Civilizing the Celts of Britania(?) -- an unfinished attempt.
With more time it might have worked.
 
From the beginning, the Romans actually wanted to "civilize" the Celts, whether in their mainland or in their Britanian habitations.   Also from the beginning, although the Romans and the Greeks before them recognized that the Prytoni (later, Britoni or Britons) were not really blood relatives (we would say "genetically related") to the mainland Keltoi (Celts as transliterated from Greek), they looked alike, acted alike, and spoke related and mutually understandable languages (if you had a "good ear") with their neighbors on the mainland.  In other words, the the Romans knew that the  Britons were certainly "culturally Celtic".   Knowing this and knowing the history of their own previous interactions with other culturally Celtic peoples, the Romans, by all accounts, really believed that it would be possible to "civilize" the Celts of England . 

The Romans had already had centuries of experience, some good and some bad, with "cis-Alpine Gauls", Gauls who lived on the Roman/Italian "civilized" southern side of the Alps. Those Gauls, all Gauls, were Keltoi, Celts (or Gauls) by another Roman name.  And Julius Caesar had already  been, for several years, in trans-Alpine Gaul on the north (trans = across) side of the Alps, and the closest parts of trans-Alpine Gaul were were somewhat civilized, again due to long contact with Rome, and were showing some amenability to the benefits of "civilization".

But what was the Roman definition of "civilization"?  We should recognize, first, that our own definition is somewhat more inclusive.  The narrow Roman idea of civilization had another clause:  it denoted any group of people living in a metropolis (= civis) of some size. The "polis" part of the word "metropolis" is important, meaning, from Greek, the cohesive population group rather than the inhabited geographic area that they lived in.  Furthermore, there were different Latin words for an inhabited location -- an urbs -- and for the population of that place -- civitas.  These differences gradually blurred until, in our time, their meanings are almost indistinguishable. 



Importantly, the urban population, civitas, would not be the growers of their own food.  Instead, a separate agricultural population would be doing that, although that group may be in the direct or indirect employ (free or slave) of the civitas that resided in the urbs.  Other basics like fuels, ores, pottery clays, indeed pottery, and importantly, salts, would also be the products of outsiders.  The urban population in a "civilization" would, at the same time, be involved in either physical or mental "arts" or "crafts" or in organizing or administering various "city stuff" or inter-city trade or military affairs.  In short, if you lived like Romans or other "civilized" folks (walked like we ducks) you too were civilized (ducks).

The Roman pattern was to civilize those barbarians that could be civilized and to either exploit the labor of all others, or to eliminate or perhaps to enslave all others.  In the meantime, you would use already civilized entrepreneurs, or even yourself engage in trade and intercultural interaction yourselves until local civilization is achieved.  The Romans religiously (yes, i.e, part of their religion)
believed in this pattern which they tried to replicate in all regions into which the expanded.

Any place (urbs) and/or associated population group (civitas) would be protected by a local goddess called a Tutela (personification of the Latin word meaning "she who protects"), and there was assumed to be an overarching Tutela goddess who somehow included all the local Tutelae.  (In eastern provinces, Greek Tyche nomination was used -- Tutelae had a
 Gallo-Celto-Romano flavor.

Images of a Tutela most often showed her wearing a crown in the shape of city walls.


Tutela

 The Romans believed in spreading civilization: city life was the only kind that was worth living and Rome believed it was her mission to spread it.  An occasional retreat to the estate you owned "out in the country", an estate that may actually have been productive under paid management (and you fancied yourself a farmer, an old Roman idealized myth), a retreat could be relaxing, but your city life was your real life. 

In the case of Britania, The Romans did "civilize": they enticed, a portion of the Celtic elite into areas, urbs, that the Romans had developed on their own rectilinear standard grid layout and with specific "urban" amenities, like a  forum, basilica, baths, theater, stadium, amphitheater, temple, that would all be purpose built to give inhabitants a city life. 

Location might be determined by a crossroads, a bridge or ford, a holy pool or spring, a location with some other religious character, or beside a permanent Roman military instalation, any of which might determine where the Romans would build an urbs, of various named types and sizes.   Briton Celtic elites, after they lived side by side with (although dominated by) Roman adventurer/settlers, by Roman entrepreneurs, and by Roman military veterans would become civilized, eventually even Romanized. 

The idea was to Romanize and civilize the elites, who, recognizing the benefits of their own cooptation, eventually would bring along others, etc.  In fact, some of those "Romans", with whom the Briton Celtic elites were living, were conquered non-Italian Roman citizens that had successfully been civilized, elsewhere, in other Roman provinces, through the same process themselves.

Those few Briton Celts who went through the "process", in fact, began competing with each other to show their Romanitas, i.e.,"Romanness", by dressing Roman, living in thoroughly Romanized houses and suburban villas, with varying success at Roman decoration (frescoes, sculptures, mosaics, furnishings).  But there was a flaw:  The Romanized Celtic Briton elites might well have wanted to stay "elite" by keeping Romanitas for themselves and not passing it down to their tribal dependent non-elites. 

And when the Roman (i.e., supposedly "Real Roman", sometimes from Rome but perhaps from previously conquered territories) civil administration and military forces (very often from previously occupied territories) had to be withdrawn from Britania to deal with more pressing and closer to home (Rome) continental European events, then the vast majority of not Romanized Briton Celts, who had only experienced economic exploitation, mistreatment by barely civilized military occupiers, rigorous and always rising taxation, and contempt from their own maybe just partially civilized elites, the majority rose up and quickly eliminated any trace of Romanitas either in their culture or in their personages. 

Roman founded cities, towns, small towns, villages, already reducing by the late 3rd century  were quickly abandoned, the proto-money-economy disappeared (back to barter), food and  products and ores bottomed out, and any Celts displaying too much Romanitas or any Romans who had thought to stay in Britania were, at best, expelled by the still tribal majority od Celts -- at worst, worse.
Just no longer
 round houses

In the countryside former urban dwellers may have gone back to building old style houses similar to iron age roundhouses -- but often not round
    
When the Romans left, everyone still in Britania went back into the iron age countryside and to their pre-Roman way of living.  They waited pretty much for the Angles and Saxons to arrive a bit later.  (While waiting they also went back to the pattern of trading with the outside world using continental Celts and, later, Germans as intermediaries.  Angles and Saxons were Baltic-Germanic.

Folks who had lived in Roman-built urbs may have wanted to stay there for the convenience and amenities, and public utilities (water, sewage and waste disposal, fire and police departments, street lighting) but they couldn't maintain all that on their own, and as the urbs deteriorated the civitas had to move out, back too the countryside.

Anglo-Saxons

 When the Anglo-Saxons arrived shortly thereafter, they completed the job of civilizing the indigenes of Britania.

The Anglo-Saxons were folks from continental Europe that the Romans had the time to successfully civilize (with the help of incoming northern and eastern not-quite-Barbarians, who also were involved, by that time, in ending the Western Roman Empire.) Anglo-Saxon culture rather quickly overlaid Celtic culture in Britania and, in fact, according to modern science, Anglo-Saxons contributed 30% to 40% of modern British genetic material with a higher percentage in East Anglia and lower percentages in other areas of modern Britain.

Many of the Roman cities and towns, evacuated as the Roman military government left, did not recover, but some, those whose locations and other circumstances still said "city", recovered under the Anglo-Saxonsand are still there.  London and Bath have already been discussed, and their locations and circumstances still say "city". 

Bath, England was developed by the Roman administration as a religious tourist attraction.  The religious panache of Bath is virtually gone, replaced by Lourdes and other European Christian sites.  What's left is "Health":  some folks believe the "mineral" (iron-smelly) water might cure them or stop their aches.  More important though in terms of tourist numbers attraction is the "Roman" panache.  "The Romans built this big (rusty-iron-smelly) place.  Put it on the must-see list." 

                             Something (rusty-iron-smelly)
                                  in Bath that the Romans built  --------->
The Great Bath -- Roman Bath on Bath,England

London has not moved.  It is still at the same spot, is at an ideal place on the Thames for navigation and warehousing and economic activity (always a trade and money place) and for  Roman city-building.  London city administrators and the UK Government spent a great deal of time and money to find and exhibit all of London's Romanitas (even though with too much plastic, chrome, and "light-show"). "Put it on our must-see list."

                           Something in London that the
                                         Romans didn't build  --------->

Tower Bridge. London, 1894

Key Roman towns in Britain include Londinium (London), Aquae Sulis (Bath), Eborracum (York), Camulodunum (Colcester), and Verulamium (St. Albans).  Others like  Deva (Chester) and Lindum (Lincoln) were important administrative and military centers. 

   

Fort and the beginning of a vicus
Any place in England whose name ends with "-caster" or "-chester" or "-ester" in their names  have their roots associated with Roman castra (meaning forts).  A Castrum could be anything from a quickly built  daily  "Marching Fort" to a permanent stone-built legion head-quarters, normally rectangular, normally with essentially the same predetermined plan, walled and with the same types of building in the same spacial arrangement, commanders house, headquarters, unit shrine for colors and eagle, baracks, kitchens, larders, stables, etc., on a grid, four gates, outside of which, if the fort had any permanency, there might be baths, an appropriately sized amphitheatre, and a civilian vicus settlement, which, after 1900 years, might be a flourishing city, Lancaster, or Winchester, or  ---------cester?

Romano-British towns were catagorize by their leagal status and civic function into coloniae, municipia, and civitas capitals. 

Coloniae were settlements for honorably discharged veterans who would have citizen rights and associate legal privileges.  Romano-British Celtic elites who had Roman military experience might be included.




Citizenship would have been granted to a foreign auxiliary trooper and  his accompanying family on honorable discharge as noted on their diploma militaris, which was a bronze metal retirement certificate.  The diploma also granted or ratified marriage rights, exemption from poll taxes, etc., and was your ticket into a Colonia.  (Legionary troopers also receive a similar Diploma militaris, but it did not need to mention new citizenship.  To join a legion, you were required to already have citizenship.)
Discharged

A retiring legion trooper or auxiliary enlistee, after serving out his 25 or more year enlistment, or after a significant achievement or victory, would usually be rewarded with a piece of  fertile land or a house in town where he with his family, if he had built a family in the nearby vicus (a tolerated practice) might live off later earnings and any accumulated savings that had, by arrangement, been deducted from his pay by his unit's accountant-paymaster. 

This arrangement would also be available to honorably retired members of auxiliary units who were enfranchised, i.e., granted citizenship, at the time they retired.

The Roman armies, in cooperation with the separate civil goverment, would set up special semi-civilian urbs called coloniae for former military men and their families to live as a civitas comunity with the men there as a kind of reserve military force that would intimidate the "locals", Celts, and thus prevent trouble.   [This pattern is repeated today in military occupations:  Israel maintains nahal type settlements of retired military families in its occupied Palestinian territories.]

In Britain the Romans set up four large highest-status coloniae, Camulodunum (Colchester), Lindum (Lincoln), Eburacum (York), and Glevum (Gloucester) near where legions had maintained there home forts.  Although there is no currently known record of Londinium (London) being granted Colonia status, by the end of the second century AD it was treated as a colonia.

The Colonia cities served as beacons  of Roman culture, provided land and housing for veterans (inluding some plush nearby villas), and acted as models of Romanitas for the local population.
-----------------------------
  Colonia Glevum Nervensis (Gloucester) grid layout military retirement comunity on both sides of the Severn River, founded 94 AD
https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/glevum/#google_vignette

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A Romano-Briton villa


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 Replicas of Roman style country villas of transAlpine conquered territory working villa types are available for us to visit in Virginia: Washington's Mount Vernon, Madison's Montpelier, or Jefferson's Monticello, all of which consciously were modeled after European Roman villa

Municipia were communities that were granted a degree of self-governance and political autonomy and held certain other rights and privileges.  Inhabitants were not necessarily full Roman citizens initially, but holding certain privileges normally only available to citizens, a condition which could evolve into full citizenship including voting rights (as they might exist at that time).  The municipia system was a key element of the Roman strategy to integrate (by "civilizing") conquered communities into the Roman political system while still maintaining local class and status structures (i.e., Celtic elites kept their status in their own communities.  Usually, in most provinces, this Roman strategy worked, given enough time. But in Britania there wasn't enough time.
 

Basic city plan -- Corinium (Cirencester)


  
The grid plan itself was part of the Roman strategy of making life in cities so convenient that residents would not want to give it up.  It helped residents to orient themselves -- to find their way to the bakery.

The distinction between a municipium and a colonia became less pronounced over time, with some Celts eventually receiving full Roman citizenship.  A selling point for municipia residents to keep their granted rights and privileges would be the services and even physical structures provided by city life, which could include what we might call "utilities": provision of water, sewage disposal, lighted streets and plazas at night, police and fire protection (Vigiles), etc., and also organized governance by their own chosen local governors, some control over local tax collection (perhaps audited by the Roman overseers -- which citizens would want in order to keep the local politicians somewhat honest). 

And there were the recreational opportunities -- baths (which included facilities for participation sports, gymnasia, swimming pools, and rooms set aside fo hetero- or homo-sexual entertainment), theaters, spectator sports venues (Stadia, Amphitheatres, horse race and chariot race tracks -- called "circuses").  

Popular attractions were offered by the Romans to keep Celtic Britons in cities where they would become "civilized".  When troops were withdrawn to fight closer to home and Roman administration broke down (late 300s / early 400s), tax collecting, which paid for the attractions, quickly stopped despite some efforts by residual Romans and a few local warlords.  With city services flagging and "attraction" structures gradually deteriorating in delapidatio, litterally "building-stones-falling-out", the strategy of keeping Celts voluntarily inside cities was weakened.  And when water supplies failed, garbage collection stopped, and sewers collapsed, cities just emptied. 


Socializing after the bath.
The baths, at the beginning, segregated men and women, but as mores loosened, so did so did the rules.
  
Touring companies, touring casts, touring productions using popular scripts, might fill the cavea seats -- or not.
"Greek Games" were less popular  -- until they adopted Greek racing garb -- Mother Nature's own -- boys and girls competing naked


Chariot racing was the most popular spectacle,. betting cash or forfeits, very popular, food and other pleasures below the grandstands: all in a day at a "circus".
Yes, Amphitheatres did sometimes have "Skyboxes", did sell and serve food and drinks, did have huge canopies operated by men who learned by operating sails on ships.
Part of the fun of going to sports and bathing venues, even today, is the presencee of the  other sex (or perhaps one;s own).  Girls worked out in briefs and fascia, and men went naked.

And bars, restaurants, thermopolia for hot and cold carry-out food with maybe a few tables in back to sit down to eat it.  Many of these places might have rooms on a floor above for any entertainment or perversion a patron might want beyond the restaurant ambiance offered on the entrance level.

Popinae were like cafes, but no coffee yet.  Instead they offered  watered wines, spiced and flavored waters, and very much desired posca a mix of vinegar, water and fruit or vegetable juice or flavours.  And hot or cold broths. And yes, they had invented ice cream, "italian ices", iced fruits, iced anything you wanted.  Even in hot provinces, there would often be a glacier close enough to provide ice, and cities often would have an ice house.

Naturally, whatever a denizen of a municipia  might find desirable was associated with "civilization" and Romanitas.  (That was the Roman strategy from the start, and it clearly worked.  It still works.)
A good example of a municipium is Verulamium (St. Albans).  There was an early Catuvellauni tribal center at the site, which the Romans quickly took and built into a town.  Destroyed by the Iceni revolt in 61 AD, it was rebuilt into a thriving Roman town with all the typical attractive structures that would advance the Roman strategy of enticing elite and social climbing Celtic Britons into areas where their own ambitions and desires would mold them into people "civilized" enough to seek and attain Roman citizenship.
   .

Next in the roster of Roman-built urban areas was the Civitas capital, the part of the Roman city strategy that was intended to awaken the ambition of non-elites among the Celts by giving them the opportunity to take part in decision making within their own tribal communities but not by disrupting tribal structures of levels of authority.  The civitas, of course, meant the community that would have to unite to administer a newly Roman-constructed Urbs which, having new and attractive occupations and facilities and, importantly, "attractions", would engender an ever-expanding bureaucracy.  Tribal Celts could become "city people" and take another step, maybe a decisive step, toward civilization.  

Note:  Not everyone made it to "civilization", and, in fact, most didn't.  And the Romans, from the start, knew that was always the way it worked.  If you were a "native" Roman (and the word literally means "born of descended Roman generations"), living at the time of major Imperial Roman conquests, then you were the result of a half-millenia of "Roman" selection.  And still the majority of Romans were day laborers and not likely to ever move up into the cursus honorum.  And even beyond that, the majority of the people you would see working in urban areas and out in  the countryside were foreign slaves, not "free-born Roman" at all . 

The many that didn't "make it" and become civilized could have been the really unlucky ones that Romans took back home to be worked as slaves, or they were the stay-at-home tribal labor that grew crops or animals, that mined metals, that actually produced what were bought from the formerly "tribal", now "civilized" provincial entrepreneurs.  A person did not need to really be very civilized to grow grain in those days nor to to dig ore from the ground by hand.

In the case of the Roman attempt to civilize the Britonic Celts, only a vanishingly small minority of Britons made it to "civilization" as a resolt of those efforts.  It wasn't, in fact, because the Britons did not want to walk through that golden door.  Roman civilization in their imediate vicinity was quickly withdrawn from them.  And then from the Western Empire.

Lessons (not) learned:  Think of Southeast Asia.  Think of South Asia.  Think of post-colonial Africa.  Think of post-"Spanish" AMERICA.  Think of colonial North America.  Etc.  Etc.  Etc.   e.