Themes
Baths
One of the most interesting things I learned on this trip was how the Romans built bath complexes in ancient Britiannia differently from how they were built in the Mediterranean. First, ancient Roman engineers in warm Italy built thermae with only one room truly heated. In the colder, northern climate of ancient England, the Romans built the baths with all the rooms heated. This warm, heated environment drew people to the baths that subsequently became more like activity centers for the towns or forts where they were located. The second difference I noticed was related to the hypocaust, or heating system of the baths. In the ancient Mediterranean, craftsmen built up the columns that supported the floors of the heated rooms by stacking large clay tiles called bipedales one on top of the other. I saw these types of columns in Britain, but I also saw columns made of solid stone, carved into column-shaped structures.
Check out my bath pictures!
Games
My students love to play ancient Roman games, and I saw lots of archaeological evidence of games and gaming devices all over Britain. My favorite was the dice tower at Richborough Roman Fort.
You can pair these pictures with my lesson on dice towers.
Check out my game pictures!
Mosaics
The mosaics in Roman Britain were absolutely stunning! I liked those best that used unusual colors like native stone. Some artisans even used chipped pieces of terra cotta tile like the ones at Chedworth Roman Villa.
Here's my lesson on mosaics which should be perfect since the Solomon's Knot design is found all over Britain.
Check out my mosaic pictures!
Shoes
Vindolanda Roman Fort has one of the world's best collections of Roman shoes. My favorite experience during the Roman Britain tour was meeting Dr. Beth Greene, the shoe archaeologist at Vindolanda. While observing the archaeologists excavating at the site, I watched her delicately pull out of the ground the sole of a 2000-year-old Roman leather sandal!Â
Check out my shoe pictures!
Dr. Beth Greene, the shoe archaeologist at Vindolanda, talks about a shoe that she had just excavated.