Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first known use of the name Britannia dates back to the 4th century BC when the Greek explorer Pytheas referred to the islands as Prettanike. This name was a Latinisation of the native Brittonic word Pretanī which the Greeks had already adapted into Brettaniai.
The creation of the province of Britannia is commonly attributed to Emperor Claudius in 43 AD. Julius Caesar had taken the sons of British kings back to Rome as hostages during his expeditions in 55 and 54 BC decades before the full-scale invasion.
Britannia made her first appearance on English coins on a farthing in 1672 though earlier pattern versions had appeared in 1665. The figure also appeared on the British halfpenny coin throughout the rest of the 17th century and thereafter until 1936.
Britannia's spear became the trident in 1797 to symbolise the Royal Navy's victories. A helmet was added to the coinage in 1825 and the figure often sat or stood before the ocean and tall-masted ships representing British naval power.
In 2021 the Royal Mint issued a new range of commemorative coins featuring a redesigned Britannia as a woman of colour. This marked a significant shift in the representation of the national personification to reflect a more diverse modern Britain.
During the 1990s the term Cool Britannia was used to describe the contemporary United Kingdom. The phrase referred to the fashionable scenes of the era with a new generation of pop groups and style magazines.