The impact of Rome on the British Isles

• AD 43: Invasion of Claudius (unlike Julius Caesar’s 55 and 54 BC): intended to stay permanently
• Before the invasion: direct contact had already existed: “informal imperialism”
Overall effect of Roman conquest upon the British Isles:
• Total destruction of the Celtic societies in the south: most Romanised section of Britain
• Debates in historiography: claims of “modernisation, peace, superior eco/culture” reflects the
viewpoint of the colonisers!
• Roman invasion clearly imposed one culture upon another
• Roman rule in urban centres linked together by a centralised road system
Roman army:
• Key to bring about the radical changes
• Unexpected: prolonged nature of military occupation Formed a part of wider colonial society
• Aim: to exploit local resources and raw materials  centralised colonial economy
• Needed constant supplies + silver mines + stones (roads) + labour force (slavery)
• Changes in social hierarchy: army atop a large unfree labour force
• Bureaucracy to collect taxes
• Part of the wider imperial organisation: army, bureaucracy, towns and most rural villas
(agricultural centres) placed upon the conquered Celtic-speaking population
Highland Zone:
• N-ENG: Celtic institutions survived
• Wales: considerable Romanisation
• Ireland: not isolated; raids and also peaceful contact
• Most important Romanising influence: Christianity (St Patrick’s arrival in Ireland) opened it to
the Latin language
• 4th c AD: Christianity had become the established religion of the Roman empire  reflected in
the changes of organisation Christian missionaries to Ireland were thus agents of Rome!
• Religion of the Celts (oral culture of the druids) vs Christianity (Latin literacy) – BUT! Many
traditional aspects of Irish life survived
• Christian Church: monarchical structure, aimed at uniformity
• Contrast between cultural areas (c. AD 400):
• (1) The south of England: heavily Romanised with a centralised administration but the
population still spoke British Celtic
• (2) Scottish-Welsh-Irish areas: laws based upon the dominance of local kinship groups prevailed,
similarly to the patronage of local aristocratic elites – changes due to the influence of Christian
missions  Latin became the sacred language for many but still retained the vitality of local oral
cultures
• How successful was the Roman conquest of the British Isles? Key: military conquest vs coming
of Christianity

What was the overall effect of this upon the British Isles? The North Sea Province underwent a social
and cultural revolution. South of a line between Lincoln and Lyme Bay, the various Celtic kingdoms lost
their independence and were incorporated within an imperial administrative framework. British Celtic
language, religion, law and social institutions totally lost their elite status and henceforth were to bear
the stigmas of the conquered. The southern Lowlands forming a military province were the most
Romanised section of Britain. North and west, a military zone existed over which the policy of Rome was
to exercise military control rather than to administer as a civil province.

The Romans, another scholar tells us, aimed to unite Britain with an economy and a culture superior to
anything previously known there. For the first time the whole country was united under one
government, made possible by a splendid road system. The Roman Conquest is seen as creating a new
situation tending to peace and order which greatly stimulated rural development.

The thrust towards ‘modernisation’ was greatly accelerated, however, after the Claudian invasion of ad
43. By the end of the first century ad the tribal monarchies of southern Britain had given way to one in
which power rested with a literate bureaucracy, ruling according to the standards of a cosmopolitan
empire, from urban centres which were linked by a centralised road system. The key instrument in
bringing about the radical changes which transformed much of Britain was the Roman army. The role
played by the army in the initial phases of the occupation was inevitable. What was unexpected was the
prolonged nature of the military occupation.

A centralised colonial economy replaced the various local economies of tribal society.

According to Kearney, the Roman Conquest was relatively successful. They, the Romans, managed to
impose their culture upon the inhabitants of the Isles and unite the whole territory as a centralized
colonial economy due to the road system they had built. They also successfully implemented a long-
lasting military occupation. The most successful part of their conquest, however, must be their
implementation of Christianity and the Latin language into the culture of the British Isles. Even so, their
conquest wasn’t complete, especially in the Highland Zone. Celtic institutions survived even after the
conquest has ended and to this day the ancient languages of these tribes can be found in the collective
consciousness of these people.