Roman conquest of Britain


The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius and being largely completed by 87 when the Stanegate was established as the northen frontier.
The Roman army was generally recruited in Italia, Hispania, and Gaul. To cross the English Channel they used the newly-formed Classis Britannica fleet equipped with Mediterranean war galleys, which were much thicker in wood and more stable on rough waters.
The Romans under their general Aulus Plautius first forced their way inland in several battles against British tribes, including the Battle of the Medway, the Battle of the Thames, and in later years the Battle of Caer Caradoc against Caratacus and the Battle of Mona in Anglesey. Following a general uprising in AD 60 in which Boudicca sacked Camulodunum, Verulamium and Londinium, the Romans suppressed the rebellion in the Battle of Watling Street. They went on eventually to push as far north as central Caledonia in the Battle of Mons Graupius. Even after Hadrian's Wall was established as the border, tribes in Scotland and northern England repeatedly rebelled against Roman rule and forts continued to be maintained across northern Britain to protect against these attacks.

Background

In common with other regions on the edge of the empire, Britain had enjoyed diplomatic and trading links with the Romans in the century since Julius Caesar's expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, and Roman economic and cultural influence was a significant part of the British late pre-Roman Iron Age, especially in the south.
Between 55 BC and the 40s AD, the status quo of tribute, hostages, and client states without direct military occupation, begun by Caesar's invasions of Britain, largely remained intact. Augustus prepared invasions in 34 BC, 27 BC and 25 BC. The first and third were called off due to revolts elsewhere in the empire, the second because the Britons seemed ready to come to terms. According to Augustus's Res Gestae, two British kings, Dubnovellaunus and Tincomarus, fled to Rome as supplicants during his reign, and Strabo's Geography, written during this period, says Britain paid more in customs and duties than could be raised by taxation if the island were conquered.
By the 40s AD, the political situation within Britain was in ferment. The Catuvellauni had displaced the Trinovantes as the most powerful kingdom in south-eastern Britain, taking over the former Trinovantian capital of Camulodunum. The Atrebates tribe whose capital was at Calleva Atrebatum had friendly trade and diplomatic links with Rome and Verica was recognised by Rome as their king, but Caratacus' Catuvellauni conquered the entire kingdom some time after 40 AD and Verica was expelled from Britain.
Caligula may have planned a campaign against the Britons in AD 40, but its execution was unclear: according to Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars, he drew up his troops in battle formation facing the English Channel and, once his forces had become quite confused, ordered them to gather seashells, referring to them as "plunder from the ocean due to the Capitol and the Palace". Alternatively, he may have actually told them to gather "huts", since the word musculi was also soldier's slang for engineers' huts and Caligula himself was very familiar with the Empire's soldiers. In any case this readied the troops and facilities that would make Claudius' invasion possible three years later. For example, Caligula built a lighthouse at Bononia, the Tour D'Ordre, that provided a model for the one built soon after at Dubris.

Claudian preparations

In 43, possibly by reassembling Caligula's troops from 40, Claudius mounted an invasion force under overall charge of Aulus Plautius, a distinguished senator. A pretext of the invasion was to reinstate Verica, the exiled king of the Atrebates.
It is unclear how many legions were sent as only the Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian was directly attested to have taken part.
The Legio IX Hispana, the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XX Valeria Victrix are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion, but the Roman army was flexible, with cohorts and auxiliary units being moved around whenever necessary.
Three other men of appropriate rank to command legions are known from the sources to have been involved in the invasion. Cassius Dio mentions Gnaeus Hosidius Geta, who probably led the IX Hispana, and Vespasian's brother Titus Flavius Sabinus the Younger. He wrote that Sabinus was Vespasian's lieutenant, but as Sabinus was the older brother and preceded Vespasian into public life, he could hardly have been a military tribune. Eutropius mentions Gnaeus Sentius Saturninus, although as a former consul he may have been too senior, and perhaps accompanied Claudius later.

Crossing and landing

The main invasion force under Aulus Plautius crossed in three divisions. The port of departure is usually taken to have been Boulogne, and the main landing at Rutupiae. Neither of these locations is certain. Dio does not mention the port of departure, and although Suetonius says that the secondary force under Claudius sailed from Boulogne, it does not necessarily follow that the entire invasion force did. Richborough has a large natural harbour which would have been suitable, and archaeology shows Roman military occupation at about the right time. However, Dio says the Romans sailed east to west, and a journey from Boulogne to Richborough is south to north. Some historians suggest a sailing from Boulogne to the Solent, landing in the vicinity of Noviomagus or Southampton, in territory formerly ruled by Verica.

River Battles

British resistance was led by Togodumnus and Caratacus, sons of the late king of the Catuvellauni, Cunobeline. A substantial British force met the Romans at a river crossing thought to be near Rochester on the River Medway. The Battle of the Medway raged for two days. Gnaeus Hosidius Geta was almost captured, but recovered and turned the battle so decisively that he was awarded the "Roman triumph".
The British were pushed back to the Thames. They were pursued by the Romans across the river causing some Roman losses in the marshes of Essex. Whether the Romans made use of an existing bridge for this purpose or built a temporary one is uncertain. At least one division of auxiliary Batavian troops swam across the river as a separate force.
Togodumnus died shortly after the battle on the Thames. Plautius halted and sent word for Claudius to join him for the final push. Cassius Dio presents this as Plautius needing the emperor's assistance to defeat the resurgent British, who were determined to avenge Togodumnus. However, Claudius was no military man and the Praetorian cohorts accompanied Emperor Claudius to Britain in 43 AD. The Arch of Claudius in Rome says he received the surrender of eleven British kings with no losses, and Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars says that Claudius received the surrender of the Britons without battle or bloodshed. It is likely that the Catuvellauni were already as good as beaten, allowing the emperor to appear as conqueror on the final march on Camulodunum. Cassius Dio relates that he brought war elephants and heavy armaments which would have overawed any remaining native resistance. Eleven tribes of South East Britain surrendered to Claudius and the Romans prepared to move further west and north. The Romans established their new capital at Camulodunum and Claudius returned to Rome to celebrate his victory. Caratacus escaped and would continue the resistance further west.
After the invasion, Verica may have been restored as king of the Atrebates although by this time he would have been very elderly. In any case a new ruler for their region, Cogidubnus, soon appeared as his heir and as king of a number of territories following the first stage of the conquest as a reward as a Roman ally.

AD 44–60

took a force westwards subduing tribes and capturing oppida as he went, going at least as far as Exeter, which became a base for Leg. II Augusta from 55 till 75. Legio IX Hispana was sent north towards Lincoln and by 47 it is likely that an area south of a line from the Humber to the Severn Estuary was under Roman control. That this line is followed by the Roman road of the Fosse Way has led many historians to debate the route's role as a convenient frontier during the early occupation. It is more likely that the border between Roman and Iron Age Britain was less direct and more mutable during this period.
Late in 47 the new governor of Britain, Publius Ostorius Scapula, began a campaign against the tribes of modern-day Wales, and the Cheshire Gap. The Silures of southeast Wales caused considerable problems to Ostorius and fiercely defended the Welsh border country. Caratacus himself was defeated in the Battle of Caer Caradoc and fled to the Roman client tribe of the Brigantes who occupied the Pennines. Their queen, Cartimandua was unable or unwilling to protect him however, given her own truce with the Romans, and handed him over to the invaders. Ostorius died and was replaced by Aulus Didius Gallus who brought the Welsh borders under control but did not move further north or west, probably because Claudius was keen to avoid what he considered a difficult and drawn-out war for little material gain in the mountainous terrain of upland Britain. When Nero became emperor in 54, he seems to have decided to continue the invasion and appointed Quintus Veranius as governor, a man experienced in dealing with the troublesome hill tribes of Anatolia. Veranius and his successor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus mounted a successful campaign across Wales, famously destroying the druidical centre at Mona or Anglesey in 60 at what historians later called the Menai Massacre. Final occupation of Wales was postponed however when the rebellion of Boudica forced the Romans to return to the south east in 60 or 61.

AD 60–78

Following the successful suppression of Boudica's uprising in 60 or 61, a number of new Roman governors continued the conquest by edging north.
The leader of the Brigantes was queen Cartimandua, whose husband Venutius might have been a Carvetian and may therefore have been responsible for the incorporation of Cumbria into the Brigantian federation whose territory straddled Britain along the Solway-Tyne line. Cartimandua may have ruled the Brigantian peoples east of the Pennines, while Venutius was the chief of the Brigantes west of the Pennines in Cumbria Cartimandua was forced to ask for Roman aid following a rebellion by Venutius in 69. The Romans evacuated Cartimandua leaving Venutius in power, but the Roman conquest of the Brigantes began in 70. Quintus Petillius Cerialis took his legions from Lincoln as far as York and defeated Venutius near Stanwick around 70. This resulted in the already Romanised Brigantes and Parisii tribes being further assimilated into the empire proper.
Details of the early years of the Roman occupation in North Britain are unclear but began no earlier than 71, as Tacitus says that in that year Quintus Petillius Cerialis waged a successful war against the Brigantes. Tacitus praises both Cerialis and his successor Julius Frontinus.
Much of the conquest of the north may have been achieved under the governorships of Vettius Bolanus, and of Cerialis. From other sources, it seems that Bolanus had possibly dealt with Venutius and penetrated into Scotland, and evidence from the carbon-dating of the gateway timbers of the Roman fort at Carlisle suggest that they were felled in 72 AD, during the governorship of Cerialis. Nevertheless, Gnaeus Julius Agricola played his part in the west as commander of the legion XX Valeria Victrix, while Cerialis led the IX Hispania in the east. In addition, the Legio II Adiutrix sailed from Chester up river estuaries to cause surprise to the enemy.
The western thrust was started from Lancaster, where there is evidence of a Cerialian foundation, and followed the line of the Lune and Eden river valleys through Low Borrow Bridge and Brougham. On the Cumbrian coast, Ravenglass and Blennerhasset were probably involved from evidence of one of the earliest Roman occupations in Cumbria. Beckfoot and Maryport may also have featured early on. At some point between 72-73, part of Cerialis's force moved across the Stainmore Pass from Corbridge westwards to join Agricola, as evidenced by campaign camps at Rey Cross, Crackenthorpe, Kirkby Thore and Plumpton Head. Signal- or watch-towers are also in evidence across the Stainmore area - Maiden Castle, Bowes Moor and Roper Castle, for example. The two forces then moved up from the vicinity of Penrith to Carlisle, establishing the fort there in 72/73AD.
Frontinus was sent into Roman Britain in 74 to succeed Cerialis as governor.
He returned to the conquest of Wales interrupted years before and with steady and successful progress finally subdued the Silures in circa 76 and other hostile tribes, establishing a new base at Caerleon for Legio II Augusta in 75 and a network of smaller forts fifteen to twenty kilometres apart for his auxiliary units. During his tenure, he probably established the fort at Pumsaint in west Wales, largely to exploit the gold deposits at Dolaucothi. He retired in 78, and later he was appointed water commissioner in Rome.

Campaigns of Agricola (AD 78–84)

The new governor was Agricola, returning to Britain, and made famous through the highly laudatory biography of him written by his son-in-law, Tacitus. Arriving in mid-summer of 78, Agricola completed the conquest of Wales in defeating the Ordovices who had destroyed a cavalry ala of Roman auxiliaries stationed in their territory. Knowing the terrain from his prior military service in Britain, he was able to move quickly to virtually exterminate them. He then invaded Anglesey, forcing the inhabitants to sue for peace.
The following year he moved against the Brigantes of northern England and the Selgovae along the southern coast of Scotland, using overwhelming military power to re-establish Roman control.

Agricola in Caledonia

Tacitus says that after a combination of force and diplomacy quieted discontent among the Britons who had been conquered previously, Agricola built forts in their territories in 79. In 80 he marched to the Firth of Tay, not returning south until 81, at which time he consolidated his gains in the new lands that he had conquered, and in the rebellious lands that he had re-conquered. In 82 he sailed to either Kintyre or the shores of Argyll, or to both. In 83 and 84 he moved north along Scotland's eastern and northern coasts using both land and naval forces, campaigning successfully against the inhabitants, and winning a significant victory over the northern British peoples led by Calgacus at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Archaeology has shown the Romans built military camps in the north along Gask Ridge, controlling the glens that provided access to and from the Scottish Highlands, and also throughout the Scottish Lowlands in northeastern Scotland.
Prior to his recall in 84, Agricola built a network of military roads and forts to secure the Roman occupation. Existing forts were strengthened and new ones planted in northeastern Scotland along the Highland Line, consolidating control of the glens that provided access to and from the Scottish Highlands. The line of military communication and supply along southeastern Scotland and northeastern England was well-fortified. In southern-most Caledonia, the lands of the Selgovae were heavily planted with forts, not only establishing effective control there, but also completing a military enclosure of south-central Scotland. In contrast to Roman actions against the Selgovae, the territories of the Novantae, Damnonii, and Votadini were not planted with forts, and there is nothing to indicate that the Romans were at war with them.

AD 84–117

Agricola's successors are not named in any surviving source, but it seems they were unable or unwilling to further subdue the far north. The fortress at Inchtuthil was dismantled before its completion and the other fortifications of the Gask Ridge in Perthshire, erected to consolidate the Roman presence in Scotland in the aftermath of Mons Graupius, were abandoned within the space of a few years. It is equally likely that the costs of a drawn-out war outweighed any economic or political benefit and it was more profitable to leave the Caledonians alone and only under de jure submission.
With the decline of imperial ambitions in Scotland by 87 AD, consolidation based on the line of the Stanegate road was settled upon. Carlisle was the seat of a 'centurio regionarius'. When the Stanegate became the new frontier it was augmented by large forts as at Vindolanda and additional forts at half-day marching intervals were built at Newbrough, Magnis and Brampton Old Church.
The years 87-117 were of consolidation and only a few sites north of the Stanegate line were maintained, while the signs are that an orderly withdrawal to the Solway-Tyne line was made. There does not seem to have been any rout caused as a result of battles with various tribes.
Modifications to the Stanegate line, with the reduction in the size of the forts and the addition of fortlets and watchtowers between them, seem to have taken place from the mid-90s onwards. Apart from the Stanegate line, other forts existed along the Solway Coast at Beckfoot, Maryport, Burrow Walls and Moresby. Other forts in the region were built to consolidate Roman presence. A fort at Troutbeck may have been established from the period of Trajan onwards. Other forts that may have been established during this period include Ambleside, positioned to take advantage of ship-borne supply to the forts of the Lake District. From here, a road was constructed during the Trajanic period to Hardknott Roman Fort. A road between Ambleside to Old Penrith and/or Brougham, going over High Street, may also date from this period.

From AD 117

Under Hadrian, Roman occupation was withdrawn to a defendable frontier by the construction of Hadrian's Wall from around 122. In 142 an attempt was made to push the frontier north to the River Clyde-River Forth area when the Antonine Wall was constructed. This was once again abandoned after two decades and only subsequently re-occupied on an occasional basis. Meanwhile the Romans retreated to the earlier and stronger Hadrian's Wall in the River Tyne-Solway Firth frontier area.
Roman troops, however, penetrated far into the north of modern Scotland several more times. Indeed, there is a greater density of Roman marching camps in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe as a result of at least four major attempts to subdue the area.
The most notable was in 209 when the emperor Septimius Severus, claiming to be provoked by the belligerence of the Maeatae tribe, campaigned against the Caledonian Confederacy, a coalition of Brittonic Pictish tribes of the north of Britain. He used the three legions of the British garrison, 9000 imperial guards with cavalry support, and numerous auxiliaries supplied from the sea by the British fleet, the Rhine fleet and two fleets transferred from the Danube for the purpose. According to Dio Cassius, he inflicted genocidal depredations on the natives and incurred the loss of 50,000 of his own men to the attrition of guerrilla tactics before having to withdraw to Hadrian's Wall. He repaired and reinforced the wall with a degree of thoroughness that led most subsequent Roman authors to attribute the construction of the wall to him. It was during the negotiations to purchase the truce necessary to secure the Roman retreat to the wall that the first recorded utterance, attributable with any reasonable degree of confidence, to a native of Scotland was made. When Septimius Severus's wife, Julia Domna, criticised the sexual morals of the Caledonian women, the wife of a Caledonian chief, Argentocoxos, replied: "We consort openly with the best of men while you allow yourselves to be debauched in private by the worst". The emperor Septimius Severus died at York while planning to renew hostilities, and these plans were abandoned by his son Caracalla.
Later excursions into Scotland by the Romans were generally limited to the scouting expeditions of exploratores in the buffer zone that developed between the walls, trading contacts, bribes to purchase truces from the natives, and eventually the spread of Christianity. The degree to which the Romans interacted with the Goidelic-speaking island of Hibernia is still unresolved amongst archaeologists in Ireland.

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