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UNIT 1
THE ROMANS
AND THE CELTS
THE ROMANS
One of the most important peoples in history
were the Romans. Between 390 BC and 43 AD
they went from their city being destroyed to
developing a very strong army. They then went
on to build an extremely powerful empire.
390 BC Gauls attack and destroy Rome
146 BC Romans conquer Greece
129 BC Romans conquer Turkey
121 BC Romans invade Gaul
400BC
200BC
117AD
51 BC Romans conquer Gaul
43 AD Romans enter Britain
122 AD Hadrian’s Wall is built
410 AD Romans leave Britain
ia
Caledon
ia
Hibern
Britannia
On the timeline above we can
see that it took the Romans a
long time to defeat the Gauls.
The Gauls belonged to a group
of people called the Celti who
today are known as the Celts.
an
ia
Ga
rm
Ge
llia
Hispania
lia
Ita
Macedonia
Asia
Syria
Mauretania
Aegyptus
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Gallic warrior
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JULIUS CAESAR AND GAUL
– THE ROMAN EMPIRE EXPANDS
Do you recognise the country shown on this map?
This was the Celtic nation known as Gaul. Do you
know what it’s called today?
c
i
t
n
Lepo
G a u lis h
After the Romans defeated Gaul in 51 BC, Caesar
didn’t stop there. He wanted to make the Romans
the most powerful people in the world. The Romans
began to invade and overthrow the countries
surrounding Gaul. Gradually, all countries on the
continent where Celts lived fell under Roman rule.
The Celts had their own ancient languages
such as Gaulish and Lepontic and had many
different customs. For example, they often lit
huge fires to symbolise the changing of the
seasons and to worship their many gods.
These Celts who conquered Rome in 390 BC
came from a land called Gaul. But Rome slowly
recovered from this attack and started to build
a huge empire which gradually spread all over
Europe and into parts of Asia and north Africa.
For four hundred years, the Romans would
fight many battles and wars building their
empire. In 51 BC, they finally defeated the
Gauls, led by their most famous ruler of all,
Julius Caesar.
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5
One of these countries was a cool, rich,
fertile island just across the sea from
Gaul. Caesar’s attention turned to the
country the Romans called Britannia.
Caledonia
THE ROMANS
IN BRITAIN
The Romans fought many
battles with the British
Celts, who were led by a
fierce warrior queen called
Boadicea. The Romans were
most powerful in southern
Britain and resisted many
attempts at rebellion from
the Celts.
Hadrian’s Wall
Hibernia
Britannia
HADRIAN’S WALL
Scotland, which is in northern Britain, was not part of the
Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Hadrian had a wall
built in 122 AD to protect the south from any possible
attacks from the north. You can still see the remains of
Hadrian’s Wall in parts of northern Britain today.
Hadrian’s Wall
Do you know of any other walls which were built to keep
warring peoples apart?
Boadicea, the Celtic queen
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Scotland
THE CELTS IN BRITAIN
For the next three hundred years,
the Romans ruled Britain, but
eventually they had to leave.
This is because their empire was
coming under attack from people
who lived outside the Roman
borders. Their armies were needed
at home and the last Romans left
Britain around 410 AD.
Even though the Romans defeated
Boadicea and ruled over Britain, the
Celts and their languages survived
and still survives to this day.
Isle of Man
Ireland
Petrus de Turre: Ptolemy Map of Ireland (RIA Manuscript: MS 24 E 38): By permission of the
Royal Irish Academy © RIA
Wales
SUMMARY
There was a country very close to
Britain that the Romans called
Hibernia. Historians still don’t know
if the Romans invaded Hibernia
or, if they did, how important they
were there. One theory is that
Ireland was even colder and less
fertile than Britain, so it would have
been no real use to them.
•Between 390 BC and 43 AD,
the Romans gradually built an
empire to become the most
powerful people in Europe.
However, Hibernia was inhabited
by Celts who called their country
Ériú. Today we call this island Éire
or Ireland.
Cornwall
Ireland and other Celtic regions
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HIBERNIA
•The Romans invaded Celtic
Britain and stayed until 410 AD.
•Parts of France, Scotland, Wales,
parts of England and the Isle of
Man were Celtic regions and their
languages survive to this day.
•The Romans referred to Ireland
as Hibernia. We don’t exactly
know how powerful they were in
Ireland.
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