Category: Roman Britannia

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Things are changing rather quickly on our little island.

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

So the Gallic Empire has been defeated and now Britannia was back within the folds of Rome. That was probably more than a little disheartening for the Romano-British. Once again, its rulers were on the other side of the world rather than just on the other side of the channel. The Romano-British were probably getting used to having the attention of Emperor Postumus. After all, Britannia was almost certainly the little jewel in his empire considering how stable and prosperous it was. And now he was dead and the empire was gone…. and they were going to get neglected once again.

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The family of Severus brings their own particular brand of family bonding to the shores of our island.

Busts of Caracalla, kept at the MET in NYC, where he’s showing his winning personality.

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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Ok, this one is pretty heavy on Roman intrigue. But it’s necessary to get us to the all the fun stuff in the next one. And besides, while much of what occurs in this episode is on the continent, it is still heavily influenced by the legions in Britannia. So it still counts as British History, right?

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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Today we’ve got Antoninus, Marcus Aurelias, Russell Crowe… we’ve got it all!

And Members, check your email. You should have a link for how to get your Members-Only episode!

A bust of Marcus Aurelias from the MET in NYC.

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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Rome is going to start expanding her borders. Why? Because why not? Well, it’s actually a little more complicated than that, and we’re going to get into it in this episode. Consequently, Emperor Antoninus will build his own wall in Britain far beyond Emperor Hadrian’s Wall. These Romans were nothing if not competitive. We will have to see what the people of Britain think of this.

A bust of Antoninus Pius from the MET in NYC.

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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Have you ever wanted to know about Hadrian’s Wall? Have you ever wondered what life was like there, how it was constructed, or even just the basic question of “what exactly is Hadrian’s Wall?” Then this is the podcast for you!

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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Ok, I’ll be the first to admit this one is a little confusing. After all, the whole mystery is more than a little confusing. So here is a list of the bits of evidence we’re talking about.

• The Ninth was nearly destroyed in a night assault by the Caledonians during Agricola’s northern campaign.
• The last known battle the Ninth was in was Mons Graupius.
• 108 AD, The Ninth built a gate at Eboracum (York).
• Post 117 AD (probably 119 to 121) there was a major rebellion in Britannia.
• 80’s AD or 121 AD, there were tiles at Nijmegen (Holland) stamped by the Ninth.
• Tiles similar to those were also found at Carlisle.
• A tombstone at Ferentinum references an emergency in Britannia that required 3,000 reinforcements.
• 122 AD, Hadrian traveled to Britannia to “correct many faults” and he brought with him the Sixth Legion.
• The Sixth legion took the post of Eboracum, which was the Ninth’s post. No mention is made of where the Ninth went.
• 142 AD, Governor Carus, who served with the Ninth, became the Governor of Arabia.
• Frontinus writes to Emperor Aurelius reminding him how his grandfather (Hadrian) suffered a major loss of troops to the Jews and the Britons.
• 162 AD, the Aurelian columns don’t list the Ninth or Twenty Second legions.
• The Twenty Second probably served in the Jewish wars and the Ninth was stationed in Britannia.

That should just about cover it.

Oh, and The Eagle is not a good film.

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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We’re going to talk about the governorship of Agricola, the Scots, the Irish, and I’m going to say “isthmus” an unreasonable number of times!

Here’s a map of Agricola’s advance. HOWEVER the dates listed are the later of the two dates I mention in the podcast. Many historians think that these dates should be one year earlier. (That will make more sense to you after you listen to the podcast).

NOTE: I made a comment that the legions raided on their way to Eboracum in the podcast. I meant to say that they raided once they got PAST Eboracum. Eboracum and Deva were, of course, Roman towns. At least they were at this point in time. So I think it’s safe to assume they didn’t raid their own people.

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History)

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