Britain in the Ancient World

Date: 3000 b.c.e. to 700 c.e.

Locale: Island off the northwest coast of Europe

Britain in the Ancient World

Britain, along with the rest of northern Europe, was covered by the great Arctic ice sheet until the beginning of the postglacial period, which began about 10,000 b.c.e. A land bridge between Europe and Britain remained in existence until about 6500 b.c.e. Neolithic peoples used the land bridge to cross to Britain, and even after the bridge’s submergence, early peoples continued to cross from Europe to the island. There is archaeological evidence of trading relations between the people of Britain and the Continent from the earliest times. The history of Britain in ancient times divides into four periods: the pre-Celtic period, the Celtic period, the Roman period, and the Anglo-Saxon invasion period.

Pre-Celtic

In the pre-Celtic period, Britain was inhabited by Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples apparently of Indo-European origin. Although they at first supported themselves by foraging and the harvest of game, they soon progressed to agriculture, apparently communally organized, from the river or stream bottomlands uphill to the ridges. There is some archaeological evidence that they engaged in dairying.

The earliest peoples used stone tools, but bronze items date back to at least 2000 b.c.e. The tin that is plentiful in Cornwall became a major asset of the early peoples of Britain, combined with the copper that was available in Wales and particularly in Ireland. From the second millennium b.c.e., Britain and the Continent engaged in a brisk trade in raw metals. By the middle of the first millennium b.c.e., a significant metalworking “industry” had developed in Britain.

One of the most striking features that remains of these early, pre-Celtic peoples is the henge stones, gigantic megaliths erected at various sites and unique to the island. The most famous of these is Stonehenge. They appear to have been related to the inhabitants’ religious beliefs, which were connected to solar events. They were also used as burial sites, from which increasingly elaborate items have been retrieved. The bodies themselves were mostly cremated and deposited in urns in excavated burial sites, either on hilltops or in the river valleys. The pottery of this early era appears to have been made locally, but by the first millennium b.c.e., pottery was evidently being imported from the Continent.

The early peoples of Britain apparently experienced significant difficulties during the first millennium b.c.e. as the climate grew colder and wetter. Agriculture was forced to draw back from the more exposed areas and concentrate in the river and stream bottomlands. At the higher elevations, the former fields were converted to pastures for herding. This period also saw more social stratification, with wealthier individuals being differentiated from the ordinary people.

The Celtic phase

The mechanism by which Britain became dominated by warlike Celtic peoples of central Europe is in dispute. Severe population pressure beginning around 400 b.c.e. led the Celts to expand in all directions; some of those moving into Gaul went on to Britain. What is not known is whether the Celts invaded Britain as a group or if they gradually infiltrated the island. However they arrived, theirs became the dominant culture in Britain by 200 b.c.e.

The culture of the Celts, whom the Romans encountered when Julius Caesar invaded the island in 55 b.c.e., is closely associated with the La Tène culture of central Europe. Caesar’s commentaries provide some solid written information about these Celts. Their war-making proclivities were proverbial, and their culture celebrated the accomplishments of their leading warriors. They enjoyed the fruits of their plunder, taken during successful raids. By the time of Caesar, they had formed themselves into distinct tribal groups, each associated with a leader of the band who was like a king on a smaller scale.

The Celts, like the Romans, believed in multiple gods, whom they apparently associated with specific sites. They practiced human sacrifice and dedicated many material items to their favorite deities, often by casting them into water. A great many Celtic artifacts have been recovered from the lakes, streams, and rivers of Britain. Their wise men, known as Druids, were often feared by their enemies as possessing magical powers. According to the Celtic religion, the year was divided into four segments, beginning roughly around November l, with the following segments beginning on February 1, May 1, and August 1.

Although the family appears to have been the primary organizing unit of Celtic society, more complex associations also existed. During the Celtic period in Britain, many fortifications were built on hilltops, suggesting that society was organized for its communal defense, perhaps because of continuing incursions of new immigrants from Celtic Europe.

However, despite the disruptions, trade with the Continent continued to expand, and archaeological evidence contains an ever-increasing variety of goods. By 200 b.c.e., the Celts of Britain were tied into the Mediterranean trading system, and their warlike proclivities appear to have declined. The society had a distinctive craft segment that made goods, especially metal items (iron, often swords, from about 400 c.e. onward) for trading with peoples in the Mediterranean, who produced pottery, textiles, and luxury items in return.

Roman Britain

Caesar invaded Britain in 55 b.c.e. and again the following year but did not attempt to annex Britain to the Roman Empire. This was left to the emperor Claudius, who sent an army there in 43 c.e. to carry out the conquest of Britain. Claudius visited Britain to accept the surrender of the Celtic community at what became Colchester, Essex. Following this victory, Celtic Britain was extensively Romanized. The government was recast along typical Roman lines, new cities were laid out in the preferred rectangular form, and the whole Roman governmental superstructure of prefects and provincial governors was imposed on the island. An urban culture developed in the Roman towns, which were built overwhelmingly of masonry, after the Roman fashion. The countryside retained much of its traditional Celtic culture, though wealthy Romans built villas on the land, and Latin became the prevailing language throughout the island. The Romans carried their military conquest to the tip of Scotland but then drew back into England, building what came to be called Hadrian’s Wall across the narrow part of the island. The wall became Rome’s defensive perimeter, and the more primitive Celts north of the wall were generally left to their own devices.

Although the Romans had brought their own gods to Britain, these gave way with the conversion of the emperor Constantine the Great in the years immediately following 312 c.e. to the Christianizing of Roman Britain. Britain became part of the Christian administrative structure created by the Roman emperors, though Britain’s peripheral location led to a tendency for it to follow its own version of the Christian faith.

Anglo-Saxon Britain

As the Roman Empire was increasingly penetrated by Germanic tribal groups from the beginning of the third century c.e. onward, the maintenance of Roman rule in Britain became precarious. In 407 c.e., the Roman legions stationed in Britain were withdrawn to be used in the defense of Gaul and other parts of the empire, and in 410 c.e., the emperor Honorius advised his subordinates in Britain that he could no longer provide support for the defense of Britain against German attack—attack that had already produced a line of fortresses on the eastern seaboard called the “Saxon shore.”

What happened in the fifth century c.e. is a matter of dispute, for there are no good written sources and the archaeological evidence is scattered. However, most likely the Romanized British civilization collapsed in the face of barbarian attack; the architecture of the cities fell into ruins, and the population declined significantly. The Celtic elements withdrew westward in the face of attack from the Germanic tribes landing on the eastern shore, leading to the division of the island’s peoples that persists to this day, the easternmost predominantly Germanic, the westernmost predominantly Celtic.

By the sixth century c.e., the Germanic invaders from the western shores of northern Europe, generally described as Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, had created tribal kingdoms that would prevail until the Middle Ages. The urban culture of Roman Britain had vanished and been replaced by a largely agricultural society, though crafts associated with war and farming existed locally. The invading Germanic tribes were pagan, but Christianity returned to Britain with the mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury in 597 c.e. He landed in Kent and converted the local Germanic ruler, and from that point, Christianity spread throughout the island. However, the country remained divided into tribal kingdoms among which dominance shifted until the late ninth century c.e.

Bibliography

Cunliffe, Barry. The Ancient Celts. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Dyer, James. Ancient Britain. London: Batsford, 1990

Salwey, Peter. The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Welch, Martin. Discovering Anglo-Saxon England. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992.

Williams, Ann. Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c. 500-1066. London: Macmillan, 1999.