The rise and fall of roman Britain

Argument

The reason why I have chosen this topic is because I have always been fascinated with the great influence the Romans had all over the world.

In the 9th form, when we studied the chapter “The Invadors” I was amazed at the amount of progress the Romans brought with them when they came on the territories of Britain. Even nowadays, the remains of the Hadrian’s Wall can be see all along Britain. Generations of people died, modern and imposing buildings dissappeared under the pressure of time and natural catastrophies but this remains are still to be touched, they remind us of the fact that people can leave behind something for the generations to come. The pictures with the Hadrian’s Wall made me think of the importance or the danger people and peoples can represent for this planet.

I structured my work in 7 chapters : Preroman Britain, The Roman Invasion, The Roman Period, Queen Boudicca, Hadrian’s Wall, Life In Roman Britain, Late Roman Britain, each chapter contains one or more subchapters.

The 1st chapter contains information about the Preroman Britain, about the population they found there, their lives and their civilisation, interesting details about farming, language, religion, druids and so forth.

Chapter 2 contains a short presentation of the fascinatin Roman emperor Caesar, whose character was described in many literary works such as “Caesar And Cleopatra” and “Julius Caesar”.

The 3rd chapter presents the periods of Roman reign in Britain.

The 4th chapter presents the rebelism which took place during the Roman reign and describes the interesting portrait of Queen Boudicca a heroine who became a legendary one.

The next chapter presents the Hadrian’s Wall, the reason why it was built.

The 6th chapter presents the achievements, the jewels of civilisation the Roman built there. I alloted a few pages to the Roman Aqua Sulis which remains are still to be seen at Bath. I also mentioned the good system of roads that Romans built, about the towns, ways of entertainment, houses.

The last chapter describes the Roman with drowal and the consequenses of their settling there.

Preroman Britain

1.1 Celtic Britain

(The Iron Age) 600 BC - 50 AD

(Note: The terms "England", "Scotland", and "Wales" are used purely to indicate geographic location relative to modern boundaries - at this time period, these individual countries did not exist).

1.2 Who were they?

The Iron Age is the age of the Celt in Britain. Over the 500 or so years leading up to the first Roman invasion a Celtic culture established itself throughout the British Isles.

The Celts as we know them today exist largely in the magnificence of their art and the words of the Romans who fought them. The trouble with the reports of the Romans is that they were a mix of reportage and political propaganda. It was politically expedient for the Celtic peoples to be coloured as barbarians and the Romans as a great civilizing force. And history written by the winners is always suspect.

1.3 Where did they come from?

What we do know is that the people we call Celts gradually infiltrated Britain over the course of the centuries between about 500 and 100 B.C. There was probably never an organized Celtic invasion; for one thing the Celts were so fragmented and given to fighting among themselves that the idea of a concerted invasion would have been ludicrous.

The Celts were a group of peoples loosely tied by similar language, religion, and cultural expression. They were not centrally governed, and quite as happy to fight each other as any non-Celts. They were warriors, living for the glories of battle and plunder. They were also the people who brought iron working to the British Isles.

1.4 The advent of iron.

The use of iron had amazing repercussions. First, it changed trade and fostered local independence. Trade was essential during the Bronze Age for not every area was naturally endowed with the necessary ores to make bronze. Iron, on the other hand, was relatively cheap and available almost everywhere.

1.5 Hill forts.

The time of the "Celtic conversion" of Britain saw a huge growth in the number of hill forts throughout the region. These were often small ditch and bank combinations encircling defensible hilltops. Some are small enough that they were of no practical use for more than an individual family, though over time many larger forts were built. The

curious thing is that we don't know if the hill forts were built by the native Britons to defend themselves from the oncroaching Celts, or by the Celts as they moved their way into hostile territory.