III. Early History of British Isles



At the dawn of their history the peoples on this planet lived in the primitive societies. These primitive peoples, wherever they lived, began their long path of progress with stone tools, but they didn’t reach the same level of civilization at the same time in different countries.

The ancient civilization of Greece and Rome were already in existence when the people living in Britain were only at the first stage of social development.

The earliest inhabitants of British Isles were Iberians [ai’birianz] (ибе­рейцы). We don’t know about these early people because they lived in Britain long before a word of their history was written.

During the period from the 6-th to the 3d cent. B.C. people that called the Celts spread across Europe from the east to the west.

More than one the Celtic tribes invaded Britain. The Iberians were un­able to fight back the attacks of the Celts who were armed much better. So the next inhabitants of British Isles were the Celts. They began to inhabit British Isles in the 6-th century B.C. To this day the descendants of ancient Celts live on the territory of British Isles. Some words from the Celtic language can still be found in Modern English and most of them are geographical names. Thus in England there are several rivers called Avon which in Celtic means a river.

In the 1st century B.C. when the inhabitants of the British Isles (Iberians, Celts) were still living under the primitive communal system, the Ro­man Empire became the strongest slave-owning state in the Mediterra­nean. It was the greatest of the civilization of the ancient world. The Roman ruled all the civilized world and in the 1st cent. A.D. they con­quered Britain.

In 55 B.C. Julius Ceasar invaded the British Isles for the first time. It was not success. But the next year, 54 B.C. he again came to Britain. The Romans defeated the Celts. The Celts promised to pay tribute to Rome. Since 54 B.C. till the 80ies of the 1st cent. the Romans conquered the Br. Isles.

The Romans remained in Britain for about 4 centuries. In the 3d and the 4th centuries the power of the Roman Empire gradually weakened. The unproductive labour of slaves led to the economic decline of the empire. The uninterrupted struggle of the exploited against the slave-owners greatly weakened the Roman Empire too.

The end of the 4th cent. found Germanic tribes invading the Western Roman Empire and the slaves who hated the Romans were joining them by the thousands. Early in the 5th century (407) the Roman legions were recalled from Britain to defend the central provinces of the Ro­man Empire from the attacks of barbarian tribes. They didn’t return to Britain and the Celts were left alone in the land.

IV. Traces of the Roman Rule in Britain

   Today there are many things in Britain to remind the people of the Ro­mans. The wells which the Romans dug give water today and the chief Roman roads are still among the highways of Modern England. The fragments of the old London wall built by the Romans can still be seen. Often, ever now, when men are digging in England they find Ro­man pottery, glass, tiles, statues, armour, coins and other things that were used by Romans in that old time. Many of these remains can be seen in the British Museum.

Besides, many words of Modern English have come from Latin. The words with the Romans left behind them in the language of Britain are for the most part the names of the things which they taught the Celts. For example, the word ‘street’ came from Latin ‘strata’ which means ‘road’; ‘port’ from the Latin ‘portus’: ‘wall’ – ‘vallum’ (Lat.)

The names of many modern English towns are of Latin origin too. The Roman towns were strongly fortified and they were called ‘castra’ which means ‘camps’. This word can be recognized in various form in such names of towns as Chester, Winchester, Manchester, Leicester, Lancaster. Any English town with a name ending in ‘chester’, ‘cester’, ‘caster’ was once a camp or city.

The Roman way of life influenced only the southeastern part of the country. The Romans built most of their towns in the south and east. In the remote western parts of the country and especially in the North, which the Romans didn’t manage to conquer, the old tribal life went on.


Дата добавления: 2018-05-02; просмотров: 2054; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!

Поделиться с друзьями:






Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!