| History of Ireland |
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Hiberno-Roman relations refers to the relationships (mainly commercial and cultural) which existed between Ireland (Hibernia) and the ancient Roman Empire, which lasted from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD in Western Europe. Ireland was one of the few areas of western Europe not conquered by Ancient Rome.
Rome never annexed Hibernia (the Latin name for Ireland) into the Roman Empire, but did exert influence on the island, although only a small amount of evidence of this has survived.[ citation needed ]
This influence was expressed in three characteristic ways: commercial; cultural and religious; and military.
The relationship between Rome and Hibernia was mostly commercial. In 1995, scholar Richard Warner wrote that after emperor Claudius' invasion of southern Britannia, the trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and Roman Britannia encompassed even Hibernia. [1] The geographer Ptolemy, in his map of the 1st century AD, pinpointed the coastal settlements and tribes of Ireland, showing a knowledge that (it is suggested) only merchants could have achieved in that century. Additionally, there are many Roman archaeological objects (mainly jewellery and Roman coins) found in areas of central and southern Ireland (such as Tara and Cashel), that reveal a relationship. Roman coins have also been found at Newgrange. [2]
According to the theory of Thomas Charles-Edwards, who wrote about the Irish Dark Age, between the 1st and 3rd century there was a depopulating slave trade from Hibernia toward rich Roman Britain, that had an economy based on villa farming and wanted slaves to perform the heaviest labour in agriculture. [3] As the empire declined, this relationship may have reversed, as the biography of Saint Patrick suggests, and the Irish of Late Antiquity may have anticipated the later role of Irish Vikings as raiders across the Irish Sea.
The religious influence of the late Roman Empire involved the conversion to Christianity of many Irish people before the arrival of Saint Patrick in the century when the Western Roman Empire disappeared. [4] The first reliable historical event in Irish history, recorded in the Chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine, is the ordination by Pope Celestine I of Palladius as the first bishop to Irish Christians in 431 - which demonstrates that there were already Christians living in Ireland, before Palladius or Patrick. Prosper says in his Contra Collatorem that by this act Celestine "made the barbarian island Christian", although it is clear the Christianisation of Ireland was a longer and more gradual process.
Apart from the introduction of a new religion, the cultural influence from Rome can be seen even in the clothes (and glades) of high-ranking people inside Celtic tribes of the 3rd and 4th centuries. [5] The Ogham alphabet and writing system (which was probably first invented in the 4th century at Irish settlements in west Wales), may have been derived from the Latin alphabet after contact and intermarriage with Romanized Britons with a knowledge of written Latin however this is disputed by some scholars.[ citation needed ] In fact, several Ogham stones in Wales are bilingual, containing both Old Irish and Latin-influenced Brythonic (the ancestor of contemporary Welsh) inscriptions. [6]
There is some evidence of possible exploratory expeditions during the time of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, although the interpretation of this is a matter of debate amongst historians. In places like Drumanagh (interpreted by some historians to be the site of a possible Roman fort or temporary camp) and Lambay island, some Roman military-related finds may be evidence for some form of Roman presence. [7] The most commonly advanced interpretation is that any military presence was to provide security for traders, possibly in the form of an annual market where Romano-British and Irish met to trade. Other interpretations, however, suggest these may be merely Roman trading outposts, or native Irish settlements which traded with Roman Britain. Later, during the collapse of Roman authority in the 4th and 5th centuries, Irish tribes raided Britain and may have brought back Roman knowledge of classical civilization.[ citation needed ]
The Roman historian Tacitus mentions that Agricola, while governor of Roman Britain (AD 78 - 84), considered conquering Ireland, believing it could be held with one legion plus auxiliaries. He entertained an exiled "regulus", a petty king from Ireland, thinking to use him as a pretext for a possible invasion of Ireland. [8] This chieftain has been identified with Túathal Techtmar, who, in a 9th century poem, is reported to have been driven out of Ireland by a revolt, later returning with an army to conquer Ireland. [9]
The 2nd-century Roman poet Juvenal, who may have served in Britain under Agricola, wrote that "arms had been taken beyond the shores of Iuverna (Hibernia)". [10] This may refer to a genuine Roman military expedition to Ireland. [11]
Roman and Romano-British artefacts datable to the late 1st or early 2nd centuries have been found, primarily in Leinster and notably in a fortified site on the promontory of Drumanagh, fifteen miles north of Dublin, and burials on the nearby island of Lambay, both close to where Túathal Techtmar might plausibly have landed, and also at other sites associated with Túathal such as Tara and Clogher. [12] It is possible that the Romans may have given support to an Irish chieftain to regain his throne, in the interests of having a friendly neighbour who could restrain raiding from Ireland. [13]
Such an invasion may have been the reason why the Brigantes are recorded in Ireland, as noted in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography. The Brigantes were a rebellious British tribe, only recently conquered in Agricola's time. The dispossessed nobility may have been ready recruits for Túathal's invasion force, and the Romans might have found this a convenient way of getting rid of troublesome subjects, just as Elizabeth I planted English in Ireland and James VI & I planted Scots in Ireland in the 16th and 17th century. Other tribal names associated with south-eastern Ireland, including the Domnainn, related to the British tribal name Dumnonii, and the Menapii, a name also known from Gaul (Roman France), may also date from such an invasion. [14]
Irish religious belief and practices became Romanised after Saint Patrick and Saint Palladius began the slow process of spreading Christianity throughout Hibernia in the 5th century. One of the first churches in Hibernia was founded by Saint Palladius in 420 AD, with the name House of the Romans (Teach-na-Roman, actual Tigroney). [4] However, actual contacts with Rome and Italy seem to have been erratic for much of this period, and there were also contacts with Egyptian Christianity.
The Romano-British Saint Patrick promoted the creation of monasteries in Hibernia and the older druid tradition collapsed, in the face of the new religion he brought. [15] In the monastic culture that followed the Christianisation of Ireland, Latin learning was preserved in Ireland during the Early Middle Ages in contrast to some other parts of Europe, where the period popularly referred to as the Dark Ages followed the loss of Roman imperial authority over Western Europe. [15] [16] However, the concept of a period in which knowledge was lost and regression occurred in post-Roman Europe during the Early Middle Ages is no longer accepted by historians. In those monasteries, Hiberno-Latin was a learned sort of Latin literature created and spread by Irish monks during the period from the 6th to the 10th centuries.
Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribune under governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. In his subsequent career, he served in a variety of political positions in Rome. In 64, he was appointed quaestor in Asia province. Two years later, he was appointed Plebeian Tribune, and in 68, he was made praetor. During the Year of the Four Emperors in 69, he supported Vespasian, general of the Syrian army, in his bid for the throne.
The Roman conquest of Britain was the Roman Empire's conquest of most of the island of Britain, which was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by AD 87, when the Stanegate was established. The conquered territory became the Roman province of Britannia. Attempts to conquer northern Britain (Caledonia) in the following centuries were not successful.
Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. Some writers have described a distinct Celtic Church uniting the Celtic peoples and distinguishing them from adherents of the Roman Church, while others classify Celtic Christianity as a set of distinctive practices occurring in those areas. Varying scholars reject the former notion, but note that there were certain traditions and practices present in both the Irish and British churches that were not seen in the wider Christian world.
Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe, Pytheas of Massalia called the island Iérnē. In his book Geographia, Claudius Ptolemaeus ("Ptolemy") called the island Iouerníā. The Roman historian Tacitus, in his book Agricola, uses the name Hibernia.
The Culdees were members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England in the Middle Ages. Appearing first in Ireland and then in Scotland, subsequently attached to cathedral or collegiate churches; they lived in monastic fashion though not taking monastic vows.
Palladius was the first bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. It is possible that some elements of their life stories were later conflated in Irish tradition. Palladius was a deacon and member of one of the prominent families in Gaul. Pope Celestine I consecrated him a bishop and sent him to Ireland "to the Scotti believing in Christ".
The early medieval history of Ireland, often referred to as Early Christian Ireland, spans the 5th to 8th centuries, from the gradual emergence out of the protohistoric period to the beginning of the Viking Age. The period includes the Hiberno-Scottish mission of Christianised Ireland to regions of pagan Great Britain and the spread of Irish cultural influence to Continental Europe.
Eblana is an ancient Irish settlement that appears in the Geographia of Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), the Greek astronomer and cartographer, around the year 140 AD. It was traditionally believed by scholars to refer to the same site as the modern city of Dublin. The 19th-century writer Louis Agassiz used Eblana as a Latin equivalent for Dublin. However, more recent scholarship favours the north County Dublin seaside village of Loughshinny due to its proximity to Drumanagh, an important trading site with links to Roman Britain; it has even been described as a bridgehead of a possible Roman invasion. However, there is no definitive proof to tie Eblana to any location, so its exact identity remains a matter of speculation.
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language, and later the Old Irish language. There are roughly 400 surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern Munster. The largest number outside Ireland are in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Túathal Techtmar, son of Fíachu Finnolach, was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition. He is said to be the ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties through his grandson Conn of the Hundred Battles. The name may also have originally referred to an eponymous deity, possibly even a local version of the Gaulish Toutatis.
Lóegaire (died c. 462), also Lóeguire, is said to have been a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The Irish annals and king lists include him as a King of Tara or High King of Ireland. He appears as an adversary of Saint Patrick in several hagiographies. His dealings with the saint were believed to account for his descendants' lack of importance in later times. There are several accounts of his death, all of which contain supernatural elements, some of which concern his wars against Leinster.
Early Irish literature, is commonly dated from the 8th or 9th to the 15th century, a period during which modern literature in Irish began to emerge. It stands as one of the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe, with its roots extending back to late antiquity, as evident from inscriptions utilizing both Irish and Latin found on Ogham stones dating as early as the 4th century. The early Irish literary tradition flourished through the Medieval Irish period, and its literary output showcases a blend of indigenous storytelling, myth, and historical narratives. Notably, this period saw the development of a full-scale vernacular written literature expressed in a diverse range of literary genres.
Secundinus, or Sechnall as he was known in Irish, was founder and patron saint of Domhnach Sechnaill, County Meath, who went down in medieval tradition as a disciple of St Patrick and one of the first bishops of Armagh. Historians have suggested, however, that the connection with St Patrick was a later tradition invented by Armagh historians in favour of their patron saint and that Secundinus is more likely to have been a separate missionary, possibly a companion of Palladius.
Saint Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba. Patrick was never formally canonised by the Catholic Church, having lived before the current laws it established for such matters. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Church of Ireland, and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is regarded as equal-to-the-apostles and Enlightener of Ireland.
Gaelic Ireland was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Normans conquered parts of Ireland in the 1170s. Thereafter, it comprised that part of the country not under foreign dominion at a given time. For most of its history, Gaelic Ireland was a "patchwork" hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs, who were chosen or elected through tanistry. Warfare between these territories was common. Traditionally, a powerful ruler was acknowledged as High King of Ireland. Society was made up of clans and, like the rest of Europe, was structured hierarchically according to class. Throughout this period, the economy was mainly pastoral and money was generally not used. A Gaelic Irish style of dress, music, dance, sport and art can be identified, with Irish art later merging with Anglo-Saxon styles to create Insular art.
The Roman era in the area of modern Wales began in 48 AD, with a military invasion by the imperial governor of Roman Britain. The conquest was completed by 78 AD, and Roman rule endured until the region was abandoned in 383 AD.
Scotland during the Roman Empire refers to the protohistorical period during which the Roman Empire interacted within the area of modern Scotland. Despite sporadic attempts at conquest and government between the first and fourth centuries AD, most of modern Scotland, inhabited by the Caledonians and the Maeatae, was not incorporated into the Roman Empire with Roman control over the area fluctuating.
Drumanagh is a headland near the village of Loughshinny, in the north east of Dublin, Ireland. It features an early 19th-century Martello tower and a large Iron Age promontory fort which has produced Roman artefacts.
The prehistory of Ireland included a protohistorical period, when the literate cultures of Greece and Rome began to take notice of it, and a further proto-literate period of ogham epigraphy, before the early historical period began in the 5th century. Attempts have been made to reconstruct the political developments of this period by reference to early medieval Irish genealogical texts.
The Christianisation of Scotland was the process by which Christianity spread in what is now Scotland, which took place principally between the fifth and tenth centuries.
Territories with limited Roman Empire occupation and contact | ||
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