0:00:04 > 0:00:09This is the story of how Britain came to be.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Of how our land, and its people,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15were forged over thousands of years of ancient history.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27This Britain is a strange and alien world.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32A world that contains the epic story of our distant, prehistoric past.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Sudden climate change and instability
0:00:37 > 0:00:38had ended the Bronze Age,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and led to a new era...
0:00:41 > 0:00:42..of iron.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49'This was a time of brochs in the north...'
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Everything about this place says "keep out".
0:00:51 > 0:00:53'..and hillforts in the south,
0:00:53 > 0:00:58'marking territories in which the control of land was everything.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02'What was emerging was the world of Celtic Britain -
0:01:02 > 0:01:07'a society of warriors, druids,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10'and kings of extraordinary wealth.'
0:01:10 > 0:01:12What events did he witness,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16and what power did he wield?
0:01:18 > 0:01:20'Now the journey continues,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25'with the next chapter in our epic story.'
0:01:25 > 0:01:28These beaches were lined with thousands of British warriors -
0:01:28 > 0:01:31and out there, a fleet of 98 ships,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34carrying two legions of Roman infantry.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37A moment in history
0:01:37 > 0:01:42when the Celtic tribes faced up to a power of unimaginable force.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Their heads were cut off their bodies,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and their heads were stuck on spikes.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49This is what would happen to you if you got in the way of Rome.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52And Britain fell to the greatest empire
0:01:52 > 0:01:54the world had ever seen.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Britain, 100 BC.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19A land of Celtic tribes,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22led by powerful warrior kings.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28No more than 100 or so regional leaders
0:02:28 > 0:02:32reigning over one to two million people...
0:02:32 > 0:02:35..all vying to protect their own lands,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and take that of their neighbours.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44The Iron Age tribes were competitive,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46they were warlike,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and their leaders could be extremely wealthy.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55They were also internationally connected,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58and there's a remarkable insight
0:02:58 > 0:03:03into how widespread those connections were, here in Edinburgh.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13This is a collection of gold jewellery
0:03:13 > 0:03:16found in Scotland just last year.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19They were actually unearthed near Stirling, close to where I live.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22They are obviously magnificent,
0:03:22 > 0:03:23they're incredibly valuable,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25and, in fact, they're so precious,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I'm not allowed to lay so much as a finger on them.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Amongst many other things,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35they show the wealth and the power
0:03:35 > 0:03:39of some Iron Age British tribal leaders.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45These first two
0:03:45 > 0:03:48are typically Scottish.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52They're certainly what you'd expect to find
0:03:52 > 0:03:55a Celtic Scottish warlord owning.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58This one, though, is a bit different.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02This was made in the south of France,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04so it's a luxury import from Gaul.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08But the most intriguing story of all comes from this one.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11The level of craftsmanship here
0:04:11 > 0:04:14is of a different order of magnitude.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18It's been made by twisting together
0:04:18 > 0:04:23eight delicate golden strands.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Then there's this incredible, detailed finery
0:04:27 > 0:04:28on the terminals.
0:04:30 > 0:04:36This one is the work of hands trained in the classical world.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39In 100 BC,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43that meant connections to one place, and one place only -
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Rome.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50During the course of a century or so,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Rome's armies had begun to create an empire,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55extending from their Mediterranean heartlands
0:04:55 > 0:04:58along the coasts of Africa and Europe.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Now, that expansion
0:05:01 > 0:05:06was bringing trade to the northern Celtic tribes of Gaul...
0:05:06 > 0:05:08and to Britain.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The English Channel was all that separated island Britain
0:05:18 > 0:05:20from Gaul in northern France,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22and the river routes
0:05:22 > 0:05:25leading south to the classical world of the Mediterranean.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30But for the Celtic kings on both sides of the Channel,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34increasing contact with Rome wasn't a military threat,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37but an economic opportunity.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42And here, behind those cliffs, was the heart of Britain's international trade -
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Hengistbury Head,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46near Christchurch on the south coast.
0:05:46 > 0:05:472,000 years ago,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50this was the busiest port in the whole of Britain.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Hengistbury forms a narrow peninsula,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58sheltering a perfect natural harbour.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07This was the gateway into Ancient Britain.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12A vibrant hub of everything international and exotic.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16From around 100 BC,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18this vast headland
0:06:18 > 0:06:21was fast becoming the most important settlement
0:06:21 > 0:06:22in the whole of Britain.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24It was a boomtown,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27fuelled by international trade.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28This whole area would have been busy
0:06:28 > 0:06:31with hundreds of merchants' trading posts.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36There would have been people smelting iron, making jewellery, and all sorts.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38There would have been shops and homes.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40It would be a cosmopolitan place,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42like any busy port in the modern day.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45So there'd be people from foreign places, foreign accents,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48exotic foods and smells.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52So much of it would be instantly recognisable to us.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'Iron Age specialist Sir Barry Cunliffe
0:06:58 > 0:07:00'has studied Hengistbury for decades.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:06So what kind of things were coming through Hengistbury?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09The most obvious was wine,
0:07:09 > 0:07:15which came from North Italy in these great containers,
0:07:15 > 0:07:16called amphorae.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It would be a tall neck with a big handle.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21- There's the other... - They're massive, aren't they?
0:07:21 > 0:07:22Huge things.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25It would take a couple of people to carry them.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28They would stand a metre and a half high,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and contain a great deal of wine.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32The first wine drunk in Britain
0:07:32 > 0:07:36was probably wine drunk out of these amphorae, somewhere down here.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39These are rather smaller items,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42which you see is just a chunk of glass.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43But it's manganese glass,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46and they would be very valuable objects of trade.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50A big block of that glass would be worth a huge amount of money.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54And we've also got a little piece of yellow glass as well.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Goodness, that's glass! I wouldn't have realised.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59It looks more like a fleck of paint.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And, again, you see, people wouldn't have seen anything like that.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05The most amazing thing, I think, is...
0:08:05 > 0:08:08..this piece of bracelet.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Oh, goodness, that's fantastic!
0:08:10 > 0:08:15So that's that raw purple glass and that yellow, brought together.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The yellow glass would be very, very rare,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and they've just used it to make the trail.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25If you can give people something they've never had before,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27like wine at a feast,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31then your status will stay pretty high.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34If you can give them one of these glass bracelets in a feast,
0:08:34 > 0:08:35as a gift,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37my word, you had power!
0:08:37 > 0:08:40The future came in through this door, didn't it?
0:08:40 > 0:08:41That's absolutely right.
0:08:44 > 0:08:45'But these boom times
0:08:45 > 0:08:48'were about to come to an abrupt end,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50'all because of war.'
0:08:52 > 0:08:56All the amphorae found here are from the same period.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57After that,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00the import of Roman luxuries stopped.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04What's clear is that by around 50 or 60 BC,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08the good times were over at Hengistbury Head.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09And why?
0:09:09 > 0:09:11The Romans were on the march.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Just across that narrow channel, in Gaul,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16things had turned ugly.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Nobody was thinking very much about trade any more.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Instead, all minds were preoccupied
0:09:22 > 0:09:24by the brutal war that had broken out
0:09:24 > 0:09:29as the Romans sought to take over Celtic Gaul.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34The Roman Army was coming closer,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and as war raged in mainland Europe,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40island Britain, for all her warrior kings and Celtic glory,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43suddenly looked vulnerable.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51'Britain was about to enter a new chapter,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54'because under the Romans,
0:09:54 > 0:09:55'nothing would be the same again.'
0:09:55 > 0:09:59When the Romans came to Britain, they changed everything -
0:09:59 > 0:10:03modern governance, with laws and taxation.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06The idea of urban life -
0:10:06 > 0:10:10towns and cities connected by roads.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12Written language,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15with names for people and places,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17as well as dates.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21This would be the very end of prehistory.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28But the arrival of Romans in Britain wasn't going to happen overnight...
0:10:28 > 0:10:32..and not without a series a brutal conflicts.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54Early on the morning of the 23rd August, 55 years BC,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56these beaches in Kent
0:10:56 > 0:10:58were lined with thousands of British warriors.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01On horseback, in chariots,
0:11:01 > 0:11:02brandishing long swords -
0:11:02 > 0:11:04they were a fearsome sight.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05Just days earlier,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09their leaders had turned down the invitation to surrender,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12opting instead to rise to the challenge of invasion.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16'Having crushed Gaul,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'by 55 BC, Rome had set its sights on Britain -
0:11:20 > 0:11:22'one more prize.'
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Out there, a fleet of 98 ships,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32carrying two legions of Roman infantry - 20,000 soldiers.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34And, at their head, Julius Caesar,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Roman general and budding emperor,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40intent on demonstrating his bravery and strength
0:11:40 > 0:11:41to the citizens of Rome.
0:11:44 > 0:11:45And what better challenge
0:11:45 > 0:11:48than to make the treacherous Channel crossing,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51and add Britain to his list of triumphs?
0:11:55 > 0:11:58As the huge fleet of warships approached these shores,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01the British warriors knew what was at stake.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03The mission was clear -
0:12:03 > 0:12:06to fight to protect their own identity,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09and to defend Britain's independence from Rome.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12As it happened,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14the hostile British welcome,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16and the shallow Kent beaches,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18were more than Caesar had bargained for.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22He was quickly sent off with a bloody nose and some broken boats.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24The hard men of Britain had won,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26at least for a while.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31But Caesar wasn't about to back down.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35He just needed even more force,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39and that's something Rome had in plenty.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42On the 7th of July the following year, Caesar was back.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43This time with 800 ships,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46carrying 50,000 professional soldiers,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and 2,000 cavalry.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50For a glorious century,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Britain had enjoyed the finest Roman luxuries.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Now they were to take a dose
0:12:56 > 0:12:59of Roman brute force.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02If ever there was a time when the warring tribes of Britain
0:13:02 > 0:13:05needed to stand shoulder to shoulder,
0:13:05 > 0:13:06this was it.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10The lands of Celtic Britain
0:13:10 > 0:13:13were divided into fiercely independent tribal territories.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Those facing Caesar were in the south east.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26The Cantiaci, who gave their name to Kent.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29The Iceni, in Norfolk.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The Trinovantes, in Essex and Sussex.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34And, most powerful of all,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36the Catuvellauni,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39who controlled extensive lands north of the Thames.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47The trouble was that the Trinovantes hated the Catuvellauni
0:13:47 > 0:13:52even more than they hated the Romans.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54The Trinovantes were an Essex tribe
0:13:54 > 0:13:57locked in a war with their belligerent neighbours, the Catuvellauni,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00a name that meant "expert warriors".
0:14:00 > 0:14:01After their king was murdered,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03the Essex boys reasoned
0:14:03 > 0:14:06that they could get revenge by helping Caesar.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08So they guided him across Kent,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11towards Catuvellauni territory.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20The British tribes, led by the leader of the Catuvellauni,
0:14:20 > 0:14:25had moved inland, hoping to ambush Caesar as he moved north.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Only one man was trusted to command the force,
0:14:29 > 0:14:34the most fearsome and belligerent leader of the most fearsome and belligerent tribe -
0:14:34 > 0:14:35Cassivellaunus,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37king of the expert warriors,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40sworn enemy of Caesar's new-found friends.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44These were tough warriors,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47fighting for their lives and homes,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49and armed with the very latest
0:14:49 > 0:14:51in Iron Age weapons.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59The British possessed a weapon they had invented,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01one that was desired throughout Europe -
0:15:01 > 0:15:06the long, iron, slashing sword.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32The lesson there is
0:15:32 > 0:15:33don't stand still
0:15:33 > 0:15:36if a man on a horse is coming at you with a sword.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38At least duck!
0:15:39 > 0:15:44Andy Deane is an expert in ancient combat.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46If you're on horseback,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48you're coming down on those vulnerable areas higher up.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50If we were on foot,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53then I'd be looking for vulnerable targets,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55like the tendons at the back of the knee.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58As soon as I've hit that, it's basically an execution after that.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00So, you'd choose your targets.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03So even on the ground, you'd still be chopping down...
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Yeah. I'd try not to chop too much.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07I'd try and keep the sword moving all the time,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10so I retained energy, so that movement would keep it going.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13So if I was coming for your leg, it would be cut, sliced through.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- and as you went down, I would do the coup de grace. - Can I...- Of course you may.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- I could see your eyes lighting up. - I want to hack at something.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22We can organise that.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24We can get something big and solid to have a play with.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26I fear I might do an air shot.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Do NOT let go of the sword.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31I can only... It's this thing about... I want to do that...
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Honestly, if you use...
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Have a couple of sort of swipes over the top.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38- Yeah.- A bit like a golf swing.- Yeah.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43And literally, as if you're taking the top of a dandelion off.
0:16:43 > 0:16:44Whoom.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Right.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47OK.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52- I think I might be a natural backhand, actually.- Really?- No. OK.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55Oh!
0:16:55 > 0:16:57- ANDY LAUGHS - It doesn't even slow down!
0:16:57 > 0:17:00- No. Absolutely stunning!- Wow!
0:17:00 > 0:17:01Have another go.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13But, for all their swords, chariots, and spears,
0:17:14 > 0:17:15the British were driven back.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Their last hope was to mount a final defence
0:17:19 > 0:17:21on the north bank of the Thames.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Over there, where those trees are today,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30the Thames opened out into a wide, marshy ford
0:17:30 > 0:17:32that was just shallow enough to walk across.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Now only that ford
0:17:35 > 0:17:39stood between Rome and the British heartlands.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44The British chief
0:17:44 > 0:17:47assembled his forces here on the north shore,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49and he lined the bank with sharpened stakes
0:17:49 > 0:17:51in preparation for an ambush.
0:17:51 > 0:17:52Really, though,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56the best hope was that the Romans would never find this place,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and the river would act as a natural barrier, holding them back.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03But with the help of their new British Allies,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05the invaders were here in no time
0:18:05 > 0:18:07and the end game was in sight.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17It's strange to think that today, you can relax here with a drink,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21surrounded by this very British scene.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Because it was here, 2,000 years ago,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25that British history hung in the balance.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28The Roman Army just kept on coming,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30wave after wave of soldiers.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33The British ambush was in vain, and once again,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36they were forced to abandon their position and flee.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38With the country laid wide open to the invaders,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41the chiefs in the area knew what was coming
0:18:41 > 0:18:45and one by one, they defected, becoming sworn allies of Rome.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52The British leader, Cassivellaunus, and his closest followers
0:18:52 > 0:18:53put up one last stand...
0:18:54 > 0:18:56..but were massacred.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00This was more than the end of an era,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03it was the end of Britain's ancient prehistory,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07unfolding in the face of an unstoppable force -
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Rome and the modern world.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15After such a decisive victory,
0:19:15 > 0:19:20it's tempting to imagine Britain falling under outright Roman rule.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21But that's not what happened.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25With pledges of allegiance from the tribes of the Southeast,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27it seemed Caesar was satisfied.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30After just three months in the country, he left,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33taking his entire army with him.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37The Britain he left behind was by no means completely Roman.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40But it wasn't completely British any more either,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44and her people would never be the same again.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Britain was entering a whole new chapter.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54But, so far,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Roman force had only touched a small part of our land.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01In the North and West,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Caesar's expedition must have seemed as distant as his war with Gaul.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12But in the South, things were different.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Some tribes hated the Romans,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18others saw the idea of taking on modern Roman ways
0:20:18 > 0:20:20as a bright new future.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24It was to be the best part of a century
0:20:24 > 0:20:28before any Roman soldier ever set foot on British soil again.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31But in the decades after 55 BC,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Britain began to change from the inside,
0:20:34 > 0:20:39and remarkable evidence for that is being found here in Hampshire.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Look at these massive walls
0:20:58 > 0:20:59and this gateway!
0:20:59 > 0:21:01They mark the perimeter
0:21:01 > 0:21:04of one of the most important cities in all of Roman Britain -
0:21:04 > 0:21:05Calleva.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07We know it today as Silchester.
0:21:13 > 0:21:14But the town of Silchester
0:21:14 > 0:21:18began life long before Britain became part of the Roman Empire.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23What archaeologists are finding is evidence of a proper town,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26quite unlike anything ever found before in Britain.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29A town founded by Britons,
0:21:29 > 0:21:30built by Britons
0:21:30 > 0:21:32and run by Britons.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39'Amanda Clarke is in charge of one of the biggest archaeological excavations
0:21:39 > 0:21:42'taking place in Britain today.'
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Where we're walking now is the surface of a street
0:21:45 > 0:21:49that we believe was founded as early as 25 BC.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51So, in the Iron Age.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54This isn't just random territory we're walking across here,
0:21:54 > 0:21:55this is a street.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57This is actually a street surface.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01It runs from the northeast down to the southwest,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03which is the Iron Age alignment.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Ah, right. So, completely counter
0:22:05 > 0:22:09to the way the Romans subsequently aligned their grid plan?
0:22:09 > 0:22:12We believe it's aligned to the midsummer sunrise
0:22:12 > 0:22:13and the midwinter sunset.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16That's what the Iron Age people
0:22:16 > 0:22:18aligned their buildings and streets on.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Where does the road go when it hits the corner of the trench? What happens?
0:22:21 > 0:22:24It turns a 90-degrees right angle,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27and joins with a wider street
0:22:27 > 0:22:30which runs from the northwest to the southeast.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Iron Age towns aren't supposed to do that, are they?
0:22:33 > 0:22:36They're not supposed to be regular like that.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39That's certainly what was believed before we started working here -
0:22:39 > 0:22:43that the Iron Age towns were much more organically developed.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And it really wasn't until two years ago
0:22:46 > 0:22:49that these streets began to appear in our excavation
0:22:49 > 0:22:55and we realised, "Hang on, this is actually laid out on a grid system."
0:22:55 > 0:22:57It implies so many things,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59not least that somebody had to plan it,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01somebody had to organise it.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04That you had to decide where certain buildings were.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06It's a real difference.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Iron Age Silchester
0:23:11 > 0:23:14is the earliest known example of urban design
0:23:14 > 0:23:17anywhere in Britain.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19So who was having these ideas,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22if there were no Romans here at the time?
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Well, Caesar had left 30 years before
0:23:26 > 0:23:28and he took hostages with him -
0:23:28 > 0:23:30sons of the elite.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34They weren't exactly captured and taken against their will,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38it was more as gestures of goodwill,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41guarantees of healthy relationships in the future.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44They were schooled in Rome, and then sent home,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48full of Roman habits and ideas, to spread the word.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52They'd be the ones saying, when it came time to build a city,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56"If you're going to do that, the streets and roads have to be laid out in a grid pattern.
0:23:56 > 0:23:57"It's all got to be done right.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00"It's got to be done the way they do it in Rome."
0:24:02 > 0:24:03And in Silchester,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06it wasn't only the streets that were becoming Romanised.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10The Roman influence is tangible in the foods that were being consumed.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15There's evidence of the use of coriander, dill and anchovies.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18There's also evidence of the consumption of oysters -
0:24:18 > 0:24:20these shells here.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Iron Age Britons, prior to contact with Rome,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26weren't eating oysters.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29So the fact that these had come back into fashion
0:24:29 > 0:24:31is evidence of contact with Rome,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35of people acquiring Roman habits and Roman tastes.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39This tiny coin - excavated here -
0:24:39 > 0:24:41is a very powerful indication
0:24:41 > 0:24:43of just how much the people living here
0:24:43 > 0:24:45modelled themselves on Rome.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48It's a silver minim.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50On this face,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53it has the head of the king,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56looking every inch the Roman Emperor.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Except, on his head, instead of a crown,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01he has a Celtic torc.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02There's even writing on it.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06On this side, the name of the king, Verica.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09On the other side,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11there's another Celtic torc,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15and it surrounds two letters - CF.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17These stand for Commius Filius,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19son of Commius,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23the first king of the Atrebates tribe.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27This is from very early in the 1st century,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30a time when most British people had no idea about writing.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34So to incorporate writing on this coin is truly radical.
0:25:37 > 0:25:38This was new -
0:25:38 > 0:25:40not entirely Roman,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42but not entirely Celtic either.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49In Silchester, classical and Celtic cultures were colliding,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52touching not just the social elite,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55but the lives of everyone who lived here.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59This is a fascinating, exciting time to imagine -
0:25:59 > 0:26:02the coming of Rome.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07I suppose it's easiest to imagine that the British social elite
0:26:07 > 0:26:09would have been the first and the fastest
0:26:09 > 0:26:11to take on Roman ways.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15But here - in the building of this town, this city -
0:26:15 > 0:26:20for the first time, we see Roman practices, the Roman way,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23being embedded into the very fabric of people's lives.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26To such an extent that it even determined
0:26:26 > 0:26:29the layout of their streets and roads and buildings.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31But imagine, too,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33what all of this was like for ordinary people,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35coming in from the surrounding area,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37encountering a city for the first time.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42Walking along regimented grids of streets,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45smelling foreign foods, seeing the new clothes.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50It must have been, quite literally, like walking into an alien world.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59But Silchester and the Roman-friendly pockets of Southeast England were rare.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Across most of Britain,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09the tribal traditions of the Celtic Iron Age continued unabated.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23Look at this slope -
0:27:23 > 0:27:26this is a rampart.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Now, some British tribes may have bought into the Roman dream,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32but almost a century after Caesar,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35this giant fortress was still a proud symbol
0:27:35 > 0:27:37of Iron Age Celtic identity.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42This great hillfort
0:27:42 > 0:27:46was the focal point of tribal life for the Durotriges,
0:27:46 > 0:27:47a powerful Dorset tribe.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Behind these massive ramparts was an obvious place of defence,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56a safe haven in time of war.
0:27:56 > 0:27:57But for 100 years or more,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01there'd been relative peace in this part of Britain.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03By the middle of the 1st century AD,
0:28:03 > 0:28:07people were living far and wide in scattered settlements.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12This fort, and others like it, had become symbolic focal points,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15places in which to gather for storage, for trade,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18for ceremony and for worship.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22But in AD43,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25almost 200 miles to the east, in Kent,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Roman troops landed once more.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32This time, to go one better than Caesar
0:28:32 > 0:28:34and take all of Britain,
0:28:34 > 0:28:38to make it part of the Empire under total Roman rule.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Hod Hill, and other hillforts like it,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45were to see action once more.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Studies of human remains
0:28:53 > 0:28:56reveal the outcome of the bloody battles
0:28:56 > 0:28:58for Dorset's Iron Age hillforts.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03They appear to have been stabbed, one person has trauma to their hand
0:29:03 > 0:29:06so they may have actually tried to grab the weapon.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10And on this individual, this square aperture here
0:29:10 > 0:29:14was probably caused by a Roman spear.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17There are multiple chop marks,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19so they were disfiguring these people.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21They're more than necessary to kill them
0:29:21 > 0:29:25and they're quite violent and aggressive injuries.
0:29:26 > 0:29:32It wasn't only male warriors who were on the receiving end of the Roman swords.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37We have one woman where she has a chop mark to the back of her leg,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41and she has a further two big chop marks to the back of her head.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45And that's quite commonly seen where people are trying to run away.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49As well as hand-to-hand combat,
0:29:49 > 0:29:54the full might of Rome was being launched in a wave of shock and awe.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56What we've got here is this embedded projectile.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00So you can see that it's come in at a slight angle
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and has removed portions of the bone.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07These projectiles are actually fired, kind of like artillery weapons.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15If the sheer weight of numbers and military organisation weren't enough...
0:30:16 > 0:30:20..the Roman army also brought a new machinery of war.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23- This is your missile... - This is the weapon?
0:30:23 > 0:30:26You might call it an arrow, we call it a bolt.
0:30:26 > 0:30:32'Just weeks after landing, Rome had taken control of the Southeast -
0:30:32 > 0:30:35'but it wasn't until about a year later that they began their campaign
0:30:35 > 0:30:38'for the Celtic heartlands of the west.'
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Ohhh! Over the top.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45You can imagine these things coming out of the sky -
0:30:45 > 0:30:49if you were the enemy you'd not see them coming - imagine a whole battery of these.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53What range are we talking about, then, with one of these?
0:30:53 > 0:30:56The ancient writers tell us they could go something like 300 metres.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58This could go 300 metres?
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Yeah, which is way, way beyond what a bowman could do.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07From the surrounding area, the tribespeople gathered
0:31:07 > 0:31:10behind the ramparts, lined with sharpened stakes.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14They faced a dreadful choice - should they risk their identity
0:31:14 > 0:31:18and accept the so-called civilisation of the Roman Empire,
0:31:18 > 0:31:22or risk their lives, and fight to retain their independence?
0:31:24 > 0:31:28'But even the defences of the giant hillforts were no match
0:31:28 > 0:31:32'for the Romans, as its armies stormed into the Southwest.'
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Right, same guy, third on the left...
0:31:41 > 0:31:44- Third on the left.- Head shot.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50- BOLT HITS TARGET - Yes!
0:31:51 > 0:31:55If that was flesh and bone, that would have gone through and out the other side?
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- It would have been sticking out your backbone, yes.- Wow...
0:32:03 > 0:32:05'The continuing invasion, though,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08'was much more than a series of battles and route marches.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10'It was a colossal logistical exercise -
0:32:12 > 0:32:15'a master plan the Romans knew would take decades to complete.'
0:32:18 > 0:32:20It's tempting to imagine the Romans
0:32:20 > 0:32:22sweeping across Britain in a great wave,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24but it wasn't like that.
0:32:24 > 0:32:29In fact, it was more of a slow, steady creep, decade by decade,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33fighting all the way - building roads, building forts.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Everywhere they went, they had to create an entire infrastructure.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42Years of construction created a whole network of roads
0:32:42 > 0:32:45that linked military garrisons,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48strategically spaced to control Southern England.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03This is a Roman military road - part of a network that eventually
0:33:03 > 0:33:07stretched for 2,000 miles throughout the whole country.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14These were the motorways of the Roman occupation -
0:33:14 > 0:33:17express routes to help them keep the locals under control.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20But for the native Britons...
0:33:21 > 0:33:23..the psychological impact of their presence
0:33:23 > 0:33:27was every bit as much as disturbing as their practical function.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Each road, a monument to the Roman army.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35In places, this bank is as much as six feet high and 50 feet wide.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39That's some statement to make to the locals -
0:33:39 > 0:33:42a constant, impressive reminder of the might of Rome.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53With a military infrastructure in place,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56the Romans then began to build towns -
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Colchester, London and St Albans -
0:34:00 > 0:34:03in the comparatively safe Southeast.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Exeter, Gloucester, and Lincoln on the frontier.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11But it would take decades to expand this frontier -
0:34:11 > 0:34:13first into Wales...
0:34:14 > 0:34:16..and then to the North.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19York was founded in AD71,
0:34:20 > 0:34:24and the far reaches of Carlisle in AD79.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33After 35 years of Roman campaigns, much of the template of modern Britain
0:34:33 > 0:34:37had been carved from its ancient landscapes.
0:34:38 > 0:34:44One of the very first Roman towns was Colchester, or Camulodunum,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49founded in AD49, just six years after the start of the invasion.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53This gate, known as the Balkerne gate,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58is the oldest surviving, most complete Roman gateway in Britain.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01It was once part of an enormous triumphal arch,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04built to honour the Roman emperor Claudius.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08Now, if you lived in an Iron Age village, in a roundhouse,
0:35:08 > 0:35:12you wouldn't really need to feel the sharp edge of a Roman sword
0:35:12 > 0:35:15to know that the people who were building these
0:35:15 > 0:35:17were the people in control.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23A Roman soldier returning here from the front,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26or a civilian bureaucrat counting taxes,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29would have found a place little different to any other town
0:35:29 > 0:35:31anywhere in the empire.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37These towns were built in the image of Rome, for Romans.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41The most important started out as colonies for retired soldiers -
0:35:41 > 0:35:44so clearly, they were here to stay.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47If the Roman army was the cutting edge,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50then these towns were the beating heart.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54These were the nerve centres of Roman rule and administration,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57and you can imagine the impact on the local population
0:35:57 > 0:36:01as people were press-ganged into actually BUILDING these towns!
0:36:12 > 0:36:15These skulls were found in the 1970s.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18They were excavated from within the fill of a ditch
0:36:18 > 0:36:23that was originally cut soon after the Roman invasion began.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Apart from one small piece of arm bone,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29there were no other human remains with them.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32So these weren't burials - these were skulls that had been
0:36:32 > 0:36:34thrown away, discarded like rubbish.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41These men - and they are native British men -
0:36:41 > 0:36:45lived around 50AD, soon after the Roman invasion,
0:36:45 > 0:36:49and precisely when the bright, shiny new city
0:36:49 > 0:36:52of Camulodunum was being built.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54But what's more fascinating about them
0:36:54 > 0:36:59is the fact that they didn't die of natural causes.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02This is a depressed fracture.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06It shows no signs of healing, so it probably caused this man's death.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11It's been the result of him having been struck very forcibly
0:37:11 > 0:37:14with something blunt, but heavy -
0:37:14 > 0:37:17he's been bludgeoned to death.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21There's even more graphic violence on this skull, though.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23Towards the base of the back of the skull,
0:37:23 > 0:37:29you can see a notch of bone has been hacked away.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34This man, soon after death,
0:37:34 > 0:37:40was the victim of a fairly crude, brutal decapitation.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46It seems likely that these men were executed by the Romans -
0:37:46 > 0:37:51their heads were cut from their bodies, and then impaled on spikes.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54These were an example - this was to show passers-by
0:37:54 > 0:37:57what happened to transgressors, opponents of Rome.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Whoever these men were, whatever they were doing,
0:38:00 > 0:38:06they had become victims of an oppressive, often violent regime,
0:38:06 > 0:38:13that was extending its control over the newly-acquired colony of Britannia.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Rome was transforming Britain,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26and its efforts were all for one purpose -
0:38:26 > 0:38:30to plunder our land of its natural resources.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Copper and tin had been central to Britain's economy,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38right back into the Bronze Age.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42But Britain also had other minerals that were prized by the Romans.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55These scars are the remains of Roman lead mining.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59In some places, these trenches - or rakes, as they're called -
0:38:59 > 0:39:02are 100m long and 10m wide.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07It took the Roman army just six years to get their fort established,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10and to get the lead mining up and running at full tilt.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14And it must have been some operation,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17because very quickly these hills were established
0:39:17 > 0:39:20as the single biggest lead mine in the whole of the Roman Empire.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Spanish lead producers felt so threatened by what was going on,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27they tried to demand a cut in production here - some hope!
0:39:32 > 0:39:34The scale of lead mining here in the Mendips
0:39:34 > 0:39:37wouldn't be seen again for a thousand years.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43This is an ingot of Roman lead,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47mined from these hills 2,000 or so years ago.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Now, lead had long been used by the native Britons
0:39:51 > 0:39:55as a constituent of bronze, as a constituent of pewter -
0:39:55 > 0:39:57but the Romans had found
0:39:57 > 0:40:00more practical applications for the metal.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02They'd used it for plumbing, obviously,
0:40:02 > 0:40:07they'd used it for lead pipes, and as parts of aqueducts...
0:40:08 > 0:40:12They had also - more worryingly, given that lead is toxic -
0:40:12 > 0:40:15used it to line cooking vessels.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18They'd even used lead within some recipes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23The lead was smelted behind the walls of the Roman fort,
0:40:23 > 0:40:25and the fort was kept heavily guarded.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28This is an incredibly heavy object -
0:40:28 > 0:40:30it weighs about as much as a grown man.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32There'd be around 90kg in this one.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36This ingot is stamped
0:40:36 > 0:40:40"The Property Of The Emperor Vespasian Augustus'"
0:40:40 > 0:40:45Now, the reason this material mattered so much that it could bear
0:40:45 > 0:40:50the name of an emperor, is because of what's contained within it.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57By processing lead, Roman metallurgists could extract
0:40:57 > 0:41:02another metal that lay at the very heart of the Roman economy...
0:41:03 > 0:41:05..silver.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07This is the starting point of all of this.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10This is just a piece of galena - lead sulphide,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13the lead mineral which everyone would mine here in the Mendips.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15So that's naturally occurring?
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Yeah. Exactly. This is galena. It's a mineral, not a metal.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23That's actually too hot to sit in front of.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Well, that's a very good sign.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34What scale would the Roman smelters have been working on?
0:41:34 > 0:41:39They would normally work at a scale at least ten times larger than this.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44The lead has already melted, and as soon as we're exposing it
0:41:44 > 0:41:48to oxygen, as you can see, it's tarnishing at the surface, it's becoming yellow -
0:41:48 > 0:41:52and all of this yellowness is the lead oxide. That's what we want to happen.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55We want progressively to oxidise all of this lead,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59until eventually, we're left with the silver...
0:42:02 > 0:42:07- There it is!- Indeed.- Well, there's SOMETHING shining in the bottom...
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Yes. That's our silver.
0:42:09 > 0:42:10Wow!
0:42:12 > 0:42:14And that, at the end of it,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17is the justification for this scarred landscape.
0:42:21 > 0:42:28It was natural resources that made the conquest of western Britain a priority - and above all, Wales -
0:42:28 > 0:42:33because out here the Romans knew there was the most valuable prize of all.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39They were 30 years into their invasion of Britain before Wales was finally subdued,
0:42:39 > 0:42:45and this was a major prize - because here in these hills, there was gold.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59In typical Roman style, the technology they used was staggering.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03This was gold mining on a truly industrial scale.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Here, they built aqueducts along that hillside
0:43:08 > 0:43:11to bring water directly into the mine workings
0:43:11 > 0:43:15from seven miles away in that direction, and from five miles away over there.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19The water was channelled into great tanks,
0:43:19 > 0:43:20each the size of a tennis court.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23This is one of them - or the remains of it -
0:43:23 > 0:43:29and if you look, you can see, rising up, the remains of the retaining walls.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33Massively built to contain as much as a million gallons of water.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38You see, the Romans weren't interested in just collecting flecks of gold from the rivers and streams.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41Instead, they would open sluice gates -
0:43:41 > 0:43:42this is the remains of one here -
0:43:42 > 0:43:45and then all those millions of gallons of water
0:43:45 > 0:43:49would flood down the hillside, stripping away trees, plants,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51the very soil,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54to expose the veins of quartzite that contained the gold.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00And that was only the beginning.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Once they'd found the gold, they needed to dig it out.
0:44:07 > 0:44:13In the past, this would have been a hive of activity for soldiers, miners...
0:44:13 > 0:44:18The movement of material, processing, all sorts of things.
0:44:19 > 0:44:25'Archaeologist Barry Burnham has studied one of the grimmest jobs in the Empire.'
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Where was the gold going?
0:44:28 > 0:44:29What was it used for by the Romans?
0:44:29 > 0:44:32I think that this date it would've been, the bulk of it
0:44:32 > 0:44:36would've gone straight to the Exchequer and been turned into coin.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40And who would they have been, the miners -
0:44:40 > 0:44:43were they locals, were they slaves...?
0:44:43 > 0:44:47Well, my guess would be that some of them would be slaves.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51Some of them, I think would be convicts - people who were condemned to the mines.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54It was quite normal to be sentenced - damnatio ad metalla -
0:44:54 > 0:44:57to be condemned to the mines for the rest of your life.
0:44:57 > 0:45:02- Every one of these scores is the mark of 2,000-year-old hard labour. - It is indeed.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07How important was the gold to the Romans?
0:45:07 > 0:45:10It's absolutely fundamental to the coinage.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15The coinage system of gold, silver and bronze is such that minerals - mineral gold -
0:45:15 > 0:45:17was one of the big things they sought for.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19Tacitus - the writer in the last first century -
0:45:19 > 0:45:23actually said one reward of victory for Britain was gold.
0:45:26 > 0:45:32British resources - wheat, gold, lead, silver, slaves.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35These helped to feed the Roman Empire.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Many Britons got into gear with the Roman machine.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41They followed their rules, played the game,
0:45:41 > 0:45:43many of them got rich on the back of it.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45But there was also a quandary.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50Was it possible to acquire this new Roman civilisation
0:45:50 > 0:45:54and remain faithful to your Celtic roots at the same time?
0:45:54 > 0:45:57For some, it was all too much.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01The Romans might have invaded, they might have spread North and West
0:46:01 > 0:46:05but they certainly hadn't won the battle for hearts and minds yet.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10Celtic resistance wreaked havoc in the new Roman towns.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18The Southern Britons quickly learnt not to take on the Roman Army.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23But increasing numbers of civilian Romans
0:46:23 > 0:46:27populating new, undefended towns were a much easier target.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34It all began in 60 AD, just 17 years after the invasion began,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38with the death of an East Anglian King, chief of the Iceni tribe.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41The Romans took advantage of his death,
0:46:41 > 0:46:45by appropriating his wealth and his ancestral lands.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49To make matters worse, they disarmed the tribe.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52For Celtic warriors, this was the ultimate insult.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56They wore their swords as symbols of strength and identity.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01To be stripped of their swords was to be stripped of their honour.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10When the dead chief's incensed widow, Queen Boudica, protested at their treatment
0:47:10 > 0:47:15the Roman soldiers flogged her publicly and raped her daughters.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16It was too much.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20There was no way that Boudica could put up with such disrespect.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23She raised an Army from neighbouring tribes, and went on the rampage.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26She turned her murderous attentions first
0:47:26 > 0:47:29on the greatest symbol of Roman authority she could lay hands on -
0:47:29 > 0:47:33the Roman city, here at Camulodunum.
0:47:35 > 0:47:42Archaeologist Philip Crummy has spent decades piecing together what happened next.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44What do you think would have been the reaction
0:47:44 > 0:47:49of the Romans once they realised that the British were coming?
0:47:49 > 0:47:51They would have been terrified.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55After all, here they were, stuck in an island off mainland Europe,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57in a town which was completely undefended -
0:47:57 > 0:48:02no bank, no ditch round the town, no wall, completely open -
0:48:02 > 0:48:06at the mercy of the British Army on the march.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10With much of the Roman Army fighting in Wales,
0:48:10 > 0:48:13the civilians of Colchester had to take refuge.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17Today, Colchester Castle stands on the site
0:48:17 > 0:48:20of the Roman Temple of Claudius,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23once a vast symbol of colonial power.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28Well, this is a most extraordinary space.
0:48:28 > 0:48:33We're actually underneath the platform that supported the Temple of Claudius.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Right, so this was a massive foundation?
0:48:36 > 0:48:39This is a foundation, yes. This is all Roman.
0:48:44 > 0:48:50What finally happened to the people who were in the room above us?
0:48:50 > 0:48:57They were standing perhaps 3 or 4 feet above the apex of this vault.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00It would have been absolutely terrifying for those poor people.
0:49:00 > 0:49:05Just imagine, women and children, surrounded by thousands of British,
0:49:05 > 0:49:09all shouting and presumably lobbing missiles and trying to bash the door down.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12It would have been difficult for the British to get in,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16and that would explain why it took two days for the British eventually to get in.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19- And when they get in? - When they get in, it's curtains for everyone inside.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22So, the British went to all possible lengths
0:49:22 > 0:49:24to wipe this place off the map?
0:49:24 > 0:49:27The archaeological evidence tells us
0:49:27 > 0:49:31that everywhere in Colchester - bar probably this place -
0:49:31 > 0:49:32was burnt to the ground.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45These are just a few of the thousands of artefacts
0:49:45 > 0:49:51that were recovered from the destruction of Roman Colchester.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56These are fragments of Samian ware, beautifully decorated.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59It's a luxury import from Gaul.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02This is the kind of tableware that the best Romans
0:50:02 > 0:50:04would want to have in their homes.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08Now, Samian ware should be a rich, orangey-red colour,
0:50:08 > 0:50:14but these pieces are charred black, because these were in the fire.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16And they were found by the thousands,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19so it looks as though this was a shop somewhere that was
0:50:19 > 0:50:23providing the citizens of Colchester with fine tableware.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30These are the remains of dates, another luxury import.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Because of the way they've been burned in the fire,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37they've actually turned into something a little like charcoal.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41But most poignant of all are these human remains.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45A few fragments of bone, some jawbone, charred black.
0:50:45 > 0:50:52This person died possibly in the fire, or just before it.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54We don't know if it's a man or a woman,
0:50:54 > 0:50:57but it looks as though it's a young adult.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03So although we have the written records of tens of thousands
0:51:03 > 0:51:09of people dying in the revolt, this is the only actual evidence.
0:51:09 > 0:51:14This person, whoever he or she was, knew the truth of it.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20Boudica wasn't content just to slaughter
0:51:20 > 0:51:23the citizens of Camulodunum.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25Before the Roman army could return from Wales,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28she led her own forces on a campaign of terror
0:51:28 > 0:51:31that destroyed the Roman cities of London and St Albans.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35As many as 70,000 Roman citizens were murdered.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38Noble women were treated especially brutally,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40their breasts cut off and sewn to their mouths,
0:51:40 > 0:51:45their bodies impaled on stakes. But Boudica couldn't go on.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48Eventually, the Roman army would return and when it did,
0:51:48 > 0:51:50her forces would stand little chance.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54And in a small valley, just north of St Albans,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57the last British stand against Roman oppression in the South
0:51:57 > 0:52:01was wiped out in a single, gruesome massacre.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08A new Britain emerged from the bloody clashes of 60 AD.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13For the tribes of the south, there was no longer any choice but to accept Roman authority.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15But the Romans, too, had learned a lesson,
0:52:15 > 0:52:20that they ignored British heritage and pride at their peril.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29By the end of the first century AD, Rome had Southern Britain
0:52:29 > 0:52:31firmly under control.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35But in the north, the country became wilder, and so did the people.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42In particular, the land of Caledonia, and its fiercely Celtic,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46Pictish tribes, stubbornly refused to bow to the will of the empire.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51If much of Southern Britain had eventually got used to the idea
0:52:51 > 0:52:55of Roman rule, the same couldn't be said up here in the north.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58Almost 80 years after the invasion,
0:52:58 > 0:53:02the Picts were still slugging it out with the Roman army.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06They were just as tempted as anyone else by the possibility of Roman wealth,
0:53:06 > 0:53:10they simply weren't prepared to trade their independence for it.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13So in a way, they were responsible for one of the most famous
0:53:13 > 0:53:16constructions in the whole of the ancient world.
0:53:16 > 0:53:2274 miles long, and stretching from coast to coast,
0:53:22 > 0:53:26Hadrian's Wall was built between 122 and 136 AD.
0:53:40 > 0:53:46But having come so far, the Roman army wasn't about to stop here.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Because Hadrian's Wall wasn't the only great wall
0:53:52 > 0:53:54they built in the far North.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58Just 20 years after Hadrian's Wall was built,
0:53:58 > 0:54:00the Romans actually built another wall.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02About 100 miles to the north,
0:54:02 > 0:54:04through the heart of Pictish territory.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08These banks in Falkirk are the remains of that wall.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12It stretched for 39 miles, from the Firth of Clyde in the West,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15to the Firth of Forth in the east, right across modern Scotland
0:54:15 > 0:54:19So this was as far north as the Empire ever reached.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26This wall, the Antonine Wall, didn't last long, though.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29This far into hostile territory,
0:54:29 > 0:54:34the Romans could not defend the border, despite building 17 forts,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38one every two miles along the entire length of the wall.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42This was a land that simply wouldn't fall to Rome.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47With little to be gained by battling for a wild and mountainous land,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Rome at last retreated.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54And so it was Hadrian's Wall
0:54:54 > 0:54:59that became the enduring northern boundary of the Roman Empire.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04This was where Caledonian pride forced the Romans to say, "Enough is enough."
0:55:04 > 0:55:07If the northern tribes wouldn't join the Roman party,
0:55:07 > 0:55:10they would be excluded at all costs.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Here, the Romans drew their line in the sand.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18This was a symbol of Roman power,
0:55:18 > 0:55:22the most northerly frontier of the most powerful empire on the planet.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26This was the most heavily-defended frontier of the entire empire.
0:55:28 > 0:55:33Outside the wall, native tribes so vehemently opposed to the occupation
0:55:33 > 0:55:37that it took 10,000 Roman auxiliaries to keep them at bay.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41Over here, inside the wall, enveloping the fort,
0:55:41 > 0:55:42an entire British town,
0:55:42 > 0:55:47with people taking full advantage of those same Roman soldiers,
0:55:47 > 0:55:53providing all the services and entertainment required by the garrison.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56Over hundreds of years, the Iron Age tribes of Britain
0:55:56 > 0:56:01had established regional territories within a shared Celtic culture.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03But now, all that had changed.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12In less than 100 years, Rome had cleaved Britain in two.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14Britannia and Caledonia.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19By the middle of the second century AD,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23the Romans had been in Britain for almost 200 years.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27Caesar and the invasions were distant memories.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31To be a Roman was to be more than just an invader.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34It was to be part of that cultural exchange,
0:56:34 > 0:56:40Britons adopting Roman ways and vice versa, especially in the North.
0:56:40 > 0:56:47In the South, Britain was emerging from an era of turbulence with a new Romano-British culture.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51Up there in the North, it was clear you were either in or you were out.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57The Roman version of civilisation simply wasn't wanted.
0:56:57 > 0:57:02This wall, this moment that divided the Celtic tribes of Britain,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05would shape our land and our futures.
0:57:05 > 0:57:10It would alter our cultures, our languages and identities, forever.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19'Next time, my journey continues...'
0:57:20 > 0:57:23It shows the way in which the Romans quite literally
0:57:23 > 0:57:26brought the modern world, the future with them.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30'..as I encounter the final chapter in our epic story...'
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Their eyes would have been drawn all the time
0:57:34 > 0:57:38to these topless lady dancers.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40If it was a really special occasion,
0:57:40 > 0:57:43I would have laid on real-life topless dancers.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47'..the time of the Romano-British...'
0:57:47 > 0:57:51She was buried with fantastic wealth.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56Anyone who saw this woman wearing it would have identified her as someone of status.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00'..when socially, technologically, and spiritually...'
0:58:01 > 0:58:06Whoever wore this was obviously a Christian, a believer.
0:58:06 > 0:58:11'..we finally left our distant pre-history behind, for good.'
0:58:11 > 0:58:14If you want to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors,
0:58:14 > 0:58:16then go to the website...
0:58:20 > 0:58:23..to find out how to connect with ancient Britain in your area.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:47 > 0:58:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk