It's mind boggling to imagine such a mix of people, cultures and beliefs coexisting more-or-less peacefully at Arbeia some sixteen hundred years ago. It's even more mind boggling to imagine, as akas555 suggests, that contingents from the Middle East stayed on to establish Britain's first Arab community. I wonder if they set up kebab-style take-aways? I bet they did - skewered lamb with neeps and onions washed down with the local brew :-)