Rome Empire and Ireland

The Romans, who had a pre-existing understanding of the region, were the ones who first found Ireland. The primary drivers of Ireland’s globalization were trade and communication. The connection between the Roman Empire and Ireland will be the main topic of this essay. On the likelihood of Roman military interaction in Ireland, historians continue to disagree. The term “Hiberno-Roman relation” refers to the emerging cultural and commercial ties between Ireland and the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire through Saint Patrick converted a number of the Irish People to Christianity when the Western Roman Empire ended. The relations between Ireland and the Roman Empire began to be witnessed in the first century of the Christian era.

Ireland

Ireland is also referred to as Hiberno. Julius Caesar was the first roman writer who mentioned Ireland in his work. According to his writings, the size of Ireland was two thirds the size of Britain. However, according to Piny the Elder, the width of Ireland is the same as that of Britain but shorter by just about two hundred miles. Additionally, he also wrote that by sea, Ireland was about thirty miles and therefore the sea route was shorter (Daffy 2002, p. 8).

Strabo, another writer, stated that the people of Ireland were more vicious than the Britons because they are man-eaters as well as heavy eaters. He also stated them as immoral and malicious. Pompous Mella, another writer described the Irish people as the most ferocious, beastly and most savage compared to any other races. Mella, in his work also stated that the land was unfavorable for the growing of wheat but had very healthy grass for cattle keeping. Solin wrote in the third century AD and stated that the people of Ireland were inhospitable. His writings were however based on the work of Mella and Piny. Solin also acknowledged the absence of snakes in Ireland. In the fifth century, a writer known as Orosius wrote that Ireland was a land that was inhabited by Choti and it was more favored regarding climate conditions and was more fertile compared to Britain (Carey 2010, p. 319).

The Roman Empire

It was during the period of civilization in the ancient Roman in the post-Roman republic that the Roman Empire existed. The emperor headed the government and many other territories in Europe along the Mediterranean Sea, Asia and also Africa. During that time, Rome was considered as the biggest city all over the world. Later on during 500AD, things changed, and Constantinople became the largest city. The general Roman population also increased during this period. Latin was the major language in Rome until the reign of Alexander the great who came up with Greek and wanted to make it a major language in his territories. It was then that Greek became a language that was shared by the territories in the east of the Mediterranean as well as in Asia. A division was then established with the eastern parts adapting to the Greek language while the western parts adapted to the Latin language. Many Romans who went through the elite education system studied Greek as well as many others who were in the government who also spoke Greek. The eastern empire also adopted Greek and translated their laws as well as many of their official documents from Latin to Greek. The people of Rome often traded with each other. However, the trade activities expanded, and they began to trade with other countries outside Rome including the neighboring towns such as Ireland and went as far as China and even India. The roman main trade commodity was grain which was traded far and wide. Other trade goods included slave, textiles, fibers, metal objects that were manufactured as well as olive oil and foodstuffs. Timber, marble, pearls, ivory, gemstones, textiles and fiber were also important trade goods among the traders. The wine was also a major trade item amongst the traders. Rome was also a city whose occupants were mainly Christianity. The people were very religious and strict in their religion. They always ensured to maintain good relations with their gods at all times. It is in the roman beliefs that the archaic religion was inherited by the people from kings in the early times. The roman religion was dependent on the correct prayer practices and knowledge. It was also based on sacrifice and the performing of certain rituals according to their beliefs. Every household had its shrine put at a certain place and this was where family prayers and libations were offered. The Roman calendar had as much as a hundred and thirty-five days that were set aside for religious purposes and festivals that everyone including women, slaves and children attended (Webster 2001, p. 211).

The Hiberno –Roman Relations

The cultural and economic relationships that emerged between the Roman Empire and Ireland was known as the Hiberno-Roman relation. The relation began during the time of Julius Caesar lasting up the early periods of the fifth century AD. Ireland was therefore among the few areas in the west of Europe that escaped the Roman Empire conquest (Elizabeth and Barony 2000, p. 248).

Features of the Relations and Religion

Ireland was not taken over by the Roman Empire. However, Ireland was greatly influenced by Rome in many ways. The influence was seen regarding culture, religion, economic activities as well as in the military activities. The Roman Empire through Saint Patrick converted a number of the Irish People to Christianity when the Western Roman Empire ended. Christianity was, therefore, present in Ireland at the end of the fifth century AD. During the 431 AD, the ordination by Pope Celestine 1 as the first bishop among the people of Ireland showed that Christianity already existed in Ireland before the fifth century AD (Charles-Edwards 2000, p. 145).

Culture and Economy

The Rome also influenced the culture of the people of Ireland regarding their clothing’s and ways of dressing as well as in many other ways. The Irish people also adopted the writing systems of the Roman Empire as well as used the Ogham alphabet that was invented from the Latin alphabet that they had learned from the Romans.

The roman Hibernian relationship can also be classified as more commercial as written by Richard Warner, a scholar who stated that at the end of the invasion of the south of Britannia by Emperor Claudius, many trade routes that opened up Hibernia through the Mediterranean and the Roman Britannia opened up. Merchants began to operate and expanded the economic activities in Rome as well as in Ireland. Some roman ancient objects including jewelry, and Roman coins navigated into the Ireland due to trade and commercial activities between the two.

Military

Historians still debate on the possibility of the interaction of the Roman military in Ireland. It is argued that the Roman military traveled to Ireland with the Roman traders to provide full security to the traders together with their goods. The military also provided security for the roman traders at the market where they met to trade with the other communities.

Stronger theories about the presence of the Romans in Ireland have emerged in the recent years. In his writing, the Roman historian Tacitus states that the ancient governor in charge of the Roman Britain wanted to conquer Ireland and tried to exile the prince of Ireland. The Roman Empire, however, in the long run, failed to conquer Ireland. However, it is still not clear if the evidence of trade, culture, and religion, as well as military activities by the Roman Empire in Ireland, accepted. Some historians still argue that the Romans never set foot in Ireland while others support the evidence found claiming the existence of the Romans in Hibernia (Elizabeth and Barony 2000, p. 248).

Influence of the Roman Church

Two saints, Saint Patrick and Saint Palladius, were mainly involved in the spread of Christianity in Ireland in the fifth century AD. Saint Palladius founded one of the early churches in Ireland that were named the House of the Romans. Saint Patrick, on the other hand, was as Romano British saint. He also fought for the establishment of Monasteries in Ireland. This led to the fall of the older druid tradition and an introduction of a new religion that was Christianity (Charles-Edwards 2000, p. 148).

Ptolemy’s Geography has tried to demonstrate the Ireland to the classical world through the list of place names as well as tribe names with their exact locations on the longitudes and latitudes. According to Dr. Richard Warner, a group of Romanized Britons invaded Ireland during the first century AD. He also speculated that the invaders might have entered Ireland through the southeast. His theory was based mainly on many factors including some similarities in the names on Ptolemy’s map as well as scatters of the first and second-century findings of the of Romans in Ireland. Pieces of evidence of trade activities that took place between the Roman Empire and Ireland showed the interaction and the relationship that existed between the two islands. They exchanged many items including hides, slaves, foodstuffs, and even wolfhounds. During the fourth century AD, the Romans saw the wolfhounds which were so stunning to them that they bought in large quantities. Other materials that originated from the Roman Empire were bought by the Irish such as coins, sherds of Samia, bronze among many other items. The trade between the two, therefore, explains the existence of Roman Empire items in Ireland as well as Irish materials in the Roman Empire (Charles-Edwards 2000, p. 149).

Other evidence of artifacts such as silver rings, gold coins and sun bronzes that were found in archaeological sites such as the Newgrange in Co. and were buried outside the passage tomb is related to roman travelers, pilgrims as well as merchants who may have buried them as offerings as they traveled past the Ireland (Daffy 2002, p. 9).

Several Cemetery cites in Ireland have also produced some pieces of evidence of several Roman materials. Many burials were dug up at Bray Head Company in the year 1835. The burials were however not documented, but the skeletons showed that they had been extended by stones on both sides of the head and feet. Copper coins of both the Tragan and Hadrian were also uncovered. This was related to the Roman burial culture where the deceases were buried with copper coins placed in their mouths and eyes. Other burials found also included a few skeletons that were accompanied by grave goods that included Romano British brooches that dated back to the first and second century, a bronze finger ring, an iron sword, a beaded torch and an iron mirror. In the North British, the torch was symbolic. It indicated that the person who was buried was either a Romanized Britain or was closely related to the Romans (Raftery, 1994).

Another burial was discovered outside the greater Dublin Region at Stoneyford Company and was quite similar to the other discoveries that were made earlier. It was made up of remains that were cremated and placed in a glass urn. A glass vial accompanied the urn and a mirror made of bronze. Evidence classifies this kind of burial as a middle class during the first century AD possibly by a woman.

Some arguments still exist on whether the Ireland was invaded by the Roman Empire as well as questions that remain unanswered on the same topic. According to historical evidence, not much is available to support large-scale incursions of the military. The archaeological sites that were related to the military of the Romans cannot be found to prove every concept of the military. Contacts during trade between the Irish people and the British, the Romanized Britain as well as the Romans is evident along the shores. The visitors may have visited the Irish shores to trade as well as visit sacred areas like the Newgrange, make political alliances. Some may have even moved from their origins and formed small communities that lived up to the social status of the Romans and even buried each other like the Romans (Philip 2001, p. 62).

It is therefore clear that the people of Ireland were Christians during the fifth century AD. Pope Celestine, a Christian leader from the Roman Empire, had sent Palladius to Ireland in 431 AD. By the fifth century AD, Christianity was already spreading in Ireland. The Latin bishop that sent Palladius to spread Christianity in Ireland was, therefore, the main Centre of influence that facilitated the spread of Christianity in Ireland. It is therefore clear that the Romans had interacted with the Irish people during that period (Koch and Carey, 2003).

To also show the presence of Romans in Ireland, several archaeological findings with the Latin origin have been found in Ireland. Other places in Ireland have also been named with similar location names as others in the Roman Empire. This proves that there has been an interaction between the people from the Roman Empire who may have brought with the similarities to Ireland. The period 81 to 96 century AD also saw the discoveries of the Roman denarius that existed during the reign of Domitian. The discoveries of the Roman gold coins that were made at the new grange also showed that the people from the Roman Empire interacted with the Irish people. The roman gold coin that existed during the reign of Constantine the second in Rome in 317 to 340 century AD was found at the new grange in Ireland. The Roman gold solidus that existed during the reign of Arcadius in 383 to 408 AD is another piece of evidence to prove the existence of a relationship between the Roman Empire and Ireland. It was found at Newgrange seven in Ireland. This kind of evidence proves that the people from the two islands must have interacted with each other in many ways. During the late second millennium, another finding was made. It was an Irish gold torque that was also found in the Newgrange. On it was roman letters that were inscribed and were presumed to have a particular meaning. The existence of such a roman item among the Irish people illustrated that there was a direct contact between the people from the Roman Empire and those in the Ireland. The silver ingots that were discovered in Blaine during the late fourth century and the beginning of the fifth-century AD also brings into light the fact that there was an interaction between the people from the Roman Empire and the people from Ireland. The ogam alphabet that has been in use in Ireland has adopted from Rome as well as the ogam inscriptions that have been evident in Wales and Ireland. The land of Ora maritime has also been found to have been inhabited by the roman people originally before the existence of the people of Ireland. In Strabo, the lengths and widths of the world to be inhabited is quite about the length and widths of the lands that were used by the people in the Roman Empire. The chances of a shift of Ireland in a clockwise direction as predicted by scrabo can also be used to explain certain relations between the two islands. Geographically, Ireland and a few other islands have been placed in some sizes and conjectural such that they interact freely with each other (Raftery, 1994).

Ireland and the Ancient Rome

The kelts lived in the Roman Empire and were more spiritual heirs as compared to the ancient Greeks or even the Italians. The Keltic tribes were all under the rule of the Romans. They used Latin languages, lived up to the roman cultures and also accepted the roman rule. Ireland was however not touched by the roman rule. The Irish people lived independently until the Roman Empire fell. It was then that Ireland was influenced by the religion, art and other aspects of the Roman Empire. The relations between Ireland and the Roman Empire began to be witnessed in the first century of the Christian era. The abundant grass in Ireland and the favorable rains made the place more attractive to the people around.it is therefore evident that people may have moved to Ireland to explore the land for cultivation. Agricola had intentions to conquer Ireland into the Roman Empire to make Ireland a connection between Spain, Gaul, and Britain. He, however, failed because he had little knowledge about Ireland. His geographical calculations about conquering Ireland abandoned him in his plan to acquire Ireland (Johnston 2017, p. 111).

Traders from other areas knew about the Ireland harbors and trade routes through trade and other commercial activities that they were engaged in. The Roman coins that were found in Ireland prove that there was trade between Ireland and the Roman Empire. The multiple sites that have been identified in Ireland show very concrete connections between the Romans existence and relations in Ireland. Some went to spread Christianity. Others went to trade, and others had political intentions to conquer Ireland while others were travelers who went to Ireland to visit religious sites and perform their desired acts of worship and offer sacrifices in the sacred places. It was during such visits that they left many pieces of pieces of evidence in Ireland that have been used to prove the interactions (Carey 2010, p. 319).

Bibliography

Carey, J., 2010. Donn, Amairgen, Íth and the Prehistory of Irish Pseudohistory. Journal of Indo-European Studies, 38(3/4), p.319.

Charles-Edwards, T.M., 2000. Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge University Press. Pp:145-154

Daffy, S., 2002. A site for sore eyes: a Hiberno-Roman curative cult at Golden, Co. Tipperary. Archaeology Ireland, 16(2), pp.8-9.

Elizabeth, Q. and by Barony, B., 2000. Compiled by Ruth Johnson. A History of Settlement in Ireland, p.248.

Philip Freeman. 2001. Ireland and the Classical World, University of Texas Press, pp. 62-64

Freeman, P., 2010. Ireland and the classical world. University of texas Press.

Johnston, E., 2017. Ireland in Late Antiquity. Studies in Late Antiquity, 1(2), pp.107-123.

Koch, J.T. and Carey, J., 2003. The Celtic heroic age. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications.

Raftery, B., 1994. Pagan Celtic Ireland: the enigma of the Irish Iron age. Thames and Hudson.

Webster, J., 2001. Creolizing the Roman provinces. American journal of archaeology, pp.209-225.