UnRoman Britain by Miles Russell

Author:Miles Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780752469294
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2011-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

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 109Russell 2006, 181-93; McWhirr 1981.

 110Palladius Lausiac History LXI.

6

BRITANNIA – REBEL EMPIRE

IT probably can’t be emphasised enough the extent to which Britain’s fate within the Empire was dictated by the timing of the occupation. There seems little doubt that eventually, if Rome had arrived earlier in Britain, Britain would have ended up being significantly less UnRoman, and perhaps even really Roman. However unenthusiastic about Rome the Britons were, if Rome had stayed permanently, they would presumably eventually have got used to the idea and been more completely assimilated.

By the time Rome invaded Britain in 43, northern Gaul had been under Roman rule for almost a century, and Roman Africa, plus parts of Spain and parts of southern Gaul, had already been under Roman rule for up to two centuries.

In addition, the mere date of the start of Romanisation was only the beginning of the story. The example of other provinces demonstrates that it could take a long, long time for a territory really to settle down under Roman control. There were still revolts in Gaul well into the first century AD. In 21, the revolt of Florus and Sacrovir affected almost every tribe, according to Tacitus, but particularly the Aedui, Sequani, Treveri, Andecavi and Turoni.111 While in 68 Vindex, a Roman governor in Gaul, but with an aristocratic Aquitanian background, rose against Nero. In 70, a revolt of the Batavians and Frisians under one Claudius Civilis led to a wider rebellion against Rome in Gaul, featuring the tribes of the Treveri, Lingones and Nervii. With many of the rebels thinking that the civil wars and chaos of the era after Nero’s death meant that the Roman Empire was coming to an end, the idea of creating a separate Gallic Empire (Imperium Galliarum) was even raised, but past tribal grudges prevented it and eventually ensured the collapse of the rebellion.112

In a society with significant levels of illiteracy, it may be worth taking into account the time span over which accurate, oral memories of complex historical events can survive among families. Research suggests that the period in question is up to two centuries.113 A recent real example of this is a person who told how his father told him that his grandmother told him that when she was young, a person came to her house and shouted up the stairs about the capture of Napoleon, ‘They’ve ta’en Boney’.114 Obviously, in a time when lifespans were shorter, there would have been fewer people passing on oral memories of long ago, but there were still people who lived to very old ages (one Claudia Crysis from Lincoln, for instance, is recorded as having lived to the age of 90, while in Caerleon, Julius Valens lived to the age of 100, while his wife lived to the age of 75). Moreover, in a society before television, such things would have been talked about more frequently, and their effect would also have been strengthened by longer-lasting and more formal means of conveying oral memories, such as epic oral poetry telling of the deeds of tribal heroes.

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