Ancient Britain

Topic 1 - Ancient Britain Part A

Before the Roman conquest, the island of Britain was not significant in the
history of Western civilisation. By 2500 BC a tribe known as the Beaker folk had
made their appearance in Britain. During the Iron Age, the British Isles was
dominated by the Celts. The Romans conquered Britain in about 43AD. They
subdued much of Britain in the short space of forty years and remained there for
nearly 400 years. The Roman invasion brought Britain into more contact with
continental Europe, both in culture and trading.
There was no central government among the Celtic tribes in Britain. Each tribe
was headed by a king and divided by class into Druids, priests, warrior nobles,
and commoners. In ancient Britain, Druids received the highest positions of
power and respect. During the Roman occupation, Britain was ruled by the
emperor in Rome and his representative in Britain. Britain was divided into
civitates, which were local government divisions populated by non-Roman
citizens or 'freeborn inhabitants.' There was a strict hierarchy in the society of
Roman Britain. There were a number of religions in Roman Britain: the Celtic
religions, the imperial cult (which is the official religion of the Romans) and the
religions which Roman soldiers brought to Britain from different places in their
empire.
Topic 2 - Ancient Britain Part B
Farming was an important part of Celtic life. The important specialist workers in
Celtic society were the smiths and metalworkers, salt miners, potters,
woodworkers and traders. After the Roman conquest, farming became more
intensive, and farmers learned to rotate their crops.
The Romans built many villas,which were considered to be centres of rural
industry. The Romans introduced new methods of civil engineering, housebuilding, metal working and pottery manufacture.
The basic unit of Celtic life was the clan rather than an individual family. In Celtic
society, women were generally treated better than in most societies of that time.
During the Roman occupation in Britain, women had fewer rights and their lives
were limited to the home.
While the Celts' armies lacked discipline and battle plans, Roman armies were
very professional. The most important battle in the history of Roman Britain was
the fierce battle between the Romans and the Celts at the River Medway. To the
Romans, the battle of Medway was a great success, which enabled them to start
controlling Britain as a province of the Roman Empire. During the rule of the
Romans in Britain, Queen Boudicca was a prominent historical figure who started
a rebellion against the Romans. One of the most well-known legacies of Britain is
Stonehenge, which is a circle of standing stones on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire,
England. It is known as one of the most important prehistoric constructions in
England, and is also an icon of the country.