Transcript Fishbourne Palace

FISHBOURNE PALACE
Hunter McConville
BORING PICS
BACKGROUND HISTORICAL INFO
• Fishbourne Palace most likely began as a base of military operations
• “At the time of the (Claudian) invasion, which may have entered
Britain through Chichester Harbors, military store buildings were
erected, followed by what may have been a military headquarters
building. By AD60” – (Fishbourne Project, Sussex Past)
• Mentioned in Mattingly – “the presence of a campaign base below
the villa at Fishbourne” (100)
BACKGROUND HISTORICAL INFO CONT.
• “Excavation and other research suggest that it was possibly the home
of a local client king, Tiberius Claudius Togidubnus. He was probably a
direct descendant of Verica, king of the local tribe, who sought help
from Emperor Claudius, thus precipitating the Roman invasion of
Britain in AD43” – (Sussex Project)
• There is also a less accepted theory that it was the home of
Roman diplomats or other high ranking Government
officials.
COOL PICS
• “Fishbourne Roman Palace … (has the) largest collection of in-situ
mosaic floors in Britain.” Most of which were believed to have been laid
during construction, making them the oldest in Britain!!!!
QUICK ARCHAEOLOGICAL HISTORY
• Discovered in the 1960, by accident. They weren’t looking for anything cool they just
happened to be putting in a water main
• They kind of screwed it up, thanks to construction
• Multiple excavations since then, chiefly throughout the 90’s and early 00’s
• Uncovered multiple “layers” of the palace, which indicate that it underwent several
periods of construction since the original building
• 2.3 hectares (5.6 acres) makes it the largest domestic Roman structure found in
Britain
POLITICAL EFFECTS (ROMANIZATION)
• Client King Relationship
• “Roman people’s old and long-standing policy of making even
kings their agents of enslaving peoples” (Tacticus, Agricola)
• Efforts of Roman Colonization
• Assimilation of British people
NOW FOR THE COMPREHENSION QUIZ
(JK LOL / BAD JOKE)
• As we’ve seen, especially in recent readings, the Roman’s go
to great pains to integrate/assimilate ‘conquered’ peoples
into ‘civil’ society (i.e. Building a palace at Fishbourne). In
what was did this Roman Overhaul backfire ?