A.
Ancient Britain
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The
Ice Age, during which Neandertals and then Cro-Magnons inhabited Great
Britain, ended about 8000 BC. The
rising sea level produced the English Channel and made Great Britain
an island. In the new environment of forest and swamp the Middle Stone
Age came and passed, followed by the New Stone Age, during which the
practice of agriculture was begun. This period brought a stream of
new people to Britain. By 3000 BC the Iberians, or Long Skulls, were
farming the chalk soil of southern England, and by 2500 BC the pastoral
Beaker folk had established themselves. The latter, named for their
characteristic pottery, are noted for their bronze tools and their
huge stone monuments, especially Stonehenge. These monuments attest
to their social and economic organization as well as their technical
skill and intellectual ability. In
the 1st millennium BC the Celts overran the British Isles, as they
did virtually all of western Europe. With iron plows they cultivated
the heavy soil of the river valleys; with iron weapons and two-wheeled,
horse-drawn chariots, they subdued and absorbed the indigenous inhabitants
of the islands. Their priests, the Druids, dominated their society. 1.
Roman Rule Although
it had long been known to the Mediterranean peoples as a source of
tin, Britain did not enter the Roman world until Julius Caesar's arrival
in 55 BC¡aa sort of afterthought to his conquest of Gaul. Caesar's
contact, however, was temporary; permanent occupation had to wait
until Rome had solved more pressing problems at home. Emperor
Claudius I invaded Britain in force in AD 43, but nearly two decades
passed before the Romans had captured Anglesey, headquarters of the
feared Druids (see Druidism), and put down the revolt of Boudicca,
queen of the Iceni. The Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola won
the Battle of Mons Graupius (AD 84), somewhere in Scotland, but the
northern tribes proved hard to subdue. In 123, Hadrian's Wall, stretching
117 km (73 mi) from Solway Firth to the Tyne River, became the northern
frontier. Britain
was a military outpost, taking a tenth of the Roman army to hold it.
Several towns attained a degree of Roman urban civilization, boasting
baths and amphitheaters. Numerous villas¡avast estates worked
by slaves and featuring sumptuous noble dwellings¡awere also
established. Beyond these, the countryside remained Celtic. See also
Britons. 2.
Roman Withdrawal Britain
in the 3rd and 4th centuries felt the decline of the Roman Empire.
An official known as the count of the Saxon Shore oversaw defenses
against raids by Saxons and others along the North Sea coast. Would-be
emperors stripped Britain of its occupying forces, moving the legions
elsewhere to serve their own political ambitions. In 410 Rome abandoned
Britain. After nearly four centuries of occupation, it left little
that was permanent: a superb network of roads, the best Britain would
have for 1400 years; the sites of a number of towns¡aLondon,
York, and others bearing names that end in the suffix -cester and
-caster; and Christianity. The Anglo-Saxons, who occupied the country
after the Romans left, ignored the towns, chased Christianity into
Wales, and gave their own names, such as Watling Street, to the Roman
roads.
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