Every British town would have had public baths. The baths were a Roman institution, and most town folk would have attended daily before their evening meal. They were open to both men and women, though at different times of day, they would have also served as a combination health club, healing spa, and meeting place. The order that people went through the baths seems to have been up to the individual, though they were generally arranged in the order of exercise area, disrobing area and also cold, warm, and hot rooms. Some baths further divided up the hot rooms into steam and dry heat areas. Along with the baths the romans brought across from Rome, theatres and amphitheaters too. The theatre was, an open air tiered clam-shell, would have offered fare from classical plays, pantomime, and religious festivals.
The amphitheatre was an open air oval. In general it would have appealed to a less discriminating taste, offering gladiatorial combats, contests between men and animals, and public executions. The number of theatres and amphitheatres in Briton is small, so these particular entertainments may not have been so popular. These building would have been grand in size and something the native folk wouldn’t have come across before with their lavish and ornate designs. The Roman Buildings added an element of class to the ordinary native lives, offering the new forms of entertainment not seen on the Isles before.
Another building the Romans constructed in Briton was their villas. Aside from the towns, the other sign of Romanised civilization was the growth of villas. In Latin the word villa means simply, "farm", so technically villas were any form of rural agricultural dwelling built in a Roman style. In practice, though, when we speak of villas we mean the country estates of the Romanised British elite. Even though at first the conquered tribal aristocracy may have been drawn into towns, it wasn't long before they began a "back to the land" movement.
Most large villas where built quite close to major urban centres, generally within ten miles, so the owners were never very far from the centre of affairs. Villas were more than fancy houses, though they were centres of rural industry and agriculture. One Villa alone could hold the landowner and his family, overseers, labourers, storehouses, and industrial buildings. Although some may have been strictly the centre of large farms, others included industry in the form of pottery and metalworking. Individual houses were as different then as they are now, but the villas followed some general patterns. They were half-timber frame houses on stone foundations, one story in height, capped with slate or clay tiled roofs. Under floor heating systems were universal, though in one intriguing case the system was never fired up. Tile floors were common, and many larger villas contained at least one room with a mosaic floor. Walls may have been decorated with mosaics or painted scenes. Furniture was made of wood, in patterns similar to Roman style throughout the Empire. Many villas also had separate bath houses. ‘The villas built during the Roman occupation of Briton were the first grand country house to be built in the British Isles, and some were very grand indeed, complete with all the luxuries that Roman life could offer, such as mosaic floors, under-floor heating, and bath suites.’ (Aylett, P44, 2003). Aylett agree here that the Villas constructed where very ‘grand’ and where the first of its kind in the British Isles. In his book Salway also agrees with Aylett by saying ‘This was replaced in the 60’s by the first stone villa, which was of an unusually high standard for that period in Briton.’ (Salway, p113, 1993). Aylett then also goes on to say:
‘Villa owners would have been at the higher end of Roman-British society, and while some were newcomers from the Continent, most were Britons who prospered under the stability and relative peace that Roman rule provided. We know virtually nothing about these people as individuals, but some would have been involved in local government or in business and would have seen a country estate as an investment. The main purpose of the villa estates would have been to generate more wealth for their owners, but many also served as recreational retreats from the hustle and bustle of life in the towns. Within this relaxed, informal environment, their upper-class owners could enjoy art and literature. Wall-paintings and mosaics often portrayed mythological characters and creatures or took their themes from nature.’ (Aylett, P44, 2003)
Aylett says here that he believes the Britons benefited greatly from the Roman rule. He uses the word ‘prospered’ which suggests greatly that Briton began to flourish and develop under the influence of the Romans and their cultured way of life.
Therefore when looking at how the Roman period affected the ‘natives’, it is clear that their encouragement on the developing of British towns and cities was an important factor. The Roman’s not only encouraged the cities and towns to develop and grow but they’re incorporation of the Roman way of life, i.e. the bath houses, theatres, villas etc., also allowed the Britons cities and towns to prosper and take on a whole new ideology and lifestyle. The Roman buildings were certainly nothing the British Isles had ever seen before.
Another factor to consider when looking at how the Roman rule affected the ‘natives’, was the economy at the time. There is no doubt the romans regarded Britain as a valuable producer. Even before the conquest, according to the Greek geographer , Britain exported gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves, and hounds in addition to grain. Iron was worked in many places but only for local needs; silver, obtained from lead, was of more significance. But the basis of the economy was agriculture, and the conquest greatly stimulated production because of the requirements of the army. According to Tacitus, grain to feed the troops was levied as a tax; correspondingly more had to be grown before a profit could be made. A profit could, nonetheless, be won from the land because of the increasing demand from the towns. At the same time the development of a system of large estates (villas) relieved the ancient Celtic farming system of the necessity of shouldering the whole burden. Small peasant farmers tended to till the lighter, less-productive, more easily worked soils. At least by the 3rd century some landowners were finding great profit in wool; Diocletian’s price edict (ad 301) shows that at least two British cloth products had won an empire-wide reputation. in imported luxury goods ranging from wine to tableware and bronze trinkets vastly increased as traders swarmed in behind the army to exploit new markets. The profits of developing industries went similarly at first to foreign capitalists. Much of the exceptional prosperity of 4th-century Britain must have been due to its success in retaining available profits at home.
Religion was also an important aspect the Roman rule brought upon the ‘natives.’ A great variety of religious cults were to be found. In addition to numerous Celtic deities of local or wider significance, the gods of the classical pantheon were introduced and were often identified with their Celtic counterparts. In official circles the worship of the state gods of Rome and of the imperial cult was duly observed. In addition merchants and soldiers introduced oriental cults, among them Christianity. The latter, however, made little headway until the late 4th century, though the frescoes at Lullingstone in Kent and the mosaics at Hinton St. Mary in Dorset attest its presence among villa owners. Although classical temples are sometimes found in towns, the normal temple was of the Romano-Celtic type consisting of a small square shrine and surrounding portico; temples of this type are found in town and country alike.
Romanization was strongest in the towns and among the , as would be expected; there is evidence that in the countryside Celtic continued to be spoken, though it was not written. Many people were bilingual: graffiti prove that even artisans wrote Latin. Evidence of the of the villa owners is provided by their , which prove an acquaintance with classical mythology and even with the Aeneid of Virgil. Sculpture and were both novelties in Roman Britain. Statues or busts in bronze or marble were imported from Gaulish or Mediterranean workshops, but British sculptors soon learned their trade and at their best produced attractive works in a provincial idiom, often for votive purposes. Many cruder works were also executed whose interest lies in the proof they afford that the conventions of the classical world had penetrated even to the lower classes. Mosaic floors, found in towns and villas, were at first, as at Fishbourne, laid by imported craftsmen. But there is evidence that by the middle of the 2nd century a local firm was at work at and Verulamium, and in the 4th century a number of local mosaic workshops can be recognized by their styles. One of the most skilled of these was based in Cirencester. Roman civilization thus took root in Britain; its growth was more obvious in urban circles than among the peasants and weakest in the resistant highland zone. It was a provincial version of Roman culture, but one with recognizably British traits. Yet it was also Roman tradition to venerate the gods of the conquered, as at Bath, where the invaders worshipped British Sul at her “miraculous” hot spring.
The Roman Rule had a big impact on the lives of the native Britons. The Romans as organised as they were claimed to be, brought across their organised and more heightened style of life. Not only did they encourage growth and development in the town and cities they also developed the style and lives of the Britons. They incorporated new buildings including villas, bathhouses, theatres and amphitheatres. The Romans also took advantage of the vast amount of raw material and agricultural goods that the British Isles were acclaimed for. They also adopted British religion, taking in many of the Celtic gods and also trying to incorporate their gods too. Although the Romans never really tried to enforce their way of life on the Britons, they subtly tried to infuse their way of life into the British lifestyle. The economy and religion aspects of the Roman Empire were great benefits to the British Isles, allowing the Britons to prosper and flourish under the Roman Banner. The fact that there was little resistance proves that the Britons where accepting off their Roman Leaders.
Bibliography
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Salway. P (1993) The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain. BCA, Oxford University Press.
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Bedoyere. G (2010) Roman Britain. A New History. Thames & Hudson
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Alcock. P (2006) Life in Roman Britain. The History Press Ltd
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Jones. L (2008) Daily Life in Roman Britain. Greenwood World Publishing.
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Henig. H (1995) Religion in Roman Britain. Routeledge
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Aylett. J (2003) The Villas. British Heritage; Sep2003, Vol. 24 Issue 5, p44-51
