Sand In The Carburetor

      In 293 A.D. "The Tetarchy"  began the  rule of four. Everything became the ruler's property, and this laid the foundation for the many conflicts between the four distinct geographical regions. At this time, most folks were told the supreme deity was considered the Emperor. Now there were four? Lots of trouble here to try and sort all this out. Now a new sect, first called Christian, at Antioch in the province of Syria, had some real problems with all this deity stuff. The Roman governor of this city resided here, and can you believe it, all this developed right under the nose of the Roman's administration. It was Diocletian some 250 years later from these early days of this movement, that decided the Empire needed to get rid of all these folks. Feeling that the growing sect was not following the dogma of  Roman theology, he commanded all were to persecuted. This persecution included ordering their meeting places (churches) to be razed to the ground, and their writings (Scriptures) destroyed by fire. All those in high places would loose their place, and any household folks who continued to profess Christianity would be deprived of their liberty. Ironically, some 37 years later, under a new ruler called Constantine, this persecuted sect became the new Religion of the State. A contemporary of Constatine, named Eusebius, wrote his account of all this turmoil. Sort of like having sand in the carburetor. The cover to my copy follows:

    In his book, he describes the ordeals of 146 martyrs, and the teaching of 47 heretics. Translated by G.A. Williamson and published by Dorset Press, N.Y., 1965, it has a helpful introduction p. 7 - p.29. The appendixes include A.) Emperors and Bishops, B.) Bishoprics, C.) Martyrdoms, D.) Heretics, and E.) Sources Quoted or Summarized, pp.415-424.  The last appendix E. is a good source for those who are interested in references of the day. 

Too Big For Their Britches (Toga)

       Starting halfway through their military interest in the homeland of my Celtic ancestors, the Roman world recognized they had finally gotten much too fat and sassy as the new world order. Civil wars, invasions, multiple changes in Caesars, and a new religion called Christianity, became more and more involved in the change of clothes being worn around the 28 provinces. When a fellow called Diocletian was named Emperor in 285 A.D., he promoted another to become a Caesar, thus dividing their world into a western and eastern empire. Not long after, in 293 A.D., two more officers were added, and "The Tetrarchy" [rule of four] was established. The Roman world would never be the same. Can you imagine, four courts, four Imperial armies, and four military governments. Everything became the ruler's property, and the Courts and Officials consumed all private wealth. Spain, Gaul, and Britain formed one of these provinces, and began revising its education and culture. Starting 303 A.D., persecution of the growing Christian order began in earnest.

The Villas

      Moving about in a brand new world took an abundance of caution, and a lot of adjustments. Tacitus [55 AD-117 AD] writes:

      "The Britons themselves bear cheerfully the conscription, the taxes, and the other burdens imposed on them by the Empire, if there be no oppression. Of this they are impatient; they are reduced to subjection, not as yet to slavery." [Mellor (ed.), p.400]

      Wow, not as yet to slavery, but more like subjection! The definition is one under authority, and it was the Roman military administration that dished out the authority. By the time of Tacitus, the Island was settled with all kinds of rectangular structures called Villas. The Legions had produced thousands of retirees, and many decided to settle down with their families about them. The following map shows the distribution of the Roman Villas as discovered. [Jones and Mattingly, p.241]

         The round dark circles represent the Villas, and their geographic locations. The orange line shows the demarcation along central Britain.  To the east, The Romans seemed to feel safe enough to settle down and live their lives. To the west, and northwest of this orange line, my Celtic ancestors hid out in the hills. The Dee and Severn rivers are outlined in blue, and the land bridge between. My Celtic world (the subjected) exchanged their salt, iron, meat, bread, and all things needed by the Romans (the authority). The Romanization of my Celtic ancestors would be dramatically different on both sides of the orange line.

      Here again is the map which shows the Celtic tribes on the western side of the orange line. My direct Celtic (Jones) kin groups, the Deceangli (Vale of Clwyd and Dee) and the Cornovii (the Shopshire plain) are positioned.

      Deva (Chester) was the main authority for my Deceangli, and Wroxeter for my Cornovii ancestors. Not many Villas here!