IN ROMAN TIMES
1. Here, then, at the time the Romans first came to Britain were tribes
of Britons who had been established in the country for centuries,
living their lives according to the customs of their forefathers, and
more or less cultivating the land. The Romans invaded the country,
and, in time, subdued the people. They remained masters here for nearly
four hundred years, but they did not make such a permanent impression
on this country as they did in some countries which they conquered--as
on France and Spain, for instance.
2. We are to-day masters of India; but we have not made India English,
nor are we trying to do so. The natives there go on cultivating the
land according to their custom from time out of mind. They preserve
their own manners, customs, and religions. In places where they come
much in contact with our fellow-countrymen, they are influenced to a
certain degree; but in India to-day the English and the natives lead
their own lives, each race quite apart from the others.
3. So it was with the Romans in Britain. They formed colonies in
various places and built towns all over the land; they had country
villas dotted here and there, some little distance from the chief
towns, and built strong military stations in suitable districts.
These posts were kept in communication by means of good roads. Many
Britons must in the course of time have adopted Roman ways and Roman
civilization; but the bulk of the Britons, living away from the Roman
centres, kept to their own customs, and cultivated the ground in the
way their ancestors had done. They prospered, on the whole, as the
Romans kept the various tribes from fighting with one another.
4. No doubt, in districts such as that which we now call Hampshire,
and along the Thames valley, where wealthy Romans had their country
villas, Roman methods of farming were in use. The Britons would see
something of Roman ways of doing things, and, perhaps, tried to copy
them.
5. But the Romans have not left many marks upon our towns and villages.
It is quite true that a large number of our present towns and cities
are on the _sites_ of, or near, Roman towns; but, in most cases,
we have to dig down into the earth to find Roman remains. The most
important Roman city, Verulam, has quite disappeared; and the most
complete remains of a Roman town, Silchester, are near to what is now
a quiet country village. The present cities of London, Winchester,
Gloucester, Lincoln, Chester, Carlisle, and the towns of Colchester and
Leicester, and several others, can hardly be said to have sprung from
Roman towns, though they stand on their sites.
[Illustration: Photo. S. Victor White & Co., Reading
REMAINS OF A ROMAN HOUSE, EXCAVATED AT SILCHESTER (page 24)]
6. Most of the Roman cities were built in districts where the Britons
had been strong, or where they were likely to give trouble. Carlisle
and Gloucester were, for instance, =military towns=, because they were
on the borders of the Roman territory. London and Winchester were
=trading cities=, and they developed much in Roman times.
7. But, when the Roman power was withdrawn, there was, in those cities
at any rate, a British population, which had adopted very extensively
Roman customs and ideas. For a time things went on much as they had
done while the Romans were here; in fact, until the struggles with the
Saxons began.
8. As a matter of fact, the coming of the Saxons began a good while
before the Romans actually left. Various tribes of Saxons attacked
different parts of the coast. Colchester had to keep a sharp look-out
for them on the east coast; and the Romans built Portchester Castle, in
Hampshire, to guard the south coast.
9. Christianity had found its way to Britain during Roman times, and
that helped in the work of civilizing the Britons. But we do not know
very much of the early British Church. Christianity probably made more
headway among the population in and near the Roman towns than in the
wilder districts. The foundations of an early Christian church have
been found at Silchester.
=Summary.=--The Romans held Britain much as we hold India. They
did not interfere with the manners and customs, or the religion,
of the Britons. The Romans lived in their towns and villas, the
Britons in their own settlements. Britons in and near Roman towns
gradually adopted Roman ways. Verulam was the chief Roman city,
and there were others at London, Winchester, Gloucester, Lincoln,
Chester, Carlisle, Colchester, &c. These modern cities, though on
the _sites_ of these Roman towns, have not sprung from the Roman
cities. The Saxons began to give trouble before the Romans left.
Christianity came in Roman times, and the remains of a church have
been found at Silchester, in Hants.