SETTLEMENTS, TOWNS AND CITIES

At the time, Britain was divided into sections, each occupied by a group of natives. There were not towns, as we know them today, just settlements and villages, along with farms and fortress type houses for the rulers of each tribe. To them, many of their larger villages were looked upon as towns. In terms of population, the country was not as we know it today. Each tribal area had set boundaries, which were only crossed by travellers or traders. Certainly no warriors would stray into another tribe’s territory as this could be taken as a sign of potential invasion. The reaction of the offended tribe would have been swift and fierce. When the Romans arrived, they changed the landscape by creating centres scattered around the country. The larger of these, Londinium, Colchester and Verulamium were designated the three largest towns in Britain. But what designated a town from a village? To the Romans physical size and population were not the overriding factors. It was how important the town was that decided its standing when matched with other towns. Consideration was given to such aspects as:

• How much national administration was centred there.
• Did it have a high-ranking figure living there.
• Was it at a major junction in the road or river network.

These were just a few factors taken into account when deciding the status of a town. Today we have such designations as city, town, village, borough, hamlet, in fact, a whole host of terms to describe a landscape. The Roman equivalents were municipium, vicus, oppidum, urbs, and civitas. Even the Greek word polis was used. It has been argued over many years what constitutes a town and what is a city. By and large, the opinions sway towards coloniae and municipia being cities since they had received a charter of independence.
The structure of the towns. The Romans built their towns in the fashion of “blocks” (insulae). Rectangular and square plots surrounded by streets. The centre of a town would have held the Roman governor of the area along with his administration staff. The tribal leader would have had a town house to enable attendance at council meetings. Even so, the king of each tribe retained his stately house within the boundaries of his predefined area and resided there to attend daily matters in administering his people. Within the towns, which were walled later in British Roman history lived the traders, inhabitants and the military that defended the area occupied by the town and the land outside the perimeter.
Apart from agriculture and food, the towns were largely self sufficient, holding all the people and skills needed to see to the daily needs and to expand the scope of the facilities within. Within each area would be the main town (civitas capital) where the Romans would have an internal governor. This would be someone high in Roman office that reported to the provincial governor of Britain, who, in turn, reported directly to Rome. Roman towns were generally laid out in a similar fashion with two main streets meeting in a crossroads at the centre. These streets were called the cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus. Here was the main centre of the town and was also the place where important buildings such as the forum and basilica and the main public buildings would reside.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 877