Roman Settlements

After years of being in Britain, there were already several towns with major roads connecting them. Surprisingly, the Roman buildings were so well made that lots of the remains can still be seen today!

In AD43 when the Romans finally settled in Britain, they found that it was very rural and made up of many small Celtic villages and lots of farmland. The Romans were also greeted with wooden round houses made up of one or two rooms. This didn’t suit the Romans and they began to change and build up the settlements to suit their ways of living.

Wooden round houses were changed to concrete, rectangular ones and other buildings such as temples, baths and theatres were introduced. Just like in Rome, the Romans built everything in neat straight lines so that it was organised.

Basilica A basilica is placed in the centre of a Roman town. It was one of the most important buildings as it was a place where the town magistrates worked, running the town’s legal cases. The basilica was usually attached to the forum making up one of the square sides. The basilica also had a Knight’s Tower which was 329 feet tall!

Forum The forum was a big open marketplace located in the middle of the town. The forum was squared shaped and used for trading with shops on three sides of the square. The forum was also used as a space for meetings.

Temple The temples in Roman towns were a religious place built for worship. However, only the priests serving the gods were allowed inside and anhy worshippers had to stay outside.

Amphitheatre The amphitheater was a round open-air structure with sloped seating that the citizens could visit for entertainment. The amphitheatres were used for events such as chariot racing, gladiator combats, animal fights and executions.

Wall The Romans built walls around their cities to protect them from the enemies. The walls were also built to main control in the areas that had already been built upon. The walls were often built using large, irregular rocks that fitted tightly together.

Roman settlements

In AD43 when the Romans finally settled in Britain, they found that it was very rural and made up of many small Celtic villages and lots of farmland. The Romans were also greeted with wooden round houses made up of one or two rooms. This didn’t suit the Romans and they began to change and build up the settlements to suit their ways of living.