Throughout the British Isles, people claim to see the specters of Roman soldiers, but there may be more to these stories than initially meets the eye. In this episode, Matt constrains himself to sightings of Roman ghosts, specifically in England, to discuss what these stories may be telling us about English/British identity and their attitudes towards history.
This episode was written by Matthew Armstrong with music by Matthew Armstrong and production assistance from Kaylia Metcalfe.
The transcript for this episode can be found here.
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Show Notes and Sources
Video of Roman Ghost in Outwood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpUie00misE
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bradford/7029051.stm
Cheshire Live: https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ghostly-sightings-chester-roman-legion-16358287
Cheshire Live: https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/haunted-chester-ghost-stories-spooky-10287857
The Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6198435/Psychic-claims-M6-haunted-crashes-caused-GHOSTS.html
Hub 4: https://hub-4.com/news/tarmac-has-found-britains-spookiest-road
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/oct/31/britishidentity.martinwainwright
LancsLive: https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/roman-soldiers-spooky-hitchhiker-strange-19147725
Metro UK: https://metro.co.uk/2006/10/31/highways-to-hell-322507/
National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/fear-among-roman-ghosts-richardson
The National Trust: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/by-the-look-of-you-youve-seen-the-romans
YorkMix: https://yorkmix.com/seven-things-probably-dont-know-treasurers-house-yorks-hidden-jewel/
Finucane, David J. 2001. Historical Introduction: The Example of Early Modern and Nineteenth-Century England. In Hauntings and Poltergeists, Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by James Houran and Rense Lange.
Hanks, Michele. 2015. Haunted Heritage: The Cultural Politics of Ghost Tourism, Populism, and the Past. Routledge, London.
Miles, Tiya. 2015. Tales From the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill NC.
Pirok, Alena. 2019. Goodwin’s Ghosts: Colonial Williamsburg’s Uncanny Legacy. The Public Historian, Vol. 41, No. 3 (August 2019), pp. 9–30.
Ruickbie, Leo. 2013. A Brief Guide to Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate Paranormal Activity from Spirits and Hauntings to Poltergeists. Little, Brown Book Group. Boston, MA.
Simon, Kate, Suzanne King. 2018. Cheshire. Bradt Travel Guides, Chalfont Saint Peter, United Kingdom.
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