Roman Britain refers to the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was raised to the status of a Roman province.
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century. She was Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford from 1962 to 1973 and studied herself at Somerville College, Oxford.
Camulodunum, the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the oldest recorded town in Britain has become popular with residents and is still used on heritage roadsigns on trunk road approaches Originally the site of the Brythonic-Celtic oppidum of Camulodunon, capital of the Trinovantes and later the Catuvellauni tribes, it was first mentioned by name on coinage minted by the chieftain Tasciovanus some time between 20 and 10 BC. The Roman town began life as a Roman legionary base constructed in the AD 40s on the site of the Brythonic-Celtic fortress following its conquest by the Emperor Claudius. After the early town was destroyed during the Iceni rebellion in AD 60/61, it was rebuilt, reaching its zenith in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. During this time it was known by its official name Colonia Claudia Victricensis, often shortened to Colonia Victricensis, and as Camulodunum, a Latinised version of its original Brythonic name. The town was home to a large classical temple, two theatres, several Romano-British temples, Britain's only known chariot circus, Britain's first town walls, several large cemeteries and over 50 known mosaics and tessellated pavements. It may have reached a population of 30,000 at its height. It was not until the late 18th century that historians realised that Colchester's physical Brythonic and Roman remains were the city mentioned in ancient literature as "Camulodunum".
Howard Hayes Scullard was a British historian specialising in ancient history, notable for editing the Oxford Classical Dictionary and for his many published works.
Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the coast of western Libya along the Gulf of Sirte. The territory was originally inhabited by Berber people, known in Latin as Mauri indigenous to all of North Africa west of Egypt; in the 9th century BC, Phoenicians built settlements along the Mediterranean Sea to facilitate shipping, of which Carthage rose to dominance in the 8th century BC until its conquest by the Roman Republic.
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red Ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas of the Roman Empire; and more recently, as a description of a contemporary studio pottery technique supposedly inspired by ancient pottery. Usually roughly translated as 'sealed earth', the meaning of 'terra sigillata' is 'clay bearing little images', not 'clay with a sealed (impervious) surface'. The archaeological term is applied, however, to plain-surfaced pots as well as those decorated with figures in relief.
Alan Douglas Edward Cameron, was a British classicist and academic. He was Charles Anthon Professor Emeritus of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University, New York. He was one of the leading scholars of the literature and history of the later Roman world and at the same time a wide-ranging classical philologist whose work encompassed above all the Greek and Latin poetic tradition from Hellenistic to Byzantine times but also aspects of late antique art.
Michael Hewson Crawford, is a British ancient historian and numismatist.
Timothy William Potter was a prominent archaeologist of ancient Italy, as well as of Roman Britain, best known for his focus on landscape archaeology.
Timothy J. Cornell is a British historian specializing in ancient Rome. He is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester, having retired from his teaching position in 2011.
Martin John Millett, is a British archaeologist and academic. He is the Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and a professorial fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Since 2021, he has been president of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Dora May Billington was an English teacher of pottery, a writer and a studio potter. Her own work explored the possibilities of painting on pottery.
African red slip ware, also African Red Slip or ARS, is a category of terra sigillata, or "fine" Ancient Roman pottery produced from the mid-1st century AD into the 7th century in the province of Africa Proconsularis, specifically that part roughly coinciding with the modern country of Tunisia and the Diocletianic provinces of Byzacena and Zeugitana. It is distinguished by a thick-orange red slip over a slightly granular fabric. Interior surfaces are completely covered, while the exterior can be only partially slipped, particularly on later examples.
Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond. Monte Testaccio is a huge waste mound in Rome made almost entirely of broken amphorae used for transporting and storing liquids and other products – in this case probably mostly Spanish olive oil, which was landed nearby, and was the main fuel for lighting, as well as its use in the kitchen and washing in the baths.
Elizabeth Donata Rawson was a classical scholar known primarily for her work in the intellectual history of the Roman Republic and her biography of Cicero.
Eastern sigillata C, also known as Çandarli ware, is a category of Late Hellenistic and Roman terra sigillata. The best known production center is at Çandarlı, ancient Pitane.
Phocaean red slip (PRS) is a category of terra sigillata, or "fine" Ancient Roman pottery produced in or near the ancient city of Phokaia in Asia Minor. It is recognizable by its thin reddish slip over a fine fabric, often with occasional white (lime) inclusions. The main period of production is the late 4th century AD into the 7th century, contemporary to the later production of African red slip. All forms are open bowls or dishes. Later forms have stamped decoration.
Edith Mary Wightman FSA was a British ancient historian and archaeologist. She was Assistant-Professor and then Professor at McMaster University (1969–1983). Wightman was best known for her studies Roman Trier and Gallia Belgica.
John Walker Hayes, mostly known as J.W. Hayes, is a British archaeologist. Hayes studied at the University of Cambridge and was curator at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto since 1968. He expertised in Roman pottery, especially Eastern and North-African fine wares. His most famous books are Late Roman Pottery (1972) and Handbook of Mediterranean Roman Pottery (1997). He was distinguished in 1990 with the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement.
