h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Romans in Britain: Trade and Travel - A3012337
Author: Elentari - U202814

This is one of a series of entries I'm doing on Roman Britain, which in the long run, I hope to have edited as a series like Atlantic Cable's Sci fi entries (A1132057).

The complete list of my series is:
A Brief history: A2137565
Minerals: A3008666
Pottery: A3012283
Trade and Travel: A3012337
Agriculture: A3012355
Art: A3012364
Towns and Villas: A3012409
Army: A3012481
Forts and Fortresses: A3012517

in case you facy looking at the rest!

I know they may be a bit dry in parts, though I've tried to get rid of the bits that are only of interest to scholars, to make them more readable.

Let me know what you think!

Hello again
Some more pedantic points for you to ponder...

--Don't need introduction header.
--becoming romanised >> becoming Romanised
--To Scotland, the Romans and Celts sent >> this seems to say that in the opinion of Scotland, I'm not sure how to fix this . Try removing the comma?
--“roads” >> 'roads'
--53, 000 >> 53,000
--(Watling Street is an example of this) >> where is Watling Street?

I'm going to try to get through your entire series today, but I may be interrupted. So if I don't manage to comment on all of them don't worry, I'll be back

Smashing work!

I believe that the Romanisation of Britain (in terms of roads) is perceived as a problem these days in that we are 'London-centric'. Other countries which were not under Roman influence have multi-centre connurbations, with resultant fewer 'person-miles' in travelling to work, thus lower pollution problems and fewer traffic jams.

this is not my field, so I can't comment on it in more detail/more authoritively. Just s'thing that I recall reading.

Hi again!

To Scotland, the Romans and Celts sent pottery, glass, bronze and iron objects and wine. In return they received slaves, cattle, hides and furs, animals and possibly wool. >> The Romans and Celts sent pottery, glass, bronze and iron objects and wine to Scotland. In return they received slaves, cattle, hides and furs, animals and possibly wool.
Clears up Miloso's point.

An embankment called an agger was built between the two ditches. >> An embankment called an agger was built between the two inner ditches.
As there are 4 ditches mentioned.

I don't know that your measurements ought to be transferred into kilometres/metres... ie. 30ft to 10m and 90ft to 30m.

The larger stones were packed with sand and gravel before the upper surfaces were lain. The roads were often paved, and this had to be so in towns. In the country they could be surfaced by a rough form of concrete. They vary in composition from place to place, as local materials were used and it depended on what was available, hence the use of iron-ore slag is only in areas where it was smelted.

Watling Street ran from London north through St. Albans (Verulanium) to Leicester, where it intersected with the Fosse Way, and then turned West into Shropshire. There are, however several Watling Streets! One ran from London to Dover.

Another feature of Roman roads is the presence of Milestones. They had odometers, which were pretty accurate when it came to measuring distances.


Watermusic

OK, thanks very much everyone, especially Miloso and others who are taking the time to read all of these entries, I really appreciate it.

Not much wrong with this!

Phrasing:
when the Britons insisted on trade on a goods for goods basis --> when the Britons had insisted on trade on a goods-for-goods basis

h2g2 Style:
AD 43 --> 43 AD

Typos:
to build a 30 ft wide roads --> to build a 30 ft wide road

Corrections made.

Shaping up nicely
A few more items for your attention -

--once Britain was becoming romanised >> Romanised
--As all countries in the Empire used the same Roman currency, it was easier for the Britons to trade with other Roman countries than it had been before, when the Britons had insisted on trade on a goods for goods basis rather than a goods for money basis. >> This seems a bit run-on.
--The Romans increased production of minerals, particularly lead, but also silver, gold and tin. These were mainly purchased by the Empire rather than by private citizens. >> This is the last bit of the Imports section, but shouldn't it be in with exports?
--You should capitalise your subheaders: Main Exports and Main Imports.

Thanks Miloso, done that.

On re-reading this, it struck me how often the entry stresses that the roads made trade and travel faster. Of course, while that's true, it seems to be repeated four or five times. Would anyone else agree that it seems to dominate the entry? If it's just me, I apologise

I've taken one of them out. I think it's mentioned 3 times now.

I really enjoyed reading through this system of Entries. Very good stuff. The problem I have with this one is that 50% of it is about how the Romans made the roads, and less about trade and travel.

I also don't have very good suggestions to make, except that I expected a more specific 'Romans in Britain' approach to this Entry.

BTW... This I read somewhere: The STS boosters of the American Space-Shuttles (the two 'bananas' on the side of the big brown tank) have a certain width (don't remember the exact figure), because they have to be transported on tracks. The tracks, in thier turn have their width from the roman roads, upon which the first railroads were built. Finally, the Roman roads had their width from the standardized axle length of the roman chariots.

Had the Romans not been in Britain, the STS Boosters would be of a different size...

HELL

HELL

That's very interesting, I didn't know that. Who'd have guessed?

I've added a bit more information about the roads (including some examples) and a bit about trade.

As to your point on how a great deal of the entry refers to how the roads were built, I think hat is an important part of understanding the Roman road system as it's construction was such an achievement. I also thought people might enjoy reading it. Perhaps I was wrong?

Couple of straggling typos:

-both locally and furtherr afield >> further
-They were ofte very long >> often

OK, I've corrected them. How many times have you re-read these entries now, Miloso?

You've been very patient with all my nit-picks .

Two more:

also, British woollen --> Also, British woollen

miletones --> milestones

G

Well spotted, I've done those now.