Britain in Ancient Times

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Лекція № 1

Тема лекції: Британія у давнину.

Britain in Ancient Times

План лекції

1. Early history of British Isles

2. Iberians in the British Isles

3. Stonehenge

4. Celtic tribes in the British Isles. The Druids

5. Roman Britain

6. Christianity in Britain

Зміст лекції

BRITAIN IN ANCIENT TIMES

Early history of British Isles

The history of the United Kingdom as a unified sovereign state began in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a united kingdom called Great Britain. 

Geologically speaking, until about 8,000 years ago Great Britain was actually part of the European Continent. About 3 thousand years before our era the land we now call Britain was not separated from the continent by the English Channel and the North Sea. The Thames was a tributary of the Rhine. The snow did not melt on the mountains of Wales, Cumberland and Yorkshire even in summer. It lay there for centuries and formed rivers of ice called glaciers, that slowly flowed into the valleys below, some reaching as far as the Thames. At the end of the ice age the climate became warmer and the ice caps melted, flooding the lower-lying land that now lies under the North Sea and the English Channel.

At the end of the Ice Age, sea levels rose, and Great Britain became an island. The first Briton was Swanscombe Man. Her skull was found on the outskirts of  London in 1955. The skull fragments of a young woman (results of re-identification) date 200.000-300.000 years ago.

When the snow retreated northwards, the first (new) Britons arrived. They quickly spread throughout the island. Many parts of Europe, including the present-day British Isles, were inhabited by the people who came to be known as the Iberians. Iberians themselves were ancient people of eastern and southern Spain. The Iberian Peninsula, comprising Spain and Portugal, takes its name from them. The first historical references to the Iberians on the British Isles date from the 6th century BC. Some of their descendants are still found in the North of Spain, populating the Iberian peninsular. Although little is known about the Iberians of the Stone Age, it is understood that they were a small, dark, long-headed race that settled especially on the chalk downs radiating from Salisbury Plain. All that is known about them comes from archaeological findings - the remains of their dwellings, their skeletons as well as some stone tools and weapons. The Iberians knew the art of grinding and polishing stone.

Some settled and built villages, others built a gated community, showing the first signs of class distinction. On the downs and along the oldest historic roads, the Icknield Way and the Pilgrim's Way, lie long barrows, the great earthenworks which were burial places and prove the existence of marked class divisions. At that time Stonehenge was built. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument (built from 2400 BC to 2200 BC) located in Wiltshire, England. According to the one of versions, the name Stonehenge is coming from the Old English words stвn meaning “stone”, and either heneg meaning “hinge” (because the stone lintels hinge on the upright stones). Some researchers think that it was built by the ancient Druids who performed their rites in Stonehenge. Others believe that it was built by the sun-worshippers who came to this distant land from the Mediterranean when the Channel was a dry valley on the Continent. Stonehenge might also have been an enormous calendar. Its changing shadows probably indicated the cycle of the seasons and told the people when it was time to sow their crops. Some legends connected the construction of Stonehenge with Merlin, sage and magician of Celtic myths. According to the modern theories, Stonehenge originally served to predict the cosmic catastrophes. Stonehenge also was used for burials.

A typical druid Stonehenge

In the period from the 6th to the 3rd century BC the Iberians were succeeded by Celts, first of the Gaelic division, and then of the Cymric division. The first Celtic tribes are believed to have come to the British Isles between 800 and 700 BC. Celts are the people who dominated much of western and central Europe in the 1st millennium BC. The word Celt is derived from Keltoi, the name given to these people by Herodotus and other Greek writers. To the Romans, the Continental Celts were known as Galli, or Gauls; the Celts in the British Isles were called Britanni. In medieval and modern times the celtic traditions and languages survived in Britanny (in western France), Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and Ireland. According to Caesar's “Commentaries on the Gallic War,” the Celts, against whom he fought, were tall and blue-eyed people. Men had long moustaches (but no beards) and wore shirts, knee-long trousers and striped or checked cloaks which they fastened with a pin. (Later, their Scottish descendants developed it into tartan.) Both men and women were obsessed with the idea of cleanliness and neatness. As is known from reminiscences of the Romans, “neither man nor woman, however poor, was seen either ragged or dirty”.

Economically and socially the Celts were a tribal society made up of clans and tribes. The Celtic tribes were ruled by chiefs. The military leaders of the largest tribes were sometimes called kings. In wartime the Celts wore skins and painted their faces blue to make themselves look more fierce. They were armed with swords and spears and used war chariots in fighting. Women seem to have had extensive rights and independence and shared responsibility in defending their tribesmen. It is known that when the Romans invaded Britain, two of the largest tribes were ruled by women.

The Celts were pagans and their priests, the Druids, who were important members of the ruling class, preserved the tribal laws, religious teachings, history, medicine and other knowledge necessary in Celtic society. They worshipped in sacred places (on hills, by rivers, in groves of trees) and their rites sometimes included human sacrifice. The Celts lived in villages and practised a primitive agriculture: they used light ploughs and grew their crops in small square fields. They knew the use of copper, tin, and iron, kept large herds of cattle and sheep which formed their chief wealth.

The Celts traded both inside and beyond Britain. On the Continent, the Celtic tribes of Britain carried on trade with Celtic Gaul. Trade was also an important political and social factor in relationship between tribes. Most trade was conducted by sea or river. It is no accident that the capitals of England and Scotland appeared on the river banks, in place of the old trade routes. The settlement on the Thames, which existed before London, was a major trade outpost eastwards to Europe.

Two centuries later they were followed by the Brythons or ancient Britons after whom the country was called Britain; Picts - they are believed to have arrived in Scotland from the Continent about 1000 BC and in Ireland from Scotland about ad 200; Belgae, people who lived mainly in the region of the English Channel and the North Sea (now Belgium is part of northeastern France, and a portion of the Netherlands). The history of the Picts and their struggle with the Scots was beautifully described by R.L. Stevenson in the ballad Heather Ale.

The descendants of the ancient Celts live on the British Isles up to this day. They are the Welsh, the Scottish and the Irish. The Welsh language, which belongs to the Celtic group, is the oldest living language in Europe. In the Highlands of Scotland, as well as in the western parts of Ireland, there is still a strong influence of the Celtic language. Some words of the Celtic origin still exist in Modern English. Scholars believe that about a dozen common nouns are of the Celtic origin; among these are cradle, bannock, cart, down, loch (dial.), coomb (dial.), mattock. Most others are geographical names. These are the names of Celtic settlements which later grew into towns: London, Leeds and Kent which got its name after the name of a Celtic tribe. There are several rivers in England which still bear Celtic names: Avon and Evan, Thames, Severn, Mersey, Derwent, Ouse, Exe, Esk, Usk. The Celtic word loch is still used in Scotland to denote a lake: Loch Ness, Loch Lomond.

Celtic borrowings in English

Roman Britain

For almost four centuries Britons were ruled by the Romans, who called their country Britanni or Britannia. It was the most westerly and northerly province of the Roman empire. The Romans, led by Julius Caesar, came to the British Isles in BC 55 and a year later returned to the Continent as the Celtic opposition was strong. In BC 54 he returned with 25,000 men. The Romans crossed the Thames and stormed the Celtic capital of Cassivellaunus. Caesar then departed, taking hostages and securing a promise to pay tribute.

In the ninety years between the first two raids and the invasion of the Romans in AD 43, a thorough economic development in South-East Britain went on. Traders and colonists settled in large numbers and the growth of towns was so considerable that in AD 50, only seven years after the invasion of Claudius, Verulamium (now St. Albans) was granted the full status of a Roman town (municipium) with self-government and the rights of Roman citizenship for its inhabitants.

The Celts fought fiercely against the Romans who never managed to become masters of the whole island. In AD 61-62 Queen Boadicea (Boadica) led her tribesmen against the Romans. Upon her husband's death, she managed to raise an army which raided the occupied territories slaying the Romans and their supporters, burning down and ruining the Roman towns and nearly bringing an end to the Roman rule of Britain as such. It was only when she was captured by the Roman soldiers and took poison that peace was restored in the province.

 John Opie's painting Boadicea Haranguing the Britons

The Romans were also unable to conquer the Scottish Highlands, or Caledonia as they called it, thus the province of Britain covered only the southern part of the island. From time to time the Picts from the North managed to raid the Roman part of the island, burn their villages, and drive off their cattle and sheep. During the reign of the Emperor Hadrian a high wall was built in the North to defend the province from the raids of the Picts and the Scots.

In AD 139 - 42 the Emperor Antoninus Pius abandoned Hadrian's Wall and constructed a new frontier defence system between the Forth and the Clyde - the Antonine Wall - but its use was short-lived and Hadrian's Wall was again the main northern frontier by AD 164. One of the greatest achievements of the Roman Empire was its system of roads, in Britain no less than elsewhere. When the legions arrived in Britain in the first century AD, their first task was to build a system of roads. Stone bridges were built across rivers. Roman roads were made of stones, lime and gravel. They were vital not only for the speedy movement of troops and supplies from one strategic center to another, but also allowed the movement of agricultural products from farm to market.

Within a generation the British landscape changed considerably. London became the chief administrative centre. From it, roads spread out to all parts of the province. Unlike the Celts, who lived in villages, the Romans were city-dwellers. The Roman army built legionary fortresses, forts, camps, and roads, and assisted with the construction of buildings in towns. The Romans built most towns to a standardized pattern of straight, parallel main streets that crossed at right angles. The forum (market place) formed the centre of each town. Shops and such public buildings as the basilica, baths, law-courts, and temple surrounded the forum. The paved streets had drainage systems, and fresh water was piped to many buildings. Houses were built of wood or narrow bricks and had tiled roofs.

The chief towns were Colchester, Gloucester, York, Lincoln, Dover, Bath and London (or Londinium). It is common knowledge that London was founded by the Romans in place of an earlier settlement. The Romans also brought their style of architecture to the countryside in the form of villas. Some very large early villas are known in Kent and in Sussex.

When Christianity gained popularity in the Empire, it also spread to the provinces and was established in Britain in the 300s. The first English martyr was St. Alban who died about 287. In 306, Constantine the Great became the Roman Emperor. He stopped the persecution of Christians and became a Christian himself. All Christian churches were centralised in Constantinople which was made the capital of the Empire. This religion came to be known as the Catholic Church (`catholic' means `universal'.) Greek and Latin became the languages of the Church all over Europe including Britain.

Literary evidence suggests that Britons adopted Latinized names and that the elite spoke and wrote Latin. The largest number of Latin words was introduced as a result of the spread of Christianity: abbot, altar, angel, creed, hymn, idol, organ, nun, pope, temple and many others. The traces of Latin are still found in modern English:

Latin borrowings in English

Despite the growth of towns and all the other essentials of civilization that came with the Roman conquest, the standards of living changed little. Britain was an agricultural province, dependent on small farms. Peasants still built round Celtic huts and worked in the fields in the same way. Despite the 400 years of Roman influence, Britain was still largely a Celtic society.

The conquest of Britain by the Roman Empire lasted up to the beginning of the 5th century. In 410 the Roman legions were called back to Rome, and those that stayed behind were to become the Romanized Celts (Britons) who faced the invasion of the barbarians - the Germanic tribes of Angles and Saxons.

Контрольні питання

1. At what time was Great Britain the part of the European Continent and what happened at the end of the ice age?

2. Where is the prehistoric monument Stonehenge located?

3. What do you know about the first Celtic tribes and the names, given to these people?

4. By whom were the Celts followed in the British Isles?

5. How long were Britons ruled by the Romans?

6. When and by whom was Christianity established in Britain?

history britain island christianity

Питання для самостійної роботи

1. The Iberians of the Stone Age and their spreading throughout the British Isles.

2. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument.

3. The first Celtic tribes on the British Isles between 800 and 700 BC.

4. Roman invasion with Julius Caesar at the head

Список рекомендованих джерел

1. Вежбицкая А. Язык. Культура. Познание / А. Вежбицкая. - М.: Просвещение, 1996. - 456 с.

2. Гапонів А.Б. Лінгвокраїнознавство. Англомовні країни. Підручник для студентів та викладачів вищих навчальних закладів / А. Б. Гапонів, М.О. Возна. - Вінниця: Нова книга, 2005. - 464 c.

3. Заболотный В.М. История, география и культура англоязычных стран / В.М.Заболотный. - М.: Университетская книга, 2011. - 550 c.

4. Історія і культура Британії: навчальний посібник / Т.В. Тарасенко, Л.А. Куликова, Т.В. Рябуха. - Мелітополь: Видавництво МДПУ, 2016. - 128 с.

5. Колодяжная Л. Н. Познакомьтесь: Великобритания / Л. Н. Колодяжная. - М.: Рольф, Айрис-пресс, 1998. - 160 c.

6. Сатинова В. Ф. Читаем и говорим о Британии и британцах / В. Ф. Cатинова. - Минск: ВШ., 1997. - 255c.

7. Томахин Г.Д. От страноведения к фоновым знаниям носителей языка и национально-культурной семантике языковых единиц в их языковом сознании / Г. Д. Томахин - М.: Просвещение, 2002. - 126 c.

Інформаційні ресурси

8. Саймон Шама. История Британии / Simon Schama A History Of Britain. 15 серий. (2000-2002) BBC. http://science-film.ru/film/11683/

9. Britannia History // http://britannia.com/history

10. http://study-english.info/topic-british-history.php#ixzz3Pfjvtqd1

http://study-english.info/

10. http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/History_of_Great_Britain

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