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The Romans in Britain

The Romans occupied Britain from the first century AD until around the fifth century. Although they invaded almost 2000 years ago there are still many major examples of their work to be seen around the country. Some of their buildings are still in reasonable condition providing us with a valuable insight into their lifestyle. The museum at the Barbican, London contains some excellent exhibits relating to life under the romans. The British Museum has some excellent Roman exhibits.

When I first started metal detecting 4 years ago my ambitions was to find a roman coin. I couldn't believe that you could simply go out into a field and dig up a 2000 year old Roman coin. It was several months before I found one but when I did I was ecstatic. It was only a corroded bronze but you could clearly see the emperor's face on it. I have found many since then but I will never cease to be amazed at the skill that went into the artwork on them. Unfortunately the soil in Britain is not very kind to bronze coins that most of them come up in poor condition. However, this makes it all the more satisfying when you do find one in very good condition.

As time has gone on I have become more and more interested in the Roman period. I now actively seek out Roman sites, hence the disproportionate amount of finds from the Roman period compared to Saxon (none still!) and medieval. I have noticed that many of my Roman sites also contain Celtic/Iron Age finds (which I also like), indicating that many of the Roman farmsteads and villas in England were already settlements before the arrival of the Romans and simply became "romanised", adopting their coins and lifestyles. The Romans were skilled metalworkers and I particularly like their brooches. There are hundreds of varieties and you can see a few of the styles on this site.

My Roman finds are divided into the following 4 sections , click on the image to go to the relevant page:

Recent Finds	Roman Finds	Statues	Mystery Items