The Costs and Benefits of Roman Imperialism in Northern Britain During the Flavian, Antonine, and Severan Periods (AD 69 - c. AD 215)

Abstract

<p>This dissertation examines the Flavian, Antonine, and Severan occupations of Brigantia and those regions north of Brigantia. There are two principal aims of this work. The primary aim is to assess the viability of Hodgson’s concept that Carpow and Cramond were intended as outposts of the Severan period frontier (published in 2014). This is done through comparing a Severan occupation model, formulated using Hodgson’s ideas, with the Flavian and Antonine annexations that preceded it using Schmitz’s cost-benefit methodology (published in 2010). In achieving this, the Flavian and Antonine period annexations in northern Britain are also assessed using Schmitz’s cost-benefit tool. The secondary aim of this work is to examine the comparative benefits of direct annexation and administration with those of projected control, in order to explain why the progression of imperialism in northern Britain between AD 69 – c. AD 215 increasingly favoured the latter over the former (accepting Hodgson’s Severan concepts). Specifically, this thesis aims to demonstrate that the increasing Roman preference for projected control over direct administration in northern Britain was advantageous, and that the considerable use of projected control through outposts offered solutions to some of the disadvantages of traditional annexation and frontiers without outposts to project Roman control. </p> <p>Using Schmitz’s methodology, the Severan occupation model is found to have been of considerable advantage; more obviously so, when compared to the annexations that preceded it from AD 69 onward. This dissertation therefore wholly endorses the plausibility of Hodgson’s thesis regarding Carpow and Cramond in the Severan period. Moreover, working from this foundation, it is established that with increased use of control projected through Roman outposts, as opposed to the annexation of additional regions, the rewards may have been fewer, but the risks were lower. Additionally, the problems that were founded in northern Britain’s geography and the variation in native societies could be avoided by the greater use of projected control via Roman outposts.</p>