(44–60 AD)

Vespasian took a force westwards subduing tribes and capturing oppida as he went, going at least as far as Exeter which would appear to have become an early base for Leg. II Augusta and probably reaching Bodmin. Legio IX Hispana was sent north towards Lincoln (Latin: Lindum Colonia) and within four years of the invasion it is likely that an area south of a line from the Humber to the River Severn Estuary was under RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. The first two centuries of the Roman Empire saw a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana ('Roman Peace'). The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire.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 however.

Roman campaigns from AD 43 to AD 60

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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 AD 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 AD 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. The Silures were not finally conquered until circa AD 76 when Sextus Julius Frontinus' long campaign against them began to have success.

Campaigns under Aulus Plautius, focused on the commercially valuable southeast of Britain

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• Outline of the Roman conquest of Britain (43-96 AD)
  

  HISTORIC BATTLES

  Roman conquest of Britain (43-96 AD)

  The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Roman Britain. View Historic Battle »

  Claudian preparations: Claudius mounted an invasion force to re-instate Verica, an exiled king of the Atrebates.

  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.

  River battles: 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.

  (44–60 AD): Vespasian took a force westwards subduing tribes and capturing oppida as he went, going at least as far as Exeter which would appear to have become an early base for Leg. II Augusta.

  (60–78 AD): Following the successful suppression of Boudica's uprising, a number of new Roman governors continued the conquest by edging north.

  Campaigns of Agricola (78–84 AD): Agricola found several previously defeated peoples had re-established their independence. The first to be dealt with were the Ordovices of north Wales, who had destroyed a cavalry ala of Roman auxiliaries stationed in their territory.

  (84–96 AD): Agricola was recalled to Rome by Domitian. His successors are not named in any surviving source, but it seems they were unable or unwilling to further subdue the far north.

  Failure to conquer Caledonia: The Romans retreated to the earlier and stronger Hadrian's Wall in the River Tyne-Solway Firth frontier area, this having been constructed around 122.

HISTORY

 

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Roman conquest of Britain", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.