Before Julius Ceasar ever set foot in Britain, the Mediterranean world had certainly heard of the island. Trading had taken place as early as around 600BC, and in the mid to late 300s BC, a Greek trader named Pytheas had written a book about the tin process as well as his sailing exploration around the entire island. The Carthaginians had traded with the Britons for Cornish tin, and trade links between Britain and the European mainland increased through the 200s and 100s BC. By the time of Ceasar's conquest of Gaul, Britons were actively helping their Celtic allies across the Channel. Thus, when Gaul was quieted, Ceasar began to look to the island as a means of adding more territory and glory as well as securing the northwestern frontier of Gaul. Briton culture had evolved over the past couple thousand years, from Neolithic culture complete with stone rings (Stonehenge et al.) to the Celtic influx starting around 1000BC, including the construction of iron age hillforts. The Belgae migration started around late 100s BC and threatened the Celtic tribes already ensconced in power. That the Romans, who followed on the heels of the Belgae, were ultimately successful in playing tribes off each other is in part due to this change in the balance of power. The Coming of Julius Caesar Julius Caesar arrived in 55BC, just after securing the re-appointment of his command in Gaul in early 56BC at a meeting of the Triumverate with Pompey and Crassus. After dealing with an invasion of the Rhine by German tribes, he set off for Briton in summer of 55BC. Legio VII and Legio X were selected, ships arrived in harbours in August in the Calais area, and planning proceeded. In mid August, he sent one of his tribunes on a reconaissance of the British coast. In addition, just before he sailed, Caesar had sent King Commius of the Atrebates to the island to recruit tribes for Rome--Commius was placed in chains upon landing. On the night of August 26 or 27, Ceasar embarked with his two legions on 80 transports (another 18 transports with his cavalry sailed two days later). The next day, he was off what is today the city of Dover at about 9am, only to be met at the beach by a wall of warriors. He waited until 3pm, then the transports steered northeast, and somewhere between modern-day Walmer and Deal, the transports grounded and the legions waded ashore. Note that the Britons shadowed the transports and again met Ceasar on the beach. The legions held back, in part due to the native reception, in part because of the tactical disadvantage of being in deeper water than the defenders, and in part because they were unfamiliar with a fight of this kind, until the eagle bearer of the Tenth legion berated his fellow legionairres and charged ashore with the eagle. After praying to the gods that his action might bring good luck to the legion, cried in a loud voice, "Jump down, comrades, unless you want to surrender our eagle to the enemy. I, at any rate, mean to do my duty to my country and my general." With these words he leapt out of the ship and advanced towards the enemy with the eagle in his hands. At this, the soldiers, exhorting each other not to submit to such a disgrace, jumped with one accord from the ship, and the men from the next ships, when they saw them, followed them and advanced against the enemy." (Caesar, Conquest of Gaul, IV.25) After a sharp battle, Roman military prowess won and the Britons fled inland, later sending hostages (including returning Commius) and asking for terms. It was at this point that a storm hit, forced the cavalry transports to remain on the Gallic side of the Channel and wrecked Caesar's transport fleet. The Britons then cut off land supplies to this stranded force, but by dint of foraging and carpentry, Caesar kept his troops fed and rebuilt all but 12 transports. However, the Britons were far from peaceful and a force of infantry, cavalry, and chariots ambushed foragers from the 7th Legion. Caesar saw the dustcloud and hurried along with a relief force, defeating the Britons once again. Although Commius was able to slip back to Gaul and return with about 30 cavalry, storms again set in and the Britons brought forth another force. Another battle was fought and another Roman victory tallied. This time, the Britons sued for peace for real, and were forced to agree to hand over double the original number of hostages demanded. Caesar and his two legions left around September 25. Suffice it to say that all but two of the Briton tribes sent the required hostages, which Caesar noted and started planning for a new invasion next year. It didn't hurt that landing in Britain stirred the public's imagination. The Senate of Rome votes Caesar a 20-day public period of thanksgiving. In 54BC, five legions and 2,000 cavalry with a fleet of 600 transports, 28 warships, and around 200 other vessals were made ready and the Romans sailed on July 6 or 7. They landed a little further north than the year before, but this time, there was no Briton force on the beach. Prisoners noted that the Britons were amazed and afraid of the fleet--the largest they had ever seen--and had fled. He left Quintus Atrius with 10 cohorts (about a legion's worth of troops) and 300 cavalry to secure the landing site, and marched 12 miles westward towards modern day Canterbury. About a mile west of Canterbury, he assaulted and captured a hillfort (Bigbury), fortifying the place with a marching camp. Another storm forced Caesar back to the landing site to supervise repairs (in total, about 40 ships were unrepairable). By the time he came back to the camp 10 days later, the Britons had marshalled another force, this time under the command of a Belgic chief, Cassivellaunus. Harassed on their westward marches, the Romans fought one successful skirmish after another, but never quite came to grips with the Britons. Caesar decided to attack the kingdom of Cassivellaunus directly, and found a blocking force drawn up across the Thames, with sharpened stakes fixed along the edge and also embedded in the bank under water. He immediately ordered his troops across, and once more defeated and scattered the Britons. Cassivellaunus continued with a guerilla war until Caesar started to play tribes off against each other. Caesar eventually learned the location of Cassivellaunus' fortified stronghold. It was protected by forests and marshes and had been filled with large number of men and cattle. The Britons apply the term stronghold to densely wooded spots fortified with a rampart and trench, to which they retire in order to escape attacks of invaders. He marched to this place with his legions and found it was of great natural strength and excellently fortified. Nevertheless, he proceeded to assault it on two sides. After a short time, the enemy proved unable to resist the violent attack of the legions and rushed out the fortress on another side. A quantity of cattle was found there, and many of the fugitives were captured or killed. (Caesar, Conquest of Gaul, V.21) Caesar also found that Cassivellaunus had escaped. Cassivellaunus sent word to four kings (Cingetorix, Carvilius, Taximagulus, and Segovax) to attack Caesar's fortified anchorage, but Atrius and the defending cohorts repulsed these attacks. At this point, Cassivellaunus sued for peace. The peace terms were harsher, but not by much. Hostages were delivered--before the Romans sailed back to Gaul, a tribute was levied, client kingdoms set up, and by the beginning of September, the Romans were back in Gaul. Although there was not to be a follow-up invasion for about 100 years, Caesar's expeditions did quiet British support for Gallic Celts. Indeed, during Vercingetorix's Gallic revolt, the Britons did not get involved and little is heard from them afterwards. Augustus may have planned at least three invasions (34, 27, and 26BC are attributed to have been in planning stages), but all were put on hold, for an invasion not deemed necessary. Post Caesar Britain Cassivellaunus, incidently, kept mostly to his bargain, but his heir Tasciovanus did not, and quietly expanded his territory. When he died in the first decade AD, his heir and son Cunobelius continued the expansion, timing an attack on a major Roman allied kingdom with Varus' 9AD disaster in the Teutoberger forest in Germany. Rome could not respond to any entreaties, and Cunobelius was careful not to challenge Rome directly. Indeed, Cunobelius may have sent an embassy to Rome with other British tribes to make sacrifices at the funeral of Augustus. Cunobelius' two sons, Togodumnus and Caratacus, were more adventurous and less discerning in theri desire to expand the family empire. They pushed into neighboring kingdoms starting around 35AD, and Rome did not immediately object. A third son, Adminius, was pro-Roman and refused to attack neighboring tribes, and was forced out of Briton. He subsequently went to Rome and asked Emperor Caligula for assistance, which the Emperor granted. A Roman force marshalled on the Gallic coast, and thus came the famous episode of Caligula ordering his legions to collect seashells and then claiming victory. No invasion was launched. Caligula was assassinated in 41AD and replaced by his uncle Claudius. Also that year, King Verica was expelled from his pro-Roman kingdom in Briton by Caratacus. Verica came to Rome for help, and Claudius realized that the entire northwestern frontier might ignite into revolt unless something was done. Indeed, most of the British coast immediately opposite Gaul was now in the hands of an increasingly anti-Roman kingdom. And besides, Claudius was in need of a military victory to cement his hold on the purple, as well as a source of plunder to replace the near empty treasury spent by Caligula. The Conquest of Lower Britain Claudius tapped Aulus Plautius as commander for his invasion. Four legions participated: IX Hispana, II Augusta, XIV Gemina, and XX Valeria, plus a special cavalry unit (commanded by A. Didius Gallus), and 19,000 or so auxilliaries--all told, about 40,000 men. Sometime during the preparations, the army mutinied and refused to embark. Plautius did not know the legions or staff, and thus sent to Rome for assistance, which arrived in the form of a freed slave who had the Emperor's ear. How a high-ranking slave was able to comfort the army is not clear, although the legionairres ridiculed him at the start. Plautius subsequently made a a speech reminding them of thier courage and how Caesar had fared, and probably filled their heads with gold and other booty, and the army ultimately boarded the transports. Probably two months were lost, but the invasion proceeded in May, with the main force landing at Richborough and a secondary force carrying Verica back to his kingdom around Noviomagus (Chicester). Marching inland, the Roman force defeated separate attacks by Togodumnus and Caratacus, and continued pressing forward and defeated the Britons again in a two-day battle. Somewhere in there Togodumnus was killed in a skirmish, but Plautius called again on Claudius for help. The Emperor arrived in mid-August with fresh troops and elephants. Resistance was minimal and the Romans easily found their way to Caratacus' capital Camulodunon, where Claudius was nomially in command and succeeded in leveling the defenses. Caratacus fled westward to modern-day Wales. All told, Claudius is credit with being in Britain only 16 days, although it seems a bit short considering the movement rate of elephants from Dover to London and then to Camulodunon. Claudius received the submission of many tribes, set up more client kingdoms, arranged for a new town of Romans to be created as the province of Britanniae, and made off with sufficient booty for a triumphant return to Rome. Altogether, he was away from Rome for six months. Plautius continued with the conquest, sending Vespasian and the II Augusta legion sweep south and west that lasted up to three years as he fought over 30 battles, subjugated two tribes, captured 20 towns and the Isle of Wight. The other three legions under Plautius went north and west, conquering most of the low lands of Britain. By 47AD, Plautius left Britain for a triumph in Rome, replaced by Publius Ostorius Scapula, who put down minor revolts and then led punitive expeditions into Wales. A large battle in 51AD, with Caratacus at its head, ended with another Roman victory, and Caratacus captured. Ostorius died in 52AD, replaced by A. Didius Gallus, the cavalry commander back in the 43AD invasion. His vigorous prosecution of warfare in Wales led to an uneasy stability, although the area was not conquered. In 57AD, Q. Veranius replaced Didius, but died later in the year. Replaced by Gaius Suetonius Paullinus, a veteran of mountain warfare in the Atlas mountains of Mauretania, the new commander immediately launched a successful offensive into Wales over the next two years. In 61AD, he assaulted and captured Anglesey, seat of Druidic power. Just as it looked as if Roman rule could fully be stamped onto the province, the Iceni under Queen Boudicea revolted. Her force managed to defeat half of Legio IX under Petillius Cerialis, burned Camulodunon (the modern day town of Colchester), and headed for Londoninium. Suetonius, having dashed back with just a cavalry force, left London to its fate, and went about consolidating the legions. The Iceni sacked Londoninium and executed the entire population, followed by the sack of Verulamium (St. Alban), and then flowed after the Roman Army. In a tremendous battle, Roman discipline won over barbarian fury in a lopsided victory that claimed, according to Tacitus, 400 Romans but 80,000 Britons (Tacitus, Annals, XIV.37). Boudicea fled and committed suicide, and the revolt ended except for harsh post-rebellion security measures by the Romans. Suetonius was recalled by Nero and replaced by P. Petronius Turpilianus, who spent until 63AD in the province calming tensions and restoring a sort of normalcy to the province. M. Trebellius Maximus became the new governor in 63AD, lasting almost six years and suffering at least one mutiny. Legions were stationed at Eburacum (York), Deva (Chester), and Isca Silurum (Caerlon), as Legion XIV had been withdrawn by Nero in 66AD. In 68AD, the Roman Civil War tore at the legions, and Vitellius replaced Petronius with Vettius Bolanus, who managed to placate the army and even received Legion II Adiutrix for more security. Petillius Cerialis, who had survived Boudicea's rebellion, spent the next three years extending the northern boundary. Sextus Julius Frontinus replaced him and spent the next four years campaigning in Wales, subjugating all but the the northern section. Sources See end of Battle of Mons Graupius. Related Britain Before Agricola Overview of Roman Military Actions Prior to Mons Graupius Battle of Mons Graupius 84AD, Caledonia (Scotland) Roman Commanders in Britain Prior to Agricola Gnaeus Julius Agricola A Short Biography Back to War Lore: The List Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com