Greek Gods- Rome- Middle Ages- England
- Автор: Harding Samuel B.
- Год: 1909
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: История
Электронная книга - «Greek Gods- Rome- Middle Ages- England». Краткое содержание книги:
Greek Gods and Heroes
City of the Seven Hills
The Story of the Middle Ages
The Story of England
Later, the Emperor Hadrian came in person to Britain. While there, he ordered that a continuous earthen wall and ditch should built about eighty miles south of Agricola's forts. These defenses extended right across the island, over hills and valleys, from the river Tyne on the east to the Solway Firth on the west. At the same time, or later, a stone wall was added, which was seventeen feet high, and from six to eight feet thick. A well-paved road ran along the south side, from sea to sea, a distance of seventy-three miles. Seventeen stone forts guarded the wall, with a watch tower every mile. Some parts of the wall and of these forts still remain. For many years, this wall was the northern boundary of the Roman province, and it proved a strong barrier against the warlike Picts.
Part of the Roman Wall
South of the wall the Romans proceeded, as was their custom, to civilize the country. They gave the Britons peace, but the Roman peace was oppressive. Taxes were very heavy. Roman officers were often greedy and cruel. The common people were reduced almost to slavery. The Britons lost their skill in the use of weapons. What was worse, they lost their spirit of independence.
In Britain, as in other provinces of the Roman Empire, the Romans built well-paved roads, in order that they might march their troops rapidly from place to place. There were four principal roads, reaching out from London to all parts of the country. The one best known is called Watling Street, and ran from Dover to London, and then northwest to Chester. These roads were built on a foundation of broken stone, a foot or more deep, with a pavement of hard blocks of stone, fitted together. Some portions of these roads remained in use for more than a thousand years.
The Romans also introduced better methods of agriculture. They brought in new kinds of trees, such as the chestnut, the walnut, and the elm. They introduced new vegetables, such as the radish and the pea, and new animals, among them the rabbit. All of these are now familiar in English country life.
Some towns sprang up in Britain, during the three and a half centuries that Rome ruled the land; and remains are found of handsome country residences called "villas." In the towns and villas, Latin was the recognized language. But in the country districts, away from the roads, the Britons retained their own language and their own customs.
Remains of a Roman Villa
One thing which the Romans brought to the Britons was the Christian religion. In some unknown way, but probably through the influence of humble soldiers, the Christian religion was introduced into Britain. From there it was carried into the still free and barbarous island of Ireland.
The man who carried Christianity to Ireland was Saint Patrick. While still a young man, in Britain, he was taken captive by a roving band and carried into Ireland. There he was kept, for a number of years, as a slave. He was encouraged to escape to Gaul by a dream, in which a voice said: "Thy ship is ready." Later he returned to Ireland, and preached the Gospel there. For more than thirty years he traveled up and down the island, baptizing converts, and establishing churches and monasteries. The Christian church has continued in Ireland without interruption ever since. Once every year, on Saint Patrick's day, even we Americans are reminded of the unselfish life of Ireland's most famous saint.
Britain remained a part of the Roman Empire until about the year 410 after Christ. In the latter part of this time, the power of Rome was steadily growing weaker. Great pestilences came. The population of Italy increased. The armies were composed of barbarians from outside the Empire. Farmers became "serfs," who were obliged to give part of their produce to some one above them. A few great men were rich, but all the rest were poor. Civil war arose, and the Empire was ready to go to pieces.
Then the German barbarians crossed the Danube and the Rhine rivers, which formed the frontiers of the Empire, and began to roam about at pleasure. They came with their families and their goods, and province after province was overrun by them. Even Italy was not free from attack. Twice during the fifth century Rome itself was captured and given up to fire and pillage.
Britain, meanwhile, passed out of Roman hands. About the time that the first attack was made on Italy (410 A.D.) the Roman troops were withdrawn from Britain for use elsewhere, and the inhabitants were notified that they must protect themselves.
The Britons were in despair. They had almost forgotten how to fight, and they were unwilling to unite under one leader. Their old enemies, the Picts and Scots (wild tribes from Scotland and Ireland), began to attack them. The Britons resisted, but at first with little spirit. A last despairing letter, called "The Groans of the Britons," was sent to the chief general of Rome, in which they said:
"The barbarians drive us to the sea; the sea throws us back on the barbarians. Thus two modes of death await us: we are either slain or drowned."
Britain lay as a rich prize, ready to be taken by the strongest. And soon there came, from over the eastern sea, conquering bands of wandering Germans who settled in Britain and made it their own.
Topics for Thought and Search
Locate on the map the countries included in the Roman Empire. Locate London. Chester.
What kind of people were the Romans? What did they do for the world?
Find out what you can about Julius Caesar.
Was the Roman Conquest a good or a bad thing for Britain? Why?
Find out what you can about St. Patrick.
The Coming of the English
The German tribes that invaded Britain were the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. They were the ancestors of the English people of today.
For many generations these tribes had dwelt in northern Germany, by the shores of the North Sea and the Baltic. Their ways of living were like those of the other Germans of that time. They cleared little tracts of land in the gloomy forests, on which they raised a few bushels of grain and pastured their scrubby cattle. The men left most of the work to the women, while they engaged in hunting or went to war. These tribes had never been governed by the Romans, so they knew nothing of Roman civilization or the Christian religion. More than any other Germans, perhaps, they loved the sea, a liking which their situation made it easy for them to gratify. They delighted to swoop down on unsuspecting coasts, gather what booty they could, and then take to their ships again before resistance could be formed. A Roman poet sings of the Old English in these words:
Old English Ships
"Foes are they, fierce beyond other foes, and cunning as they are fierce. The sea is their school of war, and the storm is their friend. They are sea-wolves that prey on the pillage of the world!"
So long as the Romans ruled Britain, the English made only pirate raids on that land. But when the Roman troops were withdrawn, an opportunity soon came for them to settle there, and to begin the conquest of the island.
This opportunity arose out of the weakness of the Britons, and the attacks which the barbarous Picts and Scots were making upon them from the north and west. A ruler of the Britons named Vortigern, about the year 449, invited a band of the Old English sea-rovers to assist the Britons against the Picts and Scots. He promised to supply them with provisions during the war, and to give them for their own an island near the mouth of the Thames river.
The bargain was agreed to, and the English came, under the lead, it is said, of two brothers, named Hengist and Horsa—names which mean "the horse" and "the mare." They soon defeated the Picts, and freed the Britons from that danger. Then they quarreled with their employers, on the ground that the provisions furnished them were not sufficient.