ROMANO-BRITISH HEREFORDSHIRE- A PREVIOUS article in this volume has dealt with the district of England now known as Herefordshire as it was in prehistoric times, and has described the remains of its original inhabitants, the products of their civilization, and the traces of their military and defensive operations. In the present section we reach the period when history begins in Britain, but, as will be seen, the historical records properly so called are still exceedingly meagre, and we are forced to rely almost exclusively on archaeological evidence. As there has been occasion to note in dealing with other counties, the treatment of the subject under the heading of a comparatively modern political division must necessarily be somewhat conventional. But while it is essential for the scheme of this particular work, it is on the whole the most convenient method to adopt in dealing with such a subject as Roman Britain. Not only is it a method long recognized in our topographical literature, and one that appeals most strongly to local interests, but the counties naturally present themselves as the only divisions available for the purpose, where such a subject is treated, not as a whole, but in sections. In the Roman period, as in the preceding and part of the succeeding periods, the divisions of Britain were vague and ill-defined, following no definite geographical or political system. And since our treatment of the subject is necessarily archaeological rather than historical we feel that the less apology is required if this article is mainly confined to a description of the actual remains found within the borders of this shire. The Roman occupation, begun under the Emperor Claudius in 43 b.c, advanced with great rapidity all over Britain, and within three or foar years the whole country as far as the Exe, Severn, and Humber was in the invaders' hands. Among others the 14th and 20th legions penetrated to Wroxeter and Chester, perhaps, as Professor Haverfield suggests, making Watling Street in the course of their march. For a time the more remote districts were left under the protection of native princes, but in the course of the next thirty years Ostorius Scapula and his successors were engaged in reducing the tribes of the hilly districts to the west and north, and during this period these protected districts were gradually absorbed.^ It was in the course of these operations that the campaign described by Tacitus' took place, in which Ostorius ' The writer has to acknowledge his indebtedness to Professor Haverfield's writings in the Arch. Surt/. of this county and in V.C.H. Shrops. Mr. Walter Pilley of Hereford has also contributed much useful information. ' V.C.H. Shrops. i, 206. ' Annals, xii, 3 1 ff. 167
