Black Roman soldiers in Britain?

[Hus]

My Roman knowledge is patchy, I admit, but over the years I think I remember seeing mention of black Roman soldiers/auxilliaries in Britain? Did they serve seperately from non-black soldiers?

 

Are there any sources that mention which Legion they would have been part of, where stationed and from which era in this land? Did they distinguish themselves and was their experience a bad one in comparison with their white/latin comrades?

 

Were there also black slaves brought to Brittania with the Romans?

 

Sorry for all the questions, still absorbing as much of this fascinating era as possible. Thanks.

[Melvadius]

There have been several threads over the years which have discussed either North African or even sub-Saharan African's being identified as present in Britain.

 

A few of these you might find interesting are:

 

Roman remains in York are 'elite' African woman

 

1,700-year-old remains of an African man found in Stratford

 

North Africans at Hadrians Wall

 

As you will see from the threads there is a range of evidence for people of some form of 'African' descent being present in Britain from serving soldiers through possible slaves and even one individual who seems to have been of high status.

 

As I understand it the main problem is that the Roman's did not seem to make a major thing of ethnicity in what they wrote about individuals and with citizens taking full Roman names there is a marked tendency to lose most of the linguistic evidence as well.

[Hus]

Thanks, Melvadius, I knew of the possibility of Severus, but didn't realise about much more involved black African presence.

 

I can only muse why this isn't taught in our education system, or depicted in more Hollywood films (other than Centurion), if there is evidence?