Context: When the Roman Empire invaded Britain in 43 AD, soldiers encountered a landscape vastly different from the dry, paved cities of the Mediterranean. They found a land dominated by dense forests, heavy mist, and treacherous wetlands. The native Celtic tribes, the Britons, were experts at utilizing this environment. By employing guerrilla tactics, they appeared almost like "swamp creatures" to the invaders, launching surprise attacks before retreating into deep marshes where heavily armored Roman legions struggled to maintain formation. To the Romans, these people seemed like primitive dwellers of a damp, mysterious "edge of the world.
by ZebraWithSneakers
7 Comments
When you trade the sunny Mediterranean for a rainy marshland because Claudius needs a political win.
I for one would be scared out of my caligas if a fat beluga came out of the water and started to speak a germanic language to me.
Someone post that meme with quotes from Roman authors and wojacks about this.
Barry of the lake <3
Boris Yeltsin?
Read Roman descriptions of the Britons from the time. They’re often genuinely hilarious. They thought they were ugly, gross, and hairy while they also commented that they didn’t seem to even notice the cold and wet. It would be barely above freezing and raining but the Britons would be outside shirtless like nothing was happening. The Romans found it absolutely baffling. They considered it the absolute worst place they had ever seen but the people living there were like “oi this is nice, actually!”
Meanwhile the Britons themselves had an attitude of “yeah this is what we’re like what of it?” which confused the Romans even more. The isles overall were so difficult to conquer and maintain control over that they only bothered with England and Wales then built Hadrian’s Wall and were just fucking done with it. Even then they only ever held loose control over the area. The people there were just too damn unruly.
Overall though the Romans were like “YOU’RE A BUNCH OF DISGUSTING BOG MONSTERS!!!” and the Britons were just like “yup lol.”
Englend