Grand country houses, villas, sprang up all over southern Britain during the Romano-British era. Bettany Hughes, The Roman Invasion of Britain III: Dominion
The Romans turned taxation into a fine art. ibid.
We simply don’t know what percentage of Britain’s population was taken into slavery during the Roman era. ibid.
The city was a Roman alien thing. ibid.
More than two million squares miles was under Roman control. ibid.
Britannia Superior which had its capital in London and Britannia Inferior which was governed from York. ibid.
The British people finally made a stand ... Around 408 A.D. there was a mini-revolt. ibid.
Their long fierce dominion over this country paved the way for Britain’s emergence as a unified nation state. ibid.
The problem with orchestrated Roman Christianity was that it was an alien force imposed on the people of Britain. Dr Robert Beckford, Christianity: A History s1e3: Dark Ages, Channel 4 2009
To be a Christian king was to be part of a universal community that spread across Europe to Rome and beyond. So there were the added benefits of trade and also cultural exchange. To be a member of the Christian club brought enormous benefits. But even so there was still no such thing as a united church in Britain. ibid.
This early English church wasn’t small-minded but the epitome of diversity. ibid.
This is the story of the invasions of the British Isles. It’s the story of the enemies we feared, it’s the story of the fear of invasion itself, and of the idea that we Britons are somehow unique. Invasion! with Sam Willis e1, BBC 2017
The farming invasion, the foodie invasion, there’s the Roman, Saxon and Viking invasions, and it’s not even 1066 yet. ibid.
Hunter-gatherers came here to hunt and forage. ibid.
As glaciers advanced south they pushed the humans out. ibid.
The arrival of farmers into Britain changed the landscape more dramatically than any other invasion in British history. ibid.
In fact there’s no classical source that actually says that the Celts ever came here to northern Europe … but the cultural invasion was overwhelming. ibid.
This is where the Romans first landed – Deal beach. ibid.
The first celebrity in British history – Boudica. ibid.
A mighty battle was fought between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons. ibid.
Invasion comes in many forms: mass-migrations, immigrants bringing ideas and religions, all have shaped Britain and made it what it is. Invasion! with Sam Willis II
Churchill called us the Island race … We all descend from people who came here from elsewhere. ibid.
By the time William landed on the south coast of England he had been fighting for much of his adult life … William the Taxman just doesn’t have the same ring to it as William the Conqueror. ibid.
The west coast of Scotland in 1263: pillage, plunder and conquest? Well, it’s as much about trade as anything else. ibid.
We love to believe in Britain as an island fortress. Invasion! with Sam Willis III
And even one planned invasion by balloon. ibid.
The leader of a planned invasion of England in 1745: his name was Bonnie Prince Charlie. ibid.
In 1797 a French army did actually land on British soil. ibid.
After abandoning the balloon plan, Napoleon focused on sea warfare with Britain. ibid.
Invasion literature: the paranoia of invasion. ibid.
The next threat we faced played to some of our deepest fears and it was indeed from Germany. ibid.
A thousand years ago on this patch of land in England two great armies clashed. Over 15,000 soldiers from England and France fought a bloody struggle over one of the greatest prizes in Europe: the Throne of England. The battle lasted only one day but it was to change the face of Britain for ever … A fight to the death between Harold the Saxon and William the Norman, and it led to a cultural revolution in Britain. Peter and Dan Snow, Battlefield Britain: Hastings, BBC 2004
Together with his brothers, Harold ran most of the country. He wasn’t just a politician, he was also a warrior … Harold thought he was the obvious successor to the Throne of England. ibid.
William was outraged: he saw Harold’s coronation as a declaration of war. He decided to invade. ibid.
Horses were at the heart of the Norman battle plan ... William’s 2,000 mounted knights gave him an awesome fighting machine. ibid.
The Vikings: thorny, brawny and brutal they plundered and pillaged across continents in the days before the Norman Conquest. Their long-ships wreaked havoc across the North Atlantic. Dan Snow, The Vikings Uncovered, BBC 2016
At the end of the eighth century … the first place ripe for plunder was the unsuspecting British Isles. ibid.
In York the raiders and settlers became successful urban traders and manufacturers in the first industrial revolution. ibid.
For twenty years Britons have waged a guerrilla war against an [Roman] occupation. Mankind: The Story of All of Us III, History Channel 2012
Leading the resistance, a mystical sect of priests – the Druids. They worshipped the sun, the moon and the forest. Druid means ‘man of oak’. ibid.
Paulinus has been a commander for twenty years ... His men kill as many as 80,000 people … The Druids annihilated. ibid.
Barbarian tribes seize their opportunity. Angles and Saxons push into Britain. Mankind: The Story of All of Us IV
The industrial age makes Great Britain the richest nation [sic] on Earth. Mankind: The Story of All of Us X: Revolutions
Britain dominates global trade. ibid.
Britain v China: a war fought over the most lucrative commodity on the planet. ibid.
Christianity arrived in Britain from three directions at once, in a three-pronged religious assault. Waldemar Januszczak, The Dark Ages: An Age of Light IV: The Men of the North, BBC 2012
The story of the British is one of the most astonishing tales in history. It’s a tale of struggle and war, but also of huge achievement. From small beginnings Britain became a great empire and workshop of the world. And the real makers of our history are the British people themselves. Resilient and creative, they built our society, they won our rights and freedoms. Today we’re many nations and countless tribes. Michael Wood, The Great British Story: A People’s History: Britannia 1/8, BBC 2012
This is the story of the people of Britain over 1,500 years – Welsh, Scots, English, Irish too have played a great role in the story of Britain. ibid.
This small island off the shore of Europe has played a role in the history of the world out of all proportion to its size. ibid.
You have to start with the Romans. Because it was they who brought civilisation to Britain for the first time. ibid.
There were black people in Britain before there were English. ibid.
Roman letters found on Hadrian’s Wall give us the voices of ordinary Britons. ibid.
People enjoyed all the benefits of being Roman citizens. ibid.
At the fall of Rome the Roman army went but the people carried on. ibid.
They were the Anglo-Saxons ... These were the ancestors of the English. ibid.
But from around the year 600 the Anglo-Saxon tribes began to be converted to Christianity by missionaries from Rome and saints from Ireland and the west. ibid.
Bede was a Sunderland man. ibid.
Bede wrote the first great book on British history and identity: Historia Ecclesiastica. ibid.
The last of Bede’s four nations were the English. Michael Wood, The Great British Nation: A People’s History 2/8: Tribes to Nations
So Britain in the 8th century was divided between the British peoples and the Anglo-Saxons ... Many tribes and small kingdoms. ibid.
Raiders from Scandinavia ... The Vikings were driven by population growth in their own countries. By economic and political oppression. ibid.
The Vikings changed society and attitudes ... York = Jorvik: in this cosmopolitan city Vikings soon took on the native culture. ibid.