ROMAN BRITAIN FROM THE AIR

Listening to the documentary about the Roman conquest in Britain I can understand lots of information about the Romans’ life in Britain.

First of all, the documentary is about an unusual journey around Britain. It is defined it unusual because the presenters are going to discover Britain when it was part of the Roman Empire, about 2000 years ago. There are two presenters: the first one is Michael, which is going to stay on the ground and the other one is Cristin, which is going to stay in an helicopter.

The story started in London because this famous big city is a Roman invention. In 43 AD, the Romans landed an invasion army on 45 men.

There are some interesting questions that need to be answered, including: “What did London look like? Who lived there in that time? Why did the Romans build an empire here? What is it left of the Romans in London?”.

The archaeologist Nick Bateman said that the key elements of the Roman streets are that they were originally built and reflected in many streets. It is obvious that Romans were well-known for their ability to  build straight roads, for instance the most famous shopping street in London: Oxford street.

Besides, Romans usually had a simple plan as well as the straight roads, a large town like London that needed town hall.

By the way, London is rounded on just three sides by walls because the fourth boundary was the river Thames.

In addition to this, Romans built bridges within the city. An example is the Timber bridge, built in the mid of the first century AD. The country was a handy-place to trade because they built a bridge across the Thames and a port. Afterwards they came up again the huge barrier of the River Severn. This is why they created a ferry point. Romans with all this communications’ network created an international melting-pot in the country.

For what concerned Romans’ remains in Britain, archaeologies found an amphitheatre located 20 feet underground the London’s ground.

Moreover, the presenters visited the best preserved outdoor amphitheatre in Britain and the remains of a basilica. It was a social place where people used to meet and chat.

Romans were also interested in taking care about themselves: they used to build baths, which can be described as a sort of today’s SPA.

In conclusion, it can be said that by the time the Romans left Britain around 410 AD, they left the stamp in this country and changed its characters ever; as a matter of fact that Romans integrated with local people to create a new British society.