Roman Britain - the modern legacy?

One million people in Britain are descended from Romans according to a study by a commercial DNA testing company. BritainsDNA took Y chromosome markers found in modern British men and compared them with those found in modern Italians.  They found five major types of DNA likely to have come from the Roman Legions – Alpine, Balkan, Ancient Caucasian, Herdsmen-Farmers and Anatolian. 

The first, Alpine, group was present in 13% of Italian men, 6.5% of men in England and Wales, 4.3% in Scotland and 1.8% in Ireland reflecting the relatively low contact between Romans and the Irish.

Applied to the total population these figures suggest an estimated 1.6 million men in Britain carry the Alpine marker of around which half a million may be descended from the Roman armies.If all five markers are included the scientists calculate that at least one million men may be direct descendants of the Romans.

The results of the research which was carried out by historian Alistair Moffat and Managing Director and Chief Scientist of BritainsDNA Dr Jim Wilson will be discussed at the Who do you think you are? Live family history event being held at London’s Olympia.

The survey is interesting on two counts.  One, because it confirms what we know about the spread of Roman influence across the British Isles from documentary evidence and archaeology. 

Secondly, the numbers of men bearing the Roman markers are relatively small, only about 4% of the total population of the British Isles (around 60 million), suggesting the relatively low impact of the Roman invasion on the native British population which goes some way to explain the speed and strength of the Celtic revival after 410 AD.