Britannia as the edge of the world in classical literature
https://doi.org/10.22394/2412-9410-2024-10-2-204-216
Abstract
For a long time Britain remained one of the uncharted lands of the ancient world. Its remote location largely determined the history of the development of the region itself as well as the attitudes toward it in the classical literary tradition. The lack of established contacts led to a situation when almost nothing was known about it until Caesar’s campaigns in the 1st century BC. However, even after that descriptions of the new province largely corresponded to ancient stereotypes about everything new and unknown.
One of the main goals of this paper is to examine and analyze how the perception of the island as the edge of the world was formed, in what situations this image was used, and how it was supposed to influence readers’ attitude towards these territories.
It is also an attempt to trace how this perception changed with the development of the quantity and quality of contacts between the island and the mainland, as well as with the expansion of the borders of the empire as a whole. Particular attention is paid to how this image relates to the unknown, and how it transforms or changes its boundaries along with changes in the immediate boundaries of the state.
Keywords
Roman Britain,
classical literature,
geography of the Roman Empire,
the image of Britain,
the edge of the world,
Roman province
Supporting agencies: The article was prepared within the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2022-326)
About the Author
K. S. Danilochkina
The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Kseniya S. Danilochkina, Assistant Professor
Institute of Social Sciences; Faculty of History and Philology; Department
General History
119571; Prospekt Vernadskogo, 82; Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Danilochkina K.S. Britannia as the edge of the world in classical literature. Shagi / Steps. 2024;10(2):204-216. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2412-9410-2024-10-2-204-216
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