Late Roman villa found in Leicestershire

[Gordopolis]

Late Roman mosaic and villa complex found in Rutland farmer's field:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59391650

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Gordopolis

[caldrail]

Another one? For a far flung part of the empire Britain certainly has some mosaics to offer. The mentions of Britain as a bountiful source of grain ring true as the evidence of wealthy landowners in the late empire come to light. And yet, when it came down to it, they abandoned Britain to its fate at the end of the period. Perhaps another reason for the collapse of the Western Empire?

 

[Gordopolis]

On 11/25/2021 at 1:36 PM, caldrail said:

Another one? For a far flung part of the empire Britain certainly has some mosaics to offer. The mentions of Britain as a bountiful source of grain ring true as the evidence of wealthy landowners in the late empire come to light. And yet, when it came down to it, they abandoned Britain to its fate at the end of the period. Perhaps another reason for the collapse of the Western Empire?

 

Aye, the amount of finds here is painting a really rich picture of the Roman era.

As for the 'abandonment', I can partly sympathise with the Romans, as things were turning sharply towards chaos over on the continent. Equally though, they were complicit in creating much of this turmoil!

[guy]

Just a follow-up on the original post with some further insights:
 

Quote

“The 11m x 7m (36ft x 23ft) floor has three panels showing a climactic moment from the Trojan war in which the Greek hero Achilles fights, kills and then ransoms the body of his Trojan opponent Hector.

"Many of these floors have geometric patterns or portray one god or other but there is no argument about this, the story is laid out almost like a cartoon," said Professor Roberts.”

 

This discovery is rather indicative of an empire in decline:

 

Quote

"At some point, a hearth has been built on it in one corner, while another section has just been dug away for a fire," he said.

"It could have been locals moving in, it could have been the family which had owned it for years.

"But either way, the floor and its imagery were no longer valued.

"This high status, expensive luxury room had been turned into an area for cooking."

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59668728

Edited December 31, 2021 by guy

[Novosedoff]

What would be the reason for Romans to expand towards Britain, anyway? As I remember Caesar is the one who started the campaign.

Filling up the local demographic vacuum given its little resistance environment? But eventually Romans left the isle in 410, and it was immediately taken by Anglo-Saxon.

I can understand why Romans expanded across the Mediterranean by occupying Spain and African coast along with Anatolia. But Britain seemed to be just too far away from the Mediterraneans. So from the strategic perspective the Roman inland push northwards seems bizarre.