Interesting History of Roman Britain

By Ram Singh

When you next travel in Britain, you cannot fail to see that Britain has an intriguing history going back thousands of years.



Unfortunately many people living in present times know nothing or very little about it, so we will help you here.



Its all about Kings and Queens, and about different people who helped shape the current state of affairs in Great Britain.



Britain is not a single country but a union of 4 nations, which is why it is called Great, and of course it has ex-colonies and expatriates spread all over the globe making its present make-up a mixture of various communities from all across the world in the United Kingdom.



The first signs of mankind in the British Isles (Yes - Britain is an island) appears to be around 4000 BC in the Stone Age.



No literature of course exists for this era, but many Stone Age artifacts have been found both on the tip of Cornwall in the South all the way to the north of Scotland and their main legacy is Stonehenge in Wiltshire in Southern England and this is truly one of the seven wonders of England without doubt.



The other location which is always overlooked is Avebury. In Avebury you will not find any large structure, as in Stonehenge, but you will find the remnants of a temple or something that was built over 2000 years ago and the reasons for it are not yet known.



Later in history these type of stones were used for making houses and roads etc.



After the Stone Age came the Iron Age (1500 BC to 43 AD approx) and men started using iron tools and also became more aggressive, building metal weapons and then different groups and families needed protection from other groups and families.



Travel to Maiden Castle in Dorset which is still a fine example and you will see evidence of all these things there.



At around 150 BC - trade had started between Britain and the continent. The trading used to be for raw materials like tin, finished goods like silver and gold, wine, pottery and coins and even slaves.



Julius Caesar came to Britain in 55 BC, but only succeeded in establishing a temporary bridgehead. After another abortive attempt the following year, the Romans left Britain well alone for a century until the Romans came back in full force in 43 AD.



There were over 20 different Kingdoms in total in Britain at that time and with no coalition treaty possible with each other, it made it very easy for the Romans to invade Britain and attack the feudal Kingdoms one at a time and wipe them out.



Within a year the Romans had conquered large parts of Britain and by 60 AD controlled most of Britain south of the River Humber.



A revolt by the Iceni tribe in present day Anglia led by their Queen Boudica was later crushed by the superior military knowledge and capability of the Romans.



After that they built a network of roads and pushed North into Scotland and failed to pin down and harm the Celts, so they built a massive Wall called Hadrian’s Wall in 122 AD from Newcastle to Carlisle which you can still visit today on your travels.



The other wall that they built, the Antonine Wall, was not a proper wall but just a wall of turf, in the Lowlands (Glasgow to Edinburgh). It was started in 142 AD and then abandoned in 163 AD.



You can still also see the Roman mosaics with which they used to decorate their villages in many museums.



Roman Britain enjoyed a quite peaceful time until about 300 AD when it was attacked by many European barbarian hordes and also on the northern front in Britain by Scots and Picts.



The Romans kept pushing back their attackers from both sides and in 410 AD Emperor Constantine removed his British army altogether to defend the Roman Empire at the River Rhine frontier from invasion.



The different cities of Britain had to defend themselves and the Romans never came back.



About the Author: Ram Singh specializes in London Airport Transfers in the UK and invites London Visitors to contact him if you need an Airport Transfer or a London Tour. http://www.london-airport-shuttle.co.uk



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