UNIT 2 The Roman Period and the Great Invasions

1. THE ROMAN INVASION AND THE NORTHERN FRONTIER 1.1. The Conquest of the Midlands and the North 1.2. The Two Walls 1.3. The Roads 2. THE ROMANISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES 2.1. Society, Economy and Art 2.2. Urban and Rural Centres 3. LONDINIUM: ROMAN LONDON 4. THE END OF ROMAN BRITAIN 5. THE GREAT MIGRATIONS AND INVASIONS 5.1. The Saxons, Angles and Jutes 5.2. The Vikings CHRONOLOGY SUGGESTED BIBLIOGRAPHY RECOMMENDED WEBSITES REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EVALUATION FURTHER TASKS
UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS 43

1. THE ROMAN INVASION AND THE NORTHERN FRONTIER

The Romans knew little of Britain. It was reported to be rich and that there was gold and pearl fishing. Its slaves were highly valued, and it exported tin and copper. Apart from that, it was a place of mystery, the centre of the druidic religion which the Romans had encountered in Gaul. But, more practically, it provided a refuge for Caesar's enemies. Julius Caesar was already in control of the newly won territory of Gaul and he had ambitions for a higher office. He needed a bold gesture to further his popularity with the Roman Senate and people. And he knew that the idea of Roman legions landing in the remote and fabulous island of Britain, would win him fame in Rome. So, on August 26, 55 BC, a fleet of warships appeared off the Kent coast. The invasion force set sail from Gessoriacum (Boulogne) in Gaul. The Britons had followed the Roman fleet along the shore and were waiting on the beach. For the Romans, the main problem was lack of mobility in the face of an enemy which commanded the beach and could easily regroup. The Romans had taken a calculated risk when they had set out for Britain. It was dangerously late for campaigning in the wet northern climate. Caesar had brought no winter supplies, so the loss of his ships made his plight desperate. In mid-September, Julius Caesar and his men sailed back to Gaul. He had come and seen, but not conquered. By 54 BC, he was ready with a great force, about 500 vessels laden with men, horses and equipment. This time the Roman landing was unopposed. They established a base camp and took the battle north of the Thames into Hertfordshire, the territory of Catuvellauni, and the people agreed to pay tribute to the Romans. Caesar now felt that he had achieved enough. His own ambitions lay closer to Rome. In September, he withdrew his forces once again and this time he did not return. It was the last Britain was to see of the Roman legions for nearly a century. Julius Caesar won public recognition in Rome for this major victory. For him, at least, Britain had served its purpose. Nearly a century passed before the Roman conquest was seriously undertaken. The delay suggested that treaties between Rome and British leaders such as Cunobelinus of the Catuvellauni and Verica had successfully reduced British involvement in Gaul; Rome had also established valuable trading links with parts of Britain. In 41 AD, Claudius replaced his nephew Caligula as ruler of the Roman Empire. He had to restore public confidence and, above all, he had to show the legions that made him emperor that he could act decisively. The conquest of Britain served all his political aims. By enlarging the empire, rather than

44

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

restoring order in an existing part of it, he would be entitled to a triumph. This was a sure way to please the Roman citizenry. Claudius, aged over 50, was anxious for military honour. In August 43 AD, an invasion force, consisting of four legions and auxiliaries numbering over 40,000 men, landed unopposed on the Kent coast. In command was Aulus Plautius, who was to be Britain's first military governor. His objective was Camulodunum, the modern Colchester, then the Catuvellaunian capital. By arrangement, Claudius remained in Rome waiting for the message which would bring him to Britain to complete the campaign. Plautius advanced through Kent to the Medway, where the ancient Britons first opposed him. He then had to fight his way to the Thames, where he halted and sent the arranged message to Claudius. After that, Claudius left Rome immediately and set sail for Marseilles. From there, he travelled for 13 days by carriage and litter through France to Boulogne. He brought with him two warlike novelties for the British: an elephant corps, and 12 camels. Claudius joined his army on September 5. Two days later, he led the attack on the British. The battle may have been fought on Brentwood Hill, between London and Colchester. In the ensuing rout, 4700 Britons were killed and 8000 were taken as prisoners. The Romans lost only 380 dead with 600 wounded. Colchester fell, and Caractacus, the outstanding British warrior, had to flee for his life. The Emperor Claudius spent only 16 days in Britain. He received the submission of the conquered tribes and hurried back to Rome to claim his triumph. The Senate awarded him the title of 'Britannicus' because, in the words of an inscription still in Rome, 'without any mishap, he received in unconditional surrender, eleven conquered British kings'. Plautius completed his task unhindered by the imperial court. With the Twentieth Legion in reserve at Colchester, the remaining three fanned out and occupied the land behind the frontier Claudius had laid down, a line from Lincoln to the south Devon coast. The new defences were served by the 190 mile Fosse Way, Britain's first military frontier road. There were forts manned by detachments of troops. Beyond this line, there were the wild unconquered tribesmen. But within the new frontiers, the process of ruling and civilising the islanders could now begin.

1.1. The Conquest of the Midlands and the North

The Romans had planned to delay the conquest of Northern Britain until the Midlands and Wales were dominated. The treaty with Cartimandua had been

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

45

intended to make this possible. Roman military and naval forces began to intervene in the North in the 50s and 60s, operating from bases such as Viroconium (Wroxeter) and Deva (Chester). Rome nearly lost Britain, its new imperial possession, in 60 AD. Only 17 years after the invasion, in one of the bloodiest episodes in the island's history, the subjected Britons rose against their new masters. The revolt was against Roman injustice. Corruption, unfair extortion of tax money and massive redistribution of land to Roman veterans had already angered the British. Their tragic heroine, Boudicca, was a formidable woman, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius: 'In appearance terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips.' Boudicca's husband, the Roman vassal-king Prasutagus of the Iceni, a tribe living in East Anglia, had willed his estates jointly to Boudicca and Emperor Nero. In this way he hoped to circumvent the law by which the lands of vassal kings without sons passed directly to Rome. But when he died, Roman officials not only seized his domains, but took the lands of Icenian nobles as well. Roman legionaries then sacked the royal palace, flogged Boudicca and raped her two daughters. The Iceni exploded in rebellion at the outrage, and the uprising quickly spread to other tribes in south-east England. The rebels' timing was perfect. A large part of the occupying army under the command of the governor of the province, Suetonius Paulinus, was occupied in massacring the Druids in North Wales, two week's march away from East Anglia. The first target was Colchester (Camulodunum). The governor abandoned London to its fate and the result of Boudicca's wrath on the undefended town remains as a thick layer of ashes which lies under the soil of much of the present-day City of London. Tacitus estimates that 70,000 people died in these episodes. He records: 'The barbarians would have no capturing, no selling, nor any kind of traffic usual in war. They would have nothing but killing, by sword, cross, gibbet or fire.' The two forces met in the Midlands. It was Roman discipline that won the day. The British were annihilated; 80,000 were slain. Boudicca escaped to the woods, where it is believed she poisoned herself. There was a short period of vengeance on the Iceni, but in Rome, Emperor Nero supported a policy of conciliation towards the vanquished tribesmen. Instead of continued reprisal there was pardon and reform. Boudicca had won a posthumous victory. In the aftermath of her moment of triumph, a system of justice and order was established which was to last for over three centuries. Rome's problems in the North came to a head in 69 AD. This was the 'Year of Four Emperors', an empire-wide political and military struggle between the rival successors to Nero in which the British legions were involved. The eventual victor was Vespasian, who established the Flavian dynasty that ruled from 69 to 96.

46

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Vespasian was determined to renew the intention of conquest in Britain, trying to bring the entire mainland to the Roman province. There were some substantial territorial gains under Quintus Petillius Cerialis (71-4) and Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77-83). Cerialis secured most of the territory up to Luguvalium (Carlisle) and Coriosopitum (Corbridge), establishing a legionary fortress at Eburacum (York), and then advanced into Scotland, perhaps as far north as the river Tava (Tay). In Scotland, Cerialis cultivated the Votadini, whose grain was of value to Rome. He also separated the Venicones of Fifeshire from the Caledonian hill-people by a line of forts and watchtowers now know as the Gask Ridge limes. Gnaeus Julius Agricola's governorship is well recorded, thanks to a biography written by Tacitus, his son-in-law. During Agricola's governorship, three different men held this position: Vespasian (until mid-79), Titus (until late 81) and Domitian. Vespasian favoured total conquest, while Titus was more circumspect, perhaps preoccupied with the problems on the Danube, which led to the removal of legionary troops from Britain in 80. Domitian permitted a renewal of the colonial advance, but perhaps with the limited objective of reducing the fighting power of the Caledonians in case further troop withdrawals should prove necessary. Agricola did his duty. At the battle of Mons Grapius in 83 he effectively committed genocide on the Caledonians. His campaign camps suggest that he provoked the battle by denying the Caledonians access to the coastal lowlands to their east and northeast, just as the Gask Ride forts had blocked the glens through which they could reach the lowlands to their southeast. He continued his advance to the shores of Moray, and even to modem Inverness: recent excavations have showed camps at Thomshill and Cawdor. When Agricola was recalled to Rome in 83 his tenure had already been extended to twice the norm. Agricola's departure did not coincide with a Roman decision to abandon Scotland. In fact, it is likely that the building of a new legionary fortress at Inchtuthil is attributable to his successor as governor. Such a commitment implied an intention to remain in the area for some time. By 87, the building of the new fortress had been abandoned, and one of the four British legions in Britain, Legio II Adiutrix, was in the process of transferring to the Continent, indicating that frontier problems in Europe were increasing. Britain did not take priority over these problems. Agricola's victory at Mons Graupius at least made it possible and relatively safe for Rome to halt its territorial expansion within Britain. The period of conquest was complete; the necessity of consolidation and occupation had now taken over.

1,2. The Two Walls

During the first 70 years of the Roman occupation of Britain, the wildest frontier of the Empire was ravaged by tribesmen from the north and threatened from the south by the restless Brigantes of Yorkshire. Into this turmoil, in the

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

47

year 122 AD came Emperor Hadrian. He was a man of new ideas and the greatest of these was to see that the mighty empire could expand no further. Until Hadrian, the driving force of Rome had carried its civilisation ever further forward into the untamed areas of the world. With Hadrian came an age of containment. He turned the legionaries into defenders and it was in Britain that he met the greatest test of his policy, which changed the history of the Roman Empire. He decided to build a wall to separate the barbarians from the Romans. It was an enormous task, one of the greatest ever undertaken by Roman power. This stone wall occupied the ridge to the north of the Stanegate and extended from Pons Aelii (Newcastle) to join the turf wall at Willowford. The construction took only seven years. Altogether, at least 8500 men were employed to build the wall. They worked in 'centuries', groups of 80 men, piling the stones 15 ft high. Every roman mile (1620 yds) they build a milecastle, and in between, two watch towers. 16 large forts, about 5 miles apart, were built to house the garrison. Each group worked on a 40 yd section, then moved on. The great barrier crept across the hills, taking advantage of every major slope and craggy outcrop of rock. This was a dangerous and lonely posting for the legions. The climate was cold and the work very hard. It is probable that the soldier builders had to down tools to fight off the wild raiders, who must have resented this unnatural barrier across land they had considered to be their own. Possibly it was this opposition that forced the Romans to cut the thickness of the wall from 10 ft to 8 ft, to speed up the work. The legions quarried more than 27 million cu. ft of stone, and dug a ditch 9 ft deep and 27 ft wide along the north side of the wall. But at its western end, the wall was built of turves because there was no suitable stone available. When the wall was finished, a great ditch known as the vallum was dug on the south side, perhaps because the Romans could not even be sure of the loyalty of the tribes to their rear, such as the Brigantes. By the time of Hadrian's death (138), the turf wall had been rebuilt in stone, and the fortifications stretched, mostly in turf, along the coast to Aluana (Maryport). Figure 2.1. The Roman Wall. In 138, Antoninus Pius planned to build a new wall

48

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

and to reoccupy territories up to the line from the river Clota to the Bodotria estuary. It was built throughout of turf. It was designed with forts of varying size at much shorter intervals. The Antonine Wall was the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The barrier consisted of a line of auxiliary forts and fortlets connected by a continuous rampart wall and ditch. These entrenchments ran from Borrowstounnes near Carriden in Edinburgh on the firth of Clyde. The wall ran for 39 miles, half the distance of Hadrian's defensive works further south, and passed along the central valley of Scotland formed by the river Kelvin in the west and the Bonny Water to the east. For the most part, the defences were positioned to the south of these two streams, which themselves formed a natural line of defence against attack from the north. Its main objective may have been closer policing of the northern tribes. There was a break of occupation of the Antonine Wall in the 150s. Marcus Aurelius decided in about 163 to abandon his predecessor's wall and reoccupy that of Hadrian. He was under pressure of problems elsewhere in the empire. Hadrian's fortification served its purpose for 250 years. But its success depended on the constant manning of garrisons with loyal and well-disciplined men. However, in the 4th century the forces were no longer available. Roman generals fighting for the Imperial throne drained away troops. Others were ordered away to fight Goths, Vandals and Huns battering on borders much nearer to Rome. In 407, the last effective Roman forces left Britain for the Continent. So no final, glorious battle decided the fate of the wall. It was simply abandoned to the wind, rain, wild flowers and the barbarian.

1.3. The Roads

When the Romans began the conquest of Britain in 43 AD, they found a collection of roads and paths, most connecting local fields and hamlets, but also some longer distance trade routes. However, the Roman administration needed a better network of roads to connect its new towns and army posts and to speed the flow of both trade goods and troops. In building their network of roads, the Romans mostly ignored the previous paths, partly because the Roman towns and forts were built on new sites away from the Celtic settlements. The most vital priority was the movement of troops and supplies from the Channel ports of Richborough, Dover, and Lympne to the military centres in London, Colchester, and the front-line legionary forts. The first frontier was set up along a road stretching from Exeter to Lincoln, running through Bath, Gloucester, and Leicester. This was known as the Fosse Way, the first great Roman road in Britain. The Fosse Way has been largely adapted by modern highways.

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

49

The next military push established a new frontier between Lincoln and York, Wroxeter and Chester, and Gloucester and Caerleon. After these 'frontline' roads had been established, the Romans turned their attention to expand the network of minor roads within their new possessions, to better aid the flow of trade. By 82 AD, the Romans had pushed north as far as a line between the Clyde and the Firth of Forth. During this campaign alone, the army built over 60 forts and over 1200 miles of roads. The minor roads, called 'economic roads', were also built by the Roman army to link economic centres, such as the Mendip lead mines and the Nene Potteries, with administrative capitals like Silchester, and the coastal ports. There was a third level of roads at the local level, connecting villas, temples, farms, and villages to larger roads and market towns. They were the arteries of Roman rule and the embodiment of the saying that 'All roads lead to Rome'. In fact, every Roman road in Britain was linked with the routes to London, and from there a direct route pointed to Dover where regular ferries linked Britain with the main highway to the capital city of the empire. The Roman road across Wheeldale Moor in North Yorkshire is among the finest examples of Roman road-building in Britain. The roads followed the shortest distances between military camps or towns. They often passed straight over steep ranges of hills, as they were primarily designed for marching men and horsemen rather than wheeled transport. Usually, the roads were made with a bottom layer of large stones embedded in sand and covered with rammed gravel to a thickness of about 18 in. The surface was paved with local materials, the best that could be found. Every 6 to 16 miles, there were halts where couriers carrying official dispatches from Rome could get fresh horses. The best unaltered examples of Roman roads in Britain can be found at Wheeldale Moo (North Yorkshire), Holtye (Sussex), and Blackstone edge (near Littleborough, Great Manchester). A clue to the existence of former Roman roads is the prefix 'street', as in Streatley or Streatham. At the same time, by the first century, there were already busy sea routes linking the various territories of the Roman Empire. On the coast of Britain, the Romans built harbours which were linked to the roads they had already built in the island. In Britain, as elsewhere, the mastery of communications was the secret of Roman power.

2. THE ROMANISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES

Before Britain became a province of the Roman Empire, it was split into warring tribes, but the Romans established a system of law and order which

50

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

gave the island its first taste of national unity, and opened up communications so that trade could flourish. Under Rome, Britain was to enjoy three centuries of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Although the Romans rated military glory highly, conquest was not an end in itself. If a province was to be integrated into the empire, the willing cooperation of its people had to be guaranteed through a process of Romanisation. In a few cases, existing British leaders were sufficiently highly regarded to be left in charge of their territories after the Roman conquest, temporarily, at least. This brought a degree of political rules and wealth among these tribes, which must have been acquired in part through contact with the Roman Empire. The rapid growth outside Roman forts of small towns (via) shows that the army's need of support services provided wealth-generation opportunities that the local people were willing and able to take. In the countryside, the Roman need for food led to arrangements with tribes both inside and outside the province for the supply of grain. In Britain as elsewhere, conquest created the conditions in which this transformation could be achieved. The Romans encouraged their subject nations to adopt their ways. The historian Tacitus records how the conquerors tamed the wild Britons. He reported: "In place of distaste for the Latin language they developed a passion for learning to master it. In the same way, our national dress came into favour, and the toga was everywhere to be seen. And so the Britons were gradually led on to the amenities that make vice agreeable: arcades, baths and sumptuous banquets. They spoke of such novelties as 'civilisation,' when they were only a feature of enslavement." Roman civilisation was based on racial toleration and it was also firmly based on a society of different classes. There were Roman citizens and slaves. But it was always possible for non-Italians to gain the privilege of Roman citizenship by merit, as a result of service to Rome. This civilisation, from civitas, a city, differed from societal precursors in England in being based on towns, often developed from forts, and connected by a network of impressively engineered roads. The centres of Roman influence and administration were the towns, and there, their civilisation had its main impact. These towns were ordered streets, where shops and temples and a central forum sprang up with amazing speed. With equal speed and efficiency, the Romans constructed their network of roads. By the end of the first century, a traveller could journey from Colchester to Constantinople as fast as at any time before the reign of Queen Victoria. Trade flourished under the protection of the Roman legions, not only within the island, but between Britain and the rest of Europe. Amphorae of wine and oil were shipped from the Mediterranean in bulk, ceramics and glass from Germany, France and even Egypt. Local enterprises flourished. Potteries sprang up everywhere. Their products were on sale in the market towns,

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

51

together with the work of other native craftsmen working in metal, wood or leather. If Tacitus was right in regarding this civilisation as 'enslavement', it was a form of slavery which provided a good life for many Britons. The British benefited from a range of economic and social opportunities offered by Roman occupation. This explains why, at the end of the fourth century, they competed with one another not in rediscovered tribalism, but over the most effective way of sustaining their Romanised culture. Among the strange cults the Romans brought to Britain was the primitive faith which was eventually to triumph and lead to a new civilisation. Introduced to Britain in the 3 rd century, Christianity flourished under the Romans and inspired its own art, the finest examples of which were found in the Roman villa at Lullingstone in Kent. As the barbarians advanced on their trail of pillage and destruction, the Christians fled to the hills, where their faith was fostered and kept alive. And there, in the remoter reaches of the country, Christianity grew, to become the greatest legacy of Roman civilisation.

2.1. Society, Economy and Art

When the legions came and conquered, the Romans built towns. They were to stamp the order of Rome on barbarian Britain. To the towns came lawyers and tax collectors. They bound the people of the empire into the legal and fiscal network of Rome. Roman towns were built according to a chessboard pattern. They often began as collections of soldiers' families and traders beside fortresses. Streets carved the towns into blocks, and at the centre was the forum, the town square. Along one side of the forum stood the basilica, or town hall, and the other sides were lined with shops and colonnades. In the basilica, the taxmen, administrators and the local council met, and legal disputes were settled by Roman justice. The language of the law was Latin. The luxurious way of life which was introduced to Britain at the Roman palace at Fishbourne in Sussex, spread to other splendid villas in many parts of Britain. It was a way of life far removed from the customs of the native tribesmen-peasants, an expression of the Romanised ruling classes. Most of the villas reached their peak of comfort and artistic elegance during the first half of the 4th century. About 700 villas have been discovered in Britain. Although most of these were relatively humble farm houses, a minority were clearly the luxurious mansions of successful and wealthy people.

52

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

They incorporated such comforts as very large warm baths, and reception rooms with under-floor central heating. One villa, at Bignor in Sussex, had a summer drawing-room, facing south with a fountain playing in its centre, and another equally splendid living-room with central heating for the winter. Both chambers had mosaic floors depicting scenes from Roman mythology and walls painted with imitation marble. All the larger villas were self-sufficient, with adjoining buildings for sfaves and ranges of bams for the animals. They were surrounded by well-cultivated fields or great estates. These lands were the source of most of the products which were offered for sale in the market towns. Inside, the villas were furnished with statues, armchairs of wood, bronze chests, ornamental tables and comfortable couches with cushions covered with bright, woven cloth. Every important town in Britain had its public baths, which became the community centres of Roman civilisation. Some baths, like the famous ones at Bath, were built over warm, natural springs, containing many valuable salts. The Romans recognised their health-giving properties and established the first resort town there, Aquae Sulis. In other towns, the waters and steam rooms were heated by the hypocaust, which carried hot air through ducts from a central furnace. Roman Britons went to their baths in the afternoons. They could play games or sports in the courtyards, gossip in the steam rooms, or tone up with a cold plunge and massage. Flasks of body oil and strigils, back-scrapers, were provided for their use. Separate sessions were held for men and women. There was a small admission charge, but soldiers and children were often allowed in free. Fashion played an important part in the lives of women in Roman Britain. While men conducted business in the forum, their wives frequently met at the hairdressers' salons. Chalk was used to whiten the face and arms, red ochre to colour lips and cheeks, and powdered ash for eyebrows. But the Romans also brought a deeper culture to Britain. The first schools opened in British cities soon after the invasion. By AD 300, there were probably schools flourishing in the major towns. Tutors gave lessons in elegant salons. Here, the descendents of the old tribal chiefs studied Latin, literature and art. Tacitus noted that young Britons showed 'an enthusiastic desire' for learning. In the space of a few generations, the island and its people had been transformed. These were the hallmarks of the luxurious life Rome imported to Britain. The Romans brought with them to Britain the mosaic. This is a form of art which they had made very much their own. Mosaic floors, made of fragments of hard stone, were designed to last and they have proved the most enduring of all the works of Roman Britain. Many beautiful floors have survived almost intact, while buildings of brick and stone which surrounded them have crumbled away leaving little trace.

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

53

Mosaic floors were used to decorate town houses, country villas and to pave bath-houses. In Britain, the wide range of local stones contributed to the fine colour and rich variety of the mosaics. The construction of a fine mosaic, using thousands of small fragments of carefully selected material was a long and complicated work. Only the richest people could afford this elegant luxury, and the presence of fine mosaic floors is a sure sign that a town house or villa was owned by a man of high status. Mosaics in towns became common from 150-200 onwards. Most of the mosaics in towns and villas date from the 4th century, when town life flourished and villa life was at its most luxurious. Gradually, British craftsmen learnt the art from their Roman masters. Some of their mosaics portray animals and flowers, as well as a host of the gods and godesses which the Romans introduced to Britain. They provide a fascinating glimpse of life in Roman Britain.

BREAD AND CIRCUSES Generations of Roman emperors believed that the best way to preserve the loyalty of their far-flung subjects was to provide them with 'panem et circenses', bread and circuses. Even in Britain, one of the most remote territories of the empire, there was a constant succession of popular entertainments. Most Roman cities had amphitheatres outside the walls. They were used for plays and pantomimes. In the arenas inside the cities, sporting events and real tragedies were played out. Men and animals were torn or hacked to death in gladiatorial clashes which drew cheering, bloodthirsty crowds. Many pots made in Roman Britain show gladiators fighting, and depict tales of their feats.

2.2, Urban and Rural Centres

The Romanised tribes (civitates) did not necessarily correspond precisely in territorial terms with their predecessors but they provided an important element of continuity. Within these territories, sites were chosen for towns to be the administrative centres. These were the same tribal meeting-places, though they did not usually occupy the same sites. These new cities and towns were closely integrated into the system of communications. Corinium (Cirencester), which was established on the site of an early fort, succeeded the tribal centre of Bagendom as the administrative centre of the Romanised Dobunni, and became one of the most
54 ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

thriving towns of Roman Britain. Corinium generated a greater level of commercial and social activity than nearby Glevum (Gloucester), one of a number of coloniae or settlements created for legionary veterans. Corinium" s success was an example of the commercial, industrial and agricultural opportunities available to Romanised Britons. The towns of Roman Britain were also places to work, and much industrial raw material and agricultural produce was taken into towns to be processed into saleable items. These towns were lively places full for people, noise and bustle. The ties between urban and rural life were very strong, especially since many of those people who administered the civitas made their money from industry, which was dependent on raw materials from the countryside or from agriculture. The main source of all income was agriculture. There are some documents that provide clear evidence of this such as writing tablets from Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall. Rural settlement types are different in the lowlands and in the highlands of Roman Britain. In the rich lowland areas south and east of the line from the Humber to the Severn, the villa was a major feature of the landscape. These ranged from small, rectangular cottages to large country houses, according to the resources of their owners. Most of them were built on profitable arable estates or stock-rearing farms. In the lowland areas of Yorkshire, Cheshire and South Wales circular and rectilinear huts were more frequent. In the highlands of the West Country, North Wales and the North areas, no villas at all were found, and rural settlement consisted entirely of huts owned by local people and retired soldiers. Roman Britain was divided into two broad social and economic zones. In the fertile lowlands of the south and east, a prosperous agricultural economy based on villas developed. Culturally, this area became the most Romanised area of the province; it also became the most urbanised area, though British towns remained small compared to those on the Continent. In the high country of the north and west, they were valued as much for their mineral resources as their agriculture. Both farming and settlement here showed greater continuity with Iron Age practices. In the north, the economic opportunities they offered were no less significant than those of their richer counterparts in the south and east. Some civitates in the north grew considerably under Roman rule, especially the Brigantes and the Carvetii.

3. TONDINIUM': ROMAN LONDON

The Romans established a political unity in the South, and the Tamesis (Thames) was an important commercial route for communications with other

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

55

parts of the Roman Empire. The earliest activity associated with Londinium (London) was probably military and was connected with the crossing of the river at Southwark. The earliest settlement lay north on the Thames and to the east of the Walbrook. It was located on a major east-west road (the standard via decumana) of Roman military establishments. Development along this road crossed the Walbrook and extended westwards. Originally built of timber, the town was rebuilt after Boudica's rebellion, using timber for shops and private houses, but more durable stone and tile for public buildings. In the first century, a 'palace' (praetorium) was built for the governor and there were other structures for the judicial officer (legatus iuridicus) and the procurator, some official buildings to house the governor's guards (speculatores), and an amphitheatre. There were also some bath-houses. The most impressive was at Huggin Hill, with a forum and basilica, which formed one of the largest of its kind in Western Europe. These buildings were the heart of administrative and commercial life in all major Romanised British towns. However, much of the city's space was taken up with small houses of craftsmen of different kinds, in busy streets. Londinium was a wonderful site on the Thames, and housed thriving craft and merchant communities, like other major towns in Roman Britain. In 130, a major fire caused a notable interruption in the development of the city. There was a great deal of damage and not all of it was repaired. In the second and early centuries, they built an extensive timber waterfront and a complete wall-enclosure on the town's landward side, with gatehouses at Ludgate, Newgate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate, in addition to the fort. At the same time, a decorated arch was completed at Blackfriars. Some of these works may have been promoted by a visit to Britain in 209-11 of some members of the Severan dynasty. There was also local demand for expensive products and works. An example of their wealth is facilitated by the sculptures found near the Temple of Mithras at Walbrook, which came from Italy. Londinium's relevance in the fourth century was undeniable, and is confirmed by the title of Londinium Augusta, and its role as the seat of the vicarius of the four British provinces. The building of a riverside wall and the equipping of the existing walls with bastions for artillery also suggest that the city was important enough to try to defend it. In fact, some archaeological remains indicate the evident interest of local leaders in maintaining a Romanised lifestyle in Londinium until the fifth century. The whole of Roman London occupied roughly the area of the Modern City of London, from the Fleet River in the far west to the site of the later Tower in the east.

56

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

4. THE END OF ROMAN BRITAIN

The Roman style of life in Britain did not end overnight. It withered away gradually under the pitiless onslaught of invaders and the draining of resources as the legions were withdrawn for Continental campaigns. But the barbarian invasion of 367 marked a turning point. In that year, Roman Britain faced its greatest challenge, when barbarians assailed it from north, east and west. Acting in unison, Picts poured over Hadrian's Wall, Saxons landed on the North Sea coast, and the Irish swooped down on the western seaboard. The military commander of Roman Britain was apparently taken prisoner. The Count of the Saxon Shore, charged with keeping the sea raiders at bay, was defeated and presumably killed. Plunderers swarmed unchecked. Emperor Valentinian sent a Spaniard, Count Theodosius, to deal with the situation. He landed with fresh troops in 368. The invaders, laden with loot, were no match for them. Theodosius liberated London, proclaimed amnesty for soldiers who had deserted and spent the winter pulling the army together. As a morale-booster, he set up a mint so that his legionaries would be paid regularly. In the spring, the great advance northwards began. Marauders were flushed from their lairs, legionary strong points were retaken and shore defences revitalised. Naval patrols watched the Irish. In two years, Theodosius restored peace. When he left Britain it seemed that the barbarian plot had failed, but the peace he left behind was very fragile. The decline of the empire was now a fact, and nothing could prevent its eventual fall. From 367 on, life in the British province sank towards the chaos of the Dark Ages. Forty years later, Britain ceased to be part of the Roman world. During 300 years of Roman rule, the Britons had become accustomed, at least in the south-east, to prosperity and peace. Great villas, or farming estates, worked by a great supply of peasants and slaves, produced food for the flourishing cities. But this situation was changing. The central government in Rome was now weak. Barbarian attacks were increasingly strong and more frequent. And above all, the powerful army had aspirations of its own. The men not involved in frontier duties were free to indulge in the activities of victorious troops in conquered lands, the most attractive being the acquisition of booty. In 383, and again in 406, British commanders took their troops to the Continent, to pillage and to bid for the Imperial throne. Each episode ended in disaster. A brief pause came in 396-8 when Stilicho, a Vandal-born general of brilliance, reorganised British defences. But in 401, Stilicho and his army left Britain to defend Italy, the heart of the empire itself. By 407, matters had

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

57

reached a crisis point. Three times in 25 years Britain had been depleted of its army. Confidence had never fully returned after 367. Now the morale of the country was in tatters. Villas were abandoned; their fields reverted to scrub. The country-dwellers fled to the safety of the walled cities. But trade, on which city life depended, rapidly declined with the slump in agriculture and growing hazards of travel. In 410, the Saxons raided the coasts once more. The Britons seized the opportunity to break away from Rome, establishing their own administration as best they could. Centralised government had evidently broken down completely. In the death agony of Roman Britain, the towns wrote to Emperor Honorius asking for help, only to be told that from now on they must look after their own defences. Britain was on its own. After nearly 350 years of peace and civilisation, Roman Britain had finally come to an end.

5. THE GREAT MIGRATIONS AND INVASIONS

The collapse of the Roman province of Britannia created a fragile structure that drew Germanic migrants from across the Channel and propelled native people around the British Isles. These waves of land-hungry warriors come to Britain first as raiders and then as settlers. This upheaval affected all the British territories but its consequences were felt most strongly in southern and eastern Britain, where Roman culture had been most entrenched. This period of mass migrations across the North and Irish seas initiated the creation of a new political order, social unrest and warfare. This period of conflict provides the historical context for the heroic efforts of (the probably largely legendary) King Arthur to resist the Anglo-Saxon expansion into western Britain. This long period of conflicts and ethnic tensions redefined a New Britain. It lasted from 600 to 1066. There was a new political landscape, consisting of little kingdoms, unlike the Roman provincial structure. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon social organisation was not so different, but there were great religious and linguistic differences. By the end of Roman Britain, Christianity had a significant number of believers in Britain, while the Saxons remained pagan until the seventh century. There were three cultural areas of English settlement: Britain was divided between the English speaking Anglo-Saxon east and the Celtic north and west, where the British and Pictish languages persisted, while in Ireland and in some parts of western Britain a different Celtic language, Gaelic, was spoken. These zones, while not static, can be found through early medieval place-names.

58

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

5.1. The Saxons, Angles and Jutes

With the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 5th century, a new era was opened in British history. It lasted for six centuries and ended in apparent disaster at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Yet during this time, these newcomers of West Germanic ancestry, Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians, created the pattern of villages that was to endure to modern times. The Anglo-Saxons came from areas outside the Roman Empire, from the coastline which stretches from Jutland to the mouth of the Rhine. They brought an alien way of life with them, and their settlement was not unopposed or easy. The native British, now more Celtic than Roman, were still capable of putting up stout resistance. Various ancient hill-forts became the bases of British war leaders for their campaigns against the invaders. One of these was Cadbury Castle in Somerset. This fort holds a mystery that remains unsolved. In recent years, archaeologists have been at work on the site, trying to discover whether this pre-Roman hillfort was the headquarters of Arthur, the legendary hero of British resistance to the Saxons. For a time the British managed to halt the tide of settlement and conquest. But, by the late 6th century, the Anglo-Saxons had resumed the offensive. After victory at the Battle of Dyrham in 577, they were well poised to overrun all of Britain to the borders of Wales, Devon and Cornwall. They also advanced into the lowlands of the north-west, and as far as the Firth of Forth and modern Edinburgh in the north-east. After about 600, the Saxons in Britain were organised into several small kingdoms. In the early days, Northumbria, formed by the merging of two kingdoms in the north, Deira and Bernicia, was the most powerful. The East Angles of Norfolk and Suffolk formed a somewhat isolated kingdom. In the south-east, Kent, Sussex and Essex were among the earliest kingdoms. The formation of the two most important of these early kingdoms, Mercia and Wessex, was slower and more complicated. It was not until the second quarter of the 7th century that the Mercians, led by their pagan and war-loving ruler, Penda, built up a powerful military confederation over the Midlands. Wessex was an earlier creation. But like Mercia, it was not until the 7th century that it achieved the power its founders sought. All these kingdoms were converted to Christianity in the course of the 7th century. The missionary zeal of St Augustine, who was sent by Pope Gregory the Great, brought the people of the south-east into the Church, in direct contact with Rome. Meanwhile, St Aidan, from St Columba's island monastery of Iona in Scotland, helped St Oswald of Northumbria to convert his people, following Celtic practices. Representatives of those favouring Roman and Celtic customs

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

59

met to resolve their differences at Whitby in 663-4, at the great synod called by King Oswy of Northumbria. After that, all the kingdoms turned to Rome for inspiration and guidance. In this way, unification of the kingdoms through Christianity was achieved about 300 years before political unity. For the Anglo-Saxons, the rich lands of England had been worth fighting for. Their careful agriculture brought wealth. The treasures found at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia show the wealth attained by a Saxon king. Generation by generation over the succeeding centuries, the divided kingdom of Saxon England moved towards unity. Mercia came close to achieving it under King Offa. But national unity was not to be won by English effort alone. It took a new, external threat to force unity upon England. After 800, the heathen Vikings, notably the Danes, were an ever-increasing menace. Northumbria, the Christian stronghold of the north, suffered severely. After the sacking of the monastery of Lindisfarne, the Christian torch, lit by St Oswald, came close to being extinguished. It fell to another kingdom to take up the struggle against the menace. The hour produced the man: Alfred the king of Wessex. By an all-out military effort, he and his successors were able first to contain and finally to re-conquer the lands that had fallen under Scandinavian control. The Anglo-Saxons were not totally concerned with war. They were primarily a farming people. But during the 8th century, their vigour and vitality began to manifest itself in urban life. London flourished. The Church was powerful under both Celtic and Roman churchmen. St Dunstan of Canterbury inspired the foundation of many monasteries in the 10th century, which was to have a lasting effect on religious and social life. Scholarship also flourished. Monks such as Bede produced works in Latin. But authors also wrote in Anglo-Saxon, the beginnings of the English language. The epic poem 'Beowulf, telling a great warrior' story and more than 300 lines in length, was composed in the 8th century. Learning was encouraged by kings such as Alfred, who assembled a notable group of scholars. They translated many works from Latin, and books 'most needful for men to know' were made accessible to the English in their own language. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also took shape at this time. But, despite Alfred's victories, Scandinavian influence was long-lasting, and in the late 10th and early 11th centuries afreshmove brought the Danes success. From 1016 to 1042 a Christian Danish dynasty ruled England. The Anglo-Saxons now produced their last king of the direct Saxon line, Edward the Confessor. Under Edward's rule, art flourished, carrying on a long tradition of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship. And his own contribution was the creation of Westminster Abbey, a towering monument to the Christianity the Anglo-Saxons had come to treasure.

60

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

On Edward's death in early 1066, the throne passed to his brother-in-law, Harold, Earl of Wessex, the strongest man in the kingdom. But as the AngloSaxon Chronicle recorded, he 'met little quiet in it as long as he ruled the realm'. In 1066 England was wealthy and potentially powerful. Its throne was a rich temptation to any warrior. William of Normandy played for high stakes when he landed on the Sussex shore that autumn.

5.2, The Vikings

The Viking period in Britain and Ireland started with the killing by Norwegian pirates of a royal official at the port of Portland in Wessex around 789. A 'Viking' was simply someone who went i Viking, that is, plundering. Danish and Norwegian Vikings had launched raids around the entire coastline of Britain and Ireland, as well as the channel and Atlantic coast of the Frankish empire. The Vikings' targets were monasteries placed near the coast or navigable rivers. Not only were monasteries rich, but they were also defenceless and, being pagans, they were not deterred by the spiritual sanctions that protected the Church when Christians were at war. On June 8, 793, a band of Norwegian Vikings beached their long ships on the north Shore at Holy Island and sacked the wealthy monastery of Lindisfarne, which had flourished on the island for over 150 years. They slaughtered cattle to restock their ships, murdered many of the monks, stripped the monastery of most of its treasures and sailed away with their loot and all the monks worth taking as slaves. This was the first great Viking raid on England, and horror at the wanton savagery of it swept across the Christian world. Alcuin, a Northumbrian scholar working on the Continent at the Count of Charlemagne, thought that God was punishing loose living in high places. He wrote in protest to Ethelred, king of Northumbria: "It is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this lost lovely land, and never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as prey to pagan peoples... Foxes pillage the chosen vine, the heritage of the Lord has been given to a people on its own; and where there was praise of God, are now the games of the Gentiles; the holy festivity has been turned to mourning... Behold, judgment has begun, with great terror, at the house of God, in which rests such lights of the whole of Britain. What should be expected for other places... I do not think this sin is theirs alone who dwell in the place."

UNIT 2, THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

61

The Vikings gained a rich prize, for the monastery, founded in 635 by St Aidan, a Celtic monk from lona, had become a brilliant centre of art and learning. Inspired bishops like the saintly Cuthbert led the community. Cuthbert had come from his hermitage on Fame Island to be bishop in 685-7, and was buried at Lindisfarne. The monks adorned their chapel with rich ornaments, collected fine vestments and holy relics and jewelled caskets. They built a library by copying books. The beautifully illuminated Gospel Book was written when Eadfrith was bishop (698-721). The book was bound in finely tooled leather. Later, the covers were adorned with gold, silver and gems. The sacking of Lindisfarne came without any real warning, for until then the monks had hardly heard of the Vikings. But the following year, when the raiders returned to plunder the monastery at Jarrow, 50 miles further south, the monks were ready for them. Many Vikings were killed and their leader was captured and put to death. In addition, a storm in the North Sea wrecked several of the Vikings ships. Some 40 years passed before they struck the English coast again. But when they returned, they came in strength and they came to stay. It was probably Ireland that suffered most severely during this time of Viking attacks. Ireland was divided into some half-dozen competing provincial kingdoms, whose kings exercised a loose sway over dozens of quarrelsome tributary sub-kingdoms. This decentralised power structure made any kind of coordinated defence difficult. In 836, the Vikings began to build fortified bases, called longphorts by the Irish, in which they spent the winter so as to be able to make an early start to raiding when the spring arrived. Most of these positions were occupied only briefly, but a few became permanent settlements, which in the tenth century developed into Ireland's first true towns. The most successful of these was Dublin, founded in 841, which probably owed its early growth to Viking slave-trading. In 835, heathen men, as the Chronicle calls the Danes, ravaged Sheppey. And after that, hardly a year passed without a new attack, sometimes by Vikings already settled in Ireland and the Scottish isles. Both Rochester and London were attacked with great savagery in 842, and the raiders plundered the south coast as far as Cornwall. These raids were carried out from temporary bases established along the coast. From these, the Vikings ravaged the surrounding country-side, leaving British shores when they had gathered enough booty. They seldom penetrated more than 15 miles inland. In 851, Vikings spent the winter on British soil for the first time, on the Isle of Thanet. Fourteen years later, they began campaigns that brought them within an ace of conquering all Britain. After ravaging East Anglia and all of eastern England, the 'Great Danish Army' invaded Northumbria in 867. Three years later, King Edmund of East Anglia was martyred when the Danes took his kingdom. Mercia was overrun too, and the three kingdoms were forced to make peace on Danish terms.

62

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Certainly, the monks of Lindisfarne were afraid. Though they had recovered from the sacking of 793, by 875 their fear of the Vikings was so great that they fled from the monastery never to return. They took with them their most sacred treasures the gospel-book and the bones of St Cuthbert. They carried his relics from refuge to refuge until they eventually settled and built a new church at Chester-le-Street near Durham. The Viking invasions of Britain reached their peak in 870-1. Then a great trial of strength took place - the 'year of battles', as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called it. In the thick of the fighting, Ethelred of Wessex died, and was succeeded by Alfred. But it was not until 878 that Alfred could confine the Danes to eastern England, the Danelaw. As elsewhere in Europe, the Vikings inspired their enemies to unite against them. Scandinavian attacks led the Picts of eastern Scotland and the Scots of Dalriada (Argyll) to unite under Kenneth MacAlpin (843-58). This union marked the birth of the kingdom of Scotland. But the Vikings' impact was most direct of all on England. The Danelaw, where they settled and imposed their legal customs, survived even after the Norman Conquest. And today, placenames ending in by (a village) and Thorpe (a hamlet) are a legacy of the Danish settlers. By the mid 870's, the Vikings had shown signs of settling permanently in the ravaged lands of Britain. The victorious heathens shared out land in the Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, they now 'proceeded to plough and support themselves.' The days when the Danes were just raiders by sea and marauders on land were over. And now they looked enviously towards the rich profitable lands of Wessex. On a May morning in 878, two armies met at Edington, near Westbury in Wiltshire, 15 miles south of the Danes' encampment at Chippenham that once was Alfred's fortress. Bishop Asse, in his Life of King Alfred written about 893 wrote that Alfred: "Closed his ranks, shield locked with shield, and fought fiercely against the entire heathen host in a long and stubborn stand. At last, by God's will he won his victory, slew very many and pursued the rest to their place of refuge, striking as he went... Then pitched camp boldly with all his army before the gates of the fortress held by the heathen." Guthrum and his Danes held out a fortnight. At the end of the siege, according to Asser: 'They sought peace on these terms: that the king should receive from them distinguished hostages, as many as he wished, and should not give one to them. Never before, indeed, had they made peace with anyone on such terms.' And the outcome was a decisive victory for Alfred, King of Wessex, and his west Saxons, over the heathen Danes led by their king, Guthrum. The last

UNIT 2, THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

63

great threat that the whole of England would experience under heathen control was averted. The Danes swore that they would leave Alfred's kingdom and that their king would be baptised. The Chronicle says that they kept their promise. Three weeks later, King Guthrun, with 30 of his most important warriors, came to Alfred at Aller, near Athelney, where the king stood sponsor to him at his baptism. And Guthrum himself accepted the Christian faith. Finally, in 880, the Danes moved to East Anglia, where they settled down and shared out the land in peace. Between 892 and 896, England suffered a fresh set of savage attacks, but Alfred rallied resistance, and maintained his hold over Wessex, West Mercia and London, which he had occupied since 886. On October 26, 899, he died in the faith that he had done so much to serve. He had saved England, not only for the English but for Christianity. Alfred was a great reformer. He reorganised the army and set up a whole complex of fortified towns, the burghs. He built a new type of long ship, twice as long as existing Saxon ships and much swifter. Alfred also drew up a great code of laws for his entire kingdom. Alfred's son, Edward the Elder, and his daughter, Aethelflaed of Mercia, brought the Danish lands under their control. His grand-son, Athelstan, crushed the last resistance at Brunanburg in 937. The Vikings forced the Saxons to unite. Eventually, the kingdom of Alfred's great-grandson Edgar (959-75) came to include also the Danes themselves. Political success was accompanied by legislative and administrative success. Recognition was given to the special laws and customs of the Danes, but the monarchy, supported by the Church, emerged as a unifying force. The country was divided into shires on the Wessex pattern. Great officers, 'ealdormen', were appointed to look after royal rights in every part of the kingdom. By the end of Edgar's reign, the Hundred Courts (or courts of sub-divisions of shires, known as wapentakes in Danish areas) met every four weeks. They had become vital in keeping the peace. And though local differences and distinctions remained important, the idea of a united kingdom of England was fast becoming a reality. A Danish dynasty was to succeed to his crown. Edgar's son Ethelred was defeated by the Danes under Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Canute. When Ethelred's son Edmund Ironside died in 1016, Canute was the only king and although he was a heathen, he was quickly converted to Christianity and, in 1027, made a pilgrimage to Rome. He proved a worthy successor to the best Saxon rulers. Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, helped draft the laws of Canute. This collection of laws became the basis of the English legal procedure well into Norman times. Although England was now part of a great Scandinavian empire, its interests were not neglected. Administration, encouragement of monasteries, and the coinage continued along Saxon lines. For a quarter of a century, under its Danish kings, the country was given peace.

64

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

CHRONOLOGY
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
55-54BC Julius Caesar' raids on Britain 43 Beginning of the Roman conquest of Britain 50 Foundation of London (Londinium) 60 The Iceni rebelled under Boudica 71 Foundation of York (Eburacum) 79-88 Agricola campaigns in Scotland 122-12 8 Construction of the Hadrian wall 122-133 Julius Caesar's raids on Britain 130 London'Big Fire' 142-143 Construction of the Antonine Wall 163 -164 Final abandonment of the Antonine Wall 197 Roman Britain is divided into two provinces 198-211 Temple of Mithras built at Carrawburg on Hadrian's Wall 210 Emperor Severus campaigns against the Maeatae 259-273 Britain was part of the independent Gallic empire of Postumus 286-296 Britain was independent under the usurpers Carausius and Allectus 296 Roman Britain was divided into four provinces 297 Earliest reference to the Picts 301 Diocletian's Prices Edict fixed the prices of British woollens and bear 306 Constantine proclaimed Roman Emperor at York 314 Three British bishops attended a church council at Aries 367 The 'Barbarian Conspiracy': Britain ravaged by barbarian raids 383-388 Rebellion of Magnus Maximus 400 Niall Noigiallach raided Britain 402 Last issue of Roman coinage to reach Britain 409 Britain became independent of Rome 430 Beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain 435 Starting of St. Patrick's mission in Ireland

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

65

440 Cunedda defeated Irish invaders in Wales 500 British victory at Mt Madon halted Anglo-Saxon expansion Irish Dal Riata dynasty won control of Argyll 563 St Columba founded the Monastery of Iona 577 Battle of Dyrham: Anglo-Saxons captured Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester 597 St Agustine's mission arrived in Kent 600 The Gododdin was defeated by Anglo-Saxons at Catterick 601 Agustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury 627 King Edward of Northumbria was converted to Christianity 630 First English coinage struck 635 Aidan founded the monastery of Lindisfarne 664 Synod of Whitby 680 Caedmon composed the earliest surviving English poetry 685 Battle of Nechtansmere: Northumbrian attempted to conquer the Picts is defeated 688-726 King Ine of Wessex issued the earliest known English laws 700 London, Southampton, Ipswich and York were developed as major ports The first renewal of urban life since Roman times 716-757 Mercia became the leading Anglo-Saxon kingdom 731 Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People 790 Off's Dyke was constructed to defend Merci'a Welsh frontier 793 Vikings sacked the monastery of Lindisfarne 795 First recorded Vikings raids on Scotland and Ireland 796 Nennius, Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons) 800 The Book ofKells was made, probably at Iona 841 Dublin was founding as a Viking raiding base 865 The Danish 'Great Army' arrived in England 876 Beginning of Danish Settlement in England 878 Battle of Edington: Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, defeated the danes 893 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle began 912 King Edward of Wessex began the conquest of the Danelaw 937 Battle of Brunanburh. Aethelstan defeated the Vikings and Scots

ANGLOPHONE WORLDS FROM A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

954 Erik Bloodaxe, last Viking king of York, was killed. England was firmly controlled by the Wessex dynasty 970 Flourishing of the Winchester School art style 973 King Edgar of England ceded Lothian to Scotland 991 The English paid 'Danegeld' after their defeat by Vikings at Maldon

UNIT 2. THE ROMAN PERIOD AND THE GREAT INVASIONS

67