Читать книгу Great Britain: geography, politics, culture - Л. А. Ласица - Страница 10

Two thousand years ago while the Celts were still living in tribes the Romans were the most powerful people in the world. Roman society was divided into the class of slaves and the class of slave-owners. The slave-owners put down the uprisings of the slaves with the help of the army. The army also helped the slaveowners to protect their riches against foreign enemies and to conquer new lands and to seize more slaves. The Romans conquered all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

In 55 В. C. a Roman army of 10,000 men with Julius Caesar at the head crossed the Channel and invaded Britain. The Celts saw their ships approaching and rushed to attack the invaders in the sea. Their hair and moustaches were dyed red and their legs and arms were painted blue. With loud shouts they attacked the Romans and the well-armed Romans had to retreat to Gaul (France).

In 54 В. 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 beat the Roman. The Romans defeated the Celts in several battles. Some of the chiefs submitted and promised to pay tribute to Rome. But the promised tribute was not paid.

Nearly a hundred years later, in 43 A. D. a Roman army invaded Britain and conquered the South-East. The Celts fought fiercely against the Romans who never managed to become masters of the whole island. They were unable to conquer the Scottish Highlands. From time to time the Picts and the Scots from the North managed to invade the Roman part of the island and burn their villages.