Life in Roman Britain
Britain Before English
Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Life in Roman Britain
Chapter 6 was about armies. This one is about what the province was like to live in, from the evidence the sources describe: the roads, the towns, a set of letters on wooden tablets from a fort on the northern frontier, and the earliest traces of Christianity. It ends by asking what language people spoke, and says what I could and could not find.
The province
According to Wikipedia's Roman Britain article, Britain became the province of Britannia after the AD 43 invasion, with Londinium (London) and Camulodunum (Colchester) listed as capitals and York (Eboracum) as a provincial capital. It gives the later structure in stages:
| Date | Change (per the article) |
|---|---|
| c. 197 | The Severan reforms split Britain into Britannia Superior and Inferior |
| by 312 | A division into four provinces; the part I read does not name the emperor responsible |
| later 4th century | A fifth province, Valentia, whose location is disputed |
| by 314 | A Dux Britanniarum commands the northern frontier; a vicarius governs from Londinium under a prefect at Trier |
The article puts the population of Britain at "c. 2 million" when discussing the period of Mons Graupius (AD 84). It dates the main sources of economic life: tin from Cornwall and Devon, important from the Bronze Age, gold mines at Dolaucothi developed under Frontinus after about AD 75, improved agriculture, trade focused on the Strait of Dover with London and Richborough the main ports, and villas such as Chedworth, with new mosaics in the 4th and 5th centuries. Copper coins became very rare after 402, and coinage was likely abandoned as a medium of exchange by about 430. I read only the first 100,000 of about 289,000 characters, which stopped partway through the Trade section, so I did not reach its sections on government, demographics and religion.
Roads
Wikipedia's Roman roads in Britain article says the roads were "initially designed for military use", built by the army during about four centuries of Roman rule, and later supported trade.
| Road | Route (per the article) |
|---|---|
| Watling Street | From the Kentish ports (Dover or Richborough) through London to Wroxeter; its Anglo-Saxon name was Watlingestrate |
| Fosse Way | Exeter to Lincoln; built early and marking the effective boundary of the early province; its name may come from Latin fossa ("ditch"), probably a popular, not official, name |
| Ermine Street | About 200 miles (322 km) from London to York via Lincoln |
| Akeman Street | Two separate routes: St Albans to Cirencester, and Wimpole to Brancaster |
- Building: a raised central carriageway (the agger) in a strip bounded by shallow ditches; a typical trunk road was 5 to 8 m wide; two layers of metalling.
- The Antonine Itinerary: dating from the later 3rd century, it has 14 itineraries for the island and is a key source for place names and distances.
- Names: the original Roman names of most roads are unknown. Most carry Welsh, early Old English or later Middle English names applied after Roman rule ended, and the prefix strat- survives in places like Stretham and Stretford. This is a small piece of the evidence The Story of Old English, Chapter 1 draws on.
Letters from Vindolanda
The article on the Vindolanda tablets says they are thin wooden leaf-tablets, roughly postcard-sized, found in March 1973 at a fort in northern England. Excavators first took them for wood shavings until one was seen to have writing inside. They darkened on exposure, and infrared photography later revealed the text. The ink is carbon mixed with gum arabic and water.
- Dates: late 1st to early 2nd century AD, most written in the fort's expansion phases about 95 to 105.
- Content: official and personal letters among the garrison, their families and slaves, including a cavalry officer's polite request for more beer, and roles such as bath-house keeper and shoemaker. Tablet 291 is a birthday invitation from Claudia Severa to Sulpicia Lepidina, about AD 100, which the article calls "one of the earliest known examples of writing in Latin by a woman". Another tablet mentions "two pairs of underpants" and socks.
- Writing: Latin in Old Roman cursive. The article says the tablets testify to "a high degree of literacy in the Roman army".
- The Britons: Brittunculi, a diminutive of Britto, was used by the garrison as a patronising or derogatory term for the local Britons. The article says it is the only published Vindolanda text that explicitly refers to the native Britons.
- Uncertainty: much of the ink is faded and transcription often depends on judgement; why Vindolanda has yielded far more ink tablets than other sites is unresolved. The article says the Bloomberg tablets from London are older.
Religion and early Christianity
The Roman Britain article says the Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain, and that Paulinus attacked the Druids on Mona (Anglesey) in AD 60 to 61 (Chapter 6). Wikipedia's Christianity in Roman Britain article gives the Christian side:
| Topic | What the article says |
|---|---|
| Earliest evidence | About 200, Tertullian and Origen both wrote that Christianity had reached Britain; the article says their rhetorical aims make their accuracy questionable; Dorothy Watts suggests it arrived in the later second century |
| Alban | The only martyr whose cult clearly survived the end of Roman administration; he died at Verulamium, but the date is disputed; Germanus described visiting the shrine in 429 |
| Arles, 314 | Three British bishops attended: Eborius (York), Restitutus (London) and Adelfius (possibly Lincoln); the Roman Britain article adds that the list is corrupt and scholars disagree on the sees |
| Archaeology | The Lullingstone chi-rho fresco (a villa built about 360); the Hinton St Mary mosaic; the Water Newton silver hoard; no house churches or purpose-built churches have been found in Britain |
| Later figures | Pelagius, likely born in Britain, spent most of his life on the continent; Saint Patrick was also Romano-British, and his Confessio is the only surviving written testimony by a Romano-British Christian |
| How many? | Probably small in numbers early on; Martin Henig suggests that by the end of the 4th century "a large proportion of British society, however materially impoverished," was Christian |
The article says Christianity survived in western Britain after Roman administration collapsed and was later reintroduced as an institution by the Augustinian mission (The Story of Old English, Chapter 4 mentions the mission of 597).
What language?
The sources I read for this chapter say little. The Vindolanda tablets are in Latin and show a literate army, and Brittunculi shows the garrison distinguishing itself from the Britons. The Roman Britain excerpt did not reach its language section. For what the sources say about Brittonic, the Latin loanwords it took, and the survival of Brittonic after Roman rule, see The Story of Old English, Chapter 1, which draws on Wikipedia's Common Brittonic article. I did not find a figure for how many people spoke Latin, or how widely, and I do not give one.
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Colonia | A town of Roman citizens, often settled by veterans |
| Agger | The raised central carriageway of a Roman road |
| Metalling | The hard stone surface of a road |
| Cursive | Joined-up handwriting |
| Chi-rho | A Christian symbol made from the first two Greek letters of "Christ" |
| Martyr | A person killed for their religion |
| Villa | A large Roman country house and estate |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. How long was the paved Roman road network, and when was most of it complete?
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About 2,000 miles (3,200 km), most of the known network complete by about AD 180.
2. Name two Roman roads and say where each ran.
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For example Watling Street (Kentish ports through London to Wroxeter) and the Fosse Way (Exeter to Lincoln).
3. Why are the Roman names of most roads unknown?
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Most carry Welsh, early Old English or Middle English names applied after Roman rule ended.
4. What are the Vindolanda tablets, and what language are they in?
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Wooden leaf-tablets with ink letters, mostly from about AD 95 to 105, found in 1973; they are in Latin, in Old Roman cursive.
5. What does Brittunculi show?
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The garrison used it as a patronising or derogatory term for the local Britons; it is the only published Vindolanda text that explicitly refers to them.
6. Who attended the Council of Arles from Britain, and what does it suggest?
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Bishops Eborius (York), Restitutus (London) and Adelfius (possibly Lincoln), suggesting a regionally organised church by the early 4th century; the list is corrupt and scholars disagree on the sees.
7. What kinds of Christian evidence exist, and what is missing?
Show answer
The Lullingstone fresco, the Hinton St Mary mosaic and the Water Newton silver; no house churches or purpose-built churches have been found.
8. What does the chapter not say about language in Roman Britain, and why?
Show answer
How many people spoke Latin or Brittonic; the sources I read did not give a figure, and the Roman Britain excerpt stopped before its language section.