The Finds Of Roman Britain

An illustrated history of the best Roman sites and artefacts to be found in Britain, for anyone wanting to discover the Roman past.

In the ancient world the Roman Empire was not only a great military power but also a trading and industrial one. This was no less true in Britain where in archaeological terms Roman levels are distinguished from prehistoric and post-Roman ones by the sheer mass of finds - pottery, coins, brooches, tools and all sorts of everyday objects - made of almost every material known at the time. Excavations since the 19th century have produced a vast amount of information and artefacts from the Roman period.

Helps the student understand the numerous artefacts from Roman Britain and what they reveal about life in the province.

Part of the Penguin History of Britain series, An Imperial Possession is the first major narrative history of Roman Britain for a generation. David Mattingly draws on a wealth of new findings and knowledge to cut through the myths and misunderstandings that so commonly surround our beliefs about this period. From the rebellious chiefs and druids who led native British resistance, to the experiences of the Roman military leaders in this remote, dangerous outpost of Europe, this book explores the reality of life in occupied Britain within the context of the shifting fortunes of the Roman Empire.

Studies on finds in Roman Britain and the Western Provinces have come to greater prominence in the literature of recent years. The quality of such work has also improved, and is now theoretically informed, and based on rich data-sets. Work on finds over the last decade or two has changed our understanding of the Roman era in profound ways, and yet despite such encouraging advances and such clear worth, there has to date, been little in the way of a dedicated forum for the presentation and evaluation of current approaches to the study of material culture. The conference at which these papers were initially presented has gone some way to redressing this, and these papers bring the very latest studies on Roman finds to a wider audience. Twenty papers are here presented covering various themes.

“Lucid and engaging . . . should take pride of place on the bookshelf of specialists and non-specialists interested in Roman Britain.” —Minerva This illuminating account of Britain as a Roman province sets the Roman conquest and occupation of the island within the larger context of Romano-British society and how it functioned. The author first outlines events from the Iron Age period immediately preceding the conquest in AD 43 to the emperor Honorius’s advice to the Britons in 410 to fend for themselves. He then tackles the issues facing Britons after the absorption of their culture by an invading army, including the role of government and the military in the province, religion, commerce, technology, and daily life. For this revised edition, the text, illustrations, and bibliography have been updated to reflect the latest discoveries and research in recent years. The superb illustrations feature reconstruction drawings, dramatic aerial views of Roman remains, and images of Roman villas, mosaics, coins, pottery, and sculpture.

Although lowland Britain in 300 CE had been as Roman as any province in the empire, in the generations on either side of 400, urban life, the money economy, and the functioning state collapsed. Many of the most quotidian and fundamental elements of Roman-style material culture ceased to be manufactured. Skills related to iron and copper smelting, wooden board and plank making, stone quarrying, commercial butchery, horticulture, and tanning largely disappeared, as did the knowledge standing behind the production of wheel-thrown, kiln-fired pottery and building in stone. No other period in Britain's prehistory or history witnessed the loss of so many classes of once-common skills and objects. While the reasons for this breakdown remain unclear, it is indisputable the collapse was foundational in the making of a new world we characterize as early medieval. The standard explanation for the emergence of the new-style material culture found in lowland Britain by the last quarter of the fifth century is that foreign objects were brought in by "Anglo-Saxon" settlers. Marshalling a wealth of archaeological evidence, Robin Fleming argues instead that not only Continental immigrants, but also the people whose ancestors had long lived in Britain built this new material world together from the ashes of the old, forging an identity that their descendants would eventually come to think of as English. As with most identities, she cautions, this was one rooted in neither birth nor blood, but historically constructed, and advanced and maintained over the generations by the shared material culture and practices that developed during and after Rome's withdrawal from Britain.

For nearly four centuries Britain was a province on the outer edge of the Roman Empire and developed a distinctively Romano-British culture and way of life. Drawing on archaeological finds, ancient written sources and the latest research on surviving artefacts - from a child's shoe to a birthday invitation, from a lifelike portrait to a treasure trove - Roman Britain brings the ancient past to life. Spanning more than ten centuries and ranging the length and breadth of ancient Britain, this lively history evokes a vivid sense of life in Roman times - for both rich and poor, Romans and native Britons, city and country dwellers. A rich diversity of lifestyle and culture evolved, experienced across all strata of society. Native British traditions of trade and craftsmanship merged with the imported Roman styles and practices to create a unique cultural synthesis, the legacy of which is still visible today in British landscapes, architecture, art and society.