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Lecture 2: The Celtic Iron Age and Roman Britain

Who were the Celts?

Celts is the conventional modern term for the Iron Age European peoples whowere referred to by ancient Greek and Roman writers by names like Keltoi,

Galatai, Celti etc. Ancient historians recorded the Celts migrations from ahomeland north of the Alps: they invaded Italy at the end of the 5th century

BC and Greece in the 3rd century, and a Celtic colony settled as far east as the

area of Ankara in modern Turkey. In the West, the Romans encounteredthem in Gaul (modern France). Whether or not these people themselveswould have recognized a common identity, archaeology shows that they had

much in common in material culture, particularly the distinctive artistic style

known as La Tne, and there is evidence that they spoke closely related

languages belonging to a branch of the Indo-European language family thatlinguists nowadays call Celtic.

No ancient writer actually referred to any of the peoples of the British Isles as

Celts. However the evidence of the earliest place names and personal names

recorded by Roman writers shows that Celtic languages were certainlyspoken in Britain and Ireland in the Iron Age (and may have been spoken

earlier) and there is plenty of evidence of Celtic material culture in this

period. This is probably the result of cultural influence through trade ratherthan a Celtic invasion or mass migrationthough there is evidence that somecontinental tribes did migrate to Britain, particularly the Belgae who settled

in the south of England in the 1st century BC.

Celtic lifeThe continental Celtic way of lifeat least that of the warrior elitewas

described in detail by Greek and Roman writers, often using information

from the 1st century BC Greek writer Posidonius, who had travelled among

the Celts in Gaul. They are presented as tall, blond warriors, boastful andimpetuous. They were eager to show their courage in battle, where they rode

in chariots and sometimes fought naked. They cut off the heads of their

enemies and kept them in their homes. They enjoyed extravagant feasts, with

large quantities of meat and drink (imported wine for the rich, honeyed beerfor the rest), and which often ended in fighting. They wore brightly coloured

clothes and gold jewellery, and stiffened their hair with lime. (Unfortunately

the writers have much less to say about the lives of Celtic women.)

Their philosophers and theologians were called Druids. According to JuliusCaesar, Pliny, and other writers, they trained for many years and learned

many verses by heart. They would not put their doctrines in writing, believed

in life after death, presided at sacrifices (including human), and veneratedmistletoe and oak. Associated with the Druids were the Bards, poets who

composed poems of praise and satire, and were highly respected.

The ancient writers say much less about the people of the British Isles, but a unique

insider perspective on Celtic culture comes from the early literature of Ireland.Tales of warrior heroes like C Chulainn were first written down around the 8 th

century AD, but seem to derive from oral traditions that were already several

centuries old. The lifestyle presented in the tales is similar in many ways to that

described on the continent by Posidonius. Early Irish laws, written down fromabout the 8th century, add to the picture.

(In fact the warrior elite portrayed by the ancient writers and in the Irish tales were

only a small minority of Iron Age society. Most people were farmers.)

Celtic art

The artistic style associated with the Celts is known as La Tne, after the place in

Switzerland where it was first discovered. It is characterized by curving and

spiralling lines and forms, generally non-representational, but also includinganimals and human faces. Richly decorated objects in this style include torques

open rings of twisted metal used as arm or neck ornaments.

Celtic languagesThe Celtic language of Britain developed into modern Welsh (about 600,000

speakers), Cornish (spoken as a second language by up to 2,000 people in

Cornwall), and Breton (in Brittany in NW France, perhaps 300,000 speakers).

That of Ireland developed into modern Irish (spoken by up to 70,000 people as afirst language and known by many more as a second language), Scottish Gaelic

(about 60,000 speakers), and Manx (in the Isle of Man, currently reviving after

nearly disappearing in the 20 th century).

Nowadays Irish is the first official language of the Republic of Ireland and anofficial language of the EU. Within the UK, Welsh has official status equal to

English in Wales, and Irish and Scottish Gaelic are officially recognized and

promoted in Northern Ireland and Scotland respectively.

The first historic record of Britain and Ireland

In the 4th century BC, Pytheas, a Greek from Marseille, sailed round Britain, and

wrote an account of his journey which is now known only from quotations by

other writers. He commented on the tin trade in the south west of Britain, and onagricultural practices. He probably called the British Isles Prettanike, or

islands of the Pretani, perhaps meaning painted people. Earlier names for

Great Britain and Ireland used by some Greek writers are Albion and Ierne.

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Julius Caesars invasionJulius Caesar, who had conquered the Celtic tribes of Gaul, invaded Britain

twice, in 55 and 54 BC. On the second occasion he defeated Cassivellaunus,

a British king ruling to the north of London, but he returned to the continent

without attempting a permanent conquest.For nearly a hundred years, southern British tribes continued to develop trade and

political links with Rome. A number of names of leaders of southern British

tribes are known from coins and from Roman records, notably Cunobelinus,

(Shakespeares Cymbeline). According to Strabo, Britain exported grain,cattle, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves and dogs, and imported luxury goods

like ivory and amber jewellery and glass.

The Roman conquest of Britain

The next Roman invasion took place in 43 AD under the emperor Claudius. Fourlegions commanded by Aulus Plautius landed on the south-east coast, and

quickly advanced to take Camulodunum (Colchester), the capital of the

Catuvellauni. The Roman forces then spread out to the north and west, and

within a few years had taken control of most of the lowland part of Britainsouth and east of the Humber and Severn estuaries.

A network of roads was built to enable rapid communication across this area. A

colony of army veterans was established at Colchester and a legionaryfortress at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln). Resistance led by Cunobelinuss sonCaratacus was finally defeated in 51, when Caratacus was handed over to the

Romans by Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, a northern tribe who had

made peace with the Romans.

Boudica

In 60, while the governor Suetonius Paulinus was attacking Anglesey (North

Wales), a centre of the druids and a haven for rebels against Romanauthority, Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, rebelled on the other side of the

country. Her army destroyed the colony at Colchester and Londinium

(London), the main trading centre, before the Romans defeated them at an

unknown location.

Agricola

The greatest expansion of Roman power in Britain was the work of JuliusAgricola, governor from 77-84, who consolidated Roman control in Wales,

and then advanced into the north of England and Scotland. He defeated the

Caledonians somewhere in northern Scotland, and established a new military

frontier line north of the river Tay. His activities are known in detail becausehis life story was written by his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus.

According to Tacitus, Agricola also improved the administration of Roman Britain,including a clampdown on corruption, and encouraged the cultural assimilation

of British elites to the Roman way of life. Tribal kings in the south were now

living in Roman-style villas, and the tribal centres of earlier times were

developing into planned towns, with impressive public buildings (includingbaths, which Tacitus mentions as an attraction for the Romanized British

notably at Aquae Sulis, the modern town of Bath in southwest England).

The wallsAfter Agricola, forces were diverted from Britain to the Danube, and the northern

frontier was gradually moved south (particularly around 100 AD under Trajan).

A large collection of letters written on wooden tablets dating from this period

has been discovered at the fort of Vindolanda in the north of England, offering arare glimpse of everyday life on the Roman frontier.

From 122 to 133, the emperor Hadrian had a 117 km stone wall built across the

north of England. Its garrison came from many parts of the empire, including a

cohort of Dacians at the fort of Camboglanna (Birdoswald). For about 20 yearsfrom 142, a new frontier was established further north at the Antonine Wall (60

km, made of turf), but otherwise Hadrians Wall, rebuilt by the emperor

Septimius Severus after a temporary breakdown in Roman control in 197,

remained the permanent northern frontier of the Roman empire.

Later Roman Britain

From the 3rd century, naval defences were developed to protect southern Britain

from Saxon raiders from northern Germany.In 306, the future emperor Constantine began his campaign for power in Britain.

During the first half of the 4th century, Roman Britain seems to have been peaceful

and prosperous. Resources were now invested more in large villas in the country

than in civic buildings in the towns. There is increasing evidence of Christianity,which became the official religion of the Empire under Constantine.

In 367, Britain suffered serious attacks by Picts from the north, Scots from Ireland,

and Saxons. Order was restored by Count Theodosius, who built new defences

on the coast and restored Hadrians wall again.

The end of Roman Britain

In 407, Constantine III took the army from Britain to Gaul in his bid to become

emperor, leaving Britain undefended. In 410 the emperor Honorius, under attackfrom the Visigoths, wrote to the civitates (local administrations) of Britain

authorizing them to look after themselves. From this point onwards, Britain was

effectively no longer part of the Roman empire.

English 1A British Culture and Civilization J. Brown 2010-2011