A History of Roman South Yorkshire

WHAT DID THE ROMANS DO FOR US?

The information source and research guide.

WHAT IS SOUTH YORKSHIRE? Though the county was officially created in 1974, it had historically experienced some degree of administrative unity. Its lower boundary matches that of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, and its top was born as part of the diocese of Doncaster (Hey, p.7). Nevertheless, in reality 'South Yorkshire' did not exist at the time of the Roman Empire – so why try and talk about it in a world with no such places as Sheffield or Rotherham? The focus here is not on the history of the county itself, but on producing a local history, investigating the lives of the people in the ancient South Yorkshire area. The Roman Empire itself was also highly malleable, reorganising the province of Britannia twice, to two, and then four, separate provinces.

This website seeks to inform those interested in learning about South Yorkshire's Roman heritage, and provide encouragement and useful guidance for those wanting to explore and research more about Roman South Yorkshire. It seeks to answer questions about the impact, or significant lack of impact, of the Romans on society in the area that is now South Yorkshire. It addresses issues concerning the levels of change and continuity felt compared to other areas of Roman Britain from Roman conquest to withdrawal.There are FOUR main sections of the website:

Firstly, the Chronology of the Roman occupation of Britain and South Yorkshire; and secondly, a Map of Roman South Yorkshire. These first two sections are best for placing information gathered on this website in a temporal and spatial context.

The third section Themes of the Frontier begins a thematic approach to our study of Roman South Yorkshire, which as well as answering key questions of continuity and change, aims to transcend typical narratives of conquest and over-generalisation of Roman Britain, with Roman South Yorkshire representing an over-looked history due to the relative paucity of archeological evidence.

The fourth, Where Next?, provides guidance for further research such as where to visit, useful websites, and an annotated Bibliography of all the sources used for the website and comments on each source.