Читать книгу Great Book of Spoon Carving Patterns - Joseph Fullman - Страница 13

The Romans’ first foray into Britain was not a great success, whatever Julius Caesar may have said at the time. Far from coming, seeing and conquering, the Romans won some quick battles, replaced one Celtic chieftain with another more friendly towards Rome, and then went away again, leaving the Celts to get on with it. The Britons wouldn’t get off nearly so lightly next time. When around a century later the bumbling, stuttering Claudius came to the Imperial throne, needing a military triumph to shore up his position, Britain, by then at the very edge of the Empire, was the obvious target for an attack.

In AD 43 around 20,000 Roman troops, under the command of future emperor, Vespasian, landed on Britain’s southeast coast on a mission of conquest. The Romans defeated the Celtic tribes wherever they met opposition, although, in contravention of their warlike reputation, they were just as happy to do a deal as to fight. Unlike the Anglo Saxons who came after them, the Romans had no desire to force the native population from their homes and take over their land. They just wanted the natives to acknowledge Rome as their master, and if that could be achieved voluntarily, all the better.

Using this pragmatic strategy, the Romans persuaded the Dumnonii tribe who then occupied much of Devon and Cornwall to join the Imperial fold. They named the region Dumnonia in the Celts’ honour, established a fortified garrison town at Exeter (known as Isca Dumnoniorum) to watch over things and then largely left the Celts to their own devices. The Romans were much more excited about exploiting the natural hot springs at Bath, building a complex of bathhouses that are today the region’s prime remains from the period (see here). Indeed it seems the Romans found little in the Southwest to warrant further expansion. West of Exeter almost no evidence of Roman occupation has been discovered.

Over the next few centuries Celtic and Roman culture would grow increasingly intertwined in Britain. Following a period of resistance, and a fair few revolts, the Celts gradually came round to the ideal of Imperial living and the benefits it offered, including protection against foreign invasions and increased trading possibilities. Around the Imperial cities, many Celts were intrigued by the Romans’ elegant, urban way of life, even going so far as to ape the manner and customs of their overlords, learning Latin (all the better to do business), wearing togas, bathing and living in Roman-style villas adorned with frescoes and mosaics. This happy hybrid culture would come to a jolting end, however, in 410 AD when Rome, under sustained assault from Germanic tribes, withdrew its legions and support from the province. Denied their Roman protectors, who had guaranteed their safety for more than three centuries, the Celts became easy targets for the various itinerant tribes then marauding the continent on the hunt for new land, including the Picts, the Jutes, the Fresians and, of course, the Angles and the Saxons.