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91-541: Urian is a Celtic noble male given name (also Urien, Uryen, Uren , presumably derived from British Urbgen ). It is recorded in 1273 in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire in a reference to a "John, son of Urian". In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth used the Latinized form Urbianus for the semi-legendary British king Urien . In the modern period, Urian also occurs as a surname. Notable people with

182-581: A dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance. On Nero 's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum . Gaius Suetonius Paulinus , the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco ), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona ( Anglesey ) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across

273-1032: A scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II ( Caerleon ). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province. In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS   Fagan and " Duvian ". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at " Urbs Legionum " ( Caerleon ); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at " Dorobernia " ( Canterbury ); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at " Lundonia " ( London ); " Maximia " in northern England with its capital at Eboracum ( York ); and Valentia in " Albania which

364-557: A witch-hunt , which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide. As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend

455-580: A building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt . The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent ; at least part of

546-420: A death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293,

637-521: A difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio 's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding

728-405: A large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian , Pertinax , and Gordian I . There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement

819-480: A more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180. During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in

910-653: A province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of

1001-496: A radical restructuring of the vowel system. Notes: Through comparative linguistics , it is possible to approximately reconstruct the declension paradigms of Common Brittonic: Notes: Notes: Notes: Brittonic-derived place names are scattered across Great Britain, with many occurring in the West Country ; however, some of these may be pre-Celtic. The best example is perhaps that of each (river) Avon , which comes from

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1092-520: A so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus . Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire. Around the year 280, a half- British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina ( Cologne ) but

1183-582: A storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters. Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni , ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus , and the Atrebates , ruled by the descendants of Commius . This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of

1274-490: Is a form of Insular Celtic , descended from Proto-Celtic , a theorized parent language that, by the first half of the first millennium BC, was diverging into separate dialects or languages. Pictish is linked, likely as a sister language or a descendant branch. Evidence from early and modern Welsh shows that Common Brittonic was significantly influenced by Latin during the Roman period , especially in terms related to

1365-708: Is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great ) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as

1456-484: Is now Scotland " with its capital at St Andrews . Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons. A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as

1547-573: Is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul , believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition

1638-611: Is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate . Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation . Some of the most important sources for this era are

1729-520: The Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior . This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana , whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context. In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161)

1820-561: The Battle of Mons Graupius . Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c.  2 million , these are very high figures. Under

1911-811: The Battle of Watling Street . Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether. There was further turmoil in 69, the " Year of the Four Emperors ". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua

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2002-552: The British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes , and returned to Gaul . Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at

2093-482: The Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells ( musculi ) according to Suetonius , perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates . The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni , and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD,

2184-599: The Firth of Forth . Cumbric disappeared in the 12th century, and in the far south-west, Cornish probably became extinct in the 18th century, though its use has since been revived . O'Rahilly's historical model suggests a Brittonic language in Ireland before the introduction of the Goidelic languages , but this view has not found wide acceptance. Welsh and Breton are the only daughter languages that have survived fully into

2275-519: The Iceni . The Silures were led by Caratacus , and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula . Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him . The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua , proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where

2366-643: The Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves. While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona , the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica . She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He

2457-568: The church and Christianity . By the sixth century AD, the languages of the Celtic Britons were rapidly diverging into Neo-Brittonic : Welsh , Cumbric , Cornish , Breton , and possibly the Pictish language . Over the next three centuries, Brittonic was replaced by Scottish Gaelic in most of Scotland, and by Old English (from which descend Modern English and Scots ) throughout most of modern England as well as Scotland south of

2548-631: The devil , and E.T.A. Hoffmann 's The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (1819 -1821). The same meaning of the name can be found in Hoffmann 's short story Der Vampyr ( in The Serapion Brethren , 1821; since the 1912 reprint, better known under the title Vampirismus ) in which a terrifying man wanted by the police corrupts the narrator's mother to the point where she becomes thirsty for corpses. Common Brittonic It

2639-441: The junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus . Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle. As part of Diocletian's reforms ,

2730-560: The 21st century. Cornish fell out of use in the 1700s but has since undergone a revival . Cumbric and Pictish are extinct and today spoken only in the form of loanwords in English, Scots , and Scottish Gaelic . The early Common Brittonic vowel inventory is effectively identical to that of Proto-Celtic. /ɨ/ and /ʉ/ have not developed yet. By late Common Brittonic, the New Quantity System had occurred, leading to

2821-687: The 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius , two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior . During the Diocletian Reforms , at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under

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2912-702: The Britannic achievements of an emperor . Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire. Britain was known to the Classical world . The Greeks , the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides , or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco

3003-788: The Brittonic aβon[a] , "river" (transcribed into Welsh as afon , Cornish avon , Irish and Scottish Gaelic abhainn , Manx awin , Breton aven ; the Latin cognate is amnis ). When river is preceded by the word, in the modern vein, it is tautological . Examples are: Basic words tor , combe , bere , and hele from Brittonic are common in Devon place-names. Tautologous, hybrid word names exist in England, such as: Roman Britain Roman Britain

3094-469: The Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition , but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left

3185-549: The Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates. The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius , but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta , commanded by future emperor Vespasian ,

3276-649: The Danubian provinces . Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts . In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall

3367-572: The Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus . The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements,

3458-719: The Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts . During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259

3549-830: The Romanised towns and their descendants, and later from church use. By 500–550 AD, Common Brittonic had diverged into the Neo-Brittonic dialects: Old Welsh primarily in Wales, Old Cornish in Cornwall, Old Breton in what is now Brittany, Cumbric in Northern England and Southern Scotland, and probably Pictish in Northern Scotland. The modern forms of Breton and Welsh are the only direct descendants of Common Brittonic to have survived fully into

3640-523: The Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way . Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising , but the Romans expanded steadily northwards. The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia . In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians , led by Calgacus , at

3731-463: The Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus . Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when

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3822-510: The Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay , but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with

3913-519: The area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway – Tyne isthmus around this time. A new crisis occurred at

4004-792: The assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles . The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium " (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium ). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia , Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun. , and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester ); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln ); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as

4095-425: The beginning of Hadrian 's reign (117): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco . When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall , to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought

4186-413: The coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts , Scoti and Attacotti , combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy ,

4277-473: The conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture , urban planning , industrial production , and architecture . The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding

4368-651: The continent. The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius , was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus , was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence . Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and

4459-442: The day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip

4550-485: The defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land. An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing

4641-488: The direction of a vicarius , who administered the Diocese of the Britains . A fifth province, Valentia , is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders . The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following

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4732-417: The east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war. Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum . Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won

4823-399: The emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus . The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in

4914-430: The final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum ( Colchester ). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control. British archaeologist Richard Hingley said that the Roman conquest of Britain , beginning with Julius Caesar 's expeditions and culminating with the construction of Hadrian's Wall ,

5005-414: The final word has been rendered cuamiinai .) This text is often seen as: 'The affixed – Deuina, Deieda, Andagin [and] Uindiorix – I have bound'; else, at the opposite extreme, taking into account case-marking – -rix 'king' nominative, andagin 'worthless woman' accusative, dewina deieda 'divine Deieda' nominative/vocative – is: 'May I, Windiorix for/at Cuamena defeat [or 'summon to justice']

5096-449: The following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola , father-in-law to the historian Tacitus , conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius , in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola

5187-468: The force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex . The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway , the second on the river Thames . One of their leaders, Togodumnus , was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for

5278-399: The frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors. The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as

5369-404: The given name include: In early modern Germany the expression Herr Urian or Meister Urian denoted a proverbial unwanted guest and figures in works of fiction such as Matthias Claudius ' Urians Reise um die Welt (set by Beethoven as Opus 52, No. 1, 1805, and later by Carl Loewe as Opus 84, 1843), in the Walpurgisnacht scene of Goethe's Faust, eine Tragödie (1808), where it refers to

5460-519: The island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots . The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus , was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae . The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing

5551-410: The language differed little from that of Gaul . Comparison with what is known of Gaulish confirms the similarity. Pictish , which became extinct around 1000 years ago, was the spoken language of the Picts in Northern Scotland. Despite significant debate as to whether this language was Celtic, items such as geographical and personal names documented in the region gave evidence that this language

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5642-458: The modern day. No documents in the language have been found, but a few inscriptions have been identified. The Bath curse tablets , found in the Roman feeder pool at Bath, Somerset ( Aquae Sulis ), bear about 150 names – about 50% Celtic (but not necessarily Brittonic). An inscription on a metal pendant (discovered there in 1979) seems to contain an ancient Brittonic curse: " Adixoui Deuina Deieda Andagin Uindiorix cuamenai ". (Sometimes

5733-407: The names Britannia I , Britannia II , Maxima Caesariensis , and Flavia Caesariensis ; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor ( praeses ) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after

5824-419: The north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva ( Chester ); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium ( Carlisle ); and between the walls along Dere Street . Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little

5915-408: The province to press their claim to the throne. As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior . This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as

6006-466: The provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum ( Trier ). The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency. Civilian and military authority of

6097-471: The quelling of the Great Conspiracy . Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"? ), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall , in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall . Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On

6188-400: The rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in

6279-526: The relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo , writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius 's ships were carried to Britain in

6370-436: The seat of the diocesan vicarius ; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni ( Cirencester ) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector ; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln ) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles; and places Secunda in

6461-441: The sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not. The early-4th-century Verona List , the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus , and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of

6552-484: The starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus. In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius , who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into

6643-512: The time of 75–100 AD. The term Pritenic is controversial. In 2015, linguist Guto Rhys concluded that most proposals that Pictish diverged from Brittonic before c.  500 AD were incorrect, questionable, or of little importance, and that a lack of evidence to distinguish Brittonic and Pictish rendered the term Pritenic "redundant". Common Brittonic vied with Latin after the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, at least in major settlements. Latin words were widely borrowed by its speakers in

6734-525: The tribes of the Picts : several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead , in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site. There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene . Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in

6825-473: The western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to

6916-642: The worthless woman, [oh] divine Deieda.' A tin/lead sheet retains part of nine text lines, damaged, with likely Brittonic names. Local Roman Britain toponyms (place names) are evidentiary, recorded in Latinised forms by Ptolemy 's Geography discussed by Rivet and Smith in their book of that name published in 1979. They show most names he used were from the Brittonic language. Some place names still contain elements derived from it. Tribe names and some Brittonic personal names are also taken down by Greeks and, mainly, Romans. Tacitus 's Agricola says that

7007-467: The writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland , mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied. Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of

7098-407: Was a drawn-out process rather than an inevitable or swift victory. After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales . The Silures , Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and

7189-433: Was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus . Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus

7280-532: Was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus . Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel. The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet ; he revolted upon learning of

7371-437: Was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus , took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively. Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales , and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi . In

7462-482: Was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis , a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny. The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193)

7553-490: Was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to

7644-536: Was most closely aligned with the Brittonic branch of Celtic languages. The question of the extent to which this language was distinguished, and the date of divergence, from the rest of Brittonic, was historically disputed. Pritenic (also Pretanic and Prittenic ) is a term coined in 1955 by Kenneth H. Jackson to describe a hypothetical Roman-era (1st to 5th centuries) predecessor to the Pictish language. Jackson saw Pritenic as having diverged from Brittonic around

7735-461: Was recalled from Britain back to Rome and awarded the ornaments of a triumph, before returning to continue as governor. By 87 the decision was taken to abandon most of the land north of the Cheviot Hills allowing for troops to be moved to other frontiers which were under pressure. Tacitus reports Agricola as feeling bitter about this turn of events. For much of the history of Roman Britain,

7826-415: Was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192. The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for

7917-417: Was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base. An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization

8008-703: Was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana , the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix ) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix ) are known to have served during the Boudican revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum ( York ) in 71 and on

8099-516: Was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain , consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain . The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars . According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during

8190-490: Was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration. Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus , raised the standard of revolt at Segontium ( Caernarfon ) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel . Maximus held much of

8281-491: Was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes , destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum ( Colchester ) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium ),

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