Roman Britain: Encyclopedia II - Roman Britain - Religion

Roman Britain - Religion

Religion in Roman Britain consisted originally of pagan worship. A common element was the conflation of Roman gods and local Iron Age deities such as Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham. The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain northern European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record but the differences in the votive offerings made at Bath before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial.

Worship of the emperor himself is widely recorded, especially at military sites.

Oriental cults such as Mithraism and Christianity grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The Temple of Mithras is one example of the popularity of mystery religions amongst the rich urban classes and by the fourth century there is archaeological evidence of Christian worship; small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early fourth century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. Amongst the ordinary Romano-Britons it is difficult to determine the adoption of Christianity although a large fourth century cemetery at Poundbury with its east-west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground. Such burial rites were becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period as well however.

It is not clear when Christianity came to Britain, or how. Some ancient texts seem to suggest that Christianity came early though by no means achieved anything approaching religious supremacy until after the Roman conquest due in part to the continued influx of pagan influences from the continent. Early Roman writers, and pre-reformation scholars certainly believed that Celtic Britain may have been Christianized early. Quintus Septimus Florens Terullianus also known simply as Tertullian (AD 155-222) wrote in Adversus Judaeos that Britain had already received and accepted the Gospel in his life time writing;

or in Latin;

According to archaeological record, Christianity seems to have been slower to spread in Britain than in some other parts of the Roman Empire, although there were British martyrs in the periods of persecution: St Alban of Verulamium and SS Aaron and Julius of Isca Silurum. By the fifth century, however, the new religion appears to have become established. The evidence for this process is complex, and described in Celtic Christianity. What evidence there is, is sketchy, however there is evidence to suggest that what Christian community that did exist in early Britain had already established some orthodoxy by 363 C.E. as evidenced by a letter found in Bath, Somerset from a Christian man, Vinisius, who writes from the Roman city of Wroxeter (near present-day Shrewsbury) to a Christian lady named Nigra, living in Bath. Vinisius warns Nigra of the arrival of one Bilonicus, whom he calls a "canem Arii", that is, a follower (dog) of the heretic Arios. The early Church in Roman Britain seems to have also developed the customary diocesan system as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul, 314.6 C.E. These contain the earliest references to bishops in Britain. Represented at the Council were bishops from thirty-five sees from North Africa, Gaul, Britain, Spain, Italy and Dalmatia. Signatories include three bishops from Britain. These were Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Religion", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki