ROMANO-BRITISH RUTLAND THE small division of the country now known as Rutland had, of course, no existence during the Roman occupation of Britain.^ At the time of the Roman invasion the district was probably inhabited by the Coritani, a British tribe, whose chief towns of Lindum (Lincoln) and Rhage or Ratae (Leicester) are mentioned by Ptolemy, writing about a.d. 120.^ The extent of territory occupied by this tribe is uncertain, but probably included the counties of Lincoln, Northampton, Rutland, Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby. The Roman occupation under the Emperor Claudius began in a.d. 43, and at first the subjugation of the country was comparatively easy. A strong foothold was obtained in Kent and Essex, and then the army was formed into three divisions, the second legion going south-west towards Somerset and Devon, the fourteenth and twentieth north-west towards Shrewsbury and Chester, and the ninth north towards Lincoln.' By a.d. 47 or 48 the whole of the eastern part of Britain up to the Humber, including the region now known as Rutland, was occupied, and in a.d. 48, or shortly afterwards, the subjugation of the more hilly districts northwards began. Professor Haverfield divides Britain into two districts : the lowlands, or eastern, southern, and south-western district he describes as civilian, while the uplands, or northern and western district he defines as military.* Rutland belongs to the first category, and was a part of the Midland area, which may be termed undistinguished. The physical features of the county lead to no conclusion but that it was occupied by a scanty and peaceful population, probably following primitive agricultural pursuits. The county shares the usual characteristics of the Midlands with the exception of mineral wealth, and is noteworthy for the low scale and small size of its hills, its rivers, and its forests.^ None of the Antonine routes cross Rutland, but the Ermine or Erming Street passes through its eastern side." Such evidences of Romano- British civilization as appear are chiefly to be found where this road enters the ' Much of the information contained in these opening paragraphs has been taken from Prof. Haverfield's contribution to the History of Roman Britain in the volumes of this series. The writers desire to express their acknowledgements to Messrs. V. B. Crowther-Beynon and W. H. Wing for general help and information, especially in regard to the Market Overton site. ' Geografh'ta (ed. Didot, 1883), i, 99. ' V.C.H. Northants, i, 215.
- V.C.H. Dcrb. i, 192. ' V.C.H. Northants, i, 165.
- Rut. Mag. and Hist. Rec. i, 159 ; V.C.H. Northants, i, 203 ; Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), ii, 270, 292 ;
Stukeley, Itin. Cur. 84 ; Assoc. Arch. Soc. Rep. ix, 156. 85
