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The Roman invasion started a big change in housing in England. Round was out, rectangular was in. In order to maintain order, the first things the Romans built were forts but then these grew into small towns, with homes for retired soldiers. In time Britons moved into these towns and homes. The centre of the town would normally have a marketplace, a temple, a town hall and some shops. In many cases, within a town, a home would have a shop underneath it as in our picture. The towns and houses were built just like those in Rome. They didn't follow the way the land was but would be built to a regular plan. Land would be flattened so that streets could be laid out in a criss-cross pattern. Roman town houses would usually have two floors, which meant Britons would now be living in more than just one room. The homes for peasants remained small and outside the main part of the town. They were usually rectangular houses, made of timber with a tile roof or thatched roof. These would usually only have one room. They would have a central fire and the family would all sleep around the outside of the room. The men would probably work for Romans while the women might also be servants. Wealthy Romans, who had come to Britain as administrators, would build grand villas usually out in the country. The Romans undertook a massive building programme though most of the hard work was done by Britons.
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