Roman Caistor: 'One of largest' Roman Britain temples revealed in Norfolk

[Imperial Dave]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-54031373

brief overview..

[Jim Webster]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-54031373

brief overview..

The fact that they could build this and only a small forum might not indicate a shortage of resources but rather they were still hacked off with Romanisation

[DBS]

Agreed; and probably a nonsense anyway to talk about the tribe's resources, as opposed to those of individual distinguished members of the tribe, given the usual model of building public monuments during this period.  Just needs one rich benefactor, who most likely is highly Romanised himself.

[Swampster]

Does the comparison of the forum with that of Verulamium tells us more about VI or Verulamium?
How does the forum at Venta Ic compare with that of other British cities of similar standing? I've tried to find some dimensions but those I have found are comparing apples, pears and cabbages - some give the area of the open space, some of the basilica and some of the whole complex, so I couldn't find decent comparisons.

[Anton]

If memory serves Mattingly in Imperial Posession remarks Venta Ic was particularly underdeveloped even by the standards of Roman Britain.  I wonder at the scale of the land confiscations and enslavement post Boudicca and if the two are connected.

As to the temple's significance it could be a focal point of local Romanisation or of cultural resistance.  It's hard for us to tell much about tribal politics except for noting they continued in one form or another.