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.