Britannia
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the 1st century BC Britannia came to be used for Great Britain specifically. In AD 43 the Roman Empire began its conquest of the island, establishing a province they called Britannia, which came to encompass the parts of the island south of Caledonia (roughly Scotland). The native Celtic inhabitants of the province are known as the Britons. In the 2nd century Roman Britannia came to be personified as a goddess, armed with a spear and shield and wearing a centurion's helmet.
The Latin name Britannia long survived the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and yielded the name for the island in most European and various other languages, including the English Britain and the modern Welsh Prydain. After centuries of declining use, the Latin form was revived during the English Renaissance as a rhetorical evocation of a British national identity. Especially following the Acts of Union in 1707, which joined the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, the personification of the martial Britannia was used as an emblem of British imperial power and unity. She has appeared consistently on British coinage ever since.
See also
- Columbia (name), the female personification of the United States
- Italia Turrita, the equivalent personification for Italy
- Hibernia (personification) is the younger sister of Britannia
- Marianne, a personification of France
- William Camden, author of Britannia, author of topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland, first published in 1586.
