\'The myth of Celtic and Roman Britain\'

[Nathan Ross]

I didn't blame the Victorians. I wrote that it was linked to the Act of Union (1707).

Quite right, you did. I meant that 'Victorian' is often used as a handy smear to imply that some idea is outdated and in need of debunkery. Clearly the Victorians were wrong about everything, etc.... But your point about the Act of Union is fair - I would suggest, though, that the idea of a celtic unity in ancient Britain pre-existed it, being the product of earlier antiquarianism. That this idea was then used as a political lever is indisputable.

I thought I had qualified this by referring to Scotland, Wales, Ireland all of which have celtic speaking minorities and too are modern constructs. The fact that they can still be associated with celtic languages does not imply a homogeneous celtic culture in the past.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood you! I took "...the germanic speaking nations, England, the Netherlands, Germany and the Scandinavian countries etc as all having the same lifestyle and culture" to mean today rather than in the past. Maybe 'as all having had the same lifestyle and culture' then? But if you're talking about antiquity, then 'Germanic' would apply to Germania, surely, and not places (like Britain) of later Germanic migration - so my point still stands?

Certainly not the same politically since he was subsequently handed over to the romans by the Brigantes. The danger of stressing commonality is that we ignore the rivalries between groups that should show, given the number of hill forts, signs of antagonisitc behaviour towards each other.

Sure - but do we know why Caratacus went to Brigantia? It could well be that it was merely the nearest and most powerful state, that might be able to resist Rome. But could it not also be that he saw Brigantia as his natural ally, within the same family, as it were? I'm sure there's a Roman explanation of what was going on here, and we can give that as much credence as we like, but I'm supposed to be doing something else at the moment so don't have time to look! :wink:

Regards - Nathan