The civitates of Roman Britain developed at varying speeds and in different ways according to the impact of the Roman presence on their social systems. Despite these variations in the pattern of development there is a series of characteristics which typifies the British civitates to the early third century - through the period often seen as the Golden Age of the Empire. These characteristics define the nature of the whole province, but are most conveniently examined by taking separately the evidence of the towns, the countryside and the flows of goods between them.