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Home The Romans in Britain 55 B.C.-A.D. 410 55 B.C.-A.D. 410; Part 3 |
55 B.C.-A.D. 410; Part 3The process of "Romanizing" Britain, which Agricola began, was carried on by his successors. The condition of the people improved. Peace brought prosperity. The Roman roads which were stretched over the face of the country served to convey more than Roman legions. The chief ones deserve notice. The Watling Street ran from Dover to London, and thence to Wroxeter; the Ermine Street ran from London to Lincoln, and thence to York, with branches going to Carlisle and Newcastle; the Fosse-way went from Lincoln through Leicester, Cirencester, and Bath to Ilchester, Axminster, and Exeter; another road went from London to Silchester, whence branches went on through Winchester and Salisbury. A busy trade sprang up. To get plenty of corn, and get it cheap, was always an important object in Roman policy; it was needed for the troops in the island, for the Roman camps on the German frontier, and for the free gifts of corn made to the lazy populace at Rome. Britain was well suited to growing corn. Its fertility was a source of wonder to writers of the time; one speaks of it as "a land wealthy from its heavy crops, its rich pastures, and its veins of metals"; another assures us that on one occasion 800 vessels were sent thither to convey the corn. All agreed that it deserved the title of the "Granary of the North".Along with this active corn trade came progress in the mining of tin, lead, and copper, in the making of weapons and iron implements, and in industrial arts such as weaving, dyeing, and pottery. Towns sprang up with well-built houses. Numbers of Romans and foreigners settled in Britain. The history of the island flowed on in a fairly peaceful course. Now and again there came a raid from the north or west; now and again an emperor appeared to visit his distant province. Hadrian came in a.d. 119 and built the wall from Solway to Tyne that bears his name. Near a hundred years later (a.d. 208) Severus strove to complete the conquest of Caledonia, but died at York. Again a hundred years pass, and we find the most interesting connection between Britain and the Roman Empire in the fact that it was from Britain that Constantine, himself the son of a British mother, started on that memorable expedition which was to end in his becoming the first Christian emperor. Again another hundred years, and Rome, struggling with invaders nearer home, had to withdraw her legions from her distant colony. In 410 the Emperor Honorius told the Britons that they were no longer bound to his allegiance. Henceforth the Britons were to stand or fall alone. Yet the power to stand alone was no longer in them. They had been civilized into an orderly community, but they had not been welded into a nation. They had copied Roman habits, worn Roman dress, spoken the tongue of their conquerors, dwelt in Roman villas, bathed in Roman baths, tasted Roman luxury; but they had absorbed none of the qualities that had made Rome great. They had grown to love their goods in peace, but they had not learned that it is only the strong man armed that keepeth them so. They had leaned on the might of Rome, till they had lost all the rough vigour and love of independence that had marked Boadicea and Caractacus; and when deserted by the power that had first tamed and then protected them, they were bound to fall a prey to the fierce invaders who were pressing westwards. |
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