#english_history ## The origin of the word "Britain" The name "Britain" comes from the word "Pretani", a word for the inhabitants of [[Characteristics of the British Isles|Britain]]. The Romans mispronounced the word and called the island "[[Britannia]]" ## The reasons of the Roman invasion 1. [[The Celts in Britain|The Celts of Britain]] were helping the Celts of Gaul (France), whom the Romans were fighting 2. Because the Celts used advanced ploughing techniques their annual production of crops increased, which in term led to an increase in export. (Food could have been used by the Romans themselves) ## The Roman impact The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain, although only the creme de la creme could speak Latin or Greek. However, these language completely fell out of fashion during the Anglo-Saxon invasion. The Romans established a Romano-British culture across the southern half of Britain, which was inside the empire. Beyond were the upland areas, under Roman control but not developed. These areas were watched from the towns of York, Chester and other would-be Welsh cities, with each town holding around 7000 men, resulting in the total of 40000 Romans in Britain. ## The Invasion [[Julius Caesar]] first came to Britain in 55 BCE, but it hadn't been actually occupied by the Romans until 43 CE. The Romans could not conquer **Caledonia**, as they called Scotland, so they built a defensive wall, named after the Emperor Hadrian who planned it. (*Hadrian Wall*) ## The end of Roman rule The first signs of Roman decline were around 367 CE, when the Caledonia Celts started frequently attacking the Hadrian Wall. In 409 CE, Rome pulled its' last soldiers out of Britian and the Romano-British to secure the European mainland from barbaric attacks, leaving the Romanised Celts on their own. Rome itself collapsed soon after.