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15 November 2002
Arbeia Roman fort, in South Shields, provides a fitting location to explore the Roman invasion of Britain. With the help of Cambridge University's Dr Chris Kelly, Tony Robinson looks back at what Time Team has uncovered about the early years of the Roman occupation in numerous digs from the last ten years. The programme looks at Roman roads, military forts and settlements, religion and worship, and discusses how the native Britons adapted to the Roman way of life.
The Roman military strategy was simple, brutal and effective. Revisiting excavations at Lambeth Palace, in London, which featured in the 1994 series, and Cheshunt Park, in Hertfordshire, from the 2002 series, we see how Roman roads – designed for ease of military access – were driven straight across England. Forts, such as the ones the Team investigated at Castleford, in Yorkshire, and Papcastle, in Cumbria, became the bases for conquest and military rule. A cemetery at Birdoswald, on Hadrian's Wall, provides an insight into Roman burial and religious practices, while visits to these and other sites provide a rich picture of early Romano-British life.