Early History
to Gaul to complete his conquest on the continent. Later he described Britons in his "Commentaries on the Gallic War".
Only nearly a hundred years later, in 43 AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius sent to Britain the army, which conquered the southern part of the island.
Task 4. Here is a diagrammatic presentation of the Celtic society. Do you think it reflects reality? If not, draw your own diagram. The arrows show the power of some people over the others.
The Roman Civilisaton on the British Isles
The Romans occupied only the southeastern part of the island, while in the north and west the older social order remained much untouched. On the Roman territory the old way of life of the British Celts changed — now the Roman soldiers were defending the outposts of Britannia (the Roman name for their province), while on the conquered territory provincial Roman life developed.
The Romans established various types of towns, which served different purposes. Firstly, there were colonies for soldiers as Colchester, York, Lincoln and Gloucester. Secondly, there were municipalities as Verulamium and St Albans, which gave their citizens the privileges of the Romans. Thirdly, there was Londinium, which became an important commercial centre because of its favourable geographical position. Also there were tribal capitals like Silchester, which were run by tribal chiefs, and had magistrates and town councils like in Rome. Fifthly comes Bath, which was a spa. All the towns were fortified.
An important legacy of the Roman Empire was the network of military roads, which the Romans accordingly built throughout the occupied region. In some parts of the country these roads to this day form the basis of road communication. The routes of some of these roads, such as Watling Street from London to Chester; Icknield Way connecting London with Cirencester, Gloucester and Caerleon in South Wales, are still used today.
Many defensive walls were built to defend the country from the attacks of the barbarians living in the north and the west of the country. Most outstanding was the wall built on the orders of Emperor Hadrian, from Solway Firth to the Tyne River, which roughly divided England from Scotland and was to keep out the Picts.
The Romans and the Celts
The Romans ruled with the maxim "Divide and rule". They offered protection and the advantages of their civilisaton to friendly communities. The Romanised Celts were protected from the wild tribes of Picts and Scots not only by the walls but also by the Roman army.
The first years of Roman occupation saw various revolts of the British tribes, who tried to stop the invaders. The most famous of these attacks is the revolt of the Iceni tribe headed by their queen Boadicea. While the Roman army was fighting in the North Wales, Queen Boadicea with 100,000 armed men burned to the ground Colchester, Londinium and St Albans. The revolt was completely suppressed by the Roman army ten times less than the army of Boadicea. The rebellious Queen took poison after her defeat.
The Roman Conquest influenced the life of Britons greatly. The most important of these influences was Christianity. During the 4th century, when Christian religion became the religion of the Roman Empire, it was also spread in Britain. Christianity was a religion of the book, so together with it literacy was spread. The power of new religion was so strong, that it even reached those parts of the British Isles, where the Romans had never been.
At the end of the 4th century, the Roman Empire started to decline. This destruction happened due to a unique combination of internal and external causes. The slave-owning system slowed the development of the state. Unproductive slave labour led to the economic decline of the empire. Constant revolts of the slaves weakened the empire too. They were coupled with the attacks of the barbarian tribes from outside.