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The Britannias was the original Latin name the Roman Empire gave to the British Isles , consisting of Albion , Hibernia and many smaller islands, originating from a reference from Pytheas of Massilia (Marseilles) in around 300 BC to the Pretanic (or Britannic) Islands.British History, a chronological dictionary of dates. Rodney Castleton. Paragon British Isles , Origins of the term Deriving from ''Pretannia'', Diodorus 's Greek rendering of the indigenous name ''pretani'', '''Britannia''' became the preferred Roman term for the island of Great Britain , and in particular the Roman Province of Britain which extended north as far as Hadrian's Wall . ''Britannia'' was personified as a Goddess by the Romans, and in more recent times has become a figure of National Personification of the United Kingdom . ROMAN PERIOD See Also: Roman Britain The Romans originally described the group of islands off north-west Europe as the ''Britanniae'', consisting of ''Albion'' (Britain), ''Hibernia'' (Ireland) and many smaller islands. Over time, Albion came to be known as ''Britannia'', and the name for the group was subsequently dropped. The island was first invaded by Julius Caesar in 55 BC . At the height of Roman Britain , the Empire included most of the island of Great Britain . The Romans built Hadrian's Wall close to today's border between England and Scotland . The province was named Britannia, and the unincorporated area of northern Britain was called Caledonia . A southern part of what is now known as Scotland was occupied by the Romans for a brief period by the end of the Roman period, keeping in place the Picts to the north of the Antonine Wall . The Romans never completely occupied the island of Great Britain, and the Celtic tribes even prevented full consolidation of the southwest. People living in the Roman province of Britannia were called Britanni. Ireland was never conquered and was called Hibernia . There was a celtic goddess called Brigid who is one of the many sources of the personification of Britain. The Emperor Claudius paid a visit while Britain was being conquered and was honoured with the Agnomen ''Britannicus'' as if he were the conqueror, but Britannia remained a place, not a female personification of the land, until she appeared on coins issued under Hadrian ,1 which introduced a female figure labelled BRITANNIA. Britannia was soon personified as a . Modern historians have noted similarities Britannia has in appearance to Boudicca . Both are usually depicted with shields and wearing long dresses, and the physiognomy of both female figures in early depictions is remarkably similar. BRITISH REVIVAL ]] Britannia remained the Latin name for Great Britain . After the Fall Of The Roman Empire , variations on the term appear in the titles of the 9th century '' Historia Britonum '' and the 12th century '' Historia Regum Britanniae '' which became tremendously popular during the High Middle Ages . It gained new symbolic meaning with the rise of British influence and later, the and then with Ireland in 1800 Britannia became an increasingly important symbol and a strong rallying point among Britons. British power, which depended on a liberal political system and the supremacy of the , the national animal of England which also appears on the Arms of Scotland —and a representative of God. Another change was that she was no longer bare breasted, due to the modesty of Victorian society. In the Renaissance tradition, Britannia came to be viewed as the personification of Britain , in imagery that was developed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I . When James I came to the throne, some elaborate pageants were staged. One pageant performed on the streets of London in 1605 was described in Anthony Munday 's ''Triumphs of Reunited Britannia'': On a mount triangular, as the island of Britain itself is described to be, we seat in the supreme place, under the shape of a fair and beautiful nymph, Britannia herself... .]] Britannia first appeared on the Farthing in 1672 , followed by the Halfpenny later the same year; the model used, then and later, was Charles II 's mistress, the Duchess Of Richmond . She then appeared on the Penny coin between 1797 and 1970 , and on the 50 Pence coin since 1969 . When the Bank Of England was granted a charter in 1694 , the directors decided within days that the device for their official seal should represent 'Brittannia sitting on looking on a Bank of Mony' (sic). Perhaps the best analogy is that Britannia is to the United Kingdom and the British Empire what Marianne is to France or perhaps what Lady Liberty is to the United States Of America . Like Lady Liberty, Britannia became a very potent and more common figure in times of war, and represented British liberties and democracy. During the 1990s a new term, Cool Britannia (a pun on the poem ' Rule Britannia ' by James Thomson - 1748 , and the song adapted from it, which is often used as an unofficial National Anthem ), was used to describe the contemporary United Kingdom. The phrase referred to the fashionable London , Glasgow , Cardiff and Manchester scenes, with a new generation of pop groups and style magazines, successful young fashion designers, and a surge of new restaurants and hotels. Cool Britannia represented late-1990s Britain as a fashionable place to be. NAMESAKES Today Britannia lives on in British symbols and British patriotism such as:
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