Theories that the population’s health declined during the Roman period have been confirmed after analysis has been taken of skeletal remain from England before and during their occupation – but results have shown that this is only true in urban centres.
Although it is clear that the Romans wrote of bringing ‘civilisation’ to the people of Britannia, the Roman occupation of Britain in AD43 brought with it great social upheaval.
The increased urbanisation of the country under Roman influence has been widely seen as having a negative impact on the overall health of the population – when exposing people to new diseases and introducing class divides that restricted access to resources. Despite this being a prevailing belief though, health in the preceding Iron Age has rarely been studied, meaning that our true understanding of the Roman impact on health is limited.
In order to prove or disprove this belief, then, Rebecca Pitt from the University of Reading used a new approach that examines mothers and infants together. Her research shows that diseases, malnutrition and other stressors experienced by children under two can affect their health throughout their life, and even pass to the next generation, and by studying both groups, Pitt was able to assess the long-term health impacts of Roman urbanisation.
Rebecca Pitt said: “Mothers and infants are underrepresented in historical accounts. By looking at mother-infant experiences together, we can observe the long-lasting impact urbanisation has on the health of individuals, with negative health signatures passed from mothers to their children.
“It is likely that urbanisation resulted in overcrowded, polluted living situations, limited access to resources, and exposure to lead, which was a key part of urban Roman infrastructure. This had a harsh, long-term impact on health.
“In contrast, rural communities did not experience these stressors to the same extent. It is even possible that regional Iron Age traditions were preserved in rural areas, questioning the prevailing idea that the Roman administration forced drastic cultural change on Iron Age communities.”
The Study:
Pitt studied 646 skeletons, 372 of which were non-adults and 274 adult females, from urban and rural Iron Age and Romano-British sites across south and central England. Pitt identified the skeletons’ ages at death and health indicators such as skeletal lesions, then analysed them statistically to assess differences between Iron Age, rural Roman and urban Roman populations.
The findings, published in the journal Antiquity, show a statistically significant rise in negative health markers during the Roman Period, though this was only in urban contexts such as civitas capitals. Rural skeletons did show slightly increased pathogen exposure, but there was no statistical difference between Iron Age and Roman health in rural contexts.
