Dorothy Watts - Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain

Routledge Revivals

Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain

In Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain, first published in 1991, Professor Dorothy Watts sets out to distinguish possible Pagan features in Romano-British Christianity in the period leading up to and immediately following the withdrawal of Roman forces in AD 410.

Watts argues that British Christianity at the time contained many Pagan influences, suggesting that the former, although it had been present in the British Isles for some two centuries, was not nearly as firmly established as in other parts of the Empire. Building on recent developments in the archaeology of Roman Britain, and utilising a nuanced method for deciphering the significance of objects with ambiguous religious identities, Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain will be of interest to classicists, students of the history of the British Isles, Church historians, and also to those generally interested in the place of Christianity during the twilight of the Western Roman Empire.

Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain

Dorothy Jane Watts

First published in 1991

by Routledge

This edition first published in 2014 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1991 Dorothy Jane Watts

The right of Dorothy Jane Watts to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 90049531

ISBN 13: 978-0-415-74294-8 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-1-315-81397-4 (ebk)

CHRISTIANS AND PAGANS IN ROMAN BRITAIN

Dorothy Watts

First published 1991

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1991 Dorothy Jane Watts

Disc conversion in 11/12 pt Garamond 3 by

Columns Typesetters of Reading

Printed in England by

T.J. Press, Padstow, Cornwall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Watts, Dorothy

Christians and pagans in Roman Britain.

1. Great Britain. Christianity, ancient period

I. Title

209.361

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Watts, Dorothy.

Christians and pagans in Roman Britain/Dorothy Watts.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Great BritainChurch historyTo 449. 2. Christianity and other religionsRoman. 3. Christianity and other religionsCeltic. 4. Great BritainReligionTo 449. 5. Great BritainAntiquities, Roman. 6. Great BritainAntiquities, Celtic. 7. Christian antiquitiesGreat Britain. 8. Excavations (Archaeology)Great Britain. 9. RomeReligion. 10. CeltsGreat BritainReligion. I. Title.

BR748.W38 1991

274.101dc20 9049531

ISBN 0415050715

PREFACE

There has been a growing interest in the religions of Roman Britain in recent years, stimulated, no doubt, by the discovery of several important hoards with a religious component. This has resulted in a number of publications on the topic, most of which emphasise the Celtic or Roman cults. Christianity is usually treated as a minority eastern religion; the major archaeological sites and finds are mentioned, and the authors generally come to some conclusion about the possible continuity of Christianity into the post-Roman and Saxon periods. There are very few attempts to distinguish any pagan elements in Romano-British Christianity, and none made to evaluate such elements. It seemed that here was a fertile field for research.

Such was the background for this study. In the search for the pagan material, however, it was found that the evidence for Christianity itself was often far from clear, despite recent publications specifically of this aspect of Romano-British religion. This in turn prompted a wider-ranging investigation which meant looking beyond the published works to archaeological projects completed but not yet in press, and to others still in progress. Undoubtedly, further evidence for Christianity awaits recognition in storerooms of museums or amongst unpublished material held by various individuals or institutions, but problems of accessibility make an even wider search impracticable for the time being.

The investigation has tended to confirm the generally accepted view of Christianity as a minority religion in Britain at the time of the withdrawal of the Romans; but it has also, I hope, resulted in a more accurate assessment of the extent of Christianity, and of its place in the religious tradition of Roman Britain. Moreover, the criteria developed for the identification of Christian sites will assist further expansion of this knowledge.

For a person normally living outside Britain, detailed research on any aspect of the Roman period is daunting. My task was made much easier and more pleasurable by the generosity of many scholars and archaeologists who provided information on their specialist fields, or made material available to me in advance of publication. In this regard, the present work has been greatly improved by discussions or correspondence I have had with Ms Brenda Dickinson, Ms Catherine Johns, Rev. Professor William Frend, Professors Henry Chadwick and Charles Thomas, Drs Edward Yarnold, SJ, John Drinkwater, Mark Hassall and Martin Henig, Messrs William Putnam, Christopher Sparey Green and Nigel Wilson; in addition to their help with details of their particular projects, the following have given permission to use unpublished material: Messrs Philip Crummy, Carl Crossan and the Colchester Archaeological Trust; Messrs David Miles and John Moore and the Oxford Archaeological Unit; Ms Susan Davies, Mr David Farwell and the Trust for Wessex Archaeology; Mr Brian Dix and Northamptonshire County Council Archaeology Unit; Mr Michael Jones and the City of Lincoln Archaeological Unit; Mr David Wilson, for excavations carried out by the University of Nottingham, with assistance from the Department of the Environment; Mr Robin Turner, for excavations conducted with the assistance of English Heritage; Dr Ann Woodward, Emeritus Professor Philip Rahtz, and Messrs George Boon and Christopher Guy. I am especially grateful to Bro. Eoin de Bhaldraithe, who not only advised me on matters of church history and ritual, but also wrote a note on the use of various instruments in the early Mass which is incorporated in this work as an Appendix. I offer my sincere thanks to all these busy people who still found time to share their knowledge and the fruits of their labour. For the views expressed in this work, however, I alone am responsible.