THE ROMAN PERIOD

43 AD - 410 AD

In AD43 the Romans landed in Kent for a full-scale invasion of Britain with an army of over 40,000 soldiers. Over the next 40 years the British landscape gradually became very Romanized with villas appearing all over the South West and South East. The highlands and moorlands, modern Scotland and Wales, were not easily settled. They remained the frontier areas where military garrisons were strategically placed to guard the extremities of the empire.

An aerial view of a Roman Marching Camp, Chew Green, Otterburn, Northumberland
(© Crown Copyright)

When a campaign was in hostile territory, or simply operating away from home base, the Romans constructed temporary defence enclosures, referred to as "temporary camps", for overnight protection. More camps are known in Britain than from any other province of the Roman Empire. After conquests had been achieved, control of an area was usually consolidated by a more permanent military presence, though the nature and extent varies according to the political geography of the area concerned. Close military control was usually manifested in the form of a network of forts and fortlets linked by a road system. This system of forts is found mainly on the outer regions of the Roman occupation. In the South East a more sophisticated means of control was enforced involving the use of diplomacy and the establishment of 'client' or 'friendly' kings.

In the South, Britain flourished under the rule of the Romans. Christianity gradually too over from the Celtic gods.

Cocidius, a Romano-British shrine, a local god of war, which was discovered at the Army Training Estate Otterburn, Northumberland. Only seven such shrines are known to exist in Britain, so this was a major find on MOD Land.

Towns appeared, with official buildings, temples, public squares and houses and inter-linking roads, for the growing population. The disintegration of Roman Britain began with the revolt of Magnus Maximus in A.D 383. The Romans started to withdraw at the end of the fourth century. Those who stayed behind were to become Britons, protecting their towns from the Saxon hordes. In 410 A.D the Roman Emperor Honorius wrote to the remaining Britons and said that Rome had withdrawn and it was up to them to protect their own towns.