Romans+in+Britain



=Introduction= From the moment the Romans set foot in Britain, the political climate in Britain was sour. While the Romans had a firm hold on Britain, it was not without effort (and wars). There was a great deal of political turbulence as Emperors, generals, chieftains, and barbarians vied for power and greater realms. This frequent fighting, coupled with trouble elsewhere in the Empire, eventually led the Romans to abandon their frontier. In doing so, the Romans left behind a developed infrastructure which became the prized object of foreign and neighboring eyes. Kingdoms and other cities dotted the landscape and foreign enemies surfaced. Naturally, tales and legends arose from the Roman's fight to maintain power and Britain's defense against the Saxons in the Roman's absence. It it theorized that the story of King Arthur, and to some extent,Mordred, are grounded in these historical events. There are also other parallels between history and the story of King Arthur and the Round Table. In other words, the Roman's role in British history contributed to the creation of Arthurian legend.

=Caesar's Landings= Julius Caesar gained much of his fame and reputation through his military campaigns in Gaul, of which he was the governor. One of the tribes that Caesar conquered was the Veneti tribe, which was inhabited Brittany. In 57 BC, Caesar wanted the Gauls, including the Veneti tribe, to submit to Rome. The Veneti refused, and captured several Roman officers, provoking a war with the Romans. In 56 BC, Caesar conquered the Veneti, whose forts were situated on small islands, using a navy. He suspected the tribes in Britain gave aid to the Veneti, and used his newly built navy to hop across the channel.

//" The Veneti have a very great number of ships, with which they have been accustomed to sail to ** Britain **...They unite to themselves as allies for that war, the Osismii, the Lexovii, the Nannetes, the Ambiliati, the Morini, the Diablintes, and the Menapii; and send for auxiliaries from **Britain**, which is situated over against those regions.////"// //- Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book III//

In 55 BC, Caesar made his first attempt to invade Britain, in order to defeat Cassivellaunus, the apparent leader of the British tribes. The Romans landed on the beaches of Kent, but did not go inland except to retrieve their hostages. Once their officials were secured, the Romans left England (the weather was also though to be quite drab, perhaps another reason for their leaving). The Romans were not gone for long, however, as they launched a second invasion in 54 BC. This time, Caesar's goal was to subdue Cassivellanus and his allied tribes once and for all. With a much larger force, Caesar pushed inland and gave a powerful blow to Cassivellanus, and then set up client kings, most notably, Commius. These client kings and client states may have been the original idea behind the Round Table.

== =Conquest of Britain & Settlement= In 43 BC, Emperor Claudius ordered his general, Aulus Plautius to take Britain for Rome. The general invaded, captured Cassivellanus' seat of power in modern day Colchester, and became the the first governor of Britain. Since the the setup of the Roman province, several tribes were a nuisance. They continued to revolt against the Romans through years to come, but, despite all this, the Romans started to populate the province.

A major attraction for the Romans was the abundance of Iron ore and lead in Britain. Why? Silver was often found within iron mines, and this silver was used to mint Roman coins. Irons was also used to create weapons for the Roman military, which was is demand due to the expansion of the Roman empire. Lead suited another purpose. The Romans used lead to construct their aqueducts and other water delivery mechanisms, as well as to create utensils and tools. Gold was another precious metal that was found in some areas of Wales (although not in great quantities - in fact, for most of its history Britain did not make a large contribution to the Empire's economy). Merchants were attracted to the potential prosperity that Britain could bring to them, and traveled up to their new province. Consequently, many towns and cities were founded in Britain, along with an extensive road network. The wealth and power Britain brought to Romans living in the area can be seen by the mosaic floors in some of the Roman ruins. Since these mosaics would have cost a respectable sum, we can infer that trade within province created wealthy and perhaps influential people.

Certainly, such a stark difference between the Roman's landscape and the barbarian's landscape would highlight why the Picts, the Scots, or the Saxons would have liekt o attack. They would not only regain territory that may have been theirs at one point in time, but they would also gain a significant quantity of wealth through raids.

= = =Hadrian's Wall, Antonine's Wall, Military Power= The Picts emerged as an obvious threat to the Roman province. The Picts were the indigenous inhabitants of northern Britain, in the area that is now Scotland. The Picts were never subdued or conquered by the Romans in their initial conquest and they remained defiant. In 105 AD, the Picts launched attacks upon Roman fortresses in Northern Britain. The Roman military was lacking in strengthen at the time due to wars elsewhere in the empire. In 117 AD, the Picts attacked again. In 122AD, Emperor Hadrian ordered that a wall be built across England in order to prevent his Empire from further attacks. That wall would act as suggested boundary for the Roman province; Romans could still live outside the wall, but the wall would remain the main line of defense. Many towns and villages formed along the way, especially as soldiers constructed it, because they could be easily protected from the northern neighbors. The wall also further isolate the picts and the scots front Romans, perhaps presenting a challenge that the northern tribes would rise to the occasion for.

While Hadrian's wall did what it was supposed to do, Emperor Antonine wanted to expand Britain into the North. So, in 138 AD, he built his own wall about 100 miles north of Hadrian. His wish to conquer the northern tribes once and for all was not fulfilled. So, the Romans eventually decided to abandon Antonine's Wall and they fell back to Hadrian's Wall.

From 122 AD to about the middle of the third century, the Romans built and maintained military fortifications, increased their garrison size, and successfully fended off invasions from the north. That's not say that there attempts by outside tribes to ransack the province. Not only did this military expansion show Roman interest in the province, this signaled the stable control the Emperor had over Britain.

Starting in the mid third century, Roman Britain was continuously threatened by foreign forces. The most significant event was when power was usurped by Emperor Postumus and Britain became apart of the Gallic Empire from 259 AD to 274 AD. From the founding of this empire to the subsequent 30 years or so, corrupt Roman military officials incited revolts and tried to usurp power. It was not until 293 AD when Empreror Diocletion made his Tetrarchy reforms and put Constantius into control over Britain and Gaul. He restored order in Britain and he and his descentdents focused on fighting off the Saxons. In the late fourth century, another military official named Magnus Maxiumus seized power over britain, and was able to deal significant blows to the Picts and Scots, making him popular within the province. Yet, he still took his power through betrayal.

Since the years of military corruption, outside powers tried to lay claim to Britain. Internally, officers mutinied and betrayed each other in order to take control of the province. These themes are also seen in Thomas Malory's //Le Morte d'Arthur//, where Emperor Lucius and King Arthur fought over land rights, and Mordred betrayed his own father to take over Britain.

=Withdrawal & Aftermath= The early 5th century did not bode well for the Romans. From all sides, their empire was under attack. In 410 AD, the Britons asked Emperor Honorius to help protect Britain from outside invasion. The Emperor did not send any legions to the province. Rather, what Roman soldiers remained in the region were redeployed elsewhere in the Empire to fight off the numerous enemies. In the wake of the Roman's withdrawal, powerful merchants, warriors, and other leaders filled in positions of power to create their own kingdoms. The generals who decoded to remain in Britain tried to exert their power, such as the usurper Constantine III (he eventually proclaimed himself emperor). The political structure in Britain collapsed, and there several internal conflict (e.g. civil wars), as affluent individuals sought to be the king. From outside, the Picts and the Saxons also looked forward to having some hold in lower Britain. The Saxons were made up of Germanic tribes that sought booty from Britain by plundering forts and pillaging villages. They were ruled by an oligarchy of elders, and each elder held equal power.

According to legend, a man named Vortigern called together a council of his fellow countryman to discuss how to repel attacks made in the North Picts and the Scots. Vortigern invited the Saxons into Suffolk and Essex counties as mercenaries to fight the northern invaders. Once in Britain though, the Saxons rebelled against Vortigern and raided southern England. From the North, the Picts and Scots continued to be a looming threat (the Picts successfully invaded in 685 AD), especially since Roman fortifications were no longer maintained. The light was dim for Britain. Out of this desperate situation, the legend of King Arthur was born.

=Connections to King Arthur=

Arthur & Mordred
In Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae", Arthur's roots begins with the Sub-Roman period. Arthur's uncle was the great Ambrosious Aurelianus, who defended the Britons, more specifically the Celts, from the Picts and the Scots with Merlin's help. Arthur himself was credited with repelling the Saxons and and defeating them, so they were no longer a nuisance. When it seemed as if all of Britain would have been swallowed by outside powers, Arthur was able to defend his national, and destroy the enemy. Geoffrey thus portrays Arthur, and his family in a heroic sense, as they defended their people from enemies the Romans themselves failed to protect themselves. They became royalty, a family that the Britons could trust and respect, far more than they did the Romans. Geoffrey somewhat established an historical basis for King Arthur, and placed him within the right historical context, making his legend a bit more believable. Ambrosious Aurelianus did exist, and fought at the battle of Battle of Mons Badonicus. Whether he was Arthur's true uncle, or even Arthur himself, is historically unknown.

Thomas Malory's //Le Morte d'Arthur// appears to have historical basis as well. When King Arthur arrived in Brittany, he is informed about a giant occupying the area. It is plausible the the Saxons had taken over Brittany, as they were nearby. Many inhabitants of Britain knew the Saxons as raiders for most of their history, and may have been told tales of how terrifying they were. After all, the Saxons attacked Britain from within. Other aspects that have some historical basis is the fight between Lucius and Arthur over who should control the land around Rome. If Ambosious Aurelianus was related to Arthur in some way, Arthur would indeed have been related to Constantine. The manner the argument was made also brought to mind the various attempts by individuals to usurp power in Britain. Both individuals feel entitled to the throne, and fight each other for it.

There are several periods of time in Roman Britain's history that may have been a model for the Round table. In the days of Caesar Invasions, the tribes settled in Britain were accustomed to forming alliances, in which they had a clear leader over tribes that had equal power. When the Romans abandoned Britain, many kings appeared as each large city desired to have its own domain. We then see these separate kingdoms come together to fight off foreign invaders. Even the Saxons, with their oligarchy of elders, could have been influential in the design of the Round Table.

The Roman's occupation of Britain set the stage for the King Arthur legend to arise, and granted it historical basis and perhaps influenced the outcome of the story. In essence, the Roman withdrawal allowed for such a leader to exist.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1066712/Uncovered-lost-beach-Romans-got-toehold-Britain.html http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.3.3.html http://venipedia.org/index.php?title=Veneti_of_Brittany http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/travel-trade/themes-ideas/roman-england/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/questions_01.shtml
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