The Adaptation of Roman Customs: To What Extent Was Britain “Romanized”?
- achillesreel
- Sep 30
- 3 min read
Lauren
By the time of the invasion of Britain launched under Emperor Claudius in 43 AD, the Roman Empire spanned parts of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. To maintain Roman rule in these conquered territories, Rome relied both on military force, but also on the involvement and cooperation of the native ruling class.
Members of the native ruling class in Britain who desired membership as part of the Roman imperial elite did adopt a more Roman way of life. In his book Agricola, Tacitus notes the chieftains’ adoption of marks of Roman civilization - such as the toga, a sign of Roman citizenship - and their admiration for the eloquence of the Latin language. Furthermore, remains found of luxury villas with Classical style mosaics and hypocausts dated to the fourth century indicate that some wealthy Britons aimed to emulate Roman architectural styles. Adapting to a Roman lifestyle was largely a necessity of maintaining and gaining power for the local elites - many chose to learn Latin and to provide their sons with a Roman education as it allowed them to easier communicate with and influence Roman officials and to partake in trade outside of their own region.
Not only did local elites “romanize” for their own interests, there seems to have been a significant effort by the Romans to further their integration into Roman culture. Tacitus also claims his father-in-law, the governor Agricola, gave “private encouragement and public aid to the building of temples, courts of justice and dwelling-houses”. Roman-style towns served as a template for a non-urbanised province like Britain to imitate and also provided locals with the facilities essential to Roman lifestyle and culture. For example, Colchester had a theatre, bathhouses, a temple to the emperor, and a forum. Such buildings meant that locals could partake in Roman activities, such as public bathing. Moreover, the construction of the temple to the divine Claudius shows an attempt to bring the Roman imperial cult to Britain. This was particularly significant because religion and state were closely linked for the Romans, and the acceptance of the imperial cult was generally seen as an indicator of goodwill towards the Roman state - for example, in Pliny the Younger’s personal missives, he reports testing the Christians’ loyalty to Rome by demanding they offer wine and incense to a statue of the emperor.
However, whilst some local elites did adopt many aspects of Roman culture, the majority of the population remained living [HL1] as they did prior to the conquest - speaking Celtic dialects and living in rural communities in Iron Age style houses. Settlements of Roman immigrants were concentrated in the south of the province and near military installations. As a result, farther parts of the province, such as much of Caledonia (Scotland) and Northern England adapted fewer aspects of Roman culture. Furthermore, traditional Celtic tribal structure largely survived and the Romans even centred their administration around it. The Roman administrative units, civitates, corresponded to existing tribal territories to avoid inter-tribal conflict, as well as to allow tribes to retain a measure of their regional identities and governance structures.
Ultimately, the interaction between the Romans and the British Celts was more than a matter of Britons becoming Roman. “Romanization” was a process that varied greatly by social class and geographic location. The interaction of the Romans and the Britons resulted in something more akin to the development of a distinctive Romano-British culture - perhaps best illustrated by the merged deities such as Sulis Minerva who emerged from a fusion of both societies. The adaptation or lack thereof of Roman urbanisation, buildings, language, and deities all reveal the extent - and limitations - of the Romans’ cultural impact on Britain.
Mazurek, C., 2008. Agricola 21 and the Flavian Romanization of Britain. Hirundo, pp.41-46.
Forcey, C., 1997. Beyond ‘Romanization’: technologies of power in Roman Britain. Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, (1996).
Tac. Agr. 21.
Plin. Ep. 10.96.
[HL1]Continued to live? Remained living implies that they narrowly avoided death :)
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