Texts for home reading

From the History of Great Britain.

1. Primitive Society on the Territory of the British Isles

The earliest human remains found on the British Isles show that there was life before the Ice Age, but this was ended by the glaciers which covered Britain as far south as the Thames valley. The modern settlement of Britain began in the Stone Age with tribal groups who are known as Iberians because some of their descendants are still found in the north of Spain (the Iberian Peninsula). They came by sea between 3,000 and 2,000 B. C., settling near the coasts of south and west Britain as well as in Ireland.

They brought with them the agricultural methods of raising cattle and planting wheat. Those tribes did not use metals, but they used stone weapons and tools.

During the period from the 6^th to the 3^rd century B. C. tribes of Celts came from the Continent. Celtic tribes called Picts penetrated into the mountains in the North; some Picts, as well as tribes of Scots crossed over the sea to Ireland and settled there. Later the Scots returned to the larger island (now called Great Britain) and settled in the North beside the Picts. They came in such large numbers that some time later the name of Scotland was given to that part of the territory. Powerful Celtic tribes, called Britons, held most of the country, and the southern half of the island was named Britain after them. Today the words “Britain” and “British” refer to all the people of the British Isles.

The Iberians were unable to fight back the attacks of the Celts who were armed with metal spears, swords, daggers and axes. Most of the Iberians were killed in the conflict; some of them were driven westwards into the mountains of Wales, and the others probably mixed with Celts.

It is of interest that the development of the British nation was limited to the part of the British Isles which is called Britain. The main reason for that is the favourable geographical position of the part later called England. It has plain relief, rich soils, deep navigable rivers. The Britons were mostly farmers. They built large villages and they used money for trade. That is why that part, England, historically became the nucleus of the United Kingdom, and London became its capital. Scotland and Wales, isolated from England correspondingly by the Cambrian and the Grampian mountains, preserved Celtic population. This and the independent and warlike spirit of their people were the main reasons why the numerous invaders did not manage to go farther into the country after the invasion of England.

2. The Romans in Britain

The first to invade Britain was Julius Ceasar himself. His troops landed near Dover in 55 B. C. His attacks were resisted by the Celts in the southern part of Britain whose capital was Londinium (London). Ceasar called the country “Albion” because of the white chalky cliffs on the southern coast of Britain.

By the year 43 A. D. the Romans had occupied most of Britain’s territory. The resistance of the tribes in the far north (now Scotland) prevented occupation of that area. Indeed, the Romans had to build two walls for their defense across Britain, one not far from the present Scottish border and one farther north, beyond Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The civilized Romans were city dwellers, and they began to build towns and splendid villas in Britain. York, Gloucester, Lincoln and London became the chief Roman towns; there were also about 50 other smaller towns. London, which had been a small settlement before the Roman conquest, became a centre for trade both by river and road. Colchester, Gloucester, York and Lincoln sprang around the Roman military camps, which were called “castra”. This word can be recognized in various forms in the names of many towns in Great Britain, such as Colchester, Manchester, Winchester, Doncaster and others. The town of Bath became famous for its hot springs.

The Romans remained in Britain for about 4 centuries and during that time Britain was a Roman province governed by Roman governors and protected by Roman legions. In the 5^th century A. D. the Roman legions were called back from Britain to defend the central provinces of the Roman Empire from the attacks of the barbarian tribes. Britain had practically no protection and was soon occupied by migrating Anglo-Saxon tribes.

The Romans left many things in Britain to remind. The wells, which the Romans dug give water today, the chief Roman roads are still among the highways of Modern England. Walting Street still runs from London to Chester. There are ruins of public baths, parts of the Roman bridges, fragments of the old London wall.