Pre-Germanic Britain. The Roman conquest.

Britain was part of the continent of Europe until the end of the last Ice Age (6,000 BC). It became an island when the lower-lying land under the present-day English Channel was flooded. The island was covered by dense woods full of wild animals and birds. The early inhabitants of Britain were small groups of hunters, gatherers, and fishermen.

About 3000 BC, tribes of dark-haired people called Iberians began to arrive from the territory of present-day Spain around. They were initially hunters and then also shepherds. Their main weapons were the bow and the arrows, the shield, the helmet and the large spear. The Iberians put up buildings of stone and wood and built the first roads. They built the burial chambers and huge temples (henges).The earliest structures at Stonehenge were built about 3050 BC by the Iberian people, though there is still controversy as to who constructed the megalithic tombs (long barrows).

The earliest mention of the British Isles is in the 4th century B. C, when the Greek explorer Pytheas, of Massilia (now Marseilles), sailing round Europe, landed in Kent. At this time Britain was inhabited by Celtic tribes (Britons and Gaels), who spoke various Celtic languages. Economically and socially they were a tribal society.

The peoples known as the Celts had originated in central Europe, to the east of the Rhine in the areas now part of southern Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. From around 3,400 years ago, these proto-Celtic peoples expanded across the Continent. Between 1200 and 700 BC, they spread westward from their eastern European homeland into the area of modern Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Here, there culture developed into a recognizably Celtic form. In 700 B.C. the Celts spread westward into modern France and the British Isles. The Celts who first came to Britain gradually spread to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The Celtic languages formed at one time one of the most extensive groups in the Indo-European family. Their languages are represented in modern times by Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

The Celts were tall, and had fair or red hair and blue eyes. They were organized into different tribes. The Celts were highly successful farmers. They traded across tribal borders and trade was probably important for political and social contact between the tribes. Much trade was conducted by river and sea. The Celtic tribes were ruled over by a warrior class, of which the priests, or Druids, seem to have been particularly important members. These Druids could not read or write, but they memorized all the religious teachings, the tribal laws, history, medicine and other knowledge necessary in Celtic society. The Druids from different tribes all over Britain met once a year. They had no temples. We know little of their kind of worship except that at times it included human sacrifice.In the first century B.C. Gaul was conquered by the Romans. Having occupied Gaul Julius Caesar made two raids on Britain in 55 B. C. and 54 B.C.

Romans knew that the British Isles were a source of tin ore. Caesar attacked Britain for economic reasons (tin ore, corn, slaves) and for strategic reasons (the Romans fought with the Celts of Gaul on the continent who found shelter in Britain and were supported by the Celts of Britain). This first appearance of the Romans had no further consequences: after a brief stay the Romans went back to Gaul. Permanent conquest of Britain began in 43 A.D., under the emperor Claudius. In this period Britain became a Roman province.

This colonization had a profound effect on the country. Roman civilization - paved roads, powerful walls of military camps - completely transformed the aspects of the country. One of the greatest achievements of the Roman Empire was its system of roads. The legions arrived in a country with no roads at all, as Britain was in the first century A.D. The roads were vital for trade, important in the speedy movement of troops. They also allowed the movement of agricultural products from farm to market. London was the chief administrative centre, and from it, roads spread out to all parts of the province. They also utilized bridges. Roman society in Britain was highly classified. At the top were those people associated with the legions, the provincial administration, the government of towns and the wealthy. At the lowest end were the slaves.

In the countryside, away from the towns, with their metalled, properly drained streets, their forums and other public buildings, bath houses, shops and amphitheatres, were the great villas. The Latin language superseded the Celtic dialects. In the fourth century, when Christianity was introduced in the Roman Empire, it also spread among Britons. They also borrowed words belong to the spheres of military organization, trade, agriculture: strata via ‘мощеная дорога’ street, castra ‘лагерь’ Chester, Manchester, Winchester.

The Romans ruled Britain for almost four hundred years, up to the early 5th century. In 410 Roman legions were recalled from Britain to defend Italy from advancing Goths. So the Britons had to rely on their own forces in the coming struggle with Germanic tribes.From the time that the Romans more or less abandoned Britain, the period has been known as the Dark Ages. With the departure of the Roman legions, the old enemies began their raids on the native Britons once more. The Picts and Scots to the north and west (the Scots coming in from Ireland had not yet made their homes in what was to become later known as Scotland), and the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes to the south and east.