Somewhere over the years, the Celtic Britions became the British.
With the end of Boudicca’s rebellion in AD60, Rome had established a firm control over the territories of modern England and Wales, and would remain in control for over three hundred years. Despite the vast writings left to us by the Roman Empire, very little is known about the internal doings in Britain during this time. There are no records written by anyone within Britain.
Instead, Britain becomes another province of the Roman Empire, and the history of Britain becomes just a minor piece in a much larger history. What we know of the people of Britain comes mostly from archaeology.
What is important to remember about this time is that the vast majority of people who dwelt in Britain during this period were not “Romans”, they were Romanized British (later Romano-British), they were Celts. With the Roman conquest of Britain, there was no mass migration from the continent.
Although the people of Wales like to claim they are the true British, recently DNA surveys performed in England, Scotland, and Wales, have found that a majority of people in all three places are in fact descended from Celts (although Wales was first in the list). This is true despite later major invasions by Saxons, Danes, and Normans.
So, when historians speak of “The British” they are in fact speaking of the Celtic peoples of Britain, be they tribal warriors or Roman citizens.
