Plants Introduced by Romans

Centuries before conquering Britain, the Romans acquired plants from within their extensive empire. The archaeobotanical records of Roman Britain provide evidence that some of these species found their way to Britain when the Romans introduced fifty new plant foods. Some species were imported for consumption, others were introduced as crops, ornamentals, herbs, and fruit trees wherever Britain’s climate proved suitable for cultivation.

Preservation in the archaeological record depends upon favourable characteristics—hard seeds, and pips, and nut shells that resistant decay. Conversely, a species might have been present without leaving any trace.

The use of some herbs—coriander, poppy, celery, dill, and summer savory—increased during the occupation, only to fall out of fashion and favour after the decline of Roman influence between 383 and 410 CE.

Plants imported, introduced, and favoured by Romans: (w) indicates native wild form prior to Romans, (in) indicates probably introduced, (?) indicates that internet sources differ:

Cereals: wheat was grown in Britain for many years before the Romans introduced more productive strains and new grains: einkorn and millet.

Vegetables: garlic, onion, leaf beet (w), rape, cabbage (?w), turnip (? in), radish, leek, cucumber, carrot (w), parsnip (w), lettuce, asparagus (w), chicory (?)

Pulses: lentil, pea, bitter vetch, broad bean (?)

Fruits and berries: Fig, grape (possibly already introduced by the Belgae), mulberry, olive, peach, date, pomegranate, apple (w) + (in), pear, sweet cherry (w), sour cherry, cherry plum, plum, damson 

Nuts: walnut, pine nut, almond, sweet chestnut

Herbs, condiments, and medicinals : parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay, savory mint, black pepper, coriander, dill, fennel (in), anise, summer savory, winter savory (?), black cumin, rue, white mustard, lovage, marjoram (w) celery (w), mint (w), horehound (w), borage (?), hyssop (?), marshmallow (?) 

Oil-rich seeds: sesame, gold of pleasure, hemp, poppy, black mustard

Other: hop (w), box tree (? in)

Vegetables regarded as weeds:
ground elder, Aegopidum podagraria
white mustard, Sinapis alba
alexanders, Smyrnium olasatrum (used as substitute for pepper)

Several foods (A) failed to become established, others (B) fell out of favour, and several (C) increased over time, becoming established.

Fruits

A Decreasing                                     fig, grape, mulberry
B Increasing/Decreasing                 olive, apple/pear
C Increasing                                      sweet/sour cherry, plum, bullace plum

Nuts

A Decreasing                                     –
B Increasing/Decreasing                 pine nut
C Increasing                                      walnut

Herbs

A Decreasing                                     –
B Increasing/Decreasing                 coriander, celery, dill, mint, summer savory
C Increasing                                      –

Vegetables

A Decreasing                                     –
B Increasing/Decreasing                 turnip, parsnip
C Increasing                                      carrot, leaf beet, cabbage


                                                            Pulses

A Decreasing                                     lentil
B Increasing/Decreasing                 –
C Increasing                                      –

Tabulated: Taxonomic list of Roman-introduced plants.

Sources: 

New Plant Foods in Roman Britain — Dispersal and Social Access, by Marijke van der Veen, Alexandra Livarda and Alistair Hill (pdf online)

Also:
Not all of these root vegetables were introduced by the Romans, but the article includes some interesting history of the development of root vegetables: ROOT VEGETABLES: UNSUNG HISTORICAL HEROES .

Geography of Spices & Fruits  

Roman Impact on Britain

Roman Britain (43 B.C. to 442 A.D.).
Some impacts of man on the environment by 500 AD.
Anglo-Saxon and Norse Invasions (fifth to ninth centuries AD).
Bibliography for all segments (opens in separate page)

Roman Britain (43 B.C. to 442 A.D.)

In 54 BC, Caesar landed five legions and two thousand cavalry on the shores of Kent. Caesar repulsed the British counterattacks, crossed the Thames, and captured the king’s stronghold – the British were forced to sue for peace, to supply hostages, and to pay tribute to Rome. Almost one hundred years later, the emperor Claudius sent an expeditionary force to Britain. In 43 AD, fifty thousand men under the command of Claudius’ general, Aulus Platius, landed in Kent to begin the conquest of Britain. Within eight years Britain, from the borders of Wales to York (Eburacum), had been converted to a Roman province. The Romans showed no interest in the tin mines of Cornwall and never penetrated far into Devon or Cornwall.


Roman conquest of Britain, 43-84 CE.
The Romans built wide, durable roads and constructed fortresses (Latin: castrum, castellum; Welsh: caer) around which sprang cities (civitas). Only London, St. Albans, and Colchester had populations above 5,000.

Roman roads, centres, walls; British tribes
Roman occupation introduced slave-manned plantations of 400 to 650 acres, centered upon stone villas. Similar plantations were worked by peasants, or serfs, who cultivated their own plots and those of their lord.
Reconstructed Roman villa, Wroxeter, Shropshire.
#mengn How to build a Roman Villa
Experimental Archaeology -- building a villa at Butser Ancient Farm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLmhBjVHhc4



The rich farmlands bordering the Fens provided grain for the Roman legions of the North. The grain was transported along the Fen’s natural waterways and on canals constructed by the Romans.

fen canal
The Romans did not revolutionize the organization of the rural population – throughout Britain, Gaul, and the Roman Empire the populace continued to live and work in villages, hamlets, and isolated homesteads. The population has been estimated at three to five million by the third century AD. The people of Roman Britain remained quite mobile and predominantly agricultural. Population density was very low, with only two to five persons per square kilometer. With so much land and so few people, there is ample evidence that new land was found and cleared when cultivated soils were partly or completely exhausted. The main obstacles to food production continued to be loss of soil fertility, the vagaries of weather, and losses due to weeds, animal pests, and diseases of plants and animals. Fields that had been under prolonged tillage must lie uncultivated for one or more years to recover their fertility. The principle of allowing fields to lie fallow was practiced by the Roman Age. Early farmers discovered that cultivation decreases fertility, and learned that soil must ‘rest’ to recover its fertility. Although the Romans practiced crop rotation and left fields fallow, it is not clear how the British open field village system evolved.

Sarculum - Roman hoe
The Romans introduced both agricultural engineering techniques and improved tools to Britain. Agriculture benefited from Roman irrigation systems, wells, scythes and large sickles, and the more scientific application of fertilizer. The Romans improved the primitive scratch-plough, the ard. Addition of vertical iron coulters in front of the ploughshare, and of soil-turning wooden mouldboards, rendered the new plough better suited to turning the heavy, wet soils of Britain. The Romans also introduced fruits and vegetables to British agriculture: these including peas, cabbages, turnips, and parsnips. Roman vegetables and fruits supplemented the Iron Age crops of barley, wheat, flax, and vetch.

Roman plough
Roman military action was episodic after the initial Claudian conquest. Nero sent his general to Britain in 60 AD. Paulinus suppressed a rebellion by the Iceni and Trinovantes. The Romans confiscated conquered farm lands and reduced the former owners to serfdom. The conquering Romans enraged the widow and tribesmen of the defeated king of the Iceni. They robbed Queen Boudicca (Boadicea) of her lands, had her flogged, and raped her daughters. A rebellious army, raised by Boadicea, captured Camulodenum, destroyed a Roman legion, and marched upon Londinium (London.) Seventy thousand Romans were massacred in Londinium. Suetonius Paulinus eventually defeated Boadicea’s army. With the “suicide” of the vanquished Boadicea, British resistance to Rome became confined to border raids.



To prevent marauding tribesmen from raiding farms south of the Scottish border, the emperor Hadrian ordered a wall to be constructed from Solway Firth to the Tyne. A section of Hadrian’s Wall took strategic advantage of a the Whin Sill. Antonius Pius (138-161 AD) continued Hadrian’s policies against cattle rustling incursions at the northern border. Antonius pushed the frontier 75 miles northward, and ordered the construction of 37 miles of turf-clay wall between the firths of Forth and Clyde. The Antonine Wall had nineteen forts at two-mile intervals. Around 210 AD, the emperor Septimius ordered Hadrian’s wall reconstructed and led a military expedition into Scotland. Attempts to engage the Scots in battle were thwarted by the natives’ guerilla tactics.

By 400 AD, the weakening Western Roman Empire was under widespread attack by “barbarians.” North Sea tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, raided Britain. In 408 AD, the Saxons made a devastating raid on Britain. By 428 AD, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were establishing permanent settlements along the British coast. The legions were permanently withdrawn from Britain around 442 AD, as the Western Roman Empire continued to collapse. In the hiatus created by their departure trade diminished, towns declined or disappeared, and roads fell into disrepair. Later settlement covered the traces of Roman field systems.

Roman Britain (43 B.C. to 442 A.D.).
Anglo-Saxon and Norse Invasions (fifth to ninth centuries AD).

Some impacts of man on the environment by 500 AD

Areas of present day moorland were previously cultivated, suggesting that the soil was so degraded by agriculture that it is no longer arable. Fossil soils reveal evidence of degradation by erosional loss of physical constituents, and by their lost capacity to support a protective forest cover.

The inability to support a natural forest succession implies a concomitant decrease in the soil’s potential to produce food. The practice of manuring began in the second millennium, presumably in an attempt to maintain arable production. Some soils were abandoned quickly and did revert to woodland – this is seen particularly in some soils on limestone. Examples can be found in the Lowland zones, with the exception of the Wessex chalklands and the lowland heaths. However, soils were exploited excessively in some areas and never reverted to supporting the original flora – they became moorlands. Examples are to be found in the Highland zones, the Cumbrian Lakeland, and the Moors of the south-west. The Wessex chalklands have remained stripped of forest since the third millennium. The lowland heaths result from the agriculture-related podzolizing of Brown Earth into Gley soils, beginning in the third and second millennia BC.

Roman Britain (43 B.C. to 442 A.D.).
Some impacts of man on the environment by 500 AD.

Roman Roads in Britain

Roman Roads in Britain (43 B.C. to 442 A.D.)

Oldest Road In Britain | Icknield Way | Britain's Ancient Tracks > .
Tony Robinson explores the mysteries and legends of the Icknield Way's prehistoric mines, hidden caves, demonic dogs and mysterious ley lines, as he travels from the Norfolk coast to Bedfordshire's hills.

Roman Roads - How Were They Made? - Meta > .
"What The Ancients Did For Us - The Romans" 58:57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgJ_hFjyKlI

"The Roman Roads" 2:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu94sFmNwMw

"Tabula Peutingeriana - An Ancient Roman Road Map" 5:42
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC_qEvXpCts

"The Tabula Peutingeriana (Peutinger Map) is the unique surviving copy of an old Roman map containing the Roman road network (an itinerarium). It was last revised sometimes in the 4th or early 5th century."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_Peutingeriana .

Almost one hundred years after Julius Caesar forced the British to sue for peace, to supply hostages, and to pay tribute to Rome, the emperor Claudius sent an expeditionary force to Britain.

 In 43 AD, fifty thousand men under the command of Claudius’ general, Aulus Platius, landed in Kent to begin the conquest of Britain. Within eight years Britain, from the borders of Wales to York (Eburacum), had been converted to a Roman province.

Roman conquest of Britain, 43-84 CE
Only London (Londinium), St. Albans (Verulamium), and Colchester (Camulodunum) had populations above 5,000.



The Romans built wide, durable roads and constructed fortresses (Latin: castrum, castellum; Welsh: caer) around which sprang cities (civitas). The Romans built their main roads wide in order to facilitate movement of their legions. Most of the countryside, however, was accessible only on the narrow tracks of the native population.

Roman roads, centres, walls; British tribes circa 150 CE
Originally, six core routes radiated from London, the new capital. *Saxon names.

• London - Dover via Canterbury (Durovernum) - *Watling Street (orange)

• London - Chichester - Stane Street (purple)
Stane Street. Old Roman Road - trw > .
Stane Street/Roman road - clips from documentary - trw > .

• London - Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum, near Reading) - *Portway (yellow). At Silchester, this route split into 3 major branches:
  1. Silchester - Portchester via Winchester (Venta Belgarum) and Southampton (Clausentum)
  2. Silchester - Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) via Salisbury/Old Sarum (Sorviodunum) and Dorchester (Durnovaria)
  3. Silchester - Caerleon via Gloucester (Glevum)
• London - Chester via St Albans (Verulamium), Lichfield (Letocetum), Wroxeter (Viroconium) - *Watling Street (orange). With continuation to Carlisle (Luguvalium) on Hadrian's Wall.

• London - York via Lincoln (Lindum) - *Ermine Street (red) With continuation to Corbridge (Coria) on Hadrian's Wall - Dere Street (blue)

• London - Caistor St. Edmund (Venta Icenorum) via Colchester (Camulodunum)

Later roads included:

*Akeman Street (bright green) passed through St Albans (Verulamium) en route to Cirencester (Corinium)

*Fosse Way - Exeter (Isca Dumnorium), Lindinis, Cirencester (Corinium), High Cross (Venonis), Ratae (Leicester) to Lindum (Lincoln) 

* Icknield Street - Gloucester (Glevum) - York (Eboracum)



The Romans showed no interest in the tin mines of Cornwall and never penetrated far into Devon or Cornwall.


Roman Technology

Roman Technology > .
Roman Engineering & Technology - log >> .

Taxonomic list - Roman-introduced plants

Allium sativum, garlic
cf. Plants introduced by Romans:

Cereals
millet, Panicum miliaceum 
einkorn, Triticum monococcum 

Vegetables
onion, Allium cepa
leek, Allium porrum
garlic, Allium sativum
asparagus, Asparagus officinalis 
leaf beet, Beta vulgaris  
rape, Brassica napus 
cabbage, Brassica oleracea 
turnip, Brassica rapa  
chicory, Cichorium intybus
cucumber, Cucumis sativus
carrot, Daucus carota  
lettuce, Lactuca sativa
parsnip, Pastinaca sativa  
radish, Raphanus sativus
Asparagus officinalis, asparagus

Pulses
lentil, Lens culinaris Medik.
pea, Pisum sativum
bitter vetch, Vicia ervilia
broad bean, Vicia faba

Fruits and berries
fig, Ficus carica 
apple, Malus sp.
mulberry, Morus nigra 
olive, Olea europea 
peach, Persica vulgaris Miller
date, Phoenix dactylifera 
sweet cherry, Prunus avium  
sour cherry, Prunus cerasus
cherry plum, Prunus cerasifera
plum, Prunus domestica  ssp. domestica
damson, Prunus domestica  ssp. insititia
pomegranate, Punica granatum 
pear, Pyrus sp.
grape, Vitis vinifera 

Althaea officinalis, marshmallow
believed to be a Roman introduction


Nuts
almond, Amygdalus communis
sweet chesnut, Castanea sativa
walnut, Juglans regia
pine nut, Pinus pinea

Herbs, condiments, medicinals
marshmallow, Althaea officinalis
dill, Anethum graveolens
celery, Apium graveolens 
borage, Borago officinalis
coriander, Coriandrum sativum
fennel, Foeniculum vulgare
hyssop, Hyssopus officinalis
bay, Laurus nobilis
lovage, Levisticum officinale
horehound, Marrubium vulgare 
mint, Mentha sp.
black cumin, Nigella sativa
marjoram, Origanum vulgare 
black pepper, Piper nigrum
Prunus avium, sweet cherry 
parsley, Petroselinum crispum
anise, Pimpinella anisum
sage, Salvia officinalis
rosemary, Rosmarinus oficinalis
thyme, Thymus vulgaris
rue, Ruta graveolens
summer savory, Satureja hortensis
white mustard, Sinapis alba

Oil-rich seeds
black mustard, Brassica nigra
gold of pleasure, Camelina sativa.
hemp, Cannabis sativa
poppy, Papaver somniferum 
sesame, Sesamum indicum

Other
hop, Humulus lupulus 
box, Buxus sempervirens 

Vegetables regarded as weeds:
Ground elder, Aegopidum podagraria
White mustard, Sinapis alba
Alexanders, Smyrnium olasatrum

Geography of Spices & Fruits  

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