Roman conquest of Britain: A Visual History

The Roman conquest of Britain began in AD 43 when Claudius, needing military glory, sent Aulus Plautius with four legions to invade; the Catuvellauni were beaten on the Medway and Claudius arrived with elephants to receive the surrender of Camulodunum (Colchester). Caratacus led resistance in Wales until captured in 51; Suetonius Paulinus's attack on the druids of Anglesey coincided with Boudica's Iceni revolt of 60-61, which burned Colchester, London and St Albans and killed 70,000 before her army was destroyed. Vespasian's governors subdued Wales and the Brigantes; Agricola (77-84) conquered northern England, invaded Scotland and defeated the Caledonians at Mons Graupius in 83 or 84, but the highlands were abandoned and Hadrian's Wall later fixed the frontier.

When it was fought: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Roman conquest of Britain. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Roman-controlled area of Britain

Timeline of the Roman conquest of Britain

1. 43
   Claudian invasion; Medway; Colchester surrenders
2. 47
   Fosse Way frontier
3. 51
   Caratacus captured
4. 60
   Anglesey attacked; Boudica's revolt
5. 61
   Boudica defeated
6. 71
   Cerialis conquers the Brigantes
7. 77
   Agricola governor
8. 84
   Mons Graupius
9. 122
   Hadrian's Wall begun

AD 43

Caesar's expeditions of 55-54 BC had opened trade and client kingdoms; Caligula's abortive invasion of 40 gathered the troops Claudius used in 43. Some 40,000 men landed, probably at Richborough, defeated Caratacus and Togodumnus in a two-day battle on the Medway and forced the Thames; Claudius came for 16 days to accept the surrender of eleven kings at Colchester, where a temple to him was built. Vespasian's Second Legion took Maiden Castle and the south-west; client kings like Cogidubnus and Prasutagus of the Iceni ruled under Roman protection.

Caratacus and Boudica

Caratacus fought on among the Silures and Ordovices of Wales until defeated in 50 and betrayed by Cartimandua of the Brigantes; taken to Rome in chains, his speech won him a pardon. Ostorius Scapula's disarming of the Iceni and, after Prasutagus's death, the flogging of Boudica and rape of her daughters by Roman agents triggered the revolt of 60-61 while Paulinus was massacring the druids on Anglesey. Boudica's host destroyed Colchester and its Ninth Legion relief, London and Verulamium; Paulinus's 10,000 men beat her somewhere in the Midlands, and she took poison. Nero considered abandoning Britain.

Agricola

Under Vespasian, Cerialis conquered the Brigantes and Frontinus the Silures; Agricola, Tacitus's father-in-law, finished Wales and Anglesey, drove into Scotland by 80, built forts at Inchtuthil, and at Mons Graupius in 83 or 84 defeated the Caledonians under Calgacus, whom Tacitus makes say 'they make a desert and call it peace'. His fleet circumnavigated Britain and proved it an island. Domitian recalled him; the Scottish forts were abandoned by about 87 and the frontier drew back to the Tyne-Solway line where Hadrian built his wall from 122.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Roman Empire (27 BC to 476)
• Western Roman Empire (395 to 476)
• British Empire (1583 to 1997)

Wars of the same era and region

• Gallic Wars (58 BC to 50 BC)
• Roman-Germanic wars (113 BC to 476)
• Irish Nine Years' War (Tyrone's Rebellion) (1593 to 1603)

8 surprising things about the Roman conquest of Britain

1. Claudius brought elephants to Britain for his 16-day visit and was voted a triumph and the name Britannicus for his son.
2. Boudica's revolt destroyed the three largest towns in Britain; a burnt layer from 60-61 is found beneath London.
3. Tacitus says Boudica was tall, harsh-voiced and red-haired to the hips; her statue stands by Westminster Bridge.
4. Cartimandua of the Brigantes handed Caratacus to Rome and later lost her kingdom to her ex-husband.
5. The site of Mons Graupius has never been found; candidates run from Perthshire to Aberdeenshire.
6. The Ninth Legion, mauled by Boudica, later vanished from the record, spawning the legend of the 'lost legion'.
7. Agricola's fleet was the first to sail round Britain and see the Orkneys.
8. Rome garrisoned Britain with three legions, about a tenth of its army, for the whole occupation.

Sources

• Roman Britain Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Roman conquest of Britain Wikipedia
• Boudicca World History Encyclopedia
• David Mattingly, An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire (2006) Allen Lane

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