{"id":14217,"date":"2022-05-05T17:53:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T15:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=207770"},"modified":"2022-05-05T18:13:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T16:13:35","slug":"how-did-the-romans-conquer-britain","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/how-did-the-romans-conquer-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"How did the Romans conquer Britain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 05 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 wasn\u2019t the empire\u2019s first foray onto British soil. Almost a century earlier, Julius Caesar made two expeditions<\/a> to the mysterious, tribal island. The first, in 55 BC, couldn\u2019t genuinely be described as an invasion. Commanding just two legions, Caesar hoped to score a major propaganda victory by crossing the Channel, even if he painted the expedition as a mere act of revenge against the Gaul-supporting Britons. \u201cIn almost all the wars with the Gauls,\u201d he would later write, \u201csuccours had been furnished to our enemy from that country.\u201d<\/p>\n

After spying the massed forces of Britons on the cliffs above Dover, the small fleet opted for an open beach further along the coastline. However, heavy storms forced the Roman cavalry reinforcements, sailing in the wake of the initial party, back to Gaul (a region comprising modern-day France, parts of Belgium, western Germany, and northern Italy). Caesar and his men soon retreated across the Channel, too, regrouping in readiness for another assault the following year.<\/p>\n

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The campaign of 54 BC was more successful. Caesar learned from his mistakes, assembling a much larger taskforce, one numbering five legions and a 2,000-strong cavalry. Landing unopposed, the Romans were too strong for the Britons and soon advanced across the Thames, after which they were approached by the Trinovantes, a tribe whose leader had recently been overthrown by the warlord Cassivellaunus. The Trinovantes offered aid and provisions to the invaders, as did other tribes. In return, Caesar restored the Trinovantes\u2019 exiled leader Mandubracius as king and forced Cassivellaunus to surrender. Assured by the latter that no second coup would occur, Caesar \u2013 along with every last one of his soldiers \u2013 left Britain and travelled back to Gaul.<\/p>\n
Read more | Did the Britons ignore the Roman invasion?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Decades of relative harmony between Britain and the Roman empire followed, with a number of new client kingdoms set in place. These states were ruled by local tribes who had aligned with Rome; under this system, military occupation by Roman legions wasn\u2019t required.<\/p>\n
By AD 40, though, the political landscape of Britain had become significantly more volatile. Led by Caratacus, the Catuvellauni tribe had overthrown the Trinovantes as the rulers of southern England\u2019s most powerful kingdom, simultaneously banishing any Roman-sympathetic tribes into exile. That year, Caligula<\/a> instructed some of his legions to practise military manoeuvres on the beaches of Gaul ahead of an apparent invasion of Britain, but this most unpredictable of emperors never ordered the campaign\u2019s commencement. Three years later though, Caligula\u2019s successor \u2013 his uncle Claudius \u2013 did just that.<\/p>\n
Coming in to land<\/h3>\n
Not only did Claudius wish to restore, and even expand, Roman influence in Britain but, suffering from poor public opinion in Rome, he also understood how a military victory could greatly improve his standing. One of Rome\u2019s most venerable senators, Aulus Plautius, was placed in charge of the invasion, an ambitious campaign drawn up on the pretext of simply reinstating Verica, the exiled Atrebates king.<\/p>\n
There is a difference of opinion among historians as to where the invasion forces landed in AD 43. Some reports mention Kent\u2019s east coast, while others favour a spot close to Noviomagus Reginorum, aka latter-day Chichester. (Indeed, to this day, an area of Chichester Harbour is still known as Roman Landing.) As the invaders landed in three divisions, both accounts could be correct, of course.<\/p>\n

Within four years, the Romans had control from the Bristol Channel to the Humber <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
After offering stiff resistance at the two-day battle of the Medway near Rochester, the Britons retreated to the Thames and further beyond into the Essex marshes, pushed back by the Romans\u2019 momentum. Plautius, though, chose to reduce the intensity while he awaited the arrival of Claudius to enjoy the triumph soon to come. Once the emperor reached Britain, the beleaguered Britons, represented by 11 different tribes, surrendered without any further loss of life. Claudius was gifted the victory and returned home to bask in the glory.<\/p>\n
His troops, meanwhile, continued into the interior, pushing on in both westerly and northerly directions. The future emperor Vespasian was in command of the legions heading west and made steady progress as far as Exeter. The story was similar for those marching north. Within four years of the initial invasion, the Romans had total control of the southern half of England, from the Bristol Channel to the Humber.<\/p>\n
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