Why and how Roman invade Britons?
As part of his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar attacked Britain in 55 and 54 BC. According to Caesar, during the British Iron Age, Belgic tribes had conquered or culturally assimilated the Britons, who were now supporting Caesar's adversaries. The first Celtic tribe to enter Britain was the Belgae, because no other Celtic tribe had heard of this country before.
Eventually, the Roman emperor Claudius invaded Britain in 43 AD. After the invasion, the Roman army slowly and gradually expanded its foothold over a large territory, including modern-day Wales, Scotland, and England. Until the beginning of the 5th century, their newly created Roman province, called Britannia, remained under the dominance of the Roman Empire.
Now the question arises: how and why did the Romans invade Britain, and how did they discover this prosperous piece of land?
British island before Roman invasion
Britons, who were residents of Britain before the Roman army, didn’t have a cultural or political identity. They were different Celtic tribal groups, led by their own independent kings and queens. In order to protect and control their extensive territory, they always remain engaged in war with other tribes.
Britain was not unknown to the Romans, but before they invaded, they had been plotting to invade Britain. During his wars in Gaul between 58 and 50 BC, at the time of taking control over Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, Julius Caesar came to know its people. Adventurous Caesar took expeditions to annex the territory, but his failure didn’t stop him there, and he gained knowledge from the Celts about natural resources and their potential value to Rome.
Their main purpose in annexing Britain was to expand their own empire as much as possible. Moreover, Britain was a safer place from flooded water and has warmer temperatures, precious metals, farmland, and many other materials like iron, metal, copper, silver, and gold, which the Romans needed to support their kingdom and army.
It was through his efforts that Rome increased contact with southern Celtic tribes and started developing trade relations with them, learning their ways and adopting their lifestyle. They also import olive oil and other products, while some other tribes living on the northern side remain wary and oppose these trade relations.
Royal power in Rome
In 41 AD, the imperial family had real power and the firm loyalty of the Roman army. By the time of King Claudius, the Senate had been losing power. As the engine of the Roman army, emperors have been beheaded if they didn’t act according to the will of the army by not giving expected strength.
The best-known names were Tiberius, Caesar, Augustus, Germanicus, and Gaius( famous as Caligula), who was beheaded. After him, King Claudius became emperor in 41 AD. Besides his disabilities (slight deafness and limp) and besides being kept out of the limelight, Claudius was the only male left in the Julio-Claudiun dynasty suitable for the position of emperor.
Caligula's abandoning his plan to invade Britain was taken as a failure and a source of embarrassment and shame by the army. So this was the campaign through which Claudius wanted to prove himself by gaining wider control over southern Britain. For Claudius, it was a great step to satisfy the army and also to bring popularity, prosperity, and access to natural resources.
So Claudius ordered an invasion under the command of Aulus Plautius. The prospect of a military assault was supported by the Romans' innate conviction that they had the right to subjugate non-Roman peoples. They believed that because the gods had given them the known world, it was their duty and privilege to rule it all in a civilised manner. The Romans viewed the Celtic people as drunken and barbarian.
King claudius: Roman emperor
There are few, brief, and dubious historical reports of the invasion in the Roman period. None of them are contemporary. The historian Cassius Dio wrote the longest work in Greek somewhere around the year 200. Therefore, what we do know about the invasion must be put together from these hazy written records and the improbable persistence of data from archaeological sites.
The invasion force, according to Cassius Dio, was broken down into three divisions. The prevailing winds, tidal changes, and length of time needed to marshal hundreds of ships safely to minimise mayhem and confusion and to allow sequential and organised landings This was definitely a feasible approach for crossing the Channel. The place where the army landed has not been clear to historians and archaeologists. They think landing in one place is more likely than landing in different places in order to protect soldiers during disembarkation.
The Roman army, under the command of Aulus Platius, undertook this expedition, comprising 40,000 soldiers, a huge number of men and animals, and an immense supply. Cassius records that most of the kings surrendered to Claudius, but some resisted.
Aftermath
On gaining victory over the Celtic people, Rome celebrated and acclaimed Claudius for this hugely successful military expedition and gave him the honorary title ‘Britannicus’. While the Romans conquered the land, they started creating new provinces and consolidating themselves by building new towns, roads, and forts.
This invasion lasted for several centuries. The Romans established a network of settlements, roads, and defensive structures, leaving a lasting impact on the landscape and culture of Britain. However, their control eventually waned, and the island underwent significant changes with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon tribes.
