Tag: Fishbourne Roman Palace

Ancient Britain could Teach Nick Griffin’s BNP a Thing or Two

The BNP hit national headlines again last weekend, as Britain limps towards this year’s general election. After having voted to scrap their ‘whites-only’ membership policy, the far-right group introduced a measure whereby prospective members are vetted for up to two hours on whether they support the ‘integrity of the indigenous British’. We, the native British people, the party’s website valiantly claims, will be an ethnic minority in our own country within sixty years.

Thankfully Central London County Court ruled the membership move discriminatory, so Nick Griffin and his cronies will have to go back to the drawing board for another feeble attempt to drag themselves up in sheep’s clothing. But there’s something glaring I’ve found during our Ancient World in London video series Mr Griffin might want to address.

Episode 7: Hadrians Wall Illuminations

Nicole Favish takes a trip up north to see the Hadrian’s Wall Illuminations, marking 1600 years since the Romans left! Beacons, flares and torches were lit up along the length of the Roman Hadrian’s Wall, which is marked with forts, milecastles and turrets.

Nicole talks to some Roman re-enactors from Germany, and learns about the Vindalanda writing tablets, one of Britains’s most important discoveries.

Think ‘indigenous British’ and you might assume white, yet go back 2,000 years to Roman rule, and Britain was as multicultural as a Heathrow terminal. No fewer than three times in the past week have I heard ancient Britannia described as a multicultural centre; in Roman London, Fishbourne Roman Palace and Hadrian’s Wall (at this weekend’s illuminations check out the blog and video for more info).

London was a thriving trade centre following the Claudian invasions in 43AD, providing homes for foreigners as far flung as north Africa or Persia. Likewise Fishbourne was a seaport famed for Celtic client kings and a massive foreign workforce from across the empire. As the sun set on Hadrian’s Wall one organiser told me no fewer than 18,000 Roman soldiers worked on the wall, and around 15 per cent of the entire Roman army was stationed there at one point or other from all four corners of the continent and beyond. Recently at York, ancient Eboracum, evidence was found that ‘upper class’ African women made it their home during its infancy.

Did Britain’s ancient invaders and explorers not have children?

Did these ‘foreigners’ not procreate? Did they not forge cross-culture relationships and have children who themselves had children? When the Romans left in 410AD, did everyone suddenly disappear leaving ‘indigenous’ Celtic tribes to repopulate entirely?

And when the Saxons arrived from modern-day Germany and Denmark did they send all their kids back across the North Sea? What about the Scandinavian Vikings? Or the French Normans? Didn’t those cultures not assimilate dozens if not more other cultures into their own long before they reached Britain’s shores? Read Jonathan’s excellent blog on Britain’s DNA here.

I’m labouring the point, but how can one possibly preach about the rights of ‘indigenous Britons’ when this island has been explored and invaded more times than Jordan’s dignity? At what date does Mr Griffin draw the line? Will he be giving tax breaks to Italians or Scandinavians? I somehow doubt it. Ancient Britain, and London, was a humming nerve centre, where the synapses of the world flashed and banged to create a wonderful nation.

One of Britain’s greatest assets is its multiculturalism, but sadly some people choose to blame the country’s ills on immigration. Great writer Daniel Defoe summed up the situation best in his 1703 work The True-Born Englishman:

What were the English that they should make a mock of foreigners? They were the most mongrel race that ever lived upon the face of the earth. There was no such thing as a true-born Englishman.

Check out our Ancient World in London video chronicling the Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall event. You can keep up-to-date with all our quests, contests and events on the Ancient World in London homepage.

Could Fishbourne Villa Statue Actually Be Emperor Nero?

Experts think that the head of a marble statue depicting a young boy, found at Fishbourne Roman Palace in Sussex 45 years ago, might actually be the emperor Nero. This theory has yet to be proven and a 3D laser scan of the marble head on 15 October may provide further evidence.

The curator of archaeology at Fishbourne Roman Palace, Dr Rob Symmons, and archaeology experts from Bournemouth University, Dr Miles Russell and Harry Manley are working on this project. They noticed during the past year that there are several factors that suggest the marble portrait could be Nero. The marble head is ‘extremely well made’ in a rare and expensive marble indicating that it was made of or for someone very important.

Portrait of an Emperor

Dr Russell told me earlier today that the statue was found in the rubble of a Roman palace at Fishbourne during an excavation in 1964, but is likely to be associated with a previous Neronian-era palace.

Several things are already known about the statue: it is an import from Italy; although only the right-hand side of the face remains, it shows a very realistic and life-like portrait. The remaining part matches up with two other known portraits of nero as a young boy – held in the Musee du Louvre and in Museo Nazionale d’Antichita in Parma. There is also a small remaining fragment of a laurel wreath at the back of the head. Just two leaves are visible – but this too suggests that the statue has an imperial connection, according to Russell.

The statue was found in the foundations of a Roman palace being excavated by Sir Barry Cunliffe at Fishbourne – the fragment had been used as part of the rubble. It is a very high-quality statue, finely crafted of expensive Italian marble. The fact that it has been destroyed and thrown into the foundations of a Roman palace is also in keeping with the ‘damnatio memoriae’ – the condemnation of Nero by the senate following his death. During this period images and monuments to Nero were destroyed – including many marble portraits, and much of his Domus Aurea.

According to Dr Russell, he and his colleagues will be taking the fragment out of its case on 15 October for a laser scan. Because first century AD imperial portraits were so realistic, the team hopes to be able to establish a facial likeness to other known statues of Nero from that period. As part of the project a bronze portrait of Claudius from the British Museum will also be scanned. The team thinks this statue also bears more resemblance to Nero than to his uncle.

Nero committed suicide in 68 AD and was deeply unpopular in Rome. After 14 years of tyrannical reign, he was ousted by Galba, who had the support of the Pretorian Guard.

We have always assumed he was related to the Royal family who lived here but it may be that it is even more special and is a rare depiction of Nero

The statue head at Fishbourne was until recently thought to have represented King Cogidubnus or one of his relatives. Cogidubnus was a first century AD king in Roman Britain, believed to have lived in Fishbourne Villa.

Dr Symmons is quoted in the Telegraph as saying: “This is very exciting as the scan will allow us to see for the first time what the boy really looked like and may also reveal his identity. We have always assumed he was related to the Royal family who lived here but it may be that it is even more special and is a rare depiction of Nero.”

Photos by Dr Miles Russell, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology at Bournemouth University.