The Romans Had a Major Industry That Played a Crucial Role in Their Conquest of Britain: Beer and Salt

Beer is a common drink in many people’s lives. There are thousands of varieties, and it has nutritional properties. Beer is also the social drink par excellence. If go back thousands of years, beer had a different taste and a different purpose: to sustain entire civilizations. It was used in rituals, served as a rallying point between communities, provided calories, and was a source of safe drinking water.

For the ancient Romans, beer was familiar. In fact, a group of researchers from Oxford has found traces of Roman major industries in Britain dedicated to the manufacture of ceramics, salt, and lots of beer.

Conquering Britain. The Romans were eager to expand their territory and dominate new lands, including Britain. In 54 and 55 B.C., Julius Caesar made an initial invasion attempt, which was followed by a more extensive campaign from 43 to 84 A.D. This campaign aimed to conquer the fragmented Britannia, which was ruled by various tribes.

We need beer. Despite the scattered nature of the tribes, the Roman army encountered many challenges and needed a large supply of provisions. Beer played a crucial role in providing quick nourishment to the soldiers. This demand for supplies led to the growth of an industrial infrastructure.

The villas. Over the years, the villas thrived, serving not only as urban centers but also playing a significant industrial role. Archaeologist Edward Biddulph told the BBC that the need to supply the army was a key factor in the rapid industrial development of these urban centers. While previous investigations suggested that beer was important for soldiers, recent research has provided a more complete understanding of this aspect.

In one such villa located in Northfleet, England, archaeologists discovered evidence of industrial brewing. They found stone kilns and wood-lined grain-wetting tanks that experts previously thought people at the time used only for drying corn. However, archaeologists now know that these were actually “malting ovens, used to heat partially germinated grain to produce malt,” as Biddulph explains.

Another clue: pottery. Biddulph says that while “we tend to think of the Roman world as being very much a wine-loving place,” the truth is that “a lot of the population in Roman Britain were drinking beer and we see that in the pottery they were using, large beakers in the same sort of sizes as modern pint glasses.”

Pottery also played a significant role in the Roman industry during the invasion. Romans transported products like olive oil or wine to Britain using ceramic amphorae, but the Romano-Britons also “produced their own big jars” for both storing beer and for transport. For instance, the excavation at Horningsea, north of Cambridge, revealed that the area was an important pottery production site.

Industrial centers. During the 3rd and 4th centuries, Roman villas in Britain reached their peak. An excavation in the English county of Northamptonshire in 2020 revealed evidence of industrial activity in these villas, including pottery, bricks, lime, and a road built by the army.

Despite the absence of a nearby fort, the road likely served as a trade route to connect with other areas. Moreover, archaeologists also discovered salt production on an industrial scale in these villas. For example, at Stanford Wharf Nature Reserve in 2009, researchers found evidence of salt mining dating back to the Iron Age, with a significant increase in production during the 3rd and 4th centuries.

This recent discovery indicates that these villas developed their own industrial estates to supply the army and Londinium (London) with beer, salt, and iron. Additionally, there was a large-scale production of salted meat and fish sauce.

This article was written by Alejandro Alcolea and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.

Image | Oxford Archaeology

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