of Britain from the
time it was invaded by
Rome around A.D. 43 by the
Roman general, Plautius, until the
Roman occupation ended early in the
fifth century. Plautius brought an army of 40,000 men whose
discipline, arms and
skill overwhelmed the
native population and made Britain a
Roman province. Particularly in what is now the
south of
England, the
Romans established
schools,
spread the
use of
Latin and encouraged cities and
rich men to build temples,
public baths and houses with stone
foundations and tiled roofs. In the
main city, called Londinium (now
London), interiors of the homes followed the
Roman style, with patterned floors, large bathrooms and mural walls. Most
manufacturing was carried on in homes and small shops. Farming and sheep-raising were the
principal occupations along with mining, chiefly of
silver and
lead. Brisk trading occurred because the entire
area was linked together by a
network consisting of 5,000 miles of roads. By the end of the
fourth century, however, the
Romans were occupied fighting battles in their outlying areas and it became increasingly difficult to maintain troops in Britain and they abandoned the island at the beginning of the
fifth century. And they were good civilizations as they went the
Roman-
Briton civilization, the Danish civilization that was here, the Saxon civilization here-all these things terribly
different-the
Norman civilization that was here.
Britain from the
time it was invaded by
Rome around A.D. 43 until the
fifth century.
Overwhelmed by the
discipline, armament and
skill of the
Roman army, Britain was made a
Roman province, particularly in the
south, which was completely Romanized.
Schools were established, temples,
public baths and houses with stone
foundations and tiled roofs were built and the
use of
Latin spread. Linked together by a
network of 5,000 miles of roads, Britain enjoyed a brisk internal
trade and a flourishing external
trade with the rest of the
Roman Empire. However, at the beginning of the
fifth century, as the outlying areas of the
Roman Empire began to
fall,
Rome withdrew from Britain.