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ROMAN INVASION OF BRITAIN

Standard Bearer of the Tenth Legion
Britain was conquered in A.D. 43 by four Roman legions under the crippled Emperor Claudius. In 51 the native leader Cartatcus was captured and taken to Rome. Late an insurrection led by Boudicca, queen of Iceni, was brutally put down.
Adrian Goldsworthy, National Geographic History: Launched by Emperor Claudius in A.D. 43, the Roman conquest of Britain was hampered by the revolt of Boudica in 60. Following the defeat of the rebel queen, Roman forces resumed their advance, securing Wales and swaths of northern England by 80 and penetrating what is today Scotland under the command of the general Agricola. After withdrawal of the Second Legion Adiutrix for deployment near the Danube, however, the Romans lost the chance to subjugate Scotland. They moved south and established a line of fortifications, running roughly east to west along a line. [Source Adrian Goldsworthy, National Geographic History, June 8, 2023]
Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribune under governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. In his subsequent career, he served in a variety of political positions in Rome. In 64, he was appointed quaestor in Asia province. Two years later, he was appointed Plebeian Tribune, and in 68, he was made praetor. During the Year of the Four Emperors in 69, he supported Vespasian, general of the Syrian army, in his bid for the throne. [Source Wikipedia]
Mary Beard told Smithsonian magazine:“When the historian Tacitus said “They create desolation and call it peace” to describe the Roman conquest of Britain, he gave us a phrase that described the effects of many conquests over the centuries, up to our own. [Source: Smithsonian magazine, November 9, 2015]
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Websites on Ancient Rome: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history; Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; Lacus Curtius penelope.uchicago.edu; The Internet Classics Archive classics.mit.edu ; Bryn Mawr Classical Review bmcr.brynmawr.edu; Cambridge Classics External Gateway to Humanities Resources web.archive.org; Ancient Rome resources for students from the Courtenay Middle School Library web.archive.org ; History of ancient Rome OpenCourseWare from the University of Notre Dame web.archive.org ; United Nations of Roma Victrix (UNRV) History unrv.com
Two Roman Invasions of Britain
Dr Mike Ibeji wrote for the BBC: “Rome invaded Britain because it suited the careers of two men. The first of these was Julius Caesar. This great republican general had conquered Gaul and was looking for an excuse to avoid returning to Rome. Britain afforded him one, in 55 B.C., when Commius, king of the Atrebates, was ousted by Cunobelin, king of the Catuvellauni, and fled to Gaul. Caesar seized the opportunity to mount an expedition on behalf of Commius. He wanted to gain the glory of a victory beyond the Great Ocean, and believed that Britain was full of silver and booty to be plundered. [Source: Dr Mike Ibeji, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]
“His first expedition, however, was ill-conceived and too hastily organised. With just two legions, he failed to do much more than force his way ashore at Deal and win a token victory that impressed the senate in Rome more than it did the tribesmen of Britain. In 54 B.C., he tried again, this time with five legions, and succeeded in re-establishing Commius on the Atrebatic throne. Yet he returned to Gaul disgruntled and empty-handed, complaining in a letter to Cicero that there was no silver or booty to be found in Britain after all. |::|
“Caesar's military adventurism set the scene for the second exploitation of Britain - by the Emperor Claudius. He was to use an identical excuse to Caesar for very similar reasons. Claudius had recently been made emperor in a palace coup. He needed the prestige of military conquest to consolidate his hold on power. Into this situation came Verica, successor to Commius, complaining that the new chief of the Catuvellauni, Caratacus, had deprived him of his throne. |::|
“Like Caesar, Claudius seized his chance. In A.D. 43, he sent four legions across the sea to invade Britain. They landed at Richborough and pushed towards the River Medway, where they met with stiff resistance. However, the young general Vespasian forced the river with his legion supported by a band of 'Celtic' auxiliaries, and the British were routed. |::|
“Vespasian marched west, to storm Maiden Castle and Hod Hill with such ruthless efficiency that the catapult bolts used to subdue them can still be dug out of the ground today. Hod Hill contains a tiny Roman fort from this time, tucked into one corner of its massive earthworks. Meanwhile, Claudius arrived in Britain to enter the Catuvellaunian capital of Colchester in triumph. He founded a temple there, containing a fine bronze statue of himself, and established a legionary fortress. He remained in Britain for only 16 days. |::|
“It took another 30 years to conquer the rest of the island (bar the Highlands). Once in, Rome was prepared to defend her new acquisition to the death. Yet Britain was originally invaded not for its wealth, not for strategic reasons, not even for ideology, but for the plain and simple reason that it furthered a politician's career. It has been said that Rome conquered an empire in a fit of absent-mindedness. Britain is a case in point. |::|
Why Britain?

Roman coin in Britain
Dr. Neil Faulkner of the University of Bristol wrote for the BBC: “Why did the Romans invade Britain in 43 AD? Their empire already extended from the Channel coast to the Caucasus, from the northern Rhineland to the Sahara. The great age of conquest had ended a few decades before. Three legions had been destroyed in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest by rebellious German tribesmen in 9 AD, and the emperor Augustus concluded that the empire was overextended and called a halt to new wars of conquest. “Britain was an afterthought. It was not about economics. Rome's rulers were already the richest men in history. Nor was it about military security. The Channel was as effective a frontier as one could wish for. [Source: Dr Neil Faulkner, BBC, March 29, 2011 |::| ]
About the author: Dr Neil Faulkner is an honorary lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. He is editor of the popular magazines Current Archaeology and Current World Archaeology, and has written four books, including The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain and Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt against Rome. His TV appearances include Channel Four’s Time Team, BBC TWO's Timewatch, and Channel Five's Revealed. |::|
“The invasion of Britain was a war of prestige. The 'mad' emperor Caligula had been assassinated in 41 AD, and an obscure member of the imperial family, Claudius, had been elevated to the throne. The new emperor faced opposition from the Senate, Rome's House of Lords. Claudius needed a quick political fix to secure his throne. What better than a glorious military victory in Britain? |::|
The army was the core of the Roman state. In a few centuries, it had transformed Rome from a small city-state into the greatest empire of antiquity. Its conquests more than paid for themselves in booty, slaves and tribute. War was highly profitable. Roman culture reflected this, valuing military achievement above all else. Roman leaders had to prove themselves first and foremost as army commanders. And where better for Claudius to prove himself than in Britain? |::|
Caesar in Britain

Britons ready for battle
Caesar invaded Britain twice. His conquests there are regarded as little more than the first steps of Rome’s effort to take over Britain. Britain did become fully Romanized until Emperor Claudius launched a more sustained campaign about a hundred years after Caesar’s invasion and that campaign was completed by Tacitus' father-in-law Agricola.
Dr Mike Ibeji wrote for the BBC: “The first Roman to seize the opportunities for glory provided by Britain was Julius Caesar. Having essentially conquered Gaul by 56 B.C., he found himself in a position where he was compelled to return to Rome and disband his army, unless he could find an excuse to stay in the field. He found that excuse in Britain. By claiming that the British tribes had helped the Gauls he had just cause to invade. In fact, as his own writings and the letters he sent to Cicero indicate, he was much more interested in the glory he would gain for crossing the Great Ocean and in the wealth of silver rumoured to be on the island, than in any so-called security risk. [Source: Dr Mike Ibeji, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]
in 55 B.C., when Commius, king of the Atrebates, was ousted by Cunobelin, king of the Catuvellauni, and fled to Gaul. Caesar seized the opportunity to mount an expedition on behalf of Commius. He wanted to gain the glory of a victory beyond the Great Ocean, and believed that Britain was full of silver and booty to be plundered.
“His first expedition, however, was ill-conceived and too hastily organised. With just two legions, he failed to do much more than force his way ashore at Deal and win a token victory that impressed the senate in Rome more than it did the tribesmen of Britain. In 54 B.C., he tried again, this time with five legions, and succeeded in re-establishing Commius on the Atrebatic throne. Yet he returned to Gaul disgruntled and empty-handed, complaining in a letter to Cicero that there was no silver or booty to be found in Britain after all.” |::|
By the time of the second expedition in 54 B.C. “he had received the accolades he desired and ...pulled out of the island, exacting tribute and hostages and concentrated on pacifying the troublesome tribes of Gaul before crossing the Rubicon with his army and returning to Rome as its most powerful son. His power and prestige were so great, in fact, that his enemies were forced to assassinate him, sparking the civil war that destroyed the Republic. |::|
See Separate Article: JULIUS CAESAR IN BRITAIN europe.factsanddetails.com
Claudius I's Conquest of Britain

Claudius
The most important event of the reign of Claudius was the invasion and partial conquest of Britain. Britain was conquered in A.D. 43 by four Roman legions under the Claudius. In A.D. 51 the native leader Cartatcus was captured and taken to Rome. Later an insurrection led by Boudicca, queen of Iceni, was brutally put down.
Since the invasion of Julius Caesar a hundred years before, the Romans had taken little interest in this island. With the aid of his lieutenants, Aulus Plautius and Vespasian, Claudius effected a permanent landing in Britain. He was opposed by the famous Celtic chief Caractacus, but succeeded in subduing the southern part of the island. Britain was thus opened to Roman conquest. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) \~]
Dr. Neil Faulkner of the University of Bristol wrote for the BBC: “A century before, in both 55 and 54 B.C., Julius Caesar had invaded Britain with the aim of conquest. But revolt in Gaul (modern-day France) had drawn him away before he had beaten down determined British guerrilla resistance. Britain had remained free – and mysterious, dangerous, exotic. In the popular Roman imagination, it was a place of marsh and forest, mist and drizzle, inhabited by ferocious blue-painted warriors. Here was a fine testing-ground of an emperor's fitness to rule. [Source: Dr Neil Faulkner, BBC, March 29, 2011 |::|]
Claudius’s Invasion of Britain
Dr. Neil Faulkner of the University of Bristol wrote for the BBC: ““For the Claudian invasion, an army of 40,000 professional soldiers - half citizen-legionaries, half auxiliaries recruited on the wilder fringes of the empire - were landed in Britain under the command of Aulus Plautius. |Archaeologists debate where they landed - Richborough in Kent, Chichester in Sussex, or perhaps both. Somewhere, perhaps on the River Medway, they fought a great battle and crushed the Catuvellauni, the tribe that dominated the south east. | [Source: Dr Neil Faulkner, BBC, March 29, 2011 |::|]
Dr Mike Ibeji wrote for the BBC: “When Claudius became Roman emperor in A.D. 41, he understood that in order to survive he needed a triumph. He used the appeal of the British chieftain, Verica, as his excuse for action. Verica was a king of the Atrebates who had been driven out by Cunobelin's successor, Caratacus. The Roman legions under Aulus Plautius landed at Richborough, surprised the British army at the River Medway and pushed Caratacus back to his stronghold at Camulodunum (Colchester). [Source: Dr Mike Ibeji, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]
“There, Plautius waited for the Emperor Claudius to arrive from Rome, bringing additional troops including a force of elephants with him. Claudius himself led the final storming of the Catuvellauni stronghold, which went very like Caesar's earlier assault. Caratacus and his followers escaped in their chariots from the back of the fort and went on the run. He was eventually betrayed by Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes and handed over to Rome, to be paraded in chains through Rome. |::|
“As the royal stronghold of the major tribe in the south-east, Camulodunum was of immense strategic importance, which is why a legionary fortress was immediately begun on an spur of flat land nearby. Britain had never seen anything like it. Vast quantities of timber, sand, gravel and clay were brought from the surrounding area to create a huge, regimented settlement completely unlike the sprawling hill-forts the Britons were used to. For the first time, bricks and mortar were used in Britain to create buildings which we would not find unfamiliar today. |::|

Augustus and Britain
Dr Mike Ibeji wrote for the BBC: “One might legitimately ask why, if Britain was such a land of opportunity, Caesar's ultimate successor Augustus had no interest in it. Strabo makes it perfectly clear that despite the perceived wealth of the country, Augustus did not think that it was worth conquering. These comments have often been used to argue that Britain was not economically viable to the Empire. Yet to argue this is to misunderstand the way the Roman system worked. Cost did not come into it, except as a reason to justify inaction. [Source: Dr Mike Ibeji, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]
“There was nothing to be gained for Augustus in invading Britain. Caesar had already won the prestige for crossing the Great Ocean and claiming to have settled the country. There was more kudos then in conquering Germany north of the Elbe or beating up on Rome's favourite enemy, the Parthians (the precise geographical equivalent of modern-day Saddam bashing) than in belittling his adoptive father's claims. It was not until the German frontier was closed by the disaster of A.D. 9 in which Varus lost three legions at Teutoberger Wald and Parthia became too strong to seriously contemplate war that any Roman emperor could seriously contemplate a return to Britain. |::|
Paulinus, Roman Governor Britain
Dr Mike Ibeji wrote for the BBC: “The governorship of Suetonius Paulinus, the ex-governor of Britain whose support tipped the balance in favour of Otho at the start of the war, illustrates what those who received a posting in post-invasion Britain hoped to gain out of it. Tacitus says that when Paulinus arrived in Britain 'He was ambitious to achieve victories as glorious as his rival Corbulo's reconquest of Armenia.' Consequently, he planned to attack the isle of Anglesey, which was controlled by druids and provided a refuge to those disaffected Britons ousted by the inexorable Roman conquest. [Source: Dr Mike Ibeji, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]
“Britain was at this time very much a wild frontier, with all the opportunities for glory that this entailed; so wild, in fact, that while the governor was away in Wales the province erupted into the Boudiccan Revolt. This had been prompted by the over-zealous exploitation of the natives by those in power. Centurions assigned to supply saw a chance for profiteering and veteran colonists established at Colchester were only too willing to steal land from the natives in an attempt to make a killing on the new frontier. Instead, it was they who were massacred in their thousands. |::|
“Paulinus quelled the revolt with ruthless efficiency but his methods were frowned upon by the new procurator (finance official), Classicianus. Classicianus' influence was such that he could have Paulinus removed from office. Yet Paulinus' prestige had been so enhanced by his sojourn in Britain that even though he had a high profile on the wrong side in the ensuing civil war, he was untouched by the purges that followed. Classicianus meanwhile became so rich as procurator that he could afford a tomb as big as a small house, which can now be found in the British Museum. |::|

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) ; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932); BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, The New Yorker, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com and various other books, websites and publications.
Last updated October 2024