The Romans

Invaders and visitors

Caesar Invades Britain

TEXT

Uses

No one knows for sure why Stonehenge was built and what it was used for, but that has not prevented historians from creating theories as to the uses of Stonehenge.

1. some say it was used as an ancient astronomical observatory;

2. more theories say that Stonehenge was an ancient calendar;

3. other theories say that Stonehenge is a place of religious worship or of religious ground.

It is known that the Druids used Stonehenge as a place of worship and there are even pictures showing this through the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. However, what was it used for before them?

Investigations over the last 100 years have revealed that Stonehenge was built in several stages, from 2800 BC to 1800 BC.

The first day in English history is 55 BC, in which year Julius Caesar (the memorable Roman Emperor) first came to Britain and landed at Thanet. This was in the Olden Days, when the Romans were top nation on account of their classical education.

The Romans did not occupy the island at first. Julius Caesar advanced very energetically, but the Ancient Britons fought as heroically under their dashing queen Woadicea [,bәudi´si:ә], as they did later under their good Queen Victoria. Julius Caesar was therefore compelled to invade Briton the following year (54 BC) and having defeated the Ancient Britons by unfair means, set the memorable Latin sentence “Veni, Vidi, Vici”, which the Romans, who were very educated, constructed correctly.

The Britons, however, who of course still used the old pronunciation, understanding him to have called them “Weeny, Weedy, Weaky” (which means “tiny”, “frail”, “weak”) – lost heart and gave up the struggle.

Only in AD 43, almost a hundred years later, Emperor Claudius began to conquer the island.

About 2,000 years ago the British Isles were inhabited by the Celtic tribes who originally came from Europe. During the next 1,000 years there were many invasions.

At first, the Celts were conquered by the Romans. They lived on the peninsular which is now called Italy and their language was Latin.

The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain, they built about twenty large towns, and about one hundred smaller ones, they built military fortresses. They built many roads and bridges which were used by people long after the Romans had left the island. They built many many-storeyed houses that are admired to this day. They made London the most important trading center in Northern Europe. Many people began to wear togas. The Romans brought new vegetables like cabbages, peas and fruits like plums, apples and cherries on the British Isles.

The Romans also brought Christianity to Britain and the British Church became a strong institution.

In AD 43 the Roman Emperor Claudius invaded Britain and made it a Roman province. So, from AD 43 to about AD 409 the areas which are now England and Wales were part of the Roman Empire, and Latin was the language of government. The native language absorbed many Latin words. Thus, the Romans established a Romano-British culture across the southern half of Britain, from the River Humber to the River Severn. This part of Britain was inside the empire.

The Romans could not conquer “Caledonia”, as they called Scotland, although they spent over a century trying to do so. At last they built a strong wall along the northern border to mark the border between later England and Scotland, named after the Emperor Hadrian who planned it – the Hadrian’s Wall.

By the 5^th century (AD 400) the Roman control of Britain came to an end as the Roman Empire began to collapse. The Roman legions found it more and more difficult to stop the raiders from crossing Hadrian’s Wall. And in AD 409 Rome pulled its last soldiers out of Britain forever and the Romano-British, the Romanised Celts, were left to fight alone against the Scots, the Irish and Saxon (sea-robbers) raiders from Germany. The fall of the Roman Empire followed soon after. When Britain called to Rome for help against the raiders from Saxon Germany in the mid-fifth century, no answer came.

The Romans established the Romano-British culture across the southern half of Britain, from the River Humber to the River Severn. This part of Britain was inside the Empire.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11