainsThe Romans had little effecton the lives of manyBritons, but the roads andtowns they built had alasting effect on the Britishlandscape. You may beable to visit the remains ofa Roman town, fort, villa, theatre or amphitheatre and see Romanartefacts on display at a museum.

Look back through the pictures inthis book. Which type of Roman sitewould you most like to visit? Thinkof three things that you would liketo find out there.

Life in the countrysideLife in the countryside continued much asbefore. It had never been heavily affected by Roman rule, so its removal made littledifference. Most Britons were still farmers.They had continued mostly to barter theirgoods and so the disappearance of coins didnot affect them much. Wealthy farmers stayedrunning their Roman-style villas, althoughover time these began to look less Roman.

A new invasionThe people who raided Britain from Germanyand Denmark became known as Anglo-Saxons.In AD 449 a British leader asked some Anglo-Saxons to help him fight off other raiders inthe north. The Anglo-Saxons helped, but thendecided to settle in Britain themselves. Insome places they fought the Britons, but inothers they lived peacefully with them. Overtime it became difficult to tell them apart.

In a display of Romanartefacts you mightsee a strigil. Find outhow this was used atthe Roman baths.

A pair of tweezersand a manicureset. What do theseobjects tell youabout people inRoman Britain?

AD stands for ‘Anno Domini’, the Latin for‘in the year of the Lord’. This refers toJesus, whom Christians call ‘Lord’.The time when Jesus was born wastaken as the year 0. Dates after thisare called AD, and dates before arecalled BC.

allies people or countries who have agreedto help one another.

amphitheatre an oval area surrounded by seating,where gladiator games and wildanimal shows were performed.

amphorae two-handled jars for holding liquid.

archaeologists people who find out about the past bylooking at the remains that peoplehave left behind.

artefacts man-made objects, e.g. pottery or tools.

ballista bolt an arrow-like object fired from a two-man weapon, like a large crossbow.

barrack a building to house soldiers.

barter to trade by exchanging goods, afteragreeing they are of the same value.

basilica a large building serving as the centreof government of a Roman town.

BC stands for ‘Before Christ’. ‘Christ’ is aname that Christians give to Jesus. Indates, a number followed by BC

means that number of years beforethe time when Jesus was born.

Britons inhabitants of Britain at the time theRomans invaded. Today they are oftencalled ‘Celts’, but neither they nor theRomans used this term.

cavalry soldiers on horseback,making up part of an army.

Celts a word used today todescribe many tribes inEurope who lived alongside orwere conquered by the Romans.

chieftain the leader of a tribe or group.

citizen in the Roman Empire, a free personwith the right to vote.

city-state a city from which a region of land wascontrolled.

civilised well-behaved, according to the rulesand expectations of a developedsociety.

civil war a war between two or more armiesfrom the same country or Empire.

clerk someone whose work requiredreading, writing and arithmetic skills.

conquer to gain control of something, by force.

councillors Roman citizens responsible for runninga town, with duties such as supervisingtax collection and making laws.

decline to slowly get worse.

emigrate to leave a country to settle in another.

Empire an area of land ruled by an emperoror government.

evidence a piece of information which can betaken to help prove an idea.

excavation careful digging up of an area of land insearch of information about the past.

export to sell goods produced in one countryto another.

fort a strongly defended place.

28....

forum a large open area in the centre of aRoman town, used as a meeting andmarket place.

general a leader in the army.

gladiator a man who took part in dangerousfights put on as entertainment.

governor a Roman appointed by the Emperor torule a province. The governorcollected taxes, enforced laws andcontrolled the army in the province.

granary a building designed to store food,usually grain.

heirs people who will take over a person’sposition or wealth when he or she dies.

hill fort an area, usually on top of a hill,surrounded by banks and ditches fordefence.

import to buy goods from another country.

inscription writing carved on something.

invade to enter a country with the intentionof conquering it.

legion a unit of Roman soldiers, numbering3,000 to 5,000 men.

legionary a Roman foot soldier.

maritime near the sea.

massacred violently killed.

military to do with war.

mosaic a pattern made with small colouredstone cubes, called tesserae.

municipium a town with special status in theRoman Empire.

neutral not supporting either side in anargument or a war.

province a division of the Roman Empire.

raids rapid, surprise attacks on a country.

rampart a raised bank of earth, usually fordefence, often with a wooden fence ontop and a ditch around the outside.

reconstruction a drawing or model of what somethingmay have been like, based on evidence.

revolt to rise up against a ruler.

scribe someone whose job was to writethings down. Not everyone could readand write in the Roman world, soscribes did this for them.

settle to set up a permanent home.

settlement the permanent home of a community.

shrine a special place associated with a godor goddess.

stonemason a builder in stone.

temperate neither very hot nor very cold.

temple a building for religious worship.

tesserae the small pieces making up a mosaic.

toga a garment worn by a Roman citizen. It was a long cloth wound round thebody and draped over the shoulder.

torc a piece of jewellery made of twistedmetal, worn around the neck or arm.

tribe a group of people living in an area,who shared a common way of life.

villa a Roman agricultural complex. ‘Villa’could mean the main farmhouse or thewhole estate of buildings and fields.

warrior class the top level of society in pre-RomanBritain. Warriors specialised infeasting and fighting.

29....

Does Julius Caesar tell us much about the Britons’ lifestyle, or onlyabout parts of it? What aspects does he not discuss? Has he anyreasons to lie? (E.g. he says that Britons are warriors, whereasarchaeological evidence suggests they were farmers.) A translation ofBook 5 of The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar, including his descriptionsof the Britons, is at: http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.5.5.html.

The Butser Ancient Farm website, http://www.butser.org.uk/, will helpchildren to imagine life in a roundhouse.

For thinking about archaeological sources, you could bring in a rangeof objects that might be thrown away. Help the children decide whichof these objects would survive to be dug up in the future and whichwould rot away. Would all or only part of the object survive?Groups of children could pick one room of a house and decide whichobjects in it would survive for 2,000 years. Then they should drawthese objects and see if other groups can identify the room.

Pages 8 – 9 How were the Romans different?Useful websites for further research are:http://www.roman-empire.net/maps/map-empire.html (an interactivemap of the Roman Empire);http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/romans/;http://library.thinkquest.org/22866/English/Leger.html#soldaat (Thelife of a Roman Soldier).

For the table of differences between Romans and Britons, childrencould identify categories (e.g. work, buildings, clothing) for the firstcolumn, and fill in details in ‘Romans’ and ‘Britons’ columns.

Pages 10 – 11 The Romans invade BritainLet the children try to rank these reasons why the Romans invadedBritain. Then discuss, encouraging them to give reasons for their order. ■ Emperor Claudius was not popular. A victory might change this.■ Britain was thought to be wealthy, full of silver and wheat.■ Some British kings had asked the Romans to help protect their

kingdoms from rivals.■ Troublemakers in Gaul could escape from the Romans to Britain.■ Some British tribes were trading with the Romans.■ Some British tribes were raiding Gaul and damaging Roman

property.■ More slaves were always needed to provide labour in the Empire.

Pages 12 – 13 The start of a revoltLet the children look at interpretations of Boudica over time (CassiusDio’s account, Victorian sculpture and paintings, modern films). Howhas her appearance changed? How has it stayed the same? Whymight this be? Is any representation likely to be the most accurate?

This book is designed to support and extend the learning objectives forunit 6A of the QCA History Scheme of Work for Key Stages 1 and 2.

For over 350 years the Roman Empire brought together a hugeexpanse of territories. Before the Romans arrived in Britain, the Britonshad their own culture. Some did not like the newcomers. Otherswelcomed them. The Roman conquest of the country began with theClaudian invasion in AD 43 but was not secure until after the Boudicanrevolt of AD 60-61. Tribes from eastern England led by Queen Boudicadestroyed three major Roman towns and may have been on the brinkof victory before their final defeat.

Often ‘Celt’ is used as a convenient shorthand term for the pre-Romaninhabitants of Britain. This is misleading. The people identifiedthemselves by their tribal name, although the different tribes shared asimilar culture. Contemporary writers did not use the term ‘Celt’ whenreferring to the people of Britain. ‘Britons’ has been used in this book.

After the conquest the Romans built many formally laid-out towns.Native British farms continued in some parts of the countryside whilevilla estates developed in others. Some of these would have beenowned by Britons, others by newcomers.

At the end of the Roman period the legions were removed and townsdecayed. People returned to farming, a system that would have beenfamiliar to the Britons 350 years previously. New tribes such as theAngles, Saxons and Scots raided and finally came to settle here.

Our knowledge of events and life in Roman Britain comes fromarchaeology, inscriptions and written documents. There is a wide rangeof sites and museums for children to explore. Studying this periodtherefore provides an opportunity to develop children’s historical skillsparticularly in understanding the range and nature of the evidenceavailable and in making inferences from it. In addition, the activitiessuggested in this book provide opportunities for cross-curricular workrelating to literacy, mathematics and design, technology and ICT.

SUGGESTED FURTHER ACTIVITIESPages 4 – 5 TimelineAs well as a class timeline, you could make a display with aworld map, showing countries from which people have movedto Britain. Investigate the routes and transport they would haveused, and the parts of Britain where they would have arrived.

Pages 6 – 7 Find out about the BritonsLet the children think about the differences between documentary andarchaeological evidence, for learning about the past. Can writtensources be trusted? Does archaeology tell us all we need to know?

30....

Find how to wear a toga at http://www.villaivlilla.com/toga.htm. Bringin suitable cloth for the children to dress up in a toga over their ownclothes. Discuss why such clothing, on its own, might be impractical.Why would trousers, tunics and cloaks, worn by the Britons, be better?

Pages 24 – 25 The end of Roman BritainThe children could do some further research on the Barbarians at:http://www.wizardrealm.com/barbarians/history.html.

Pages 26 – 27 After the RomansLet the children think about how people might pay for things withoutmoney. Is this harder or easier than using money? Do we always usemoney today when we buy things?

How different was Britain after the Romans left, compared with beforethey arrived? In a class discussion, let the children put forward ideasfor lists of what had changed and what had stayed the same.

PLACES TO VISIT Cardiff: National Museums & Galleries of Wales (www.nmgw.ac.uk) Chester: Grosvenor Museum (www.chester.gov.uk) Chichester: Fishbourne Roman Palace (www.sussexpast.co.uk) Cirencester: Corinium Museum (www.cotswold.gov.uk)Colchester: Castle Museum (www.colchestermuseums.org.uk)Edinburgh: Museum of Scotland (www.nms.ac.uk) Leicester: Jewry Wall Museum (www.leicester.gov.uk/museums) Lincoln: Lincoln City & County Museum

(www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/museums)London: British Museum (www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk)

Museum of London (www.museumoflondon.org.uk) Newcastle: Museum of Antiquities (www.ncl.ac.uk/antiquities)Reading: Museum of Reading (www.readingmuseum.org.uk)St Albans: Verulamium Museum (www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk)York: Yorkshire Museum & Gardens (www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk)

Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields (www.twmuseums.org.uk) Housesteads Roman Fort, Hexham (www.english-heritage.org.uk) Lunt Roman Fort, Baginton (www.coventrymuseum.org.uk) Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend (www.twmuseums.org.uk)

Chedworth Roman Villa, Yanworth, Cheltenham (www.ntrust.org.uk) Lullingstone Roman Villa, Eynsford (www.english-heritage.org.uk)

Caerwent Roman Town (off the A48 between Caerleon & Chepstow)Wroxeter Roman Town (www.english-heritage.org.uk)

Bath Roman Baths (www.romanbaths.co.uk)Segedunum Bath House, Wallsend (www.twmuseums.org.uk)

Verulamium Theatre, St Albans (www.romantheatre.co.uk)

Caerleon Amphitheatre (off Lodge Rd, Caerleon)Silchester Amphitheatre (off Wall Lane, Nr Silchester)

Dola cu thi gold mines

Pages 14 – 15 Boudica’s revoltThe Romans were vastly outnumbered in the final battle with Boudica,but were better trained. They also used different weapons and methodsof defence from the Britons. Children could research these andconsider which aspects may have given the Romans an advantage inhand-to-hand fighting.

Pages 16 – 17 The effects of the revoltA plan of Housesteads fort can be found at:http://www.geocities.com/sionmc/fort/fortplan.htm. Children couldalso look at: http://vindolanda.csad.ox.ac.uk/exhibition/army.shtml.Let the children compare fort plans and see how the layout staysthe same. Discuss the advantages (familiarity, and soldiers couldbe posted regularly to different forts).

Most forts had a ‘vicus’ attached to them – a shanty townof goods and services that supplied the troops.

Pages 18 – 19 The province of BritanniaChildren could find out about the layout of Roman towns from:http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/arc_roman_towns.htm.

They could design a mosaic floor of their own. Many British mosaicshad patterns or flower designs, but some showed gods and people.

Pages 20 – 21 How the Romans changed BritainInformation about some of the main Roman roads in Britain can befound at http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/B/bigromandig/camesaw/3_49.jsp.

Some role-play would help children to understand bartering.

Foods introduced to Britain by the Romans include: white carrots,liquamen (fish sauce; Worcester sauce is thought to be somewhatsimilar), dates, olives (and olive oil), radishes, garlic, onions, walnuts,leeks, figs, chestnuts, almonds, lettuce, parsnips, broad beans,cabbages, plums, damsons, cherries, apples.Foods already in Britain include: milk, soft cheese, bread, bacon, beef,oysters, lamb, pig, hazelnuts, nettles, dandelions, Celtic beans (asmaller version of the broad bean), raspberries, blackberries,elderberries, strawberries, crab apples, honey, hare, geese.You might allow the children to prepare and try a selection of ‘typical’Roman foods.

Look at pictures of Roman coins, for example, at http://www.romancoins.info/Content.html. Who was important enough toappear on the coins? (The Emperor, the army, gods.) What messagesdid the coins convey? (E.g. propaganda such as ‘The Emperor isstrong and just’; ‘The Empire is being well cared for’.)

Pages 22 – 23 How did Britain stay the same?Let the children practise using Roman numerals.I = 1; V = 5; X = 10; L = 50; C = 100; D = 500; M = 1,000.A smaller number before a larger one subtracts from it. E.g.: IX = 9.A smaller number after a larger one adds to it. E.g.: XXXII = 32.

31....

o

32....

amphitheatres 19, 27amphorae 21Anglo-Saxons 4, 27archaeologists 6, 7, 11,

14, 22army, Roman 4, 5, 8, 9,

11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24,26

Barbarians 25basilica 19Bath 22baths, Roman 19, 27Belgae 5Boudica 12, 13, 14, 15,

16Britannia 18, 20, 21, 24,

25, 26buildings

British 6, 7Roman 9, 19, 26

Caesar, Julius 4, 5, 6, 11Camulodunum

(Colchester) 11, 13, 14Caratacus 10, 11Cassius Dio 13Cassivellaunus 5Catuvellauni 10, 11, 15chieftains 5, 6, 7, 10citizens, Roman 8, 9, 14,

16

Claudius, Emperor 4, 10,11, 14

cloaks 6, 7, 13, 23clothing 7, 9, 23coins 6, 21, 26, 27councillors 16craftsmen 7, 21, 26

druids 7

Empire, Roman 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 21, 24, 25

farmers 7, 21, 27farms 7, 9, 16, 20, 22, 26Fishbourne palace 11foods 21forts 17, 25, 27forum 19

Gaul/the Gauls 5, 6, 10governor 8, 14, 16

Hadrian, Emperor 18Hadrian’s Wall 18hairstyles 6, 9, 23heating, central 19hill forts 7, 11, 26Honorius, Emperor 25

Iceni 10, 11, 12, 13, 16

language 22Latin 22legions 8, 14, 17, 24, 25,

26Londinium (London) 14,

15, 24

Magnus Maximus 24Maiden Castle 7, 11Mancetter 14, 15money 6, 21, 26mosaics 19, 23

Nero, Emperor 12, 16Normans 5

Paullinus, Suetonius 14, 15

Prasutagus 12provinces 8, 9, 10, 18,

20, 24, 25, 26

religion 7, 22roads 4, 20, 21, 26, 27Roman numerals 22Rome 5, 9, 10, 24roundhouses 7, 22

Scotland 17, 18slaves 6, 7, 9, 16strigil 27Sulis-Minerva 22

Tacitus 15taxes 8, 9, 16, 18, 24temples 7, 19theatres 19, 26togas 23Togidumnus 10, 11torc 13towns 10, 14, 19, 20, 22,

26, 27trade 20, 21, 22, 26traders 5, 6, 10tribes 5, 7, 10, 11, 12,

16, 17, 19, 21Trinovantes 10, 13, 16Tudors 5

Verulamium (St Albans) 11, 14, 15, 26

Victoria, Queen 5Vikings 4villas 16, 20, 22, 23, 27

Wales 14, 15, 16, 17, 18women 9

© Evans Brothers Limited 2008

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ISBN: 978 0 237 53694 7

Picture acknowledgements:Bath Museum: page 22b; Bridgeman Art Library:pages 5 (Musee de la Tapisserie, Bayeux, France,with special authorisation of the City of Bayeux,Giraudon), 6 (British Museum), 9b (MetropolitanMuseum of Art, New York), 10t (Louvre, Paris), 17t(© National Museums of Scotland), 25b (©Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford), 27(Museum of London); Camera Press: page 12;Canterbury Archaeological Trust: page 16 andcover (top right); Corbis: pages 1/8b (Charles andJosette Lenars), 4/20t (Homer Sykes), 7t (AndyButler/Eye Ubiquitous), 9t (Archivo Iconografico, S.A.), 18 and cover (Patrick Ward), 19t (Nik Wheeler),25t (Jason Hawkes); Philip Crummy: page 14t;Dorset County Museum: page 11; National Trust:page 23b; Norwich Castle Museum: page 13t; StAlbans Museum: pages 19b, 21t, 21b, 23t, 26;Topfoto: pages 7b, 13b, 14br and cover (top left),15, 17b, 22t.

Maps by Helen Nelson.

The book on which this CD-ROM is based was publishedby Evans Brothers Limited2A Portman MansionsChiltern StreetLondon W1U 6NR

© Evans Brothers Limited 2006

Produced for Evans Brothers Limited byWhite-Thomson Publishing Ltd,Bridgewater Business Centre,210 High Street,Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2NH

Project manager: Ruth Nason

Designer: Helen Nelson, Jet the Dog

Consultant: Rosie Turner-Bisset, Reader in Education andDirector of Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Education,University of Middlesex

ISBN: 978 0 237 53037 2