Many of Britain's towns and cities originated in the Roman period, established as part of a systematic programme to urbanise the island. Why imperial Rome initiated this programme is the first of many topics examined in the third edition of this introduction to the towns of Roman Britain.

This book aims to examine and define the functions of towns in Roman Britain and to apply the definition so formed to Romano-British sites; to consider the towns' foundation, political status, development and decline; and to illustrate the town's individual characters and their surroundings.

The Small Towns of Roman Britain surveys a wide range of Roman town sites, answering many questions about their character and the archaeological problems they raise. The past thirty years have seen a dramatic increase in the quality of the evidence on these sites gained from fieldwork, excavation, and aerial archaeology. Because there is almost no documentary or epigraphic material of any real value on the small towns, this archaeological evidence provides a heretofore unavailable perspective. Authors Barry Burnham and John Walker have organized the information in a manner that is both useful to scholars and stimulating to history buffs or walkers interested in touring these sites. Each site is illustrated with a site plan, and many aerial photographs are provided as well. Introductory chapters provide an overview of the origins, development, and morphology of the towns; the special religious, governmental, or industrial significance of many sites; and the economic functions common to all. A comprehensive bibliography completes the volume. This is the eagerly awaited companion volume to John Wacher's watershed study The Towns of Roman Britain, which was highly praised for "its clean prose, excellent illustrations and fascinating story, . . . a most important contribution to scholarship, while remaining eminently attractive to the general reader." (Barry Cunliffe, Times Literary Supplement). The Small Towns of Roman Britain surveys a wide range of Roman town sites, answering many questions about their character and the archaeological problems they raise. The past thirty years have seen a dramatic increase in the quality of the evidence on these sites gained from fieldwork, excavation, and aerial archaeology. Because there is almost no documentary or epigraphic material of any real value on the small towns, this archaeological evidence provides a heretofore unavailable perspective. Authors Barry Burnham and John Walker have organized the information in a manner that is both useful to scholars and stimulating to history buffs or walkers interested in touring these sites. Each site is illustrated with a site plan, and many aerial photographs are provided as well. Introductory chapters provide an overview of the origins, development, and morphology of the towns; the special religious, governmental, or industrial significance of many sites; and the economic functions common to all. A comprehensive bibliography completes the volume. This is the eagerly awaited companion volume to John Wacher's watershed study The Towns of Roman Britain, which was highly praised for "its clean prose, excellent illustrations and fascinating story, . . . a most important contribution to scholarship, while remaining eminently attractive to the general reader." (Barry Cunliffe, Times Literary Supplement).

This edition of the text has been rewritten and re-illustrated to take account of the extensive new excavations and interpretations that have taken place since the book was first published twenty years ago. The central section of the text covers the origin, development, public and private buildings, fortifications, character and demise of each of the twenty-one major towns of the province: the provincial capital of London; the coloniae - Colchester, Lincoln, Gloucester and York; the first civitas capitals - Canterbury, Verulamium and Chelmsford; from client kingdoms to civitas - Caister-by-Norwich, Chichester, Silchester and Winchester; Flavian expansion - Cirencester, Dorchester, Exeter, Leicester and Wroxeter; and Hadrianic stimulation - Caerwent, Carmarthen, Brough-on-Humber and Aldborough. The introductory chapters address the general questions of definition and urbanization, while the concluding chapter examines the reasons for the decay and final demise.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Before the Roman conquest there were few settlements in Britain that could properly be described as towns and their rapid growth was one of the first effects of the invasion of AD 43. This book traces the process of urbanization and provides answers to questions about how Roman towns grew and functioned: why towns are sited where they are, who lived in them, what services and facilities they provided, how they were organized, and their role in trade, industry and economy. Roman towns, with their impressive public buildings on a scale not seen before in Britain, must have had a great impact on the native population. They have attracted attention ever since and a vast amount of evidence for the Roman towns, many of which lie beneath modern British cities, has been recovered. This book draws together as much of this information as possible to present a picture of life in the Roman towns of Britain. With over 100 maps, plans, reconstructions and photographs, this is the complete companion to the Roman Towns in Britain - whether you wish to study the sites before or after a visit, or whether you are simply an armchair archaeologist.