Greeks in The United Kingdom - Early Greek Settlement

Early Greek Settlement

The first known Greek to come to Britain was Pytheas (Greek: Πυθέας). He reported its name as Pretannia, which became Britannia, it is assumed that its Hellenised version was under Diodorus. It may have been used by some of the local peoples where Pytheas landed to themselves -Pretani. Many Greeks later arrived with the Roman legions as soldiers and traders, and their presence is attested by inscriptions on curse tablets, gravestones and dedicatory tablets in both Greek and Latin displayed in the Museum of London and elsewhere, including:

A ALFID POMP OLVSSA EX TESTAMENTO HER POS ANNOR LXX NA ATHENVI H S EST

"Aulus Alfidius Pompolussa, as stated in his will, his heirs placed this. Seventy years old, a native of Athens, he lies here."

I O M TEMPLVM VETVSTATE CONLABSVM AQVILINVS AVG LIB ET MERCATOR ET AVDAX ET GRAEC RESTITVER

"For Jupiter Best and Greatest, this temple, collapsed through old age, was restored by Aquilinus, freedman of the emperor, a trader, a man of courage, a Greek."

and two dedicatory plaques found in York beneath what is now the railway station stating that:

ΩΚΕΑΝΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΘΥΙ ΔΕΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ

"To Oceanus and Tethys, Demetrius ."

and

THEOIS TOIS TOU HEGEMONIKOU PRAITORION SCRIBONIOS DEMETRIOS

"To the gods of the governor's headquarters, Scribonius Demetrius ."

As far north as Cumbria, we find the tomb of Hermes of Commagene:

"Let some traveller, on seeing Hermes of Commagene, aged 16 years, sheltered in the tomb by fate, call out: I give you my greetings, lad, though mortal the path of life you slowly tread, for swiftly have you winged your way to the land of the Cimmerian folk. Nor will your words be false, for the lad is good, and you will do him a good service."

Indeed, the Roman city of Carlisle, judging by surviving inscriptions, seems to have been home to a thriving Greek community. It is a matter of historical record then, that Greek was being spoken in England hundreds of years before the English language or Anglo-Saxon peoples ever reached its shores.

In the 7th century, following the death of the previous holder of the post, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus was appointed Head of the Anglican Church as Archbishop of Canterbury (669 AD); he played an important part in the early history of England, building churches and monasteries and establishing theological studies. According to the Venerable Bede, Theodore contributed to the bringing of a greater unity to English Christianity, and in 672 presided over the first council of the entire English Church, at Hertford. The structure of dioceses and parishes he put in place is still substantially in place today.