The name britain comes from the word pretani

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The name Britain originates from the Common Brittonic term *Pritanī and is one of the oldest known names for Great Britain, an island off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The terms Briton and British, similarly derived, refer to its inhabitants and, to varying extents, the smaller islands in the vicinity. «British Isles» is the only ancient name for these islands to survive in general usage.

Etymology[edit]

«Britain» comes from Latin: Britannia~Brittania, via Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Breteyne, possibly influenced by Old English Bryten(lond), probably also from Latin Brittania, ultimately an adaptation of the Common Brittonic name for the island, *Pritanī.^[1][2]

The earliest written reference to the British Isles derives from the works of the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia; later Greek writers such as Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo who quote Pytheas’ use of variants such as Πρεττανική (Prettanikē), «The Britannic [land, island]», and nēsoi brettaniai, «Britannic islands», with *Pretani being a Celtic word that might mean «the painted ones» or «the tattooed folk», referring to body decoration (see below).^[3]

The modern Welsh name for the island is (Ynys) Prydain. This may demonstrate that the original Common Brittonic form had initial P- not B- (which would give **Brydain) and -t- not -tt- (else **Prythain). This may be explained as containing a stem *prit- (Welsh pryd, Old Irish cruith; < Proto-Celtic *kwrit-), meaning «shape, form», combined with an adjectival suffix. This leaves us with *Pritanī.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

History[edit]

Written record[edit]

The first known written use of the word was an ancient Greek transliteration of the original P-Celtic term. It is believed to have appeared within a periplus written in about 325 BC by the geographer and explorer Pytheas of Massalia, but no copies of this work survive. The earliest existing records of the word are quotations of the periplus by later authors, such as those within Diodorus of Sicily’s history (c. 60 BC to 30 BC), Strabo’s Geographica (c. 7 BC to AD 19) and Pliny’s Natural History (AD 77).^[10] According to Strabo, Pytheas referred to Britain as Bretannikē, which is treated a feminine noun.^{[11][12][13][14]} Although technically an adjective (the Britannic or British) it may have been a case of noun ellipsis, a common mechanism in ancient Greek. This term along with other relevant ones, subsequently appeared inter alia in the following works:

• Pliny referred to the main island as Britannia, with Britanniae describing the island group.^[15][16]
• Catullus also used the plural Britanniae in his Carmina.^[17][18]
• Avienius used insula Albionum in his Ora Maritima.^[19]
• Orosius used the plural Britanniae to refer to the islands and Britanni to refer to the people thereof.^[20]
• Diodorus referred to Great Britain as Prettanikē nēsos and its inhabitants as Prettanoi.^[21][22]
• Ptolemy, in his Almagest, used Brettania and Brettanikai nēsoi to refer to the island group and the terms megale Brettania (Great Britain) and mikra Brettania (little Britain) for the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, respectively.^[23] However, in his Geography, he referred to both Alwion (Great Britain) and Iwernia (Ireland) as a nēsos Bretanikē, or British island.^[24]
• Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the island group as αί Πρεττανικαί νήσοι (the Prettanic Isles).^[25]
• Stephanus of Byzantium used the term Ἀλβίων (Albion) to refer to the island, and Ἀλβιώνιοι (Albionioi) to refer to its people.^[26]
• Pseudo-Aristotle used nēsoi Brettanikai, Albion and Ierne to refer to the island group, Great Britain, and Ireland, respectively.^[27]
• Procopius, in the 6th century AD, used the terms Brittia and Brettania though he considered them to be different islands, the former being located between the latter and Thule. Moreover, according to him on Brittia lived three different nations, the homonymous Brittones (Britons), the Angiloi (English) and the Phrissones (Frisians).^[28][29]

As seen above, the original spelling of the term is disputed. Ancient manuscripts alternated between the use of the P- and the B-, and many linguists believe Pytheas’s original manuscript used P- (Prettania) rather than B-. Although B- is more common in these manuscripts, many modern authors quote the Greek or Latin with a P- and attribute the B- to changes by the Romans in the time of Julius Caesar;^[30] the relevant, attested sometimes later, change of the spelling of the word(s) in Greek, as is also sometimes done in modern Greek, from being written with a double tau to being written with a double nu, is likewise also explained by Roman influence, from the aforementioned change in the spelling in Latin.^[31] For example, linguist Karl Schmidt states that the «name of the island was originally transmitted as Πρεττανία (with Π instead of Β) … as is confirmed by its etymology».^[32]

According to Barry Cunliffe:

It is quite probable that the description of Britain given by the Greek writer Diodorus Siculus in the first century BC derives wholly or largely from Pytheas. What is of particular interest is that he calls the island «Pretannia» (Greek «Prettanikē»), that is «the island of the Pretani, or Priteni». «Pretani» is a Celtic word that probably means «the painted ones» or «the tattooed folk», referring to body decoration – a reminder of Caesar’s observations of woad-painted barbarians. In all probability the word «Pretani» is an ethnonym (the name by which the people knew themselves), but it remains an outside possibility that it was their continental neighbours who described them thus to the Greek explorers.^[33]

Roman period[edit]

Following Julius Caesar’s expeditions to the island in 55 and 54 BC, Brit(t)an(n)ia was predominantly used to refer simply to the island of Great Britain^{[citation needed]}. After the Roman conquest under the Emperor Claudius in AD 43, it came to be used to refer to the Roman province of Britain (later two provinces), which at one stage consisted of part of the island of Great Britain south of Hadrian’s wall.^[34]

Medieval[edit]

In Old English or Anglo-Saxon, the Graeco-Latin term referring to Britain entered in the form of Bryttania, as attested by Alfred the Great’s translation of Orosius’ Seven Books of History Against the Pagans.^[35]

The Latin name Britannia re-entered the language through the Old French Bretaigne. The use of Britons for the inhabitants of Great Britain is derived from the Old French bretun, the term for the people and language of Brittany, itself derived from Latin and Greek, e.g. the Βρίττωνες of Procopius.^[28] It was introduced into Middle English as brutons in the late 13th century.^[36]

Modern usage[edit]

There is much conflation of the terms United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, and England. In many ways accepted usage allows some of these to overlap, but some common usages are incorrect.

The term Britain is widely used as a common name for the sovereign state of the United Kingdom, or UK for short. The United Kingdom includes three countries on the largest island, which can be called the island of Britain or Great Britain: these are England, Scotland and Wales. However the United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland on the neighbouring island of Ireland, the remainder of which is not part of the United Kingdom. England is not synonymous with Britain, Great Britain, or United Kingdom.

The classical writer, Ptolemy, referred to the larger island as great Britain (megale Bretannia) and to Ireland as little Britain (mikra Brettania) in his work, Almagest (147–148 AD).^[37] In his later work, Geography (c. 150 AD), he gave these islands the names^[38] Ἀλουίωνος (Alwiōnos), Ἰουερνίας (Iwernias), and Mona (the Isle of Anglesey), suggesting these may have been native names of the individual islands not known to him at the time of writing Almagest.^[39] The name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Great Britain, after which Britain became the more commonplace name for the island called Great Britain.^[9]

After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a historical term only. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) refers to the
island of Great Britain as Britannia major («Greater Britain»), to distinguish it from Britannia minor («Lesser Britain»), the continental region which approximates to modern Brittany, which had been settled in the fifth and sixth centuries by Celtic migrants from the British Isles.^[40] The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Cecily the daughter of Edward IV of England, and James the son of James III of Scotland, which described it as «this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee». It was used again in 1603, when King James VI and I styled himself «King of Great Britain» on his coinage.^[41]

The term Great Britain later served to distinguish the large island of Britain from the French region of Brittany (in French Grande-Bretagne and Bretagne respectively). With the Acts of Union 1707 it became the official name of the new state created by the union of the Kingdom of England (which then included Wales) with the Kingdom of Scotland, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain.^[42] In 1801, the name of the country was changed to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, recognising that Ireland had ceased to be a distinct kingdom and, with the Acts of Union 1800, had become incorporated into the union. After Irish independence in the early 20th century, the name was changed to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is still the official name. In contemporary usage therefore, Great Britain, while synonymous with the island of Britain, and capable of being used to refer politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination, is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole. For example, the term Team GB and Great Britain were used to refer to the United Kingdom’s Olympic team in 2012 although this included Northern Ireland. The usage ‘GBR’ in this context is determined by the International Olympic Committee (see List of IOC country codes) which accords with the international standard ISO 3166. The internet country code, «.uk» is an anomaly, being the only Country code top-level domain that does not follow ISO 3166.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Fife, James (1993). «Introduction». In Ball, Martin J; Fife, James (eds.). The Celtic Languages. Routledge Language Family Descriptions. Routledge. pp. 3–25.
• Schmidt, Karl Horst (1993), «Insular Celtic: P and Q Celtic», in Ball, Martin J; Fife, James (eds.), The Celtic Languages, Routledge Language Family Descriptions, Routledge, pp. 64–99

Further reading[edit]

• Koch, John T. «New Thoughts on Albion, Iernē, and the Pretanic Isles (Part One).» Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 6 (1986): 1–28. www.jstor.org/stable/20557171.

Главная » 2012 » Март » 30 » The Romans

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The Romans	06:53
Читать весь материал The name «Britain» comes from the word «Pretani», the Greco-Roman word for the inhabitants of Britain. The Romans mispronounced the word and called the island «Britannia». The Romans had invaded because the Celts of Britain were working with the Celts of Gaul against them. The British Celts were giving them food, and allowing them to hide in Britain. There was another reason. The Celts used cattle to pull their ploughs and this meant that richer, heavier land could be farmed. Under the Celts Britain had become an important food producer because of its mild climate. It now exported corn and animals, as well as hunting dogs and slaves, to the European mainland. The Romans could make use of British food for their own army fighting the Gauls. The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain. The written word was important for spreading ideas and also for establishing power. As early as ad 80, as one Roman at the time noted, the governor Agricola «trained the sons of chiefs in the liberal arts . . . the result was that the people who used to reject Latin began to use it in speech and writing. Further the wearing of our national dress came to be valued and the toga [the Roman cloak] came into fashion.» While the Celtic peasantry remained illiterate and only Celtic-speaking, a number of town dwellers spoke Latin and Greek with ease, and the richer landowners in the country almost certainly used Latin. But Latin completely disappeared both in its spoken and written forms when the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the fifth century ad. Britain was probably more literate under the Romans than it was to be again until the fifteenth century.
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From this article you will know about the times when the British Isles were covered with forests and the greater part of them was very misty and cold. The stormy sea roared round them, and few travellers dared to swim asross the sea to explore the far away land.

But there was a nation on  the shores of the Mediterranean sea who were learned and powerful. That was the Roman nation. In the century just before Christ (B.C.) the great soldier and ruler, Julius Caesar, with his army visited Great Britain two summers running and decribed it to the civilised world.

• two summers running — два лета подряд

Contents:

1. The Invasion of the Romans
2. Celtic Revolts
3. Hadrian’s Wall
4. The Fall of Roman Britain
5. The Roman influence on Britain (interesting facts)

* * *

The Invasion of the Romans. Вторжение римлян

1. conquer – завоевать
2. retreat – отступать
3. pay tributes – платить дань

In the century BC the Romans were the great nation that succeeded in conquering many countries. First time in 55 BC the Roman emperor Julius Caesar at the head of the army of 10 thousand soldiers went to the British Isles. But they couldn’t conquer Britain and occupy the island. The channel storms and the Celts possessing iron-weapon made them retreat.
Next year Caesar repeated his invasion and succeeded. The 25-thousand army took possession of the probable capital  Camulodunum (Colchester — Колчестер), as a result Celtic chiefs promised to pay tributes to the Romans. Soon Caesar left the country and never came back.
In fact Caesar did not conquer Britain and the promised tribute was not paid. The actual conquest took place 90 years later in 43 AD. At that time Britain was no longer a mysterious country as Caesar had written books about his travels and described many particulars about the Britons. Almost a hundred years later the Emperor Claudius (император Клавдий) began to conquer the country of the plains. His 50 thousand warriors landed in Kent (Кент), crossed the Thames and conquered the southeastern territory of the country.

* * *

The Celtic Revolts. Восстания кельтов

1. discontent — недовольство
2. plunder – грабежи
3. taxations – налоги
4. revolt – бунт, мятеж, восстание
5. suppress the revolts – подавить восстание
6. Queen Boadicea — Боудикка (королева воинов)

The Celtic tribal chiefs recognized the Romans as their rulers, which cannot be said about the people. Their discontent caused by endless plunder and heavy taxations grew. The first revolt took place in 51 AD. The wild tribes of the North were headed by Caradoc (Caractacus), who tried to resist the Roman rule. The attempt failed, the Romans defeated the Britons and secured the southern areas.

Another famous revolt was organized by Queen Boadicea. She headed the Celtic tribe of Iceni (inhabitants of contemporary Norfolk) in 61 AD. Boadicea rushed at the invaders in her chariot with her daughters beside her. At first the revolt was very successful. They started it when the current governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was in the north of Wales leading a campaign against the island of Mona (modern Anglesey). Boadicea with her warriors managed to destroy Londinium (London), Camulodunum (Colchester) and Verulamium (St. Albans). During the revolt about 70 thousand Romans were killed. When this news reached Gaius Suetonius, he hurried back with his army and suppressed the rebellion. Boadicea did not want to become a prisoner, so she took poison together with her daughters. The name of the Queen Boadicea has remained in the history as well as in the people’s memory for her outstanding bravery. Her statue stands on the embankment by the Westminster Bridge in London.

The monument to the Queen Boadicea

Though the revolts failed, they had their result. It was not easy to suppress the revolts and now the Romans decided to think twice before violating Celtic people’s rights so aggressively.

 * * *

 Hadrian’s Wall. Вал Адриана

1. raid — совершать набеги
2. Roman governor — римский правитель
3. Julius Agricola — Юлий Агрикола
4. fortification — укрепление

The Romans conquered only the southern part of the island, they never managed to conquer the Scottish Highlands . More than that from time to time the Picts from the north raided the Romans.
At the end of the 1^st century AD the chief Roman governor of Britain was Julius Agricola (78-85 AD). He was a great general and pushed the conquest even further to Caledonia (Scotland). There were constant battles between the Romans and the Picts, so to keep out the Caledonians Agricola built a line of forts between two rivers the Forth and the Clyde.
The battles and the wild Picts attacking from Caledonia made a great impression upon the Romans, and in 121 AD the Emperor Hadrian decided to built a wall from the Tyne (река Тайн) to the Solway Firth (Солуэй-Ферт — залив в Ирландском море), that was called Hadrian wall. Hadrian wall was farther to the North from the Agricola’s Forth and the Clyde wall.

The Romans didn’t manage to conquer Scotland and the Caledonians continued to attack Roman Britain when it was weak.

* * *

The Fall of Roman Britain. Падение римской Британии

Between the 3^d and the 4^th centuries the power of the Roman Empire gradually weakened.  The end of the 4^th century was the time when the Germanic tribes started to invade the west of the Roman Empire. The safety of Rome itself was in question, and in the year of 407 the Roman legions were recalled from Britain.

The Romans came to Britain not to settle down there, and they did not return to Britain. The Celts were left alone absolutely leadless and defenseless.

During 410 years Britain was one of the remote provinces of the Roman Empire. This military occupation lasted 4 centuries and had a great influence on Britain.

* * *

 Interesting facts — The Roman Influence on Britain

1. Language

Very few people could read or write in Britain. It was the Romans who brought language, writing and numbers to Britain.  Nowadays you can find the marks of Roman influence in the English words of Latin origin, as we know the Romans spoke Latin. Among them are such words as school (schola), street (strata), port (porta), wall – (vallum), village (vicus), word “cheese” and “butter” also have Latin origin.

Many English towns are of Latin origin, English towns with the name ending in –chester, -cester, -caster was once a Roman camp or a city: Colchester, Leicester, Gloucester, Winchester, Silchester, Doncaster, Cirencester, Donchester.  Some towns such as Lincoln come from the Latin word  “colonia” – a colony.

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2. Roads

The Romans built first towns in Britain that were connected by Roman roads. The roads were made of mortal and gravel and were made so well they exist till now. These were long straight roads with milestones marking every mile (1000 paces).

Roman Milestone near Vindolanda (nothern England)

3. Towns

Before the Romans there had been no towns in Britain. The Romans were the first to build towns. In the Roman towns there were market places where merchants sold their goods. There were also temples and public baths in most of the towns. Among the largest towns were London, York, Colchester, St. Albans, Lincoln and about 50 smaller towns.

The houses in Roman towns had central heating and running water: the rich had water pipes in their houses and the poor took water from the public fountains.

4. Roman Baths

The Romans loved baths and they brought this tradition to Britain. Baths were not just places for washing the body; it was a kind of entertainment and besides a luxurious entertainment.

A usual bath had mirrors along the walls and the ceiling was all in glass. The pool was made of rich marble and mosaics covered the floor.

The first Roman baths were built in Bath. In the picture you can see a Roman bath in the city of Bath, in Somerset.

Roman Bath in Sommerset

* * *

5. Roman London (AD 43 — AD 410)

When the Romans invaded England in AD 43, they landed in Kent and then sailed up the river Thames. They found it an advantageous position to build a settlement on the north bank of the river. Where the river was narrower they built a bridge (what is now London Bridge). They called London — ‘Londinium’.

In 61 AD the Boadicea with her supporters almost burn London to the ground. It took the Romans about 20 yeas to rebuild Londinium, since then the strong walls were built around London to ensure the safety of the city. This fort was situated where the Barbican centre is now.

Sources:

1. М.С. Зимина, С.Б. Катенин «История Англии с древнейших времен до IV века» при участии Дж. Поллок (Великобритания), 2000, ISBN 5-7931-0133-0
2. В.С. Кузнецова «England. History, Geography, Culture» (учебник для вузов), 1976

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