The Romans killed all the Druids.
Why?
There is a lot of physical evidence of their existence and beliefs. What possible threat could they have posed to mighty Rome? One thing the Romans found was the people in Britain had no fear of death. They used circular monuments. What were they used for?
The Romans never got as far as Orkney, believing it was lived in by primitives. Stone houses survived there built six thousand years ago.
45mins in...the Romans tried to replace it with their own civilis/zation. but, it depends hat you mean by civilization. To me, it's just a word, dare I say it, rather like democracy today which can be used as an excuse to impose foreign ideals on another country...
He quotes Tacitus:
"And so the population was gradually led into the demoralizing temptations of our caves (?), baths and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons spoke of such novelties as civilization, when in fact they were a feature of their enslavement."
Wow. Spot on.
Is it the translation that makes these words seem to contemporary?
Lovely little doc. Thanks TAP.
45mins in...the Romans tried to replace it with their own civilis/zation. but, it depends hat you mean by civilization. To me, it's just a word, dare I say it, rather like democracy today which can be used as an excuse to impose foreign ideals on another country...
ReplyDeleteHe quotes Tacitus:
"And so the population was gradually led into the demoralizing temptations of our caves (?), baths and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons spoke of such novelties as civilization, when in fact they were a feature of their enslavement."
Wow. Spot on.
Is it the translation that makes these words seem to contemporary?
Lovely little doc. Thanks TAP.
And the Romans are still here .....
ReplyDeletecave is where you keep da plonk innit?
ReplyDeleteThe Ancient Greeks sailed to Orkney. Indeed Pytheas describes it in his "On The Ocean".
ReplyDeleteOne of the earliest records of any connection between Rome and Scotland is not in Tacitus but actually in the work of Pomponius Mela, the Roman geographer, who recorded in his De Chorographia that there were thirty islands in the Orkneys. The Romans greatly favoured the Walrus Ivory available and knew where Thule was! Roman contact and trade with Orkney is confirmed by amphora and 1st Century pottery at the Broch of Gurness and many Roman coins have been found alongside medical instruments, moulds and glass. Not isolated, chance items. High status trade and regular.
The very first written connection with Orkney and the Romans was the attendance of The King Of Orkney, who along with ten other British Kings, travelled to Colchester in AD43 to submit to Emperor Claudius.
So the video is talking pish.