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How did the Romans live?

When the Romans came to Britain they brought their way of life with them.

  • Over time, the people of Britain and the Romans mixed.
  • The Britons began to live the Roman lifestyle and the Romans took on local customs.
Cartoon of a Roman scene, including someone on a cart, a soldier and someone carrying an animal.
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How did towns and houses change?

The Romans built new towns.These were often protected by walls and there was everything a citizen of Roman Britain would need inside:

  • houses
  • shops
  • temples
  • meeting spaces
  • workshops
  • bathhouses
Important BuildingsUsed for
the forummeeting place and markets
the bathspublic place to wash
the latrinespublic toilets
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What were houses like?

  • People mainly lived in small villages of wooden houses with thatched roofs.

  • The biggest city in Roman Britain was Londinium (London).

  • Aquae Sulis (Bath) was a town famous for its baths.

The ruins of a Roman underfloor heating system.
Image caption,
Some Roman homes were kept warm with an underfloor heating system called a 'hypocaust'. The floor was raised up by piles of tiles or stone pillars to allow warm air to circulate.

Wealthy Romans also built grand country houses called villas.

  • Villas were large farms with a big house for the owners.
  • They had many rooms, some with beautifully painted walls, and mosaic floors.
  • They had lots of servants and farm workers to help run the villa.

Most of the Roman villas found by archaeologists are in the south of England. The governor of Britain had a palace in London. Another palace was beside the sea, at Fishbourne (near Chichester in West Sussex).

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What was a Roman family like?

Cartoon of a Roman woman with a child.
  • Men were in charge of the family in Roman Britain. Mothers were thought to be less important than fathers.
  • Men worked the land or in trade. Some joined the Roman army which had soldiers from all over the Empire, from Spain to North Africa.
  • Boys from rich families learnt Latin and wrote on wax tablets. They were also trained with swords.
  • Children could be married at the age of 14 and marriages were often arranged between families.
  • Life for women in Roman times was often hard.
  • Women ran the home, cooking and raising the children. In wealthy families, enslaved people often did this work.
  • Many women died young (in their 30s), because childbirth could be dangerous and diseases were common.
Cartoon of a Roman woman with a child.

Watch: Children in Roman Britain

Find out what life was like for children in Roman Britain

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What technology did they bring?

  • The Romans were very good at building鈥roads and bridges.
  • To make sure soldiers and supplies could move from town to town quickly, the Romans made their roads as鈥straight鈥痑s possible.
  • Many Roman roads survive today, 2,000 years later.

Although they didn鈥檛 invent the arch, the Romans were the first people to build arches into big buildings and aqueducts which were like a bridge with a stone channel to carry water on top.

A view of inside the Roman baths in the city of Bath in Somerset
Image caption,
Aqueducts supplied water to baths like these, found in the city of Bath.
A Roman road sign
Image caption,
This milestone from around AD120 used to stand beside a Roman road. It showed the distance to the nearest fort, Kanovium (the Roman for Caerhun in north Wales).
  • Aqueducts were built to supply towns with water from springs, rivers or lakes.

  • The Romans liked to keep clean. Towns and forts had underground drains to take away dirty water and sewage.

  • The drain pipes were flushed with water from the baths, so they didn't get too smelly.

  • Fresh water and sewers were important. Without them, people risked catching diseases.

A Roman road sign
Image caption,
This milestone from around AD120 used to stand beside a Roman road. It showed the distance to the nearest fort, Kanovium (the Roman for Caerhun in north Wales).
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When were the Romans in Britain?

A timeline showing Romans in Britain AD43 to AD410. This is after the Iron Age (800BC to AD43) and before the Anglo-Saxons (AD410 to 1066).
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Activities

Activity 1: Roman homes

Click on the labels below to find out about the different rooms of a Roman villa.

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Activity 2: Important Roman buildings

Click on the town below to find out about some of the important buildings.

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Activity 3: Quiz 鈥 Life in Roman Britain

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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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