Today, Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in Britain. Indeed, the 2011 Census identified it as the first UK city where the majority of its residents did not identify as ‘white British’ (55%). This diversity is often seen as part only of the city’s recent past, a product of Leicester’s rapid industrialisation in the late 19th century, drawing in economic migrants to boost its workforce, which was then bolstered in the 20th century by the arrival of new communities escaping conflict and persecution. Over the past 20 years, however, archaeological excavations in the city have started to reveal tantalising clues that its population has been culturally mixed for much longer – and works associated with the construction of the Highcross Leicester retail quarter have uncovered hints of ancient diversity particularly relating to the Roman period.
Such insights have not always been received positively. In 2017, a BBC educational cartoon portraying life in Roman Britain caused outrage among alt-right commentators who accused the BBC, in choosing to feature a racially mixed family as part of this depiction, of abandoning historical accuracy for political correctness. These objections rekindled discussion about the make-up of past populations, with archaeologists and historians quick to point out that there was plenty of evidence that the people of Roman Britain were relatively diverse and that the presence of people from Africa was not atypical or unusual, especially along Hadrian’s Wall and at large urban centres like London and York, which were populated by both military and civilian personnel drawn from across the Empire. Well-known examples of such individuals include Quintus Lollius Urbicus, who was governor of Britain from AD 138 to 144 and came from Numidia (modern Algeria); the ‘numerus of Aurelian Moors’, a unit of north-west African soldiers stationed near Carlisle in the 3rd century; and the ‘Ivory Bangle Lady’, a high-status Roman incomer with African ancestry who died and was buried in luxurious style in late 4th-century York.
Society in Roman Britain was a mixture of indigenous Iron Age and imported Roman culture, itself a multicultural fusion drawn from across the Empire and beyond. This ethnic, social, and cultural mix can be seen all over Britain: in the North African-style pottery being made in York, for instance; or on the tombstone of Victor, found at the Roman fort of Arbeia, South Shields, close to Hadrian’s Wall (now on display in the site museum). Victor was Mauri (Moorish), from Mauretania (modern Algeria and Morocco), and a freedman (former slave) of a soldier called Numerianus. His tombstone, too, shows a mixture of Romano-British and Palmyrene stylistic influences, suggesting that its sculptor was originally from Syria. Victor is shown reclining on a couch, holding a drinking cup, and dressed in typical Roman dining-clothes, emphasising his Romanitas, his ‘Roman-ness’. If Victor could make a 1,000-mile journey from Mauretania to Arbeia, we should expect to find evidence of other incomers in large urban centres like Leicester.
Prehistoric currencies, conflict, and climate change