Early History

Thus in 407, the Romans had to leave Britain because they needed to defend their own country. They left the Celts, who now were rom-anised and the country, which had civilisaton similar to the rest of the Empire. Very soon the attacks of barbaric tribes destroyed the signs of this remarkable development.

Task 5. Study the table and add information to the text.

55 BC	Roman army of 10,000 men led by Julius Caesar crossed the Channel but was repulsed by the iron-weapon-possessing Celts
54 BC	Caesar repeated his expedition with larger forces (25,000). Some of the chiefs submitted and promised to pay tribute to Rome
43 AD	Roman army led by the Emperor Claudis occupied southeast of Britain
51 AD	The wild tribes of the Celtic North rose against Romans' rule. They were defeated and the Druids were expelled from the island of Mona (now Anglesey) where they had their religious centre
59-61 AD	The rebellion headed by Queen Boadicea burnt Roman military camps to the ground, defeated separate Roman detachments, destroyed and burnt down Roman towns
The 80's AD	Caledonia was invaded, the chief of the Picts, Galgacus, was killed
121 AD	Emperor Hadrian erected a wall from the Tyne to the Solway Firth. "Hadrian's Wall" protected Roman province from the Northern Britons
141 AD	The Romans advanced north. From the Forth to the Clyde the wall of Antonine was built. Later it was called Grime's Dyke
The 2nd–5th centuries AD	The Picts and Scots continued to attack the Romans
407 AD	The Romans ceased to defend Britain and to control it

Cultural Focus: Roman Names in English

Though the relics of Roman occupation in Britain were completely destroyed, today we can see them in a number of names, which were preserved in the English language. These names can be divided into two distinct groups — historical and poetic names and names of places.

The names of the first group were used by the Romans in everyday speech, with the course of time they lost their importance and got new shadows of meaning. To this group belong:

Albion — a word used to refer to England in poetic context. The Romans took this name from the Greek language and said that it meant "white", because the first view for most visitors crossing the Channel was the white cliffs near Dover.

Britannia — the name used by the Romans to refer to the occupied territory. Later this name was given to the female embodiment of Britain, who is always shown wearing a helmet and holding a trident — a symbol of the sea power.

Briton — the name given to the Celtic tribe, who lived in England before and after the Roman occupation. Today this word is used in official contexts to describe a citizen of Great Britain.

Caledonia — the Roman name for Scotland.

Cambria — the Roman name for Wales.

Hibernia — the Roman name for Ireland.

Today these names are often used hi scholarly classifications and for the names of organisations. For example, different types of the languages used on the territory of Great Britain are called "Hiberno-English", "Cambrian-English" and "Hiberno-Celtic". You may often come across such names as the airline "British Caledonian", Caledonian Channel or Cambrian Mountains. The citizens of Scotland, Wales and Ireland are sometimes called Caledonians, Cambrians and Hibernians.

The names of the second group were used by the Romans to call towns and roads. As the towns were mostly fortified and also served like camps, they contained the component caster, Chester or carter derived from the Latin word "castra" — a camp. Today one may find these components in the names like Winchester, Dancaster, Leicester and many others. The stem "coin" or "col" is found in the names, which denoted colonies (from Latin "colonia") like in Lincoln, sometimes both stems were used in one word — Colchester.

Task 6. Read the list of events below and try to put them in the correct order.

1. Rome wanted to conquer all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

2. The Celtic tribal chiefs had to recognise the Romans as their rulers, though wide masses of people openly expressed discontent.

3. The Gauls, who inhabited the territory of the present-day France, were at war with Rome for eight years.

4. During 90 years after it trading contacts between Britain and Rome developed.

5. Julius Caesar found that the Britons helped the Gauls.

6. After the rebellion headed by Queen Boadicea, the Romans built the wall around Londinium, which was about 2 and a half metres thick at the base.

7. The Britons dyed their hair and moustaches red and painted their legs and arms blue. With loud shouts they attacked the Romans in chariots and the invincible army had to return to Gaul.

Task 7. Compare the distinctive features of early British societies:

Society	Form of society		Classes	Governing Body
The Iberians	primitive community		–	–
Early Celtic societies	tribal community		–	–
The Celts on the eve of the Roman conquest	tribal society with patriarchal slavery		tribal nobility and tribesmen	chiefs and military leaders (tribal nobility)
The Romans	slave society		slaves and slaveowners	emperors
Task 8. Historical consequences. Match two statements from columns A and B into a compound sentence with the conjunction "so".
A		B
1. The hilly districts in the north of Britain were difficult to live in		a) straight roads were built for the legions to march quickly to any part of the country
2. The Celts kept fighting against the Romans		b) the Roman influence in Britain was weaker that in other provinces
3. The main forces were settled in the south of the country		c) they built towns with splendid villas and public baths as in Rome itself
4. The civilised Romans were city dwellers		d) the Romans were unable to conquer these areas
5. The province of Britain was separated from the mainland of Europe by the Channel and the North Sea		e) the Romans needed legions to suppress the Picts and Scots

THE ANGLO-SAXON INVASION

Task 1. Answer the following questions:

1. Why did the Romans leave the British Isles?

2. What tribes could possibly threaten the Romanised Celts?

3. What do you know about the Germanic tribes? Where do you think they lived?

Task 2. Brainstorm the process of any invasion. What are its stages? Think of the Roman conquest as an example.