The First Century

[Elias Graves]

Can anyone help answer some specific questions?

If a citizen and his slave were on the run from the law in 67ad, how might they travel from Rome to Britannia? What sorts of people might they have travelled with? How prevalent and far reaching would Roman presence have been when they arrived? If wanted in Rome, would local authorities have any knowledge of that fact?

 

From what I've read, Rome had pretty good control of the place within 40 years so I'm assuming that 23 years after the invasion, Rome would already have had a big and organized presence at least in the south.

 

How big were the ports built up at that time and where were they located?

 

Perhaps someone knows a site that offers detailed first century info?

 

I've been looking around online but most of the first century stuff I find is only a few paragraphs and not very detailed.

 

Thanks for anything you can offer.

 

EG

[Bryaxis Hecatee]

It would depend of when they run (season), using what ways (land -horse or foot-, sea ?) and how rich they are. Where they will stay at night is also important : should they use the inns regularly built along the roads they might be caught rather fast, especially if their pursuers had any idea where they might be going. How intense the chase is is also an important element : do they have a full preatorian cohort looking after them or are they simply low-life criminals for whom no one really cares once they fled ?

 

As for travelling with a group, they could travel alone, the citizen might hire himself out as a guard for a merchant going north or as a sailor on a ship leaving Ostia,...

 

About the UK part, other members are much more knowledgeable than I, but you might want to take a look at http://www.roman-britain.org/ which is a very good source of information. Look for where the roads start and you'll find your ports.

[caldrail]

Roman control was focused on towns serving as places to control tribes. Thus Calleva Atrebatum "Woodland Town of the Atrebates" or Silchester, Venta Belgarum "Market of the Belgae" or Winchester, and so on. Whilst it's true the Romans would have visited settlements to assure themselves of lawful behaviour (and more importantly, regular tax payments), as long as the Britons did as commanded they could go about their lives undisturbed.

 

In fact, the system didn't work too well, and after the period you specify the Romans dispersed their civic control into smaller orbital settlements.

 

On the plus side, there would be those who didn't want the Romans there, and thus would be willing to assist your escapees. On the other hand, opportunity knows no limit, and thus plenty of people would be willing to rat on them for a favour or a few sestercii. To some extent, your escapees are still running a risk, and bear in mind anonymity is suprisingly hard to achieve in a world where everyone knows your business. That said, the Romans might not know where your escapees went, so the long arm of the Roman Lex might give them a head start by arriving much later. They certainly would know about it eventually, though whether the governor of a distant province would bother himself unless the escapee was important or known to have arrived in his back yard. A villain in captivity is a feather in his cap after all.

 

In terms of route, my advice would be to take ship to the coast of southern Gaul, and head north to the Channel. Roman roads are quicker and more direct but more exposed to Roman oversight. Ports were not exactly sophisticated at this time. Shallow beaches and wooden jetties are common ports of call, modest in capacity, and without a major settlement attached, a distinct lack of warehouses.

[Maty]

Of course, as fugitives from the law, the risk in taking a ship is that no-one is going to know or care if the captain and crew take your money and quietly drop you overboard a few stades out.

 

Careful negotiation will be required ...!

[Elias Graves]

Thanks for the assistance.

 

EG

[GhostOfClayton]

Recommend you read "The Silver Pigs" by Lindsey Davis (the first 'Falco' novel). Our hero travels from Rome to Britannia and back at about the right time, and his journey is recounted in some logistical detail. The main difference between Falco and your protagonists is that he was travelling with full Imperial endorsement. Still, you should get a good feel for what it was like.

[Elias Graves]

Thanks for the tip on the novel.

 

EG