The first recorded African community in Britain was based at Burgh by Sands some 1,800 years ago. They were soldiers, known as the ‘Aurelian Moors’ and they came from part of the Roman Empire which consisted of the modern day countries of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. They were considered Roman citizens, likely settled in Britannia and had families here.
The Aurelian Moors were stationed in Britannia to defend Hadrian’s wall, a huge wall built by the Romans to keep out the ‘wild, Celtic people’ of Caledonia (modern day Scotland). There was a fort on Hadrian’s wall at Burgh by Sands, known to Romans as Aballava. The Aurelian Moors were named this for two reasons: ‘Aurelian’ in honour of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and ‘Moors’ because the soldiers came from ‘Mauretania’ which is present day Morocco and Algeria.
During the 3rd Century AD, an emperor from Africa ruled this part of the empire. He was known as Septimus Severus and ruled from 193-211 AD. We know that Septimus Severus was likely to be Black because of a round tondo (painting) discovered by archaeologists, which shows he likeness.
