Britannia as Roman “Imperial Project”: Issues of Understanding, Prospects of Research

This paper is an attempt to summarize main criticisms towards the image of Roman Britain and Romano-British narratives that still dominate both academic field and popular opinion. They have several flaws which limit our understanding of Britain’s Roman past: teleological nature, dichotomies as the foundation, Romanocentrism, elitism, a habit of studying the region without cultural and spatial contexts. In order to overcome such flaws one, according to author, should look at several crucial issues of Romano-British history: the price and effects of Roman conquest, economical aspects of Roman Britain, cultural interaction and the problem of continuity/discontinuity of Roman heritage.