Now it is odd how stories start.
A few days ago, I made a silly comment on social media about the Romans, only to have someone suggest that their record in Britain during their time here was nothing to shout about, going on to cite that 25% of the population was destroyed, along with Celtic culture and adding that the Britons were subjugated and made to pay huge taxes.
Well, its sometime since I did any serious research on Roman history, and slightly stung by the comments, I asked for his sources, only to be rebuffed, not once but twice in a very dismissive way.
So never wanting to appear incorrect or to shy away from a debate I went looking for the story, which of course begins with the acknowledgement that any invasion and conquest must be judged as wrong and will result in casualties and a loss of “national identity”.
But Britain wasn’t a nation, but a collection of “tribes” which had wandered across the Channel over a period of time, subjugating earlier groups.
In most cases the elites accommodated themselves to the new Roman way of life, adopting villa and town life and assuming Roman style names.
The island was open to a wider economy, bringing the produce of an Empire across the water and with it came people from every apart of that empire, with different languages, religions and cultures.
At which point there is that obvious thing to say that we still don’t know that much.
It starts with the death toll from the occupation. There is a site which attempts some rough calculations*, but it is speculative and is often based on ancient historians who for all sorts of reasons may have exaggerated the numbers killed.
Add to that there is the debate on just how far Romanization went.
Some will argue it never penetrated much beyond the elites and the metropolitan class along with the army, leaving the majority to pretty much get on with their life as before. Its theory which is supported by the decline in urban living in some places near the end of the Roman period.
But there is also plenty of evidence of just how far Roman influence extended beyond Hadrian’s Wall and how people were drawn to living beside army forts across the country.
To this can be added the degree to which when prosperity returned, there were attempts to rebuild “urban life”.
All of which makes me determined to turn to the new wave of Roman scholarship and see what conclusions are being advanced, before someone pips to the post.
And who knows, in the meantime someone might turn up a hoard of Roman artefacts in a garden here in Chorlton, which will set off a fresh debate and allow me to reengage with that chap who rubbished my comments.
Leaving me just to get in first with that oft quoted comment, "they make a desert, and they call it peace."
Location; The Roman Empire
Pictures; models of Roman soldiers, and Bath, 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Body Count of the Roman Empire, http://necrometrics.com/romestat.htm
**"they make a desert, and they call it peace", Galgacus, Caledonian chief, from Tacitus: Agricola
Well, its sometime since I did any serious research on Roman history, and slightly stung by the comments, I asked for his sources, only to be rebuffed, not once but twice in a very dismissive way.
So never wanting to appear incorrect or to shy away from a debate I went looking for the story, which of course begins with the acknowledgement that any invasion and conquest must be judged as wrong and will result in casualties and a loss of “national identity”.
In most cases the elites accommodated themselves to the new Roman way of life, adopting villa and town life and assuming Roman style names.
The island was open to a wider economy, bringing the produce of an Empire across the water and with it came people from every apart of that empire, with different languages, religions and cultures.
At which point there is that obvious thing to say that we still don’t know that much.
Add to that there is the debate on just how far Romanization went.
Some will argue it never penetrated much beyond the elites and the metropolitan class along with the army, leaving the majority to pretty much get on with their life as before. Its theory which is supported by the decline in urban living in some places near the end of the Roman period.
But there is also plenty of evidence of just how far Roman influence extended beyond Hadrian’s Wall and how people were drawn to living beside army forts across the country.
To this can be added the degree to which when prosperity returned, there were attempts to rebuild “urban life”.
All of which makes me determined to turn to the new wave of Roman scholarship and see what conclusions are being advanced, before someone pips to the post.
Leaving me just to get in first with that oft quoted comment, "they make a desert, and they call it peace."
Location; The Roman Empire
Pictures; models of Roman soldiers, and Bath, 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Body Count of the Roman Empire, http://necrometrics.com/romestat.htm
**"they make a desert, and they call it peace", Galgacus, Caledonian chief, from Tacitus: Agricola
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