How did Britain change under the Romans?
The Romans brought lots of new ideas and technologies with them to Britain, such as coins, sewers, aqueducts, roads and bathhouses.
Some of these things already existed in Britain in small amounts before the Romans came such as coins and roads, but the Romans made them bigger and better.
Important words
Important words on what the Roman's brought to Britain.
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| Civilian | Ordinary people who are not soldiers. |
| Insulae | Either a criss-crossed street or Roman flats or apartments. |
| Latin | The language that the Romans spoke and wrote in. |
Watch: How the Romans changed Britain
When the Romans arrived in AD43, they introduced new ideas and new ways of living to Britain. Watch the video below to learn more about what the Romans have done for us.
From stinging nettles to sewers - find out how the Romans changed Britain
What did the Romans do for us? When the Romans invaded in AD43, they really liked Ancient Britain, but they weren’t too impressed with the Ancient Britons.
The Romans pretty much thought they were better at everything; they built big brick and stone buildings with central heating. They built sewage systems and paved, straight roads that stretched right across the country to connect up all their new Roman towns.
Before long, they’d built so much that Britain didn’t look too different from Rome itself apart from the weather of course. The Romans even brought animals, like rabbits to Britain. And stinging nettles too! The Romans also built temples to worship their many gods – like Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus.
You’ve probably heard of them, because we’ve named our planets after them. Later on, the Romans decided to believe in just one god and introduced Christianity to Britain too.
Before the Romans arrived there was no written language in Britain. They changed all that by teaching important Britons how to read and write and how to speak the Roman language – Latin. And even today, two thousand years later, a lot of our words come from Latin, like ‘enormous’ and ‘victory’ and ‘lavatory’!
The ways we measure distances - miles, feet and inches – that’s all Roman, We’ve got Roman numerals, which you can still see in a lot of places, like clocks. And coins too - the Romans made using coins to buy things popular throughout the whole of Roman Britain, rather than just swapping one thing for another like a sheep for a sword for example.
All in all we owe a lot to the Romans – but don’t tell them that – they’re smug enough as it is.
What happened when the Romans left?
By AD410 the city of Rome was under attack and the Roman Empire was falling apart, so the Romans had to leave Britain to help back home.
After they left, many of the Roman towns in Britain were abandoned as people went back to living in the countryside.
But even after they were gone, the Romans left their mark all over the country.
They gave us:
- new towns
- plants
- animals
- a new religion
- new ways of reading and counting
Even the word ‘Britain’ comes from the Romans.
This wasn't all the Romans gave Britain though…
Roman Roads
The Romans built around 10,000 miles of road across Britain.
These huge stretches of road allowed soldiers and civilians to move quicker and easier between towns.
The roads were usually lined with different-sized stones that allowed water to drain through them and often had ditches at the side to move water away from the roads.
Many of today’s roads follow the same route as the Roman ones but have been updated, like the A46 between Lincoln and Leicester.
British towns and cities
London ( which the Romans called Londinium) was Britain’s greatest city and is today the capital of the UK.
What's in a name?
If a place-name has ‘chester’ , ‘caster’ or ‘cester’ in it, it's almost certainly Roman.
Gloucester, Worcester, Colchester, Doncaster and Manchester are good examples.
Other important Roman towns included Lincoln, Exeter, York, and Bath.
Clever town layouts
Towns were designed in a grid. Streets criss-crossed the town to form blocks called insulae, either a criss-crossed street or Roman flats or apartments.
In the middle of the town was the forum, a big market square where people came to trade.
Roman places in Britain you can still see
Britain is full of Roman ruins as the Romans left a huge mark on the country, here are some of the most well known:
Image caption, Of all the Roman remains in Britain, Hadrian's Wall is probably the most famous. In AD122 the Emperor Hadrian ordered his soldiers to build a wall between Roman Britain and Scotland. It ran for 73 miles from Wallsend-on-Tyne to Bowness.
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Language, writing and numbers
Before the Romans came, very few Britons could read or write. Instead, information was usually passed by word of mouth.
The Roman's spoke Latin— the language that the Romans spoke and wrote in. And it wasn’t long before some Britons started to use it too.
We've got words and phrases today that come from Latin. Words such as ‘exit’ , which means ‘he or she goes out’ .
Our coins are based on a Roman design. Written around the edge of some £1 coins is the Latin phrase ‘decus et tutamen’ which means ‘glory and protection’.
Think like a historian
Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.
What was the impact of the new Roman ideas on Britain?
Do you think that everyone liked the changes?
Which things from Roman Britain do we still have today?
Lots of Roman ideas helped improve daily life, such as roads, public baths and underfloor heating. But not all of these were available to ordinary people and so daily life for many people was very similar to how it was before the Romans arrived.
Much of southern Britain became ‘Roman’ and people liked the changes, but many parts of northern Britain didn’t like the changes and people fought back against the Romans.
We still have things like roads, coins, sewers to take away dirty water and waste, fresh-water supplies, bathhouses (as modern-day gyms), toilets and underfloor heating. All of these are things that the Romans either brought to Britain or made better.
Activity: How the Romans changed Britain quiz
Grown-ups corner
Are you a parent, carer or teacher?
Take a look at some of the links below on KS2 History which are packed full of knowledge, videos, quizzes and activities.
KS2 History: The Romans
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History: The Romans. 4: The Romans in Britain
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History: The Romans. 7: Letters from Vindolanda
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade game! game
Play Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade KS2 History
More on Roman Britain
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