https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=NL66NfKUWDE (an introduction to Britain)

Lecture I
PRIMITIVE SOCIETY ON THE BRITIS ISLES
PLAN
1. The Earliest Men.
2. The Celts.
3. The Primitive Communal System.
4. The Celtic Language Today.
1. The Earliest Men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLHZJWsKUA

In some parts of Britain one can see a number of huge stones in a circle. These are
monuments left by the earliest inhabitants of the country. They are named Stonehenge dates from
between 1900 and 1600B.C. It is made by upright stones, standing in groups of twos, 8.5 metres
high. They are joined on the top by other flat stones, each about 7 tons. Stonehenge is still a
mystery to scholars. No one can tell how they were moved, or from what place they were
brought. What was it used for? As a burial place or a sacred place where early men worshipped
the sun?
About three thousand years B. C. many parts of Europe, including the British Isles, were
inhabited by a people, who came to be known as the Iberians because some of their descendants
are still found in the north of Spain (the Iberian Peninsula). We do not know much about these
early people because they lived in Britain long before a word of their history was written, but we
can learn something from their skeletons, their weapons and the remains of their dwellings
which have been found. The Iberians used stone weapons and tools. They knew the art of
grinding and polishing stone, and they could make smooth objects of stone with sharp edges and
points.

2.The Celts
During the period from the 6th to the 3rd century B. C. a people called the Celts spread
across Europe from the cast to the west.
More than one Celtic tribe invaded Britain. From time to lime these tribes were attacked
and overcome by other Celtic tribes from the Continent. Celtic tribes called the Picts penetrated

into the mountains on the North; some Picts as well as tribes of Scots crossed over to Ireland and
settled there. Later the Scots returned to the larger island and settled in the North beside the
Picts. They came in such large numbers that in time the name of Scotland was given to that
country. Powerful Celtic tribes, the Britons, held most of the country, and the southern half of the
island was named Britain after them. Today the words "Briton" and "British" refer to the people
of the whole of the British Isles.
The Iberians were unable to fight back the attacks of the Celts who were armed with metal
spears, swords, daggers and axes. Most of the Iberians were slain in the conflict; some of them
were driven westwards into the mountains of what is now Wales and the others probably mixed
with the Celts.
We know more about the Celts than about the earlier inhabitants of the island, because of
the written accounts that exist. The Cells did not write down the events themselves. Other
peoples who knew them described them in their books.
The Greeks were the first to mention the British Isles. It is from the Greek books that we
know about the Phoenicians ( ), who were great sailors and traders even before the
Greeks and who travelled as far as the shores of Britain.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus who is called the Father of History wrote that in the
5th century B. C. the Phoenicians used to come to the British Isles for tin They called the British
Isles the Tin Islands.
The earliest writer from whom we have learned much about the country and its inhabitants
was Julius Caesar, the famous Roman general, statesman and writer
Julius Caesar describes the island and the Celts against whom he fought. He tells us that
the Celts were tall and blue-eyed. They wore long flowing moustaches but no beards. In their
mode of life the British Celts differed little from the Celtic tribes of the Gauls who lived on the
Continent. In the 1st century B. C. they lived in tribes, and were ruled by chiefs whom all the
tribesmen obeyed. The chiefs were military leaders and some of them were very powerful. The
military leaders of the largest tribes were sometimes called kings and stood at the head of
detachments of warriors.
The Celts had no towns; they lived in villages. They were acquainted with the use of
copper, tin and iron and they kept largo herds of cattle and sheep, which formed their chief
wealth. They also cultivated crops, especially corn. They used light ploughs as well as hoes, and
grew their crops in small, square fields. The Celtic tribes of the Britons who inhabited the
southeastern parts of the island were more civilized than the other tribes. Their clothing was
made of wool, woven in many colours while the other Celts wore skins.
Some of the Celtic tribes were quite largo and fighting was common among them. In

wartime the Celts wore skins and painted their faces with a blue dye to make themselves look
fierce. They were armed with swords and spears and used chariots on the battlefield. Their warchariots were were attached to the wooden wheels. These were drawn by two or four horses, and
were large enough to hold several persons in each. Caesar writes that the Celts charged fiercely
in the battle.
The Celts worshipped Nature. They imagined the sky, the sun, the moon, the earth and the
sea, to be ruled by beings like themselves, but much more powerful. Sometimes the same pagan
gods in various places were called by different names. Besides these they had many lesser gods
and the gods of one tribe were often quite unknown to the other tribes. They also believed in
many nameless spirits who lived in the rivers, lakes, mountains and thick forests. They sacrificed
not only animals, but also human beings to their gods. Sometimes these victims were placed into
a great wicker basket and burnt, sometimes they were slain with knives. The Celts believed in
another life after death. Priests called druids taught them that their souls passed after death from
one body to another. The druids lived near groves of oak-trees, which were considered to be
sacred places. No one was allowed to come near without permission. The druids were very
important and powerful, sometimes, more powerful than the chiefs. The Celts believed in their
magic power. They believed that the druids were able to foretell the future. The tribesmen often
called upon the druids to settle disputes. The druids could give order to begin a battle or to put
down arms and stop fighting. The druids were also teachers and doctors for they were wiser than
the other tribesmen. Wise women were also considered to be very important. There were women
warriors who trained young men in arms; some women were made tribal chiefs and called
queens.
3.The Primitive Communal System
For some hundreds of thousands of years people lived under the primitive communal
system. Labour gradually changed the life of man. The Iberians knew only stone tools and
weapons; the Celts produced tools of metalfirst, of bronze, that is, a mixture of copper and tin,
and, later, of much harden metal, iron.
The improved tools of labour brought about important changes in the living conditions of
primitive man. The Iberians had gathered or hunted their food, but the Celts began to tame and
breed animals, to till the soil. Iron ploughs could cut the soil deeper, and so they could cultivate
not only the light soil of the chalk downs but also the rich heavy soil in the valleys. They grew
more and mere corn.
They began to build dwellings and make clothing. They learned the art of pottery.
The life of the Colts differed greatly from that of the Iberians. But both the Iberians and

the Celts lived under the primitive system. At all stages of its development primitive society
had very much in common: the primitive people worked collectively in clans or family
communities; they owned common properly and were all equal.
The related members of the clan jointly owned their hunting grounds, tillable lands,
rivers and lakes. They worked together and shared the products of their labour. All food was
divided equally among the members of the clan.
Their tools were primitive and the labour productivity was low. A man could not produce
any surplus over and above his immediate needs.
All the tribesmen became warriors in wartime, but in time of peace they hunted, tamed
and bred animals and tilled the soil. A council of elders governed a tribe. The council
distributed hunting and fishing grounds and lands among the family communities and settled
all disputes. The elders acted in the interests of the whole tribe. They were obeyed and trusted
by all. They called meetings of all the tribesmen to discuss the most important problems.
In primitive society there was no private property; therefore there were no classes and no
exploitation. Since there were no classes there was no state system, that is, no armed forces, no
prisons, no courts, no overseers, no government bodies.
In the last centuries B.C. and in the first centuries A. D. the Celts were in a period of
transition from primitive communal society to class society. The elders, military leaders and their
warriors made up the tribal nobility. They were beginning to seize much land for themselves and
they had more cattle than the other members of-the clan. But still the communal way of life
predominated among them.
4.The Celtic Language Today
To this day the descendants of the ancient Celts live on the territory of the British Isles.
The Welsh who live in Wales are of Celtic origin. People in most parts of Wales speak Welsh, a
Celtic tongue. In the Highlands of Scotland as well as in the western parts of Ireland the people
speak a tongue of Celtic origin too.
Some words of the Celtic language can still be found in Modern English and most of them
are geographical names. Many rivers, hills and towns are still called by their old Celtic names.
Thus in England there are several rivers called Avon which in Celtic means a river. Some rivers
have the name of Derwent, which in Celtic means clear water. The chalk highlands in the
southern and south-eastern parts of England are called "the Downs". This name comes, from the
Celtic word down which means "bare, open highland".

LECTURE 2
ROMAN BRITAIN
PLAN
1. The Roman Empire.
2. The Roman Conquest of Britain.
3. Roman Influence in Britain.
4. The Fall of the Roman Empire.
5. Traces of the Roman Rule in Britain

1.The Roman Empire

Two thousand years ago while the Celts were still living in tribes the Romans were the
most powerful people in the world. Roman society differed greatly from that of the Celts. It was
a slave society. The main classes were the slaves and the slave-owners who made up the
minority of the population but owned the land, tools, buildings and slaves. The slaves possessed
neither land nor tools and were themselves the property of the slave-owners. The slaves could be
bought and sold, exchanged or given away like any other thing. They could be kept in chains,
whipped and put to death.
Slavery was the first and the most inhuman form of exploitation. The slave owners
appropriated almost all the results of the slaves' labour; the slaves were given some food and
clothing so that they would not die of starvation and cold. Thus, whatever was produced by the
slaves beyond what they needed to keep themselves alive was taken away by their masters.
Therefore the slaves were not interested in the results of their labour.
Overseers forced the slaves to work more. The disobedient slaves were severely punished.
Government bodies issued acts beneficial to the exploiters. With the help of the army the slaveowners put down the uprisings of the exploited. The army also helped the slave-owners to
protect their riches against foreign enemies and to wage endless wars in order to conquer new
lands and to seize more slaves.
The Romans conquered all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. In the wars, in

which Rome gained one province after another for the empire, many thousands of prisoners were
taken. They were sold at the slave-market at Rome. Slaves were so cheap that all the Romans
except the poorest had one or more and rich slave-owners possessed hundreds of them.
In the 1st century B. C. and in the 1st century A. D. slavery spread widely in the Roman
Empire. Unlike the Ancient East and Greece where the land was cultivated chiefly by peasants,
in Rome, very many slaves were engaged in agriculture; large farms in Italy were worked
entirely by gangs of slaves. The slave system reached its peak in the Roman Empire. No other
country in the ancient world had so many slaves as Rome did. In no other country did slave
labour replace that of the freemen on such a large scale.

2.The Roman Conquest of Britain

One of the last countries to be conquered by Rome was France, or Gaul as it was then
called. The war against the Gauls, who were Celtic tribes, lasted for eight years. Julius Caesar
was appointed Head of the Roman army which was sent to conquer Gaul. In the course of his
campaigns Caesar reached the Channel.
In 55 B.C. a Roman army of 10,000 men crossed the Channel and invaded Britain. The
Celts saw their ships approaching and rushed to attack the invaders in the sea as they were
landing. The Celts made a great impression on the Romans, who saw them for the first time in
battle. On the occasion of the battle their hair and moustaches were dyed red and their legs and
arms were painted blue. With loud shouts they attacked the Romans in chariots and on foot and
the well armed invincible Romans under one of the greatest generals of that time had to return to
Gaul.
In the next year, 54 B.C., Caesar again came to Britain, this time with larger forces (25,000
men). The Celts fought bravely for their independence but they were not strong enough, in spite
of their courage, to drive the Romans off. The Romans who had better arms and armour and
were much better trained defeated the Cells in several battles. Some of the chiefs promised to
pay tribute to Rome. Caesar then went back to Gaul to complete his conquest on the Continent.
Although Julius Caesar came to Britain twice in the course of two years, he was not able to
conquer it. The promised tribute was not paid and the real conquest of was not begun in 43 A.D.
when a Roman army conquered the South-East. Other parts were taken from time to time during
the next 40 years. The Romans were unable to conquer the Scottish lands.
To defend their province they stationed their legions in Britain. Straight roads were built
which were made of several layers of stones and gravel. They were made so well that still exist
today. Bridges of stones were built and can be found today.
When the Britons were not at war they often came to the Romans and traded with the

warriors and the Romans would go hunting in the north region which was never conquered by
them.
3.Roman Influence in Britain,
As a result of the conquest signs of Roman civilization spread over Britain. There had been
no towns in Britain before the Romans conquered it. The civilized Romans were city dwellers,
and as soon as they had conquered Britain they began to build towns, splendid villas, public
baths as in Rome itself. York, Gloucester, Lincoln and London became the chief Roman towns;
there were also about fifty other smaller towns. London that had been a small trading settlement
before the conquest now became a centre for trade both by road and river. Colchester,
Gloucester, York and Lincoln sprang up round the Roman military camps. The town of Bath
became famous for its hot springs - .
The towns grew up as markets and centres of administration. In most towns there were
market places and plenty of shops where merchants sold their goods. The houses were built of
stone, plastered and painted, with roofs made of large red tiles. The rich merchants and officials
had luxurious houses that contained many rooms, with mosaic floors and central healing. Every
Roman town had a drainage system and a good supply of pure water. Temples and public baths
could be found in most towns. The Roman towns were military stations surrounded by walls for
defence which were guarded by the Roman warriors.
The Romans were great road makers and now a network of roads connected all parts of the
country. One of the chief roads was Watling Street that ran from Dover to London then to
Chester and into Wales. Along the roads new towns and villages sprang up.
Great tracts of forest were cleared, swamps were drained, and corn fields took their place.
The province of Britain became one of the granaries of the Roman Empire.
A constant trade was carried on with other parts of the empire. The chief exports were
corn, lead, tin, and building tiles. The goods were sent in wagons along the roads of Britain,
Gaul and Italy to Rome. Britain imported luxury goods, especially fine pottery and metalwork.
But together with a high civilization the Romans brought exploitation and slavery to the
British Isles. Rich Romans had villas in the country with large estates, which were worked by
gangs of slaves. Prisoners of war were sent to the slave-market in the Roman Empire. The free
Celts were not turned into slaves but they had to pay heavy taxes to the conquerors and were
made to work for them. The Romans made them clean forests, drain swamps and build roads,
bridges and walls for defence. That was how the famous Hadrian's Wall was built too.
Among the Celts themselves inequality began to grow the tribal chiefs and nobility
became richer than other members of the tribe. Many of them became officials acting for Rome.

Tribal chiefs who submitted were appointed to rule their people as before, but now they acted in
the name of the Roman Emperor. The noble Celts adopted the mode of life of their conquerors.
They lived in rich houses and they dressed as Romans, They were proud to wear the toga that
was the sign of being a Roman citizen. They spoke Latin, the language of the Romans. But the
rank-and-file Celts went on living in their tiny huts, they spoke their native Celtic tongue and
they did not understand the language of their rulers.

4. The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Romans remained in Britain for about four centuries and during that time Britain was
a Roman province governed by Roman governors and protected by Roman legions.
In the 3rd-4th centuries the power of the Roman Empire gradually weakened. The
unproductive labour of the slaves led to the economic decline of the empire. Neither new
methods of land cultivation nor new technical inventions were introduced. Slavery became an
obstacle to technical progress. Poor cultivation exhausted the fields, the harvests became poorer
from year to year.
The uninterrupted struggle of the exploited against the slave-owners greatly weakened the
Roman Umpire too. The enormous number of slaves presented a great danger to the Roman
Empire. The end of the 4lh century found the Germanic tribes invading the Western Roman
Empire and the slaves who hated the Roman stale were joining them by the thousand.
Early in the 5th century the Roman legions were recalled from Britain to defend the central
provinces of the Roman Empire from the attacks of the barbarian tribes. They did not return toBritain, and the Cells were left alone in the land.
During the 5th century the Germanic tribes overran the empire and settled in all parts of it.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire meant the end of the slave-owning system in Western
Europe.

5.Traces of the Roman Rule in Britain

There are today 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. Watling Street still runs from London to Chester. Long stretches

of Hadrian's Wall, the ruins of public baths and parts of the Roman bridges have remained to this
day. The fragments of the old London wall built by the Romans can still be seen. Often, even
now, when man are digging in England they find Roman pottery, glass, tiles, statues, armour,
coins and other things that were used by the Romans in those old limes. Many of these remains
may be seen in British museums.
Besides, many words of Modern English have come from Latin. The words that the
Romans left behind them in the language of Britain are for the most part the names of the things
that they taught the Celts. For example, the word street came from the Latin strata which means
road, port from the Latin portus, wall from vallum.
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 forms in such names as Chester, Winchester, Manchester, Leicester,
Gloucester, Doncaster", Lancaster. Any English town today with a name ending in "chester",
"cester" or "caster" was once a Roman camp or city. The town-name Lincoln comes from the
Latin word colonia which means a "colony"; and Colchester (that is, Colne-chester) from both
colonia and castra. The city of Bath was an important Roman watering place although it has lost
its Roman name.
But Roman influence in Britain was weaker than in other provinces because the Channel
and the North Sea separated the province of Britain from the mainland of Europe. 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. The slave villas of the Roman type were also concentrated in the
south-eastern part of the country. The old way of life of the British Celts did not change very
much. Only among the Celts of the South and East did the tribal chiefs and nobility become rich
and adopt the Roman way of life. At the same time the Celts who lived in the country far away
from the Roman towns and villas kept to their customs and Roman influence upon them was
insignificant. In the remoter western parts of the country and especially in the North, which the
Romans did not manage to conquer, the old tribal life went on, and villages of native tribes still
living under the primitive system, were predominant.

Lecture 1
The questions to be discussed
1. The facts you know about Stonehenge
In some parts of Britain one can see a number of huge stones in a circle. These are What was it used
for?
2. The Celts
During the period from the 6th to the 3rd century B. C. a people called the Celts spread across Europe
from the cast to the west. More than one Celtic tribe invaded Britain.
3. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus about the Celts
4. Julius Caesar about the Celts
5. The way of life of the Celts
6. The Celts religion
7. The druids
8. The Primitive Communal System
9. The Celtic Language Today (geographical names: rivers, hills and towns - Avon - a river. Derwent clear water, down - "bare, open highland").