Britannia is the ancient Roman personification of the Isle of Britain. The name derives from ‘Pretani’, which is the Brittonic name for the island (Brittonic being the Celtic language that is the foremother of Welsh, among others). The first Roman to (officially) get there was Julius Caesar, who, bored with Gaul, landed in Kent on August 26th, 55 BCE, though he and his two legions pretty much only poked around a bit. The next year he went back with more force, although Britain wasn’t properly annexed to Rome until the Emperor Claudius invaded in 43 CE.

An early image of Britannia is found in the Roman city of Aphrodisias, a city dedicated to Aphrodite in what is now south-west Turkey. In that city there is a temple complex to their Aphrodite called the Sebasteion, built from about 20 to 60 CE; on one of its long line of carved marble friezes, Roman emperors are depicted as victorious conquerors, especially of ‘barbarian’ provinces. The emperor Claudius is shown with Britannia on one somewhat damaged frieze: he is heroically nude save for a dramatic wind-blown cape, sword-belt and helmet, and having forced Britannia to the ground with his knee he aims what was probably his sword to kill Her. She raises a fist to stave him off—She may have held a dagger in it, but it’s difficult to make out due to the damage. On Her left arm is a strap for a shield, and She is dressed in a short tunic and hunter’s boots. Her clothing, which leaves one breast bare, is much like that shown on Classical images of the Amazons; this gives Her a certain nobility, for the Amazons were considered worthy and noble opponents.

Britannia’s first (known) appearance on coins are from the emperor Hadrian’s time, in 119 CE; on these coins She is shown in a three-quarter pose, seated upon a rock with Her right leg raised, holding a spear with a shield propped up next to Her. She leans forward a little to prop Her chin upon Her right hand, altogether looking a bit dejected, as is appropriate for the symbol of a (mostly) conquered land.

A couple of decades later, in 140 CE, Britannia is shown looking much more like a Goddess. She is seated on the rock in full profile, Her left hand holding the spear (with the shield leaning against the rocks again), and holding something that might be a cornucopia or Roman military standard in Her right hand. Her head is raised and Her hair gathered in the back like a proud and proper Roman. Another coin of the same era shows Britannia in the exact same pose, except She is wearing a short tunic and bracchae (trousers) tucked into short boots in the Celtic style. She is still clearly female; perhaps this ‘barbarian’ outfit again alludes to the noble but defeated Amazons, who sometimes wore leggings in the Greek depictions of them.

In the later Empire, Britannia could be shown standing and shaking hands with the Emperor of the time, sometimes offering him a wreath for victory.

Britannia, though deified, is clearly only a symbol of the land; and like other personified places and virtues, She was readily used in Roman propaganda. Associating Britannia with the Amazons makes the Roman conquest of Britain sound almost like a sad but necessary thing, as if Britain, though ‘barbaric’, had a thread of nobility that the Romans could bring out into the light with their civilizing ways. And in time, the image of Britannia becomes much more Roman looking, with the full majesty of any other Goddess.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Britannia seemed destined to fade into obscurity; however, a millennium later in the Renaissance She was re-adopted as a poetic symbol of Britain. She was given a helmet, and Her spear was replaced with a trident to symbolize England’s naval power, and the conquered became the conquerors. As representing the might of the British Empire, Britannia was not only once again depicted on coins, but inspired another personification—She is said to be the mother of one Zealandia, the personification of the colony of New Zealand.