ABSTRACT

The Romans occupied Britain for almost four hundred years, and their influence is still all around us - in the shape of individual monuments such as Hadrians Wall, the palace at Fishbourne and the spa complex at Bath, as well as in subtler things such as the layout and locations of ancient towns such as London, Canterbury and Colchester, and the routes of many major roads. Yet this evidence can only suggest a small proportion of the effect that the Romans had on the landscape of Britain.
A Portrait of Roman Britain breaks new ground in enabling us to visualise the changes in town and countryside brought by Roman military and civilian needs. Using clear, well-documented descriptions, John Wacher answers questions such as:
* were Roman towns as neat and tidy as they are often represented?
* how much woodland was needed to fuel the bath houses of Roman Britain?
* how much land did a Roman cavalry regiment require for its horses?^

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

The Landscape as a Concept

chapter 2|7 pages

Pre-Roman Changes to the Landscape

chapter 3|14 pages

Roman Arrival

The army and the landscape

chapter 4|5 pages

Plough and Pasture

Agents for change

chapter 5|7 pages

Farms and Religion in The Landscape

The rural scene

chapter 6|28 pages

Urban Topography and Human Sensations

chapter 7|13 pages

Mineral Extraction

chapter 8|15 pages

Change in the Roman Period

The return of a ‘natural’ landscape

chapter 9|13 pages

Roman Survival in the Modern Landscape