This article will discuss the concepts of Romanisation, ‘interpretatio’, and the proposed concept and term of Interpretatio Britanna. The intent of constructing the term ‘Interpretatio Britanna’ is to give agency to re-interpret, re-define and re-create understandings of the Gods we worship that, even in a small way, harkens back to the Britons themselves.

The general theory of Romanisation supposed that the Romans enforced their culture, language and religion onto conquered populations [1]. With Romanisation comes the idea of Interpretatio Romana, which is often thought to be a top-down re-imaging of cults* to suit a Roman audience [2]. However, over the years, the idea of ‘Romanisation’ is falling to the wayside to more accurate and expressive ideas [1][3]. Instead, in Britain and Gaul, we see the purposeful and non-forceful adoption of Roman ways of life by both the elite and non-elite locals [4]. The local elites and non-elites had different reasons for adopting Roman ways of life, the elites reasonings being more practical at times. However, they could not enforce changes to culture, language and religion without the approval of the non-elites [4]. Roman Britain (and before) saw a significant increase in religious diversity with interactions between locals, educated elites, Roman administrators and religious officials, migrants and the Roman military (who came from many different areas). This melting pot of influences led to the creation, re-creation and interpretation of cults [3]. The increasing diversity of cults and religious expression gave individuals and communities something, choice [4]. This increased choice instituted a bottom-up approach to interpretation which allowed for the development and redevelopment of cults on a large scale, something that the Roman administration could not put to rest, even if they desired to do so.

To express this idea of local-bottom up approaches to religious and cultural innovation, the idea of ‘interpretatio Indigena’ was proposed by Häussler (2012). The bottom-up approach and perspective give agency back to the Britons, as opposed to the concept of Romanisation, which takes away agency and choice [3]. This act of interpretation re-invigorates, re-defines, and re-creates the understandings we have of the Gods and, therefore, the cult and ritual which surrounds them. How local cultures changed did not come from the top down, even if individuals and communities did engage with imperial culture, but came from the bottom up [3]. This fact gives us the freedom to re-interpret the Gods and culture surrounding them in this same way.

Interpretatio Britanna

In summary, when you see a sub-heading ‘Interpretatio Britanna’, like above, what follows will be an attempt at several things. The ‘Interpretatio Britanna’ attempts to summarise all previously stated information, contextualise it within a modern Brittonic/Romano-British perspective, and then interpret the information practically and hopefully meaningfully. The intent is always to provide a ‘neutral’ interpretation of the information. However, there is little that is neutral in religion, so it will always fall short of that, and authors and readers' biases are expected. We hope, however, that the act of ‘Interpretatio Britanna’ will provide another valuable and interesting perspective from which to view the Gods and the broader world as a Brittonic polytheist and give individuals and groups the agency to interpret the Gods themselves.

*for the purposes of this article and the site at large, the use of cult does not refer to the modern meaning. Instead, cult refers to the ‘cultivation’ of the Gods and our relationship with them. Cults then are specific groups and or rituals designed to cultivate a relationship with specific Gods, i.e. the cult of Sulis.

Bibliography:

Aldhouse-Green, M., 2004. Gallo-British deities and their shrines. A Companion to Roman Britain, pp.193-219. [1]

Haeussler, R. and Webster, E., 2020. Creolage. A bottom-up approach to cultural change in Roman times. Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, 3(1). [3]

Häussler, R., 2012. Interpretatio indigena: re-inventing local cults in a global world. Interpretatio Indigena: Re-inventing Local Cults in a Global World, pp.143-174. [4]

Webster, J. and Wooding, J., 2015. A dirty window on the Iron Age? Recent developments in the archaeology of pre-Roman Celtic religion. Ritari, K.-Bergholm, A.(ed.), Understanding Celtic Religion Revisiting the Pagan Past, pp.121-154. [2]