Life under Roman Occupation

The influence of the Romans in Herefordshire brought about many changes in lifestyle. Prior to the Roman occupation the Celtic tribes of Britain had focused their daily life around the hillfort. These hillforts were simple defended camps on higher ground, in which the the chieftain or king of the local tribe would live along with many of his animals, plus bodyguards, slaves and some members of his tribe. Within these camps would be a number of simple round houses in which various families would live. Other members of the tribe would live outside the hillforts in small villages or isolated farmhouses.

Wall Hills Hillfort, Thornbury © Jenson Jones 2003

After the Roman invasion 'towns' and villages began to spring up on lower ground, often close to a river. These towns were simple in design with a main street running through the centre with shops, houses and public buildings built alongside.

The houses of the Roman period were also very different to the simple thatched round houses of the Iron Age. Roman houses were normally rectangular and built of a timber frame with wattle and daub inserts. They were often of two storeys and the roofs would be tiled. Within the house there would be a cement floor and often highly decorated tessellated mosaic pavements depicting geometrical designs. Some of the larger houses were equipped with under floor heating (hypocausts), which consisted of the floor being raised on brick pillars and a furnace being built under the floor to allow heat to spread throughout. A system of 'flues' would carry the heat from the basement to other parts of the building. We have evidence of mosaic floors and hypocaust systems from the Roman town at Kenchester.

mosaic in situ at Kenchester Alfred watkins © Hereford Library

Public buildings were also a feature of Roman towns. In Herefordshire we do not have much evidence of public buildings, but Kenchester does appear to have had a bath complex. The baths were an important part of Roman daily life, it was where men would go to socialise, exercise and relax. Most baths consisted of 3 different temperature baths: The frigidarium (cold room), the tepidarium (warm room) and the caldarium (hot room). These rooms were heated by the hypocaust system as mentioned above. The men would work their way around these three rooms taking a dip in each to invigorate the mind and body. Rich men would spend whole days at the baths being waited on by their servants and playing games and socialising. There would often be people on hand to give massages and to cleanse the body by rubbing in olive oil and then scraping it off with an instrument known as a 'strigil'. In ancient Rome women were also permitted to use the baths but had their own bath day separate to the men so that the two would never mix. We do not know if women attended the baths in Roman Britain as the influx of Romans into the province would have been mainly men who had come as soldiers and administrators, whether the locals, and in particular the women, would have been totally submerged into the Roman way of life is uncertain.

The richer members of Romano-British society and those men who worked for the Romans began to wear the Roman toga (a loose wrap-around piece of cloth) style of clothing. Many men also shaved and wore their hair short like Romans. The poorer men of Romano-Britain continued to wear the older Celtic style of clothes, made up of woollen tunic and trousers.

The greatest influence of the Romans was seen in trade and industry. Up until now the Iron Age people had produced enough crops to feed themselves and markets had been small, local affairs with not much cross-country trading. The influx of the Roman army meant that there was now an increased and permanent demand for crops, meat, leather and horses, all of which had to be provided for by the local community. The larger the industry became, with new roads, public buildings, and houses, the more need for engineers, carpenters, masons and the greater the need for raw materials. The Iron Age community began to learn new skills in order to create a Romanised Britain. The system by which the local people provided the corn for soldiers was known as Tribute Tax. This worked have caused an increase in the clearing of land for arable and resulted in the use of more rotary querns and corn drying ovens.

Products were also being brought into the area. High quality pottery and tableware was a feature of ordinary life for the Romans and soon Britain was creating a demand for similar. Wine was also being imported from Italy and other parts of the Empire as Britain was being opened up to the world beyond her shores. A typical Roman style of pottery was known as Samian Ware, this was red glazed pottery that was highly decorated with scenes depicting hunting, fighting etc. It was only used at important dinner parties, due to the expense and time spent creating it.

Samian ware, Kenchester A. Watkins © Hereford Library

The Romans are famous for their road building and they were quick to set up a network across the country enabling troops to travel quickly from A to B - usually in as straight a line as possible!

Roman surveyors would plot a route between A and B using a 'groma', four weighted strings hanging from a cross on a pole. The path of the road would then be cleared and a route cut into the earth. Foundations of chalk or gravel would have been laid and on top a layer of paving stones or cobbles would have completed the road surface. To prevent the build up of surface water the Romans often dug drainage channels either side of the road to carry the water away. Roman roads also had quite a pronounced camber (the curve of the road surface) to encourage the water to run off into the drains. The picture on the left shows the recently uncovered Roman road surface at Stretton Sugwas near Hereford. The road was discovered during preparation work for a new road in this area. You can clearly see that the road surface was made of cobbles with drainage channels either side.

Roman Road at Stretton Sugwas

The Roman occupation brought about many changes to life in Britain, but these developments mainly affected the upper classes; those who could afford to build heated villas and visit the baths. To the ordinary farmer of Iron Age Herefordshire the Roman invasion did not affect his day to day living to a great extent and for some time he continued to wear his Celtic woollen clothes, live in his thatched round hut and feed his family on the food that he himself had grown.

MG