THINGS I THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW!

LESSON 3

1.TERRITORIES OUTSIDE THE EMPIRE

Not much is known about the history of Ireland and the part of
Scotland not conquered by the Romans.
Scotland:
After 90 CE the Romans withdrew from northeast and central
Scotland, but they maintained outpost forts such as Trimontium
(Newstead, close to Melrose) and continued to advance to toward
the line established by the Antonine Wall (between the Clyde and
the Forth) for twenty years. In fact, the Romans maintained outpost
forts even beyond that line.
Close contact with the Romans had an impact on the tribes that
were not part of the empire. There is evidence that some chieftains
were pro-Roman and played a similar role to the client kings of the
Roman Empire in continental Europe.
For example, excavations (at Traprain Law, believed to have
belonged to the Votadini), revealed the presence of Roman pottery
and coins in the area. Inscriptions in Latin on fragments of pottery
also suggest that the people were somewhat literate.
Roman influence was also felt in construction. It may have led to
the appearance of stone houses and villages in central Scotland in
the 2nd century.
Among the tribal federations that had appeared in Scotland by the
4th century, perhaps the best known were the Picts. Around 500
CE, the Picts lived north of the isthmus Clyde-Forth. According to
classical sources, the Picts practiced polygamy and in the 8th
century Bede implied that succession to the throne was observed
through the female line.
Ireland:
Despite Julius Agricola’s opinion that it would take only one
legion to conquer Ireland, no army ventured across the Irish Sea.
The relations between Roman Britain and Ireland were mainly
commercial. The most significant element of culture exported to
Ireland was perhaps writing. The Irish Ogham script may have
been inspired by the Latin alphabet.
As Roman control over Britain had become weaker by the 5th
century, raiders from Ireland began to settle on the west coast.
Since the Romans were no longer able to defend their territories,
kings such as Cunedda, who came from beyond Hadrian’s Wall,
settled in Wales or in Scotland.
2.LIFE IN ROMAN BRITAIN
The Roman rule of Britain, which lasted almost 400 years, had a
great impact on urban life as it introduced a new form of
government, new architecture and new beliefs. But outside urban
centres, people maintained to a great extent the way of life they
had always had.
Taxation:
The province had to pay tributum capitis (poll tax) and a tax on the
productivity of the land which was assessed periodically through
censuses. The poll tax was a source of discontent among Britons,
leading to Boudicca’s revolt. A sale tax was levied on the sale of
slaves and imports from elsewhere. Roman citizens also had to pay
a five percent tax (from 221 CE onward, free-born people became
 citizens). What enabled the tax system was the network of roads
which also allowed troops to move and citizens to receive supplies.
The growth of towns:
There were about 20 towns in Roman Britain where around
500,000 people lived (nearly 10 percent of the population). The
wealthy Romanized elite lived in villas, which were country estates
surrounded by agricultural estates. The villas testify to a luxurious
life style not seen in Britain before: tiled floors, underfloor heating,
painted walls.
Roman buildings slowly appeared in towns: public baths, temples,
theatres. There were also forums and basilicas. The Roman
preoccupation with hygiene and sanitation is attested by aqueducts
which were built to provide running water. Evidence of dentists’
and doctors’ instruments suggests that surgery was practiced. It is
also thought that the first cases of leprosy in Britain appeared
during Roman rule as they arrived with the army.
3. THE END OF EMPIRE
At the beginning of the 5 century, Britain was affected by the
weakness of the Roman Empire. Much of the British garrison was
withdrawn and Britain remained vulnerable to raids. 410 CE
marked the end of Roman rule in Britain and native British rulers
had to face the invaders alone.

APPENDIX 1
From The History of the Kings of Britain
[ T H E STORY OF B R U T U S AND DIANA'S P R O P H E C Y ]

After the Trojan War, Aeneas with his son Ascanius fled from the destruction of the city and sailed to
Italy. Although King Latinus would have received him there with honor, Turnus, the king of the Rutuli,
was envious and made war on him. In their rivalry Aeneas prevailed and, having slain Turnus, obtained
the kingdom of Italy and Latinus's daughter, Lavinia. At the end of Aeneas's days, Ascanius was elevated
to royal power and founded the city of Alba on the banks of the Tiber. He fathered a son whose name was
Silvius. The latter had a secret love affair with a niece of Lavinia's whom he married and got with child.
When his father Ascanius learned about this he ordered his wise men to find out the sex of the child that
the girl had conceived. When the wise men had made sure of the truth, they said that she would bear a son
who would be the death of his father and mother. After travelling through many lands as an exile, he
would nevertheless attain to the highest honor. Their prophecies did not turn out to be mistaken. For when
her time had come, the woman bore a boy and died in childbirth. The boy was handed over to the midwife
and named Brutus. At last, after fifteen years had gone by, the boy went hunting with his father and killed
him with a misdirected bowshot. For as the servants were driving some stags into their path, Brutus,
believing that he was aiming at them, hit his father below the breast. On account of this death, his
relatives, outraged that he should have done such a deed, drove him from Italy.* * *
[The exiled Brutus travels to Greece, where he discovers descendants of Trojan prisoners of war
living in slavery. He organizes a successful rebellion against their Greek masters and, like Aeneas
before him, leads them on a quest for a new homeland.]

Driven by favorable winds, the Trojans sailed for two days and one night until they made land on an
island called Leogetia, which was uninhabited because long ago it had been devastated by pirate raids. So
Brutus sent three hundred armed men to explore the island and see whether anything was living on it.
They found no one but they killed several kinds of wild animals that they came across in the woods and
thickets.1
They came to a deserted city where they found a temple of Diana in which a statue of the goddess
rendered oracles if someone should consult it. At last they returned to their ships, loaded down with
game, and told their comrades about the land and the city. They suggested to their chief that he go to the
temple and, after making propitiatory sacrifices, inquire of the goddess what land might afford them a
permanent home. When everyone agreed, Brutus with the soothsayer 2 Gero and twelve elders set out for
the temple, taking along everything necessary for the sacrifice. When they got there, they bound their
brows with headbands and, in preparation of the most ancient rite, they erected three hearths 3 to three
gods, namely to Jupiter, Mercury, and Diana. They poured out libations to each one in turn. Before the
altar of the goddess, Brutus himself, holding a sacrificial vessel filled with wine and the blood of a white
doe in his right hand, raised his face to her statue and broke the silence with these words:

Mighty goddess of woodlands, terror of the wild boar,

Thou who art free to traverse the ethereal heavens
And the mansions of hell, disclose my rights on this earth
And say what lands it is your wish for us to inhabit,
What dwelling-place where I shall worship you all my life,
Where I shall dedicate temples to you with virgin choirs.

After he had spoken this prayer nine times, he walked four times around the altar and poured out the wine
he was holding upon the hearth. Then he spread out the hide of the doe before the altar and lay down on
it. He tried to doze off and finally fell asleep. It was now the third hour of the night when sweetest
slumber overcomes mortals. Then it seemed to him that the goddess was standing before him and
speaking to him like this:

Brutus, where the sun sets beyond the kingdoms of Gaul

Is an isle in the ocean, closed all around by the sea.
Once on a time giants lived on that isle in the ocean,
But now it stands empty and fit to receive your people.

1
Dense grow of shrubs
2
Foreteller
3
The floor of a fireplace
 Seek it out, for it shall be your homeland forever;
It shall be a second Troy for your descendants.
There kings shall be born of your seed and to them
All nations of the round earth shall be subject.

When the vision vanished, Brutus remained in doubt whether what he had seen was only a phantom or
whether the actual voice of the goddess had foretold the homeland to which he was to travel. Finally he
called his comrades and told them point by point what had happened to him while he slept. Waves of
great joy swept over them, and they urged that they return to the ships and, while the wind blew behind
them, head with swiftest sail toward the ocean to seek out what the goddess had promised. Without delay
they rejoined their comrades and set out on the high seas.