The conquest of Britain was followed by its Romanization: it became a Roman
province. The Romans brought writing and a sophisticated legal system into Britain.
They introduced the Alphabet the British use today, and almost half the words in
modern English derive from Latin. They created new towns, and introduced drainage
systems, houses with glass windows, and a form of central heating. One of the oldest
buildings in Britain is the Roman lighthouse, or Pharos, at Dover. Also, long straight
roads were built to move the troops rapidly through forest and swamp; trade and
communications were improved. Roman influence is always evident in names of
towns ending with
–caster, -chister
, because
‗
castrum‘ in Latin denoted a fort, and
‗
castra‘ – a camp.
Though the Romans spoke Latin, the Latin language did not replace the Celtic
language. Its use was confined to members of the upper classes and the inhabitants of
the towns.
The Romans removed their last legion from Britain in 410 A.D. as the army was
needed to prevent barbarian invasions in mainland Europe. But the independence of
the country was very short.
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