Editing Pytheas (section)

=== Name and description of the British ===
The first known written use of the word Britain was an [[ancient Greek]] [[transliteration]] of the original [[Gallo-Brittonic languages|P-Celtic]] term. It is believed to have appeared within a [[periplus]] by Pytheas, but no copies of this work survive. The earliest existing records of the word are quotations of the periplus by later authors, such as those within Strabo's ''[[Geographica]]'', Pliny's ''[[Naturalis Historia|Natural History]]'' and Diodorus of Sicily's ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]''.<ref>Book I.4.2–4, Book II.3.5, Book III.2.11 and 4.4, Book IV.2.1, Book IV.4.1, Book IV.5.5, Book VII.3.1</ref> According to Strabo, Pytheas referred to Britain as ''Bretannikē'', which shares more similarities with spellings in the modern [[Celtic languages]] than its Classical Latin variants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ramsay |first1=James Henry |title=The Scholar's History of England |date=1898 |publisher=H. Milford |page=2}}</ref> From this Greek spelling, the name is treated a feminine noun.<ref name=LSJBrettanike>{{LSJ|*bretaniko/s|Βρεττανική|ref}}</ref><ref name=Strabo(1.4.2)>Strabo's ''Geography'' Book I. Chapter IV. Section 2 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D2 Greek text] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D2 English translation] at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref><ref name=Strabo(4.2.1)>Strabo's ''Geography'' Book IV. Chapter II. Section 1 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D1 Greek text] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D1 English translation] at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref><ref name=Strabo(4.4.1)>Strabo's ''Geography'' Book IV. Chapter IV. Section 1 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D1 Greek text] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D1 English translation] at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref>

[[File:Pictish Beast.svg|thumb|200px|A [[Pictish beast]] on an early medieval [[Pictish stone]].]] "Britain" is most like [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''Ynys Prydein'', "the island of Britain", in which is a [[P-Celtic hypothesis|P-Celtic]] [[cognate]] of [[Q-Celtic hypothesis|Q-Celtic]] Cruithne in Irish ''Cruithen-[[Túath|tuath]]'', "land of the Picts". The base word is Scottish/Irish ''cruth'', Welsh ''pryd'', meaning "form". The British were the "people of forms", with the sense of shapes or pictures,<ref>{{cite book | first=Charles | last=Thomas | title=Celtic Britain | url=https://archive.org/details/celticbritain0000thom | url-access=registration | location=London | publisher=Thames and Hudson | date=1997 | page=[https://archive.org/details/celticbritain0000thom/page/82 82] | isbn=9780500279359 | quote=If we seek a meaning, the favoured view is that it arises from an older word implying 'people of the forms, shapes or depictions' (*k<sup>w</sup>rt-en-o-).}}</ref> thought to refer to their practice of tattooing or war painting.<ref>{{cite book | first=Stephen | last=Allen | title=Lords of Battle: The World of the Celtic Warrior | location=Oxford | publisher=Osprey Publishing | date=2007 | page=174 | quote=Pretani is generally believed to mean "painted" or rather "tattooed", likely referring to the use by the Britons of the blue dye extracted from woad.&nbsp;... it is more likely to be a nickname given them by outsiders&nbsp;... It may be compared with the word ''Picti''&nbsp;... which was used by the Romans in the 3rd century AD.}}</ref> The Roman word ''Picti'', "the Picts", means "painted".

This etymology suggests Pytheas most likely did not have much interaction with the Irish as their language was Q-Celtic. Rather, Pytheas brought back the P-Celtic form from more geographically accessible regions where Welsh or Breton are spoken presently.  Furthermore, some proto-Celtic was spoken over all of Greater Britain, and this particular spelling is prototypical of those more populous regions, but there is no evidence that Pytheas distinguished between the peoples of the archipelago.

[[File:St Fagans Celtic Village the main hut.jpg|thumb|A reconstruction of a Celtic thatched hut in [[Wales]].]]
Diodorus - based on Pytheas - reported that Britain is cold and subject to frosts, being "too much subject to the [[Ursa Major|Bear]]", and not "under the Arctic pole", as some translations say.<ref name=diodV>{{cite book|first=Diodori|last=Siculi|title=Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt: Nova Editio|editor=Peter Wesseling|author2=L. Rhodoman|author3=G. Heyn|author4=N. Eyring|location=Argentorati|date=1798|publisher=Societas Bipontina|language=grc, la|pages=292–297 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YtkPAAAAQAAJ&q=Bibliothecae+Historicae+Libri+Qui+Supersunt | chapter=Book V, Sections 21–22}} The section numeration differs somewhat in different translations; the material is to be found near the end of Book V.</ref> The numerous population of natives, he says, live in [[Thatching|thatched]] cottages, store their grain in subterranean caches and bake bread from it.<ref name=diodV /> They are "of simple manners" (''ēthesin haplous'') and are content with plain fare. They are ruled by many kings and princes who live in peace with each other. Their troops fight from [[chariot]]s, as did the Greeks in the [[Trojan War]].