The Impact the Romans Made on British Isles
Examine the impact the Romans made on the British Isles
Although there had been increasing contact between the British Isles and the classical world during the Late Iron Age, the first real Roman presence here was that of Julius Caesar. In 55BC a Roman army of around ten thousand men crossed the channel and invaded Britain, yet were defeated and had to return to Gaul. Then in the following year; 54BC, Caesar came to Britain again. This time with a much larger army, although on this occasion he won the majority of battles and was victorious, he still returned to Gaul. It wasn’t until 43AD that the real invasion took place and the real ‘Romanisation’ of the British Isles began.
Romanisation is commonly seen as the coming of civilisation to the British Isles, but was this really the case? Or was it just a military imposition of a new culture, which changed Britain? Not Necessarily for the better.
My aim is to examine the impact the Romans made on the British Isles. In order to do this I am going to evaluate the different contributions they made, to decide whether their presence really had a significant impact. Would our world be different if it wasn’t for the Roman invasion? Would advances such as architecture and agriculture have been made so quickly? These are some examples of the questions I will be answering within this essay.
The British Isles consists of; England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Although by 78AD all of England and Wales was under roman control, they never fully conquered the highland areas of Scotland. Although they did try, the terrain made it far more difficult for an invading power. The Romans never even attempted to invade Ireland, the only real impact they made in Ireland was the increase of wealth due to trade. They didn’t make a significant impact on Scotland either, they only really inherited two main features from the Roman period; the use of the Latin script for its languages, and the emergence of Christianity as the
Although there had been increasing contact between the British Isles and the classical world during the Late Iron Age, the first real Roman presence here was that of Julius Caesar. In 55BC a Roman army of around ten thousand men crossed the channel and invaded Britain, yet were defeated and had to return to Gaul. Then in the following year; 54BC, Caesar came to Britain again. This time with a much larger army, although on this occasion he won the majority of battles and was victorious, he still returned to Gaul. It wasn’t until 43AD that the real invasion took place and the real ‘Romanisation’ of the British Isles began.
Romanisation is commonly seen as the coming of civilisation to the British Isles, but was this really the case? Or was it just a military imposition of a new culture, which changed Britain? Not Necessarily for the better.
My aim is to examine the impact the Romans made on the British Isles. In order to do this I am going to evaluate the different contributions they made, to decide whether their presence really had a significant impact. Would our world be different if it wasn’t for the Roman invasion? Would advances such as architecture and agriculture have been made so quickly? These are some examples of the questions I will be answering within this essay.
The British Isles consists of; England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Although by 78AD all of England and Wales was under roman control, they never fully conquered the highland areas of Scotland. Although they did try, the terrain made it far more difficult for an invading power. The Romans never even attempted to invade Ireland, the only real impact they made in Ireland was the increase of wealth due to trade. They didn’t make a significant impact on Scotland either, they only really inherited two main features from the Roman period; the use of the Latin script for its languages, and the emergence of Christianity as the
Bibliography: Martin Millett, The Romanization of Britain, Cambridge University Press, 1990 --------------------------------- [ 1 ]. . Hanson, William S. "The Roman Presence: Brief Interludes", in Edwards, Kevin J. & Ralston, Ian B.M. (Eds) (2003) Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000 BC - AD 1000. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press.