Level 3 - Life in Roman Sussex - Religion

Religion

Sacred Space

The construction of substantial villas in the Sussex countryside during the 1st century AD corresponded with the erection of a number of specialised temple complexes, such as those at Chanctonbury and Lancing Down. These may have been built by members of the native elite for similar reasons that they built the villas, in that they were highly visual symbols that could help maintain their status in society (See 'The Countryside'). Although most rural temple sites in Sussex and across Britain seem to have been located on isolated hilltop locations, it is important to remember that they were fully integrated into the political, commercial, social and ideological world of those people that surrounded them.

Excavations at Muntham Court in the 1950s

Excavations at Muntham Court in the 1950s

This may be partly illustrated by the new masonry temple on Hayling Island (see 'Life in late Iron Age Sussex'), which replaced the earlier Iron Age timber shrine. The temple was probably linked to Fishbourne palace, as well as to the baths within Chichester, all of which were constructed in a similar way at around the same period. It is quite reasonably suggested that Hayling was part of a regional programme of monumental architectural constructions, carried out in the period of the client kingdom by Gallic craftsmen based at Chichester. These buildings were thus used by the native elite - presumably including Togidubnus - to help maintain and enhance their status by adopting Romanized symbols, although in the case of the temple, it seemed also to continue previous local traditions and thereby provide an important link to the past.

The most common form of religious building in Roman Britain was the Romano-Celtic temple, so called because it was found only in the north-west provinces of the Roman empire, where Celtic culture was dominant. The temple consisted of a tall central shrine, or cella, surrounded on at least three sides by an ambulatory, as shown in the illustration. Of the five definite temple sites in Sussex, four are of Romano-Celtic form, while the other, Muntham Court, consisted of a single circular structure. Romano-Celtic temples have been found in many Romano-British towns, including Winchester and Silchester, but as yet no such structures are known from Chichester. The Togidubnus inscription mentioned previously probably refers to a temple of classical type, although the scant remains are ambiguous.

Of equal or even greater importance than the temple itself was the surrounding enclosure (temenos), which marked the sacred area. It was in this precinct that most of the ritual activity would take place, as the temples themselves were reserved for priests and the cult statue, and not for congregational worship. At Chanctonbury, the ramparts of the old hillfort formed the temenos boundary.

Aside from the public sanctuaries, there were undoubtedly many private family places of worship, from small lararia within houses to freestanding shrines near villa complexes. Unfortunately, these do not generally have the wealth of votive deposits found on the public religious sites, and so their interpretation is not as clear. A probable example in Sussex is the small isolated masonry building near the villa at Batten Hanger.

Finally, there is also increasing evidence in Roman Britain for the ritual re-use of earlier monuments. In Sussex, this may be seen at Slonk Hill where two Bronze Age barrows were the focus for votive deposition, and possibly at Money Mound, where there was similar activity associated with prehistoric mounds.