Roman Conquest of Britain

I took up a lot of interest into the various tribes in Britain and how they interacted with Rome's invasion of their land. I wondered whether these tribes band together to fight the Romans or if they had different views on how Romanization would affect them individually. I also wondered how The Romans approached this conquest and how they fought against the British tribes.

The first thing I learned was that the Roman conquest of Britain was a very gradual process. It occurred over a series of long campaigns into British territory under the rules of many different emperors. The Britons were separated among many tribes across the continent, making it hard for the Romans to unite them under their own rule. Some tribes recognized the strength of the Roman forces and sided with them in order to protect their people from war. Others viewed the Romans as invaders and resisted the Romanization of their land. Tribe chiefs like Caratacus and Boudica lead rebellions against the Romans. The Roman foot soldiers who were only trained to fight in open fields had difficulty facing the British tribes in forest terrain. However, the sheer numbers and military power for the Romans was what made it possible for them to defeat the tribes of Britain.

The first campaigns into Britain by the Romans took place in in 55 and 54 BC under the command of Julius Caesar. Both of these journeys were more of reconnaissance trips into the newly discovered British territory. No new lands were conquered on these endeavors. The first real invasion of Britain was in 43 AD under the rule of Emperor Claudius. The Romans fought and defeated the British tribes lead by chiefs Caratacus and Togodumnus. Land in the Southern part of Britain all the way up to the river Thames was claimed by the Romans. After this, the Romans continued their campaign into present day Wales. Many of the tribes in this area were united under Queen Cartimandua, who felt that the best way to protect her people was to ally herself with the Romans. This made it easy for the Romans to conquer these lands. However, shortly after the Romans had left, rebellions started up again in the southeast. A queen named Boudica was leading the resistance. The Romans  suppressed the uprising, but not after a few years of Boudica eluding them and creating rebellion among the people. In the end however, the Romans ended these thoughts of rebellion and continued their conquest. The Romans fought northward through much of Britain, however their thirst for land was halted by their failure to conquer the northern land of Caledonia. The tribes in this land were extremely violent and defensive of their land. They drove back the Romans, forcing the creation of Hadrian's Wall. This wall kept out the northern tribes and marked the end of Romes conquest into the lands of Britain.

What I found most interesting about how Rome conquered Britain was their understanding of the people they were trying to conquer. The Romans were able to see that these small tribes were divided. They offered power to those who would side with them, and then used them as almost pawns to control and conquer other tribes. For example, earlier I mentioned the Roman's alliance with Queen Cartimandua. They offered her power and protection, and she pledged loyalty to the Roman empire. So when Caratacus, a chief who strongly opposed the Romans, went to Cartimandua for help, she betrayed him and turned him over to the Romans. Years later,the Romans helped Cartimandua defend her tribe from the attacks of her anti-Roman husband, Venutius.  I was surprised to learn about how the Roman went about expanding their empire. Rather than using purely violence and war, they chose alliance and diplomacy when possible.


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Sources

Faulkner, Neil. "Overview: Roman Britain, 43 - 410 AD." BBC News. BBC, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Dec.           2014.

Howarth, Nicki. Cartimandua: Queen of the Brigantes. Stroud: History, 2008. Print.

Roman Conquest of Britain. S.l.: Book On Demand, 2012. Print.

"The Romans in Britain." The Romans in Britain. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.