The first known representation of Britannia was at Aphrodisias in Asia Minor, where she appears on a mid-first-century marble relief with Claudius, commemorating the conquest [80]. Portraying places and virtues in the form of personifications (usually women) was normal in the Roman world.
Britannia makes no appearance on coinage until Hadrian’s bronze as of c. 119. She is depicted as a warlike female, complete with spear and shield, sitting on a small pile of rocks. Later on in the reign, Britannia was shown in this guise, with Hadrian greeting her with the legend ‘ADVENTVI AVG BRITANNIAE’ (‘the coming of the emperor to Britannia’).
In 143, Antoninus Pius (138-61) issued sestertii with Britannia reverses, commemorating the war in the north that had led to the building of the Antonine Wall [79]. In 154, a series of bronze asses was issued, also with Britannia reverses. Apparently distributed only in Britain, they may commemorate another war and were probably given to troops as a donative.
Brass sestertius of 143, depicting the figure of Britannia on the reverse.
Britannia’s last appearance on coinage was during the reign of the rebel emperor, Carausius (286-93). On a few, very rare coins, the emperor is shown being greeted by Britannia with the legend Expectate veni (‘come, the awaited one’), alluding to a passage in the Aeneid and supporting Carausius’ self-proclaimed role as saviour of Britannia. The same coins carry the mark ‘RSR’, now known to refer to a passage in Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue, Redeunt Saturnia Regna (‘the Golden Age is back’), and which also appears on a medallion of the reign (see Chapter 3, ‘Postumus and Carausius’).
Britannia was not revived by any of the later rebels, such as Magnus Maximus and Constantine III. She makes a final reappearance at the beginning of the fourth century in the poetry of Claudian, about a campaign led by the general, Stilicho. Claudian describes Britannia as dressed in a Caledonian animal
Skin, with tattooed cheeks, and a cloak reminiscent of an ocean’s waves.
After the end of the Roman period, the image of Britannia did not resurface until the seventeenth century. The coins of Hadrian were copied for the copper halfpennies and farthings of Charles II, and Britannia has remained a feature of British coinage ever since.
Marble relief depicting Claudius defeating Britannia. It was important for the emperor to publicize his greatest military triumph in this symbolic fashion, as the campaign validated his right to rule in the eyes of his subjects. Mid-first century AD.
85. The roads of Roman Britain.
The principal roads radiated from London, and were initially constructed to support the military conquest of the province. The social and economic life of Romano-British society came to depend on these crucial communications links, along with countless other roads and tracks.
Road maps and milestones
A Roman road map, known as the Peutinger Table, survived into the Middle Ages. Itineraries were also compiled that listed settlements along a road in a schematic way. The Antonine Itinerary consists of 225 routes throughout the Roman Empire, several of which are set in Britain. These route maps made it possible to proceed along a road, guided by milestones [ 86], which carried details of distance to a destination.
Fragment of a mile-stone, found near Letocetum. Enough remains of the text and its style to show that the milestone belongs to the reign of the legitimate emperor, Marcus Aurelius Claudius II Gothicus (268-70). At the time, Britain was under the control of the Gallic Empire, then ruled by Victorinus.
Milestones were probably massproduced with imperial titles, with local information painted on once they were installed. Most extant examples belong to the third and early fourth centuries. In some places, milestones were renewed fairly rapidly after a regime change, whereas in others this did not occur. Trajan Decius (249-51), for example, is recorded on nine milestones, three of which are from Aldborough (Yorkshire). The obscure and short-lived regime of Florianus (276) is commemorated on four milestones, two of which come from near
Castleford (West Yorkshire). The best-represented period is 305-37, during which 18 record Constantine I, probably because milestones were not renewed after this time.
Some milestones are from very remote areas, and are important evidence for the reach of Roman authority. Five are known from Cornwall, yet little evidence for roads or other Roman settlement in the area exists.
Roman roads?
Watling Street (Kent) and Ermine Street (Lincolnshire) both appear to be characteristically ‘straight’ Roman roads connecting settlements. But along both roads most settlements had pre-Roman origins, and this was often the case elsewhere in Britain. Most of the major routes must have been well established before 43, even if their alignments were adjusted and their surfaces widened and metalled [87].
87. Aerial view of the Fosse Way.
This major road ran from Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) northeast past Bath (Aquae Sulis), Cirencester (Corinium Dobunnorum) and Leicester (Ratae Coritanorum), to Lincoln (Lindum). It intersected Watling Street at High Cross (Venonis), in Warwickshire.
The impact of Roman roads
The road system had a dramatic effect on some settlements, Water Newton being probably the best example. Never a formal town, it owed its growth almost entirely to its prime location on the main road north. Major and minor settlements now benefited from the flow of passing trade. Shrines and hostelries offered accommodation, sustenance and spiritual reassurance to soldiers, pilgrims and itinerant traders.
Roads were an exacting and expensive necessity. Although it is usually said that the costs of road transport were ruinous compared to water transport, it seems plain enough that people made do with roads, even if they were sometimes difficult. Sometime before 191, Titus Irdas, serving on the governor’s bodyguard, set up an altar on Dere Street, at Catterick (Yorkshire), to give
to the god ‘who devised roads and paths’.24
The roads of Roman Britain were not just used by soldiers and officials. They provided countless tinkers and traders with the means to wend their way around the province, offering the local population the opportunity to buy manufactured goods and services on their doorsteps.
Major Roman roads were built from a sequence of layers that created a solid and durable surface, cambered to allow drainage on either side. Roads were regularly resurfaced throughout the period. Military surveyors and architects set out road alignments, while the soldiers, together with requisitioned local labour, followed on to build foundations, lay surfaces, and dig flanking ditches. Roads were curved in section to help drainage. The foundations and metalling created a substantial raised surface, known as an agger [88]. Rivers were crossed with fords, bridges, or ferries.
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