Lecture 03 an outline of early british history

3.1. Ancient history of the nation.

3.1.1 Approximately in 700 BC Britain was invaded by the Celts, who are supposed to have come from Central Europe or further east, from Southern Russia. They were tall, strong people with long red or sandy hair, armed with iron swords and knives which were much stronger than the bronze weapons used by the native population. The first group of invaders was called the Goidels or Gaels. They occupied the central part of GB and later western and northern areas. The original language of Ireland and North-west Scotland is thus Gaelic.

3.1.2 The second wave of Celtic tribes, the Brythonic Celts or Brythons, from whose name – according to one of the versions – is derived the word “Britain”, arrived in England between 600 and 500 BC, and settled in the South of England and South West Scotland. Their language developed into the Celtic language of modern Wales. The third wave of invaders, Belgae (the Belgic tribes) arrived about 100 BC and occupied the greater part the central part of GB. The earliest Celts were in the bronze stage of development, but later Celtic invaders brought with them the knowledge of iron working. Trade, industry and agriculture flourished, as did the sheep and cattle breeding. They established a warrior aristocracy and a number of tribal kingdoms.

3.1.3 The Britons were polytheistic, that is they believed in many gods. They believed that different gods lived in the thickest and darkest parts of the forests. Some plants, such as the mistletoe and the oak-tree, were considered sacred. Some historians think that the Britons were governed by a class of priests called Druids who had great power over them. Stonehenge was the temple of the Druids, just as it had been the temple of the primitive men before.

3.1.4 At the turn of the Christian era it was the close relations of Britain to Gaul which first attracted the notice of the Romans. The reason for the Romans to invade Britain was the fact that the country produced and exported corn, animals, hunting dogs and slaves. So the Romans could make use of British food, at least, for their own army fighting with Gauls. So, they prepared for an invasion. Julius Caesar was the first to carry the Roman banner to the British Isles. In 55 BC he landed and engaged the Britons but soon withdrew his troops because the local opposition was strong. The following year with an army of 25,000 he landed again and penetrated where the London now stands, there he defeated the Celtic tribesmen. He levied tribute upon them but again withdrew without making a permanent occupation.

3.2. The beginning of the Christian era and after.

3.2.1. In AD 43 the Roman Emperor Claudius sent an army to Britain which conquered the southern part of the island. It was not an easy task. The Britons rose again and again, sword in hand. One of the most famous rebellions against the Romans was led by Boadicea, a British queen (circa AD 61). The Britons forced the Romans out of London, and some 70,000 Romans were killed in a few days. The Romans retaliated with a vengeance.

The Romans could not conquer “Caledonia”, as they called Scotland. At last Emperor built a great wall of earth, known as the Hadrian’s Wall, more than 70 miles long, to keep out Picts and Scots. According to another version, the name “Britain” comes from the word “Pretani”, the Greco-Roman word for the inhabitants of Britain. The Romans mispronounced the word and called the island “Britania”. The island got one more name. It was the name of “Albion”. It meant “white land”, because the first view for most visitors was the white cliffs near Dover.

3.2.2. In the north and the west the older social order remained much untouched, while in the towns and where the Roman type villas were concentrated, the slave-owning system developed. Otherwise the old way of life of the British Celts did not change very much. The Romans brought law and order, fine buildings, roads and towns, and what is more important peace for more than 300 years. The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain. The written word was important for spreading ideas and also for establishing power. While the Celtic peasantry remained illiterate and only Celtic speaking, a number of town dwellers spoke Latin and Greek.

3.2.3. There’s one remarkable point about the Roman period in the history of the UK. Despite their long occupation in Britain, the Romans left not very much behind. Most of their villas, baths, temples, the impressive network of roads and the cities they founded, including Londinium, were soon destroyed or fell into disrepair. Probably the only long lasting reminders are place names on the territory of modern England (such as Chester, Lancaster, Gloucester); a layer of the Roman borrowings in the lexical system of modern English. The Christian religion was first brought to Britain by means of Roman ships.

3.2.4. Soon after the departure of the Romans (407) the Celts retained their independence for a short period of time. From the middle of the V century they were the subject to numerous attacks of the Germanic tribes of the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons. At first the Germanic tribes only raided Britain, but after AD 430 they began to settle. The Angles settled in the east, and also in the north Midlands, while the Saxons settled in a band of land from the Thames Estuary westwards.