Module Identifier HY34930  
Module Title ROMAN BRITAIN AND THE CELTIC PEOPLES 300BC-AD450  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Jeffrey Davies  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Lecture   18 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 Hours  
Assessment Essay   2 essays (1 x 4,000 words, 1 x 2,500 words)   40%  
  Exam   3 Hours   60%  

Learning outcomes


On completion of this module, students should be able to:
a) Demonstrate familiarity with a substantial body of historical and archaeological knowledge in the field of late prehistoric and Romano-British studies.
b) Engage in source criticism, discussion and understanding of the range of approaches to the study of the British Isles in the period 300BC – AD 450.
c) Demonstrate familiarity with a wide range of historical techniques, especially archaeological and epigraphic, relevant to the study of the British Isles in the period 300 BC – AD 450.
d) Gather and sift appropriate items of historical evidence
e) Read, analyse and reflect critically on secondary and primary sources, in particular those of an archaeological nature
f) Explore the relationships between history and other disciplines, particularly archaeology
g) Develop the ability to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of particular historical arguments and where necessary challenge them.
h) Develop oral (not assessed) and written skills which will have been improved through seminar discussions and essays
i) Work both independently and collaboratively, and to participate in group discussions (not assessed).

Brief description


The option module begins with a survey of socio-economic developments in later prehistoric Britain, focusing upon changes in settlement and subsistence strategies and the growing influence of the Roman world. Thereafter imperial policies and British attitudes to Rome spanning the period 55 BC to AD 43 are examined; followed by a survey of the conquest phase to the retrenchment of the later Flavian era. The relationships between Roman Britain and its neighbours are examined in the context of the history of the British frontier zones, and changes occurring within the free Celtic and Germanic world. The economic and cultural development of the British Isles are studied together with the contribution of imperial administration and native aristocracies to these processes. The latter part of the module covers the politico-military-economic disintegration of the later fourth and fifth century; the establishment of Christianity; problems of the 'adventus Saxonum', and the problems of late Roman continuity and/or disjunction.