Everyone likes a nice day trip over summer. These five trips are all recommended.
5. Cirencester
The charming Cotswold town of Cirencester sits on the haunches of the ancient city of Corinium. Cornium was the tribal capital of the Dobunni and may have been a provincial capital in the later Roman Empire. The Corinium Museum is home to several Romano-British mosaics and carvings.
4. Bath
The city of Bath was founded on a spring popular as a healing site in Roman Britain. The Roman Baths are a particularly vivid site. Several curse tablets have also been found in the City. The city was also popular during the Georgian period and was home to noted authors such as Jane Austen and Fanny Burney. The Royal Crescent, designed in the Greek Revival style, is a symbol of the cultural importance of classicism during this time.
3. London
London was first developed during the Roman period, by merchants who settled there. Destroyed by Boudica, it was rebuilt and flourished as a multicultural entrepot during the Roman period. It is now home to several sites including the Roman walls, a mithraeum and baths. The Museum of London is the best place to head to find out more about Roman Britain and the British Museum is good for Roman Britain.
2. Fishbourne Roman Palace
The Palace of a Celtic tribal leader who collaborated with the Roman superpower (possibly), Fishbourne is one of the finest Roman ruins in Britain. The sprawling mosaics on show are only half of the original building. The building enjoyed a curious afterlife. Look out for the skeleton and smithy.
1. Hadrian’s Wall
An iconic part of the Roman Empire, Hadrian’s wall was not the most Northern frontier of Rome (that would be the Antonine Wall), nor was the boundary an abrupt division between civilisation and barbarism have some have thought. Running across miles of beautifully foreboding landscape, Hadrian’s Wall remains a powerful symbol of Rome. The finds from Vindolanda reveal a more humdrum reality.
Rhakotis 