Romano-British culture
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the
Scholars such as Christopher Snyder believe that during the 5th and 6th centuries – approximately from 410 when the Roman legions withdrew, to 597 when St Augustine of Canterbury arrived – southern Britain preserved an active sub-Roman culture[2] that survived the attacks from the Anglo-Saxons and even used a vernacular Latin when writing.[3]
Arrival of the Romans
Roman troops, mainly from nearby provinces, invaded in AD 43, in what is now part of England, during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Over the next few years the province of Britannia was formed, eventually including the whole of what later became England and Wales and parts of Scotland.[4] The Claudian army took over Colchester and eleven tribal kings of Britain also surrendered to the Roman army. By AD 47, the Romans had invaded southern Britain and claimed territory that held many natural resources. This led to an increase in imperial wealth. The Romans developed the city of Colchester through urbanisation and new clusters of public buildings.[5] The Roman army and their families and dependents amounted to 125,000 people, out of Britannia's total population of 3.6 million at the end of the fourth century.[6] There were also many migrants of other professions, such as sculptors (Barates) from Roman Syria and doctors from the Eastern Mediterranean region.[7] Romano-British cultures and religions continued to diversify; while the populace remained mainly Celtic, there was an increase in Romanisation.[8]
The bulk of the population was rural and engaged in agriculture; from a total population of 3.6 million at the end of the fourth century, the urban population was about 240,000 people,[6] with the capital city of Londinium having about 60,000 people.[9][10] Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, and immigrants from continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[11] 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,[12] Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, and continental Europe.[7]
Christianity came to Britain in the 3rd century. One early figure was
Roman citizenship
One aspect of Roman influence seen in British life was the grant of
The other inhabitants of Britain, who did not enjoy citizenship, the
Roman departure from Britain
Eventually
After the Roman departure from Britain, the Romano-British were advised by Honorius to "look to their own defences". A written plea with General
Post-Roman period
In the early stages the lowlands and cities may have had some organisation or "council" and the Bishop of London appears to have played a key role, but they were divided politically as former soldiers, mercenaries, nobles, officials and farmers declared themselves kings, fighting amongst each other and leaving Britain open to invasion.[8] Two factions may have emerged: a pro-Roman faction and an independence faction.[citation needed] The one leader at this time known by name is Vortigern, which may have been a title meaning "High King".[19][20] The depredations of the Picts from the north and Scotti (Scots) from Ireland forced the Britons to seek help from pagan Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who then decided to settle in Britain. Some of the Romano-British people migrated to Brittany, the Kingdom of the Suebi and possibly Ireland.[5]
The Anglo-Saxons obtained control of eastern England in the 5th century. In the mid-6th century, they started expanding into the
Some Anglo-Saxon histories (in context) refer to the Romano-British people by the blanket term "Welsh".
The struggles of this period have given rise to the legends of Uther Pendragon and King Arthur. There are many theories, but it is sometimes said that Ambrosius Aurelianus, a resistance leader of the Romano-British forces, was the model for the former, and that Arthur's court of Camelot is an idealised Welsh and Cornish memory of pre-Saxon Romano-British civilisation.[5]
See also
- British Latin
- British Italians
- Daco-Roman
- Gallo-Roman culture
- Illyro-Roman
- Roman sites in the United Kingdom
- Romano-British temple
- Thraco-Roman
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-203-62292-6.
- doi:10.11141/ia.3.2.
- ISBN 978-3-11-084703-1
- ISBN 0-14-051054-0
- ^ )
- ^ Hachette UK
- ^ a b David Shotter (2012), Roman Britain, page 37, Routledge
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-285404-9
- ISBN 978-1-4516-4760-0.
- ISBN 978-0-5216-3278-2.
- ^ DNA study finds London was ethnically diverse from start, BBC, 23 November 2015
- ^ Ray Laurence (2012), Roman Archaeology for Historians, page 121, Routledge
- OCLC 962302267.
- ^ Roman Citizenship. Romanempire.net.
- ^ ISSN 0031-2746.
- ^ S2CID 161707917.
- )
- ^ ISSN 1937-5239.
- ISBN 978-0-7524-9370-1. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Anscombe, Alfred (1913). "Dr. Haverfiels and the Saxon Advent in Britain". The Celtic Review. 8: 252. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Balderdash and flummery. World Wide Words (23 November 1996).
- ^ h2g2 – Maps of Cornwall (Kernow) showing a Celtic or Distinct Identity. Bbc.co.uk.
Bibliography
- Jones, Michael (1996) The End of Roman Britain. Ithaca: Cornell University Press
- Myres, John (1960) Pelagius and the End of Roman Rule in Britain. In: Journal of Roman Studies, 50, 21–36.
- Pryor, Francis (2004) Britain AD: a Quest for Arthur, England and the Anglo-Saxons. London: HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-718186-8
- Radford, C. A. Ralegh (1939) Tintagel Castle. London: H.M.S.O. (Reprinted by English Heritage 1985)
- Thomas, Charles (1993) Tintagel: Arthur and Archaeology. London: English Heritage