Roman Inscriptions, Archaeology and the Deep History of African Presence

The widely accepted popular narrative places the beginning of Black Britain in the twentieth century, particularly with the arrival of Caribbean migrants aboard the Empire Windrush in 1948. While the Windrush generation transformed modern British society, historical and archaeological evidence demonstrates that the presence of Africans in Britain predates this moment by nearly two thousand years.

Roman military records, archaeological discoveries, ancient DNA research and early medieval chronicles all reveal a far more complex picture of Britain’s past. Africans and people of African descent were present in Britain during the Roman occupation and possibly beyond, participating in military service, civic life and local communities. Evidence from inscriptions along Hadrian’s Wall, burial sites in Roman York and archaeological excavations across Britain confirms that Roman Britain was far more diverse than older historical narratives suggested.

Rethinking the Appearance of Early Britons

Before exploring African presence in Roman Britain, it is necessary to reconsider assumptions about the earliest inhabitants of the British Isles. For much of the twentieth century it was widely believed that prehistoric Britons resembled modern northern Europeans. Recent advances in ancient DNA analysis have significantly changed this understanding.

One of the most striking discoveries came from the analysis of Cheddar Man, a Mesolithic skeleton discovered in Somerset dating to approximately 7150 BCE. A research project conducted by the Natural History Museum and University College London used genomic sequencing to reconstruct his likely appearance. The results suggested that Cheddar Man likely had dark to very dark skin pigmentation, blue eyes and dark curly hair (Brace et al., 2019).

Evolutionary studies suggest that lighter skin pigmentation in northern Europe developed gradually over thousands of years as an adaptation to reduced sunlight and the need to synthesise vitamin D efficiently (Jablonski and Chaplin, 2010).

These findings highlight an important point: modern racial categories cannot be easily applied to prehistoric populations. The earliest inhabitants of Britain were likely darker skinned than many modern assumptions suggest.

Africans in Roman Britain

When the Roman Empire conquered Britain in the first century AD, it integrated the island into a vast imperial system stretching from the Atlantic to the Middle East and North Africa. The Roman army recruited soldiers from across this empire, meaning that people stationed in Britain came from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Roman military policy deliberately stationed auxiliary units far from their regions of origin in order to reduce local loyalties. As a result, soldiers from North Africa, Syria and other regions were regularly deployed to distant frontiers such as Britain (Holder, 1982).

This system meant that Roman Britain became part of a multicultural imperial network rather than an isolated provincial society.

Septimius Severus and Africa’s Link to Britain

One of the most prominent figures connecting Africa and Britain during the Roman period was Emperor Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna in modern Libya.

Severus ruled the Roman Empire from 193 to 211 AD and personally led campaigns in Britain between 208 and 211 AD. During this period he travelled north to inspect frontier defences including Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall.

Ancient historian Cassius Dio recounts an episode during Severus’s inspection in which the emperor encountered an “Ethiopian” soldier wearing a garland of cypress leaves associated with Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld. When ordered away, the soldier reportedly replied:

“You have been all things, conquered all things, now, O conqueror, be a god.”

Severus reportedly interpreted the encounter as an ominous sign. Shortly afterwards he died in York (Eboracum) in 211 AD (Dio, Roman History).

The story illustrates that individuals identified as Africans were present within the Roman military environment in Britain.

Roman Inscriptions Confirming African Soldiers

The most direct evidence for Africans in Roman Britain comes from epigraphic inscriptions discovered at Roman forts along Hadrian’s Wall.

One of the most important examples refers to the Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum, a military unit composed of Moorish soldiers recruited from the Roman province of Mauretania in North Africa.

The Aballava Inscription

At the Roman fort of Aballava (modern Burgh-by-Sands) archaeologists discovered inscriptions referring to Moorish soldiers stationed at the fort. These inscriptions confirm the presence of the Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum in northern Britain during the third century AD.

The unit is also recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum, a late Roman administrative document listing military commands across the empire (Southern, 2006).

The Vindolanda Tablets

Further insight into the diversity of Roman Britain comes from the Vindolanda Tablets, a collection of wooden writing tablets discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda near Hadrian’s Wall.

Dating to the late first and early second centuries AD, these tablets include personal letters, military documents and administrative records. While they do not explicitly identify African soldiers by name, they demonstrate the international composition of Roman frontier communities and confirm that individuals from many parts of the empire were present in Britain (Bowman and Thomas, 2003).

Roman Auxiliary Units from Across the Empire

Epigraphic evidence shows that auxiliary units stationed in Britain came from numerous provinces. These included units from Syria, Thrace, Gaul and North Africa. The presence of these units indicates that Roman Britain was home to soldiers and their families drawn from across the Mediterranean world (Birley, 2005).

Given the mobility of the Roman military system, it is highly likely that Africans served alongside soldiers from many other regions of the empire.

Archaeological Evidence of Africans in Roman Britain

Beyond inscriptions, archaeological discoveries have provided physical evidence of individuals with African ancestry living in Roman Britain.

The Beachy Head Lady

One of the most important discoveries is the skeleton known as the Beachy Head Lady, unearthed in East Sussex. Radiocarbon dating places her burial between 200 and 250 AD.

Isotopic analysis of her teeth suggests she grew up outside Britain, likely in a warmer climate. Osteological studies have suggested possible Sub Saharan African ancestry based on cranial morphology and skeletal features (Leach et al., 2009).

Her burial followed Roman British customs, indicating that she was likely a settled member of the community.

The Ivory Bangle Lady of York

Another notable discovery is the burial known as the Ivory Bangle Lady, excavated in York. Dating to the late fourth century AD, the burial contained luxury items including ivory jewellery, jet ornaments and glass vessels.

These grave goods indicate that the woman held high social status. Osteological analysis suggests she may have had North African ancestry or mixed African heritage (Pitts and Griffin, 2012).

This discovery demonstrates that individuals of African descent in Roman Britain could occupy positions of wealth and prestige within society.

Roman Cemeteries and Migration Studies

Excavations of Roman cemeteries in York have revealed skeletal evidence indicating diverse origins among the buried population. A Romano British cemetery excavated in the mid twentieth century contained approximately 350 skeletons, several of which exhibited limb proportions associated with African ancestry.

Recent isotopic studies have reinforced this picture. Research analysing Roman skeletons across Britain has shown that many individuals buried in Roman cemeteries were migrants from other regions of the empire (Eckardt et al., 2014).

These findings highlight the cosmopolitan nature of Roman Britain.

African Presence in the Viking Age

Evidence for darker skinned individuals in Britain may also extend into the early medieval period. Old Norse texts contain references to people known as Blámenn, a term generally translated as “dark men” or “blue black men”.

The Annals of Ulster, one of the principal medieval Irish chronicles, contain entries referring to Blámenn participating in conflicts involving Norse forces in Ireland during the ninth and tenth centuries (Mac Airt and Mac Niocaill, 1983).

Historians have proposed several possible explanations for these references. Some Blámenn may have been individuals brought into Viking networks through the Islamic slave trade, which connected sub Saharan Africa to Mediterranean and Eastern European trade routes. Others may have arrived through Viking contact with Iberia and North Africa, regions where Viking raids and trade are historically documented.

Recent genomic studies of Viking age burials demonstrate that Viking societies were far more geographically diverse than previously believed. A large scale genetic analysis published in Nature found evidence of individuals with ancestry from southern Europe and beyond Scandinavia buried in Viking contexts (Margaryan et al., 2020).

Revisiting Historical Narratives

The increasing availability of archaeological and genetic evidence has encouraged historians to revisit long standing assumptions about Britain’s past.

Historian David Olusoga has argued that Black presence in Britain dates back to the Roman period and that these histories have often been overlooked in mainstream narratives (Olusoga, 2016).

Similarly, historian Hakim Adi has noted that earlier scholarship frequently assumed the absence of Africans from European history rather than actively investigating the evidence (Adi, 2019).

Modern archaeological methods have made it possible to trace migration patterns and ancestry in ways that were previously impossible. These methods are gradually revealing a far more interconnected ancient world.

Conclusion

The evidence from Roman inscriptions, archaeological excavations, skeletal analysis and genetic research demonstrates that Britain has been connected to Africa and the wider Mediterranean world for thousands of years.

African soldiers served along Hadrian’s Wall. Individuals of African ancestry lived and died in Roman Britain and were buried according to local customs. Some held positions of wealth and status within Roman society.

The history of Black Britain therefore does not begin in the twentieth century. It begins in antiquity, within the multicultural world of the Roman Empire and the wider networks that connected Britain to Africa and the Mediterranean.

Britain’s past has always been shaped by migration, interaction and cultural exchange.

Extended Academic References

Adi, H. (2019). Pan-Africanism: A History. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Birley, A. (2005). The Roman Government of Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Blackmore, L. (2011). “Migration and mobility in Roman Britain.” Britannia, 42, pp. 1–19.

Bowman, A. and Thomas, J. (2003). Vindolanda: The Latin Writing Tablets. London: British Museum Press.

Brace, S. et al. (2019). “Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain.” Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3(5), pp. 765–771.

Dio, C. (1925). Roman History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Eckardt, H., Müldner, G., Lewis, M. and Leach, S. (2014). “People on the move in Roman Britain.” World Archaeology, 46(4), pp. 534–550.

Härke, H. (2014). “Migration Period Archaeology.” Early Medieval Europe, 22(1), pp. 1–28.

Holder, P. (1982). Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army from Augustus to Trajan. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.

Jablonski, N. and Chaplin, G. (2010). “Human skin pigmentation as an adaptation to UV radiation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(Supplement 2), pp. 8962–8968.

Leach, S., Eckardt, H., Chenery, C., Müldner, G. and Lewis, M. (2009). “A Lady of York: Migration, ethnicity and identity in Roman Britain.” Antiquity, 83(322), pp. 131–145.

Mac Airt, S. and Mac Niocaill, G. (1983). The Annals of Ulster (to AD 1131). Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Margaryan, A. et al. (2020). “Population genomics of the Viking world.” Nature, 585, pp. 390–396.

Olusoga, D. (2016). Black and British: A Forgotten History. London: Macmillan.

Pitts, M. and Griffin, R. (2012). “Advancing research on Roman Britain’s diverse communities.” British Archaeology, Issue 125.

Price, N. (2020). Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. London: Penguin.

Southern, P. (2006). The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Van Driel Murray, C. (2015). “Ethnicity in the Roman army.” Journal of Roman Archaeology, 28, pp. 127–151.

Woolf, G. (2012). Rome: An Empire’s Story. Oxford: Oxford University Press.