A Waltham Villa
Gloucestershire
28 January 2001

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Time Team returned to Turkdean as part of its 1999 series to see if they could make sense of the spectacular geophysics results that they had not had time to investigate during the live programme. That same series also included a programme on a Roman bath house found at Beauport Park, East Sussex, and another programme based around a Roman settlement next to a fort at Papcastle, in Cumbria. The 2000 series included an excavation of Roman remains at Cirencester and at Birdoswald on Hadrian's Wall. All of these pages contain further information and extensive links to Roman-related websites.

As well as the Waltham Villa programme, the 2001 series also saw Time Team searching for the remains of a Roman villa at Lower Basildon in Berkshire. There is a special feature on the web pages for that programme on Roman mosaics, including an extensive list of Roman mosaics websites and suggestions for further reading and places to visit.

Websites

Hechingen Roman villa
www.dhm.de/museen/stein/stein_e.html
Take a virtual tour around a Roman villa. This villa, in the commune of Hechingen, in Germany, lay undiscovered under the forest for 1,700 years before its discovery in 1973. The site, which also contains a report on current excavations, is presented in English as well as German.

Caistor Roman town
www.sys.uea.ac.uk/Research/ResGroups/JWMP/CaistorRomanTown/crtp1.html
Another virtual tour, this time around the Roman town of Caistor, in Norfolk, which was a thriving regional capital almost two millennia ago. The site is unique in never having been disturbed by later buildings.

Virtual Rome
www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6946/rome.html
At this excellent site you can not only take a virtual tour of ancient Rome, but can also consult a dictionary of mythology, delve into Roman history and the Latin language, and take your pick of a variety of other links to sites concerned with the ancient world.

Roman Britain
www.bedoyere.freeserve.co.uk
Time Team Roman expert Guy de la Bédoyère's website includes his online catalogue of stone inscriptions found on altars, statue bases, tombstones and other blocks of Roman masonry. Other resources include a catalogue of Roman gods and goddesses based on a chapter from his book A Companion to Roman Britain (see Further Reading).

Roman towns and villas
www.athenapub.com/britmus2.htm
A list of Roman towns and villas in Britain.

Ancient Rome timeline
www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html
A good timeline and other resources on ancient Rome.

Illustrated Guide to the Roman Empire
www.roman-empire.net
The online 'Illustrated Guide to the Roman Empire', which bills itself as 'the leading web resource on Rome'. That claim may be debatable but the site certainly contains extensive information on the subject, including a detailed history, timeline, interactive maps, quiz, frequently asked questions and a great deal more. Well worth a visit.

The Romans
www.open2.net/romans/
Website set up by the Open University and the BBC to accompany a three-part series about the Romans. Presented by Time Team's Roman expert Guy de la Bédoyère, the website allows you to explore each programme in detail, with synopses, scripts and biographies of the contributors. There's also a timeline, details of the main locations visited in the series, an extensive reading list, links to other sites, and more information about the Open University courses that the programmes support.

Open Directory Project
http://dmoz.org/Science/Social_Sciences/Archaeology/
Periods_and_Cultures/Roman/
The archaeology section of the Open Directory Project, a collection of weblinks organised by subject, is maintained by Time Team Forum regular Jean Manco. This includes a range of links to Roman-related websites. There is a section on various Roman sites and monuments in Britain.

Roman Britain Club
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/romanbritain
Another Time Team Forum regular is behind a club on Roman Britain, set up specially to discuss the history and archaeology associated with this furthest outpost of the Roman Empire.

Further reading

A Roman Villas by David Johnston (Shire Archaeology series, 4th edition 1994) £3.95.
An excellent concise guide to the archaeology of villas, their architecture and their role in the life of Roman Britain as centres for agricultural production. The Shire series is extremely useful, and the introductory books in it can be found in every museum bookshop in the country.

Roman Villas and the Countryside by Guy de la Bédoyère (English Heritage, 1993) paperback £15.99
Places villas firmly in the context of the wider landscape and examines their place in the overall economy of Roman Britain.

Roman Gloucestershire by Alan McWhirr (Sutton Publishing, 1991) paperback £6.95
A summary of the evidence for the Roman towns of Cirencester, Bath and Gloucester, as well as for the rich rural villas.

Companion to Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère (Tempus, 1999) hardback £25
This book is a comprehensive compilation of historical and epigraphic facts about Roman Britain and seeks to set the record straight about where facts end and opinions begin. Includes a complete breakdown of all military units, when and where they were stationed and so on, together with details of buildings, officials, administration and the first full list of the Gods of Roman Britain.

The Finds of Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère (Batsford, 1989) paperback £14.99
Written in non-specialist English, this is a well-illustrated guide to the various Roman finds from sites across the country, placing them within their social context.

Roman Britain by Tim Potter and Catherine Johns ('Exploring the Roman World' series, British Museum Publications, 1992) hardback £19.95; paperback £12.99
A survey of the effects of Roman culture on Britain and its people, by two British Museum curators. Includes evidence from the latest archaeological discoveries, including the Vindolanda writing tablets and the Thetford and Snettisham treasures, as well as a gazetteer of noteworthy sites to visit.

Roman Britain by T W Potter (British Museum Press, 1983, 2nd edition 1997) paperback £8.99
The four centuries during which the Roman presence in Britain rose, flourished and declined changed every aspect of life: industry, trade, government, the arts and learning. This book gives an illustrated outline of the period.

The Landscape of Roman Britain by Ken and Petra Dark (Sutton Publishing, 1997) paperback £10.99
A history of Roman Britain, considering the effects of human activity on the landscape, with particular attention paid to the Iron Age background.

Roman Britain by Martin Millett (English Heritage, 1995) paperback £15.99
Making full use of the archaeological material available, this introductory study of four centuries of Roman presence in Britain explores the central themes of daily life, laying particular emphasis on the social, economic and cultural history.

Life in Roman Britain by Joan Alcock (Batsford/English Heritage, 1996) paperback £15.99
An excellent social history of life in Roman Britain covering food and drink, clothing, recreation, administration and religion. Richly illustrated.

Ordnance Survey Historical Map and Guide to Roman Britain (Ordnance Survey, 1995) £6.25
This Ordnance Survey new map and guide incorporates the advances that have been made in our knowledge of Roman military sites, roads and place names in recent years. The information is portrayed for the first time against a background of modern Britain. The map, which covers the whole of Great Britain is printed with North and South Britain back to back and includes a comprehensive index of sites, photographs and a chronological table. Informative text describes the construction and layout of both Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall, with a list of the best-preserved parts to visit or view. The text also gives an insight into settlements, amphitheatres and temples, as well as industry and mining.

An Atlas of Roman Britain by Barri Jones and David Mattingly (Blackwell, 1993, 2001 edition) paperback £15.99
An amazing accumulation of archaeological evidence has been used to map every aspect of Roman life on a countrywide scale, including the distribution of Roman forts, towns, villas, potteries and quarries. Lots of additional plans and useful descriptions on each topic.

Vitruvius: On Architecture translated by Frank Granger (Harvard University Press, 1996) hardback £12.95
Studied by architects from the Renaissance to the present, Vitruvius's book is an incredible DIY handbook ranging from recipes for plaster and paint to the aesthetic use of marble and the construction of siege engines. An invaluable reference for Time Team cameos and a guide to the styles and means of construction of Roman buildings that survive today.

Roman Coinage in Britain (Shire Publications, 1994) £4.99
A concise guide to coins from the Roman era in Britain.

Women in Roman Britain by Lindsay Allason-Jones (British Museum Press, 1992, new edition 2000) paperback £14.99
Tombstones, writing tablets and curse tablets have revealed a great deal about the lives of Romano-British women, their social status, health, pastimes, dress, jewellery, hairstyles, homes and religion. The author has produced a wide-ranging survey of the information.

Two short, illustrated books aimed at children provide a basic insight to life in a Roman villa:

A Roman Villa by Richard Dargie, illustrated by Adam Hook (Hodder Wayland, 2000) hardback £9.99
This text looks at life inside a Roman villa through the objects found there: mosaics, statues of gods, food warmers, jewellery, a gladiator's helmet and so on. It moves on from the Roman villa to look at aspects of Roman life: food and drink, houses and homes, leisure and religion.

A Roman Villa: Inside Story by Jacqueline Morley (Hodder Wayland, 1996) £4.99
This illustrated book explains what went on in and around a Roman villa, providing insight into everyday life in the Roman world.

Visiting Roman villas
The following Roman villa sites are open to the public. Check for opening times and other details.

Chedworth Roman Villa
Yanworth
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL54 3LJ
Tel: 01242 890256
Close to the Time Team site at Waltham Field and well worth a visit.

Bignor Roman Villa
Bignor
Pulborough
West Sussex RH20 1PH
Tel: 01798 869259.
One of the less well-known Romano–British sites open to the public, the villa has a marvellous collection of mosaics. It is six miles north of Arundel, signposted from the A29 and the A285.

Kings Weston Villa
Long Cross
Bristol
Tel: 01272 223571
The remains of a Roman farmhouse, bath, hypocaust and mosaics.

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