Open Eye: An island of war-like savages, shrouded in perpetual gloom

Thursday 03 December 1998 01:02 GMT
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All programmes are shown on Fridays at 7.30 pm on BBC2.

Fact and Fable (tomorrow) To the Romans, Britain was an island of war- like savages, shrouded in perpetual mist and gloom. The invasion of 43 AD was met with ferocious resistance led by the warrior queen, Boudicca. The series begins by looking at what really happened and how close the Romans came to disaster.

Coming of Age (Friday 11 Dec) After the Roman invasion, magnificent buildings rose from the dirt to become the showpiece cities of London and Bath. Fabulous commercial opportunities and the seeds of emerging industry brought new wealth to the people. But a shadow fell over the province with the arrival of Saxon pirates, and the once great cities began to decline.

Hadrian's Wall: The Edge of Empire (Friday 18 Dec) In this last programme, Guy de la Bedoyere travels the length of the wall that marked Rome's northern-most frontier, unravelling many of the myths that surround this spectacular landmark. He meets archaeologists busy uncovering new evidence about it, historical re-enactors using it for their pageants, and tourists and school children exploring this relic of Roman Britain.

The website address for the series is: www.open.ac.uk/romans.

For more information on this and other OU programmes please write to: The Open University PO Box 625 Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA.

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