Editing Britannia (section)

== Greek and Roman periods ==
{{Main|Roman Britain|Britain (name)}}

{{multiple image
| align    = right
| total_width = 450
| image1   = Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius RIC 0742 (reverse showing Britannia).jpg
| caption1 = Reverse of ''[[sestertius]]'' of [[Antoninus Pius]] ({{Reign|138|161}}), marked: {{Smallcaps|britannia}} (and {{Smallcaps|{{abbr|s·c·|senatus consulto}}}}) showing Britannia with shield and spear in the characteristic reclining pose
| image2   = Carausius 286-93 Expectate Veni (11 2) Reverse (cropped).jpg
| caption2 = Reverse of a ''[[denarius]]'' of [[Carausius]] ({{Reign|286|293}}), ruler of the Roman [[Britannic Empire]], showing Britannia (left) welcoming the emperor with the words {{smallcaps|veni expectate}} ({{Literal translation|Come, O expected one}})<ref name=":2">{{Cite ODNB|last=Hewitt|first=Virginia|year=2017|orig-year=2004|title=Britannia (fl. 1st–21st cent.), allegory of a nation, emblem of empire, and patriotic icon|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-68196 |access-date=2021-02-15|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/68196}}</ref>
}}

The first writer to use a form of the name was the [[ancient Greece|Greek]] explorer and geographer [[Pytheas]] in the 4th century BC. Pytheas referred to ''Prettanike'' or ''Brettaniai'', a group of islands off the coast of North-Western Europe. In the 1st century BC, [[Diodorus Siculus]] referred to ''Pretannia'',<ref name="Snyder">[[#refSnyder2003|Snyder]], p.&nbsp;12.</ref> a rendering of the indigenous name for the ''[[Pretani]]'' people whom the Greeks believed to inhabit the [[British Isles]].<ref>[[#refAllen2007|Allen]], p.&nbsp;174.</ref><ref>[[#refDavies2000|Davies]], p.&nbsp;47.</ref> Following the Greek usage, the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] referred to the ''Insulae Britannicae'' in the plural, consisting of ''[[Albion]]'' (Great Britain), ''[[Hibernia]]'' (Ireland), ''[[Thule]]'' (possibly [[Iceland]] or [[Orkney]]) and many smaller islands. Over time, Albion specifically came to be known as ''Britannia'', and the name for the group was subsequently dropped.<ref name="Snyder" />
Although the creation and unification of the province of Britannia is commonly attributed to the emperor [[Claudius]] in 43 AD, [[Julius Caesar]] had already established Roman authority over the Southern and Eastern Britain dynasties during his two expeditions to the island in 55 and 54 BC.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aG-ulE1cVMAC&pg=PA3|title=Britannia: The Creation of a Roman Province|last=Creighton|first=John|date=2006-01-31|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134318407|pages=3|language=en}}</ref> Just as Caesar himself had been an ''obside'', hostage,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=1010889|title=Definition - Numen - The Latin Lexicon - An Online Latin Dictionary - A Dictionary of the Latin Language|website=latinlexicon.org}}</ref> in Bithynia as a youth, he also had taken the King's sons back to Rome as ''obsides'' and to be educated.

The [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman conquest]] of the island began in AD 43, leading to the establishment of the [[Roman province]] known in Latin as ''[[Roman Britain|Britannia]]''. The Romans never successfully conquered the whole island, building [[Hadrian's Wall]] as a boundary with ''[[Caledonia]]'', which covered roughly the territory of modern [[Scotland]], although the whole of the boundary marked by Hadrian's Wall lies within modern-day [[Northern England]]. A southern part of what is now Scotland was occupied by the Romans for about 20 years in the mid-2nd century AD, keeping in place the [[Picts]] to the north of the [[Antonine Wall]]. People living in the Roman province of Britannia were called ''Britanni'', or [[Britons (historical)|Britons]]. Ireland, inhabited by the [[Scoti]], was never invaded and was called [[Hibernia]]. [[Thule]], an island "six days' sail north of Britain, and [...] near the frozen sea", possibly [[Iceland]], was also never invaded by the Romans.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

Claudius paid a visit while Britain was being conquered and was honoured with the [[Roman naming convention|agnomen]] ''Britannicus'' as if he were the conqueror; a [[frieze]] discovered at [[Aphrodisias]] in 1980 shows a bare breasted and helmeted female warrior labelled <small>BRITANNIA</small>, writhing in agony under the heel of the emperor.<ref>''Roman Britain'' By Timothy W. Potter and Catherine Johns, University of California Press, 1992 p.40</ref> She appeared on coins issued under [[Hadrian]], as a more regal-looking female figure.<ref name="24carat">{{cite web|url=http://www.24carat.co.uk/britanniaframe.html |title=Britannia on British Coins |publisher=Chard |access-date=25 June 2006}}</ref> Britannia was soon [[personification|personified]] as a goddess, looking fairly similar to the goddess [[Athena]]-[[Minerva]] - both are seated and replete with helmet, spear (trident) and shield. Early portraits of the goddess depict Britannia as a beautiful young woman, wearing a [[Corinthian helmet]], and wrapped in a white garment with her right breast exposed. She is usually shown seated on a rock, holding a trident, and with a spiked shield propped beside her. Sometimes she holds a [[Standard-bearer|standard]] and leans on the shield. On another range of coinage, she is seated on a globe above waves: Britain at the edge of the (known) world. Similar coin types were also issued under [[Antoninus Pius]].