Romans in Britain, Hadrians Wall etc.

[Elwood]

Liked your comment Ian. I went over to Google earth, found Widnes. I have read up on Hadrians Wall and that time period. Of Course Hadrian was running things at the time of the second and last Jewish revolt. Brought his general and troops out of Britain to deal with that. When Hadrian took over after the demise of Emperor Trajan he stopped Roman advancement on its frontiers. Felt they had plenty to deal with keeping the status quo, so to speak. Which lead to his Wall there and that line of thinking.

Have a book on order, Roman Invasion of Britain. Good reviews. I will further educate myself.

Didn't the Yardbirds have a song about taking the ferry across the Mersey?

[yanmacca]

No that was Jerry and the pace makers, a Liverpool band who were good friends with the Beatles.
The Yardbirds were from London.

British history after the Romans left is pretty traumatic, we got invaded by everyman and his dog.
It was Alfred who sorted the Danes out.
There was a Mercian (English) fort on the opersit side of the river in Runcorn, they discovered it whilst digging footings for the new Victorian Railway Bridge, the fort was name after Alfreds daughter Ethelfleda. In her honor they name the railway bridge "Ethelfleda".

Read a little into Chester, it was named Deva by the Romans and was a very important hub for them as North Cheshire is rich in Salt, which was a very valuble mineral back then.

Ian

[Elwood]

Ah, Jerry and the Pacemakers. Simply had my English bands confused. If and when I make this trip, have to visit Liverpool. Hit a few pubs.

Will read up on Chester. Thanks!

[Elwood]

My book, The Roman Invasion of Britain, Birgitta Hoffmann, arrived several days ago. Just started it but seems to be an outstanding acquisition. Heavy on archeology as writings by the Romans were intermittent and sketchy at times aside from Caesar’s himself. Reason for invading Britain was at least partially, the need for Caesar to keep up with Pompeys exploits in the east of the Roman world at the time and things in Gaul had, for the time, settled down. Two separate invasions 55 and 54 BC. This is where I’m at in the book, just started basically. Looking forward to the rest.

[yanmacca]

Hi Elwood, glad you have your book now, very interesting stuff.

There are some who believe that the Romans were invited into Britain, as some saw the advantages of living under Roman rule.

Nice little site on Roman roads link

To get to where we live from London (or Londinium) you would have to head up Watling Street.

Ian

[Elwood]

Jul 24, 2024 19:09:09 GMT yanmacca said:

Hi Elwood, glad you have your book now, very interesting stuff.

There are some who believe that the Romans were invited into Britain, as some saw the advantages of living under Roman rule.

Indeed. Book tells of Caesar planning the first invasion from Gaul. Gathering intel on Britain from traders. While there, several tribal heads from Britain visited him, offering to “surrender”, that is seeking Roman assistance against rival tribes. Sort of an invite.

[yanmacca]

Well they are still finding Roman stuff, this was posted today by the BBC link

Ian

[Elwood]

Fascinating Ian, 43AD? Had to be one of the earliest Roman roads.

[yanmacca]

You are welcome Elwood, history is very important, I have always tried to get the kids and grand kids interested in history, I became a grandad again a few weeks ago, I hope young Theo Ian will be too

Ian

[Elwood]

Congrats on the grandchildren!

[yanmacca]

Thank you Elwood

Well would you believe it, my sister lives in Frith Av which is on station road Delemere, on Station road there is remains of a Roman road link

My sister asked us to visit her on my birthday so I searched for places of interest near her home, Cheshire is steeped with history and found this place link, may see if my sister and the missus want to go there tomorrow.

Apparently the weather is great on Monday so we can enjoy a good walk through Delemere Forest.

Ian

[Elwood]

Have been lax in my reading of Romans in Britain but . . . Caesar had two invasions of Britain, 55 and 54 BC. First one basically only established a beachhead, second one was much larger, better equipped. Britains retreated inland ahead of Caesar who marched towards the Thames. He would write that the Britains left small detachments along the way who would cover each other, an organized fighting retreat that provided intel to the larger British forces. Northwest of present day London, Caesar would gain the upper hand in clashes with the British.

For several reasons, no gold or silver in Britain, Vercingetorix acting up in Gaul, political developments in Rome, Caesar quickly lost interest in Britain. A treaty was quickly written and signed, British tribes promising allegiance to Rome. Caesar left the Island before the end of the year, leaving not a single Roman soldier to garrison. It would be decades before the Romans returned.

[yanmacca]

Britain was rich in many things, copper, gold, iron, lead, silver and tin, plus salt was very impotatnt to them, they paid their soldiers in salt, thats were the word salary comes from.

Ian

[Elwood]

Well I should have written, no gold or silver encountered by Caesar. In fact he wrote his allies in Rome, no booty acquired. Not sure what the latin word for booty is. Caesar simply seemed unimpressed with Britain as far as the future potential for Rome. Never made an effort to return. He did write that the climate, in general, was preferable to Gaul especially the winters.

I had heard that origin of the phrase, “Worth his salt”. Interesting.