Old English Literature
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The Dawn of English literature
The Ancient Britons and Their Language.
Many hundred years ago (about the 4th century before our era) the country we now call England was known as Britain, and the people who lived there were the Britons. They belonged to the Celtic race; the language they spoke was Celtic. Their culture (their way of thinking and their understanding of nature) was very primitive. They believed that different gods lived in the thickest and darkest parts of the woods. Some plants such as the mistletoe and the oak-tree were thought to be sacred.
The Britons had a strange and cruel religion – the religion of the Druids. They sacrificed human beings and often burnt men and their animals together with them. The Britons were governed by a class of priests called the Druids who had great power over them.
Some curious customs of the Druids are still kept in Britain nowadays, and some traces of the Celtic language are to be found in the English of today; we meet them for the most part in geographical names:
dun/dum — "down", "dune" (the towns of Dunscore, Dunedin, Dumbarton); amvuin/avon — "river" (Stratford-on-Avon);
coill/kil — "wood" (Kilbrook). .
How the Romans Came.
In the 1st century before our era Britain was conquered by the powerful State of Rome. The Romans were practical men. They were very clever at making hard roads and building bridges and fine tall houses that are admired to this day. The Romans brought their civilization with them.
The Romans thought a great deal of fighting and they were so strong that they usually managed to win most of the battles they fought.
The Romans were greatly interested to learn from travellers that valuable metals were to be found in Britain. Finally they decided to occupy the island; they crossed the sea in galleys under the command of Julius Caesar.
Caesar was the first who wrote an interesting account of Britain.
Handrian's Wall
In 56 BC, the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar undertook his first attempt to invade Britain. Of course at that time there was not any country on the British Isles, they were inhabited by many Celtic tribes, some had common language and culture.
Caesar found Britain to be "a nice land with forests and marshes, filled with a great number of men and cattle" as his historians wrote. He defeated some local tribes on the southern coast of Britain and thus began the Roman occupation of Britain.
Other Roman Emperors continued to drive off the natives from their territory and establish settlements and fortresses.
In 79 AD the present day England and Wales were under control, but the far North remained a serious problem. Many times the Romans tried to invade the present day Scotland but they failed. The people who inhabited Scotland were fiercely resistant and independent.
The Romans decided to build the wall to mark the end of their territory and protect it from the Scots.