LECTURE NOTES II

THE BRITISH ISLES DURING THE CELTS AND THE ROMANS

Sources:
Primary Sources:
- Tacitus, Annals, Book XIV, Chapters 29-37. The translation from Latin is adapted from Arthur
Murphy (Works of Tacitus, 1794) at http://www.britannica.com/history/docs/tacitus.html
Secondary Sources:
- Burns, W.E., A Brief History of Great Britain (New York: Facts on File, 2010)
- Maurois, A., A History of England, trans.H.Miles (London:Cape, 1937), pp.15-31
- McDowall, David, An Illustrated History of Britain (London: Longman, 1989) pp.3-10
- Powell, T.G.E., The Celts (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989)Salway. P.., Roman Britain in
Morgan, K.O., ed., The Oxford History of Britain (Oxford: OUP, 1991), pp. 1-59
- Trevelyan, G.M., An Illustrated History of England [1926], Romanian version: F.E
Condurachi, and D. Hurmuzescu (Bucuresti: Ed. Stiintifica, 1975) pp.25-53

I.A. The Celts

Herodotus: The Celts are tall compared to Mediterranean standards, with light skin and hair and
eyes; boastful and vainglorious, but demonic in battle; childlike and ostentatious but hospitable,
fond of hunting and feasting and music and poetry and glittering jewelry and bright shows.
Name: Celts or Keltoi (by Greek author Hecateus); also known as Gauls, Celtiberos, Galatians.
Origin: The Celts are an Indo-European population. The origin of the Indo-Europeans is in
Asia, from where they migrated in three directions: to India; to Persia; and to Europe;
European Celts: During the first millenium several distinct Celtic communities emerge in
Europe:
Celtiberos (present-day Spain)
Gauls (present day France, Italy, Belgium, Britain and Ireland)
Galatians (present-day Anatolia in Turkey)
Celtic invasion of Britain takes place in successive waves around 600
early tribes: Gaels or Goidels
- later tribes (related to the Belgae): Prythoni or Bryhtoni
The main tribes which settled in the South:
- the most significant tribes:
The Catuvellauni: Verulamium (St. Albans)
The Trinovantes/Trinobantes: Camulodunu (Colchester)
1.The social structure: The Celts had a threefold social structure :
- the sacerdotal aristocracy (druids) (oratores): these were priests, but also physicians,
astronomers, legislators, poets, historians, and ambassadors)
- the military aristocracy (bellatores)

- the labourers, cattle-raisers and craftsmen (laboratores)

2Economy: Hunting, cattle-raising and agriculture, constituted the main economic sources. The
Celts were also excellent craftsmen. Apart these their main occupation was war.
3. Religion:
A. Main deities:
The Celts practised polytheism (poly- many; theos-god) and had several types of deities:
- the Dagda is the most important male gods. He is usually portrayed as a giant man with a club.
His other attribute, the cauldron (bucket), is related to rejuvenation and inexhaustibility.
the Morrigan is a goddess also illustrated under three forms, as Nemain (panic), Badba (raven
in battle), Maeve/Maedb (horse)
other deities are represented by local animistic gods as Cerrnunnos, a hunting god, portrayed
with stag antlers
- triplism is an important aspect that appears in the case of some deities, who are conceived
under a threefold aspect, as is the case of the great mothers
B. Celebrations:
Celtic festivals are related to astronomical changes, to summer and winter solstices and spring
and autumn equinoxes:
February 1st : Imbolc: celebration of Brigid, daughter of Dagda
- lactation of ewes and fertility rites
st
May 1 :
Beltain: dedicated to god Bel:
- fires of purification
- beginning of grazing season
August 1st :
Lugnasad: dedicated to god Lug, a god of many skills
November 1st : Samain major festival
celebration of the new year
election of new kings
distribution of justice

4. Culture:
Languages spoken:
Goidelic belongs to the family of Q Celtic
Brythonic belongs to the family of P -Celtic (spoken on the continent)
Writing: the ogam alphabet

I.B. The Roman Rule in Britan

The Roman invasions:
- 55; 54 BC Julius Caesar [brief incursions]
- A.D. 43-47 Claudius [invasion and conquest]
- England was conquered up to the South of Scotland
- Roman strategies: initially the Roman rulers used client kings to maintain a relationship with the
Celts.
- Cunobelinus (Shakespeare's Cymbeline), the king of the Catuvellauni, at Camulodunum (today:
Colchester) who is known for his ability to unite for a short while the Celtic tribes from the South

of England under a single rule.

1. The social structure under Roman rule
- Britain was governed by a Roman procurator provinciae who was directly responsible to the
Emperor
The social structure was made up of:
- Roman soldiers and colons; tradesmen; slaves
- the former local population, which tended to preserve its social structure
2.Economy:
- the Romans favoured a money-based economy; long-distance trade is stimulated
3. Significant Roman institutions imported into Britain:
- the cult of the emperor
- the forum and the basilica
- the Roman villa in the rural areas
- the local patronage
- the Roman bath
- the theatre /amphitheatre
4. Religion: The first conversion of the British to Christianity
(i) Christianity in the Roman empire:
312 - Constantine fights Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge: in hoc signo vinces
313 - Milan edict; Christianity is acknowledged as one of the religions of the Roman empire
381 - Christianity becomes state religion (Theodosius)
(ii) Christianity in Britain
the new religion organizes around local potentates in rural areas
first British martyr: St. Alban (at Verulamium)
5th c. conversion of Ireland by St. Patrick
II. Britain after Roman withdrawal
- after the Roman withdrawal (AD 440) the population is ruled by local tyranni
-the local Roman-Celtic population remained exposed to the attacks of the other tribes, especially
of the the Picts [North]
III. Personalities
Boudicca (Boadicea)
Prasutagus, king of Iceni leaves to Nero half of his properties in order to leave the rest to his wife,
Boudicca. The emperror is offended and orders repression; Boudicca raises an army of several
tribes; Suetonius; after her defeat she drinks poison and dies.
IV. TEXT: Tacitus, Annals, Book XIV, Chapters 29-37
The translation from Latin is adapted from Arthur Murphy (Works of Tacitus, 1794).
Chapter 31. [Causes of Boudicca's revolt]
Prasutagus, the late king of the Icenians, in the course of a long reign had amassed considerable
wealth. By his will he left the whole to his two daughters and the emperor in equal shares,

conceiving, by that stroke of policy, that he should provide at once for the tranquility of his
kingdom and his family.
The event was otherwise. His dominions were ravaged by the centurions; the slaves pillaged his
house, and his effects were seized as lawful plunder. His wife, Boudicca, was disgraced with cruel
stripes; her daughters were ravished, and the most illustrious of the Icenians were, by force,
deprived of the positions which had been transmitted to them by their ancestors. The whole
country was considered as a legacy bequeathed to the plunderers. The relations of the deceased
king were reduced to slavery.
Chapter 35. [Boudicca addresses her army]
Boudicca, in a [chariot], with her two daughters before her, drove through the ranks. She
harangued the different nations in their turn:
"This," she said, "is not the first time that the Britons have been led to battle by a woman. But
now she did not come to boast the pride of a long line of ancestry, nor even to recover her
kingdom and the plundered wealth of her family. She took the field, like the meanest among
them, to assert the cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for her body seamed with
ignominious stripes, and her two daughters infamously ravished. From the pride and arrogance of
the Romans nothing is sacred; all are subject to violation; the old endure the scourge, and the
virgins are deflowered. But the vindictive gods are now at hand. A Roman legion dared to face the
warlike Britons: with their lives they paid for their rashness; those who survived the carnage of
that day, lie poorly hid behind their entrenchments, meditating nothing but how to save
themselves by an ignominious flight. From the din of preparation, and the shouts of the British
army, the Romans, even now, shrink back with terror. What will be their case when the assault
begins? Look round, and view your numbers. Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and
consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer,
or die with glory. There is no alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is fixed: the men, if
they please, may survive with infamy, and live in bondage."