Roman Administration and Towns.

The Roman invasion of Britain brought about great changes in the way the country was run. Instead of politics dependant on war and peace between the various tribes, the country now formed part of a vast empire ruled from one centre, Rome. The Roman Empire was divided into provinces nominally ruled by the Senate in Rome or by the Emperor on the Senate's behalf. Newly acquired areas almost always came under the rule of the Emperor. The Emperor would then entrust these areas into the power of a governor, or 'legatus Augusti pro praetore', who was both commander-in-chief of the army in the province and head of the civilian administration.

The governorship of a province such as Britain was one of the most important in the Roman Empire and as such was usually held by men from the Roman aristocracy, the Senate of Rome, who had worked their way up the political ladder holding various positions to gain essential experience.

In Britain, as commander-in-chief of the army, much of the governor's time was spent on the battlefield attempting to subdue unruly and rebellious tribes. Between campaigns the governor would travel around the province and each town would receive him with speeches and ceremonies and he would inspect new buildings, bridges and roads. The governor was also the Lord Chief Justice of the province and it was his responsibilty to ensure that criminals were captured and that peace and order was maintained.

To help the governor in his duties he would have had a personal staff of about 30 - 40 individuals, including personal assistants, secretaries, police officers, couriers, accountants and clerks. Some of the staff would have been slaves or freedmen. There was also a 'legatus iuridicus', or law-officer, who could go around the province and deal with some of the legal matters to free up more of the governor's time for campaigns and peace keeping.

The financial responsibilty of an imperial province was in the hands of a high-ranking procurator. These officials were chosen from among the 'equites', or knights, the class which ranked below the Senate and had it's own political ladder of military and civilian posts. The procurators were directly responsible to the Emperor and not to the provincial governors, which sometimes caused tension between these two posts. The procuratos were responsible for the taxation of provinces in order to generate imperial revenue. The system of taxation can be divided into two types: direct and indirect. One type of direct tax was 'tributum soli' , a tax on land and fixed property. The idea being that all land in the province belonged to the Roman state, and therefore those who lived or made a living out of it could be expected to pay rent. Owners of taxable land were required to register it with the local record office. There was also the 'tributum capitis' , a poll-tax on property other than land, including that which was used for trade or commerce.

Taxes were mostly paid for with coins, but grains, hides and other payments were sometimes demanded. The people of Roman Britain were also expected to provide the Roman army with grain, leather and lard. Sometimes this came under taxation and sometimes it was paid for at prices fixed by the government, most likely in their favour.

The Growth of Towns

Before Claudius' invasion in AD43 the people of Britain had tended to live chiefly in small settlements or isolated farms with the great hillforts as places of refuge in times of war. The chieftains or kings of the tribes may have lived within the hillforts or other fortified sites with the protection of bodyguards and the luxury of slaves. They would have lived in simple round huts with earthen floors and thatched roofs. Herefordshire Beacon, an Iron Age hillfort.  (© Derek Foxton)

The first town built in Roman Britain was near the site of the tribal capital of the Belgae's, Camulodonum. It was a 'colonia', a town of the highest rank, populated by Roman citizens, mostly retired soldiers. By populating the new towns with Roman citizens the government could ensure a loyalty to Rome within a particular area and encourage the spread of roman ideas in the province.

The administration of the new towns would have been based on the system used in Rome. it consisted of a Senate or 'ordo' of up to 100 members, usually known as decurions. These would normally be men who had already held some sort of poilitcal office, but in a new province they could be trustworthy members of the local tribal aristocracy. You needed to be fairly well off to be a decurion as you were expected to the construction of the baths and other public buildings within your town. The ordo was also responsible to the procurator for tax collection. Every year four magistrates were elected for each town. Between them they were resonsible for minor matters of justice, public works and public order. The magistrates had to swear by Jupiter, the deified Emperors and by whatever gods were worshipped locally.

Roman towns were very ordered and strictly planned. One of the first stages would be to set out two main roads that crossed each other and then create a series of rectangular spaces in which house and other public buildings could be built. The two main roads in the town were known as the 'Cardo Maximus' and ' Decumanus Maximus' . In small towns, such as Kenchester, strict planning did not take place to a great extent and instead one road ran through the centre of the town with smaller roads running off from it. Kenchester - note the main road which shows up as a cropmark with other roads running off to the sides. © W. Baker

Within the town layout areas would have been set aside for public buildings, which were an important feature of Roman towns. These buildings were even more important in the provinces as they created a sense of unity, so that no matter where you went in the Empire there was always something that was instantly recognisable as Roman. These public buildings included temples, basilicas, baths and sometimes even amphitheatres where dramtic performances were staged. Unfortunately at Kenchester and Leintwardine we do not have much evidence for public buildings although both appear to have had small bath complexes for the relaxation of the inhabitants.

Herefordshire appears to have had only one Roman town - Magnis, or Kenchester, which was a small market town at the junction of four Roman roads. Due to this lack of Roman urbanisation it is likely that life in Herefordshire during Roman occupation carried on very much as before. Herefordshire was an agricultural area and the majority of its inhabitants would have centred their life around their farms and smallholdings, with the hillforts of the Iron Age still playing an important role in society.

The Roman settlements of Ariconium (Weston-under-Penyard) and Bravonium (Leintwardine) are unusual for Roman Britain in that neither appear to have had an overly planned street system and neither appear to have had the pulic buildings that were such an important part of Roman administration. Leintwardine does appear to have had a small bath complex at the south end of the site but this was more likely for the benefit of the Roman soldiers than for the romanisation of the natives. The two sites appear to have grown up from two different reasons. Ariconium was the site of an area rich in iron deposits and useful for weapons and coinage but not perhaps the ideal situation for habitation and Leintwardine appears to have been a military site that grew up along the line of the Roman road between two much more significant forts (Wroxeter and Caerleon). It was a small cog in a larger wheel of Roman border control.

MG