all about roman brighton · and had a huge army. their army fought people and took over their land,...
TRANSCRIPT
All about
Roman Brighton
Roman
Some of you might have heard of the Romans already. What do you
know about them?
Who were the Romans?
And why were they called Romans?
As their name might suggest, the Romans were originally from Rome in Italy. They were more advanced in some ways than a lot of people at the time, and had a huge army. Their army fought people and took over their land, expanding the Roman Empire until it included most of Europe as well as parts of Africa and Asia. Almost 2000 years ago the Romans invaded Britain, where they ruled for nearly 400 years.
Ice Age Black Rock
220,000 years ago
Neolithic Whitehawk
5,700 years ago
Bronze Age Hove Barrow
3,500 years ago
Iron Age Hollingbury
2,800 years ago
Roman Springfield Road 2,000 years ago
Anglo Saxon Stafford Road
1,400 years ago
Here’s how the Roman period fits into our local timeline – it’s an exciting time because it marks the end of
official ‘Prehistory’
Ice Age Black Rock
220,000 years ago
Neolithic Whitehawk
5,700 years ago
Bronze Age Hove Barrow
3,500 years ago
Iron Age Hollingbury
2,800 years ago
How does this period fit into worldwide prehistory?
Invention of wheel 5,500 years ago
First Homo sapiens
Africa 200,000 years ago
First pyramids
built 4,700 years ago
Romans Springfield Road 2,000 years ago
Anglo Saxons
Stafford Road 1,400 years ago
Use of fibres to produce clothing
35,000 years ago
Hieroglyphic script
developed 5,100 years ago
First Writing
2,000 years ago
Find out about the Romans
It’s time to use your investigative and IT skills to go on a fact-finding mission about
life in Roman Britain…
1. How many attempts did it
take the Romans to invade Britain?
2. How good were the Romans at fighting? Why?
3. What armour and weapons
did the Romans have? 4. What did the Romans call
London? 5. Which animals did the
Romans introduce to Britain?
Did you know we have an
important Roman site right
here in Brighton & Hove? The
red pin in the map marks
exactly where.
In the 1870s builders building
Springfield Road found a
Roman corridor villa with
decorated plaster walls and
mosaic floors, probably owned
by a rich local landowning
family.
How do we know that the family that lived in
the villa were rich?
These items, found in
a grave nearby,
would have been
imported from
overseas by somebody
who had money to
spend on luxuries
Fine glass flask
Pipeclay figurines from
western Europe
Samian ware bowl from
western Europe
Facial reconstruction based on the skull of
‘Patcham Woman’ Female, 30-40,
Buried in Patcham
Who lived in Brighton & Hove
during Roman times?
Her back and knee bones show signs of bending and heavy lifting. She must have had a hard physical
life.
She was discovered with
a rusty nail stuck in the
back of her skull. We
think this dates from
when she was first
sealed up in her coffin.
We can tell from her upper arm bone
measurement that she was about 1.6m (5’ 3”) – quite tall for a woman
of this period.
Her skull is rounded
with a high forehead
and smooth brow
ridges. These are signs
that she was female.
‘Patcham Woman’ Female, 30-40
Buried in Patcham
There were no grave
goods, suggesting she
might have been poor.
We think she might have
worked as a farm hand or
a servant at the nearby
Roman villa.
What can scientists tell about ‘Patcham Woman’ from examining her remains?
How did the Romans leave their mark on
Britain?
Without the Romans we
might have been a very
different country today!
Here are some of the things
we have to thank them for:
Writing. Before Romans
word of the mouth was the
only way of communicating
for most people living in
Britain.
How did the Romans leave their mark on
Britain?
Roads. Romans knew that
the quickest way to get from
one point to another was
using a straight line, and that
to make it last you had to
pave it with stone.
The idea of living in big
towns or cities. Many cities
the Romans built still
survive today. If a place-
name has ‘chester’, ‘caster’ or
‘cester’ in it it’s probably
Roman. Can you think of
any?
Which of the items would you like to buy from our Roman shop? You have
X Solidus (Roman gold coins) to spend
Pottery flagon, IV Solidus
Bronze tweezers, II Solidus
Silver snake ring, VI Solidus
Bronze and enamel cross shaped brooch, IV Solidus
Bone cup and dice, V Solidus Bronze stag
statue, X Solidus
Roman Numerals
1 = I
2 = II
3 = III
4 = IV
5 = V
6 = VI
7 = VII
8 = VIII
9 = IX
10 = X
The Romans were great builders and engineers. They built straight roads for
easy travel and towns and cities in organised grid patterns. They built
aqueducts to bring water to cities and baths for people to wash in. They were the first people in Britain to make buildings out of
stone and brick. They used cement to make buildings taller and stronger. Some
buildings also had underfloor heating and glass windows.
This piece of flooring
found at Fishbourne
Roman Palace in
Chichester shows that
some Romans would
have laid black and
white mosaic floors
The Romans were very superstitious people. Are you
superstitious about anything today?
The Roman Bad Luck List: Ø Stumbling on your way out
of the house (most people would stay in if this happened)
Ø Lightning (though if you whistle when you see it you
will be OK) Ø Cutting your nails on any
other day than market day Ø A snake falling from a roof Ø A horse crying hot tears
Thanks for downloading. See you soon!
Thank you to A-Z for the kind permission to reproduce maps on slides 7 & 8. Illustration on title slide by Jennifer Khatun. Wolves by Fiona Redford.