Романские времена в истории Великобритании.


                       The Roman Conquest of Britain.
   One of the last countries to be conquered by Rome was France, or Gaul  as
it was then called. The war against  the  Gauls,  who  were  Celtic  tribes,
lasted for eight years. Julius Caesar was appointed Head of the  Roman  army
which was sent to conquer Gaul.  In  the  course  of  his  campaigns  Caesar
reached the Channel and that was how  the  Romans  came  to  see  the  white
cliffs of the land of the British Celts.
   In 55 B.C. a Roman army of 10,000 men crossed  the  Channel  and  invaded
Britain. The Celts saw their ships approaching  and  rushed  to  attack  the
invaders in the sea as they were landing. The Celts made a great  impression
on the Romans, who saw them for the first time in battle.  On  the  occasion
of the battle their hair and moustaches were dyed red  and  their  legs  and
arms were painted blue.  With  loud  shouts  they  attacked  the  Romans  in
chariots and on foot and the well-armed invincible Romans under one  of  the
greatest generals of that time had to return to Gaul.
   In the next year, 54 BC, 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  drive  the
Romans off. The Romans who had better arms and armour and were  much  better
trained defeated the Celts in several battles. Some of the chiefs  submitted
and promised to pay tribute to Rome.  Caesar  then  went  back  to  Gaul  to
complete his conquer on the Continent.
   Although Julius Caesar came to Britain twice in the course of two  years,
he was not able, really, to conquer it. The promised tribute  was  not  paid
and the real conquest of Britain by the Romans was not begun until nearly  a
hundred years after Caesar’s visits to the island.
   In 43 AD a Roman army  invaded  Britain  and  conquered  the  South-East.
Other parts of the country were taken from time  to  time  during  the  next
forty years. The hilly districts in the West were very difficult to  subdue,
and the Romans had to set up many camps in that part  of  the  country.  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 and the province of Britain consisted only of  the  southern  part
of the island. From time to time the Picts from the North  managed  to  raid
the Roman part of the island, burn  their  villages,  and  drive  off  their
cattle and sheep.
   To defend their province the Romans stationed their legions  in  Britain.
Straight roads were built so that the legions might march quickly,  wherever
they were needed, to any part of the  country.  These  roads  were  made  of
several layers of stones, lime, mortar and gravel. They were  made  so  well
that they lasted a long time and still exist today. Bridges  of  stone  were
built wherever a road crossed a river; some of these bridges  can  still  be
found in Britain today. Besides, to guard the  province  against  the  Picts
and Scots who lived in the hills of Scotland a high wall was  built  in  the
North. It was called «Hadrian’s Wall» because it was built  by  the  command
of the Emperor Hadrian. From one end of the wall to the another  forts  were
built a mile apart and the Roman warriors could  be  seen  marching  up  and
down the whole length of the wall. When the Northern  Britons  were  not  at
war with the Romans they  often  came  to  the  wall  and  traded  with  the
warriors and the Romans would go hunting in the region north of the wall.

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