One of the important periods in the history of Great Britain occurred during the reign of Julius Caesar - it was then that the Romans began their first attempts at a large-scale conquest of the island.
The first landing of the Romans happened in 55 BC on the territory of Dile, but they had a hard time - they were met with fierce resistance from the Celtic peoples who lived here since ancient times.
The Romans clearly did not expect such resistance and retreated, returning to the island the following year with a much more powerful army, in which, in addition to the infantry, there was also cavalry. But this time the Celts were not here, so the Romans went inland.
Later, in another battle, the Celts were defeated. However, at that time the Romans did not gain a foothold here - the political situation in Rome began to heat up, so Caesar decided to return to the capital of the empire.
The next attempt to conquer the island was already in 43 AD, when the troops of Aulus Plautius were landing here. Four years later, London was built by the Romans (then it was called Londinium).
In our time, in the UK, archaeologists have discovered a very interesting artifact that can confirm the continuity of the cultures of the Roman Empire and the Celts.
Promotional video:
The artifact is a Celtic figurine. Unfortunately, you can't see the face on it - over time it has worn off, but you can see a torch - a neck decoration in the form of a ring.
Archaeologists know that in this form the Celts depicted the god Cernunnos - the deity of nature and life, as well as the master of the kingdom of the dead. After analyzing the artifact, the researchers found that it is slightly less than 2000 years old.
The statuette was found during archaeological excavations of an ancient agricultural settlement, which researchers attributed to the Iron Age. It should be noted that such a figurine is far from the first, they have been found before.
But they were all made of stone, and this is metal. Archaeologists suggested that in the distant past, a large ancient trade center could be located on this territory, where there was an active exchange of goods between the peoples of the entire island.
Together with the statuette, several hundred other ancient metal objects were found. In addition to simple coins, details of horse harness and Roman armor, fragments of weapons and jewelry were found.
Researchers believe that the ancient deity depicted on the metal figurine was very significant in the Celtic pantheon of gods.
But what is interesting is that archaeologists have found this ancient artifact on the territory that had been with the Romans for a long time, which suggests that an exchange could take place between these two ancient cultures and it is possible that they were ready to accept foreign gods into their pantheon.
Here they are somewhat similar to the Golden Horde - conquering new territories, they restored them to dust, but with significant restrictions. They were also tolerant of other people's faith.