The Romans In Britain

THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN 43-410

The Romans were the people from a city called Rome in what is now Italy. Rome was the greatest city of its time. At one time it had nearly one million people living there. The Romans were very clever and very good at organising things.
About 1,800 years ago Rome was the centre of a big empire. Roman soldiers had conquered large parts of Europe and North Africa.The Roman army would return to Rome and march through the city to show off all the riches they had plundered from the people they had beaten. The Roman army was skilled at fighting and defending the borders from attack and clever civil servants governed each country.
More than a million people must have been living in Britain by the 1st century AD.In the year 58 before Christ, the governor of theProvince of Rome Julius Caesar, wanted to make the north western frontier of the Roman state safe, it stretched up to the Gaul ( today’s modern France , southern Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and part of Germany; he was successful, then he turned to the Celtic tribes in Britain.
INVASION
Caesar invaded Britain twice.In 55 BC with 12,000 troops and forced the chieftains of the tribes in Kent toaccept Roman authority.The Britons met the legionaries at the beach with a large force, including warriors in horse-drawn chariots, an antiquated fighting method not used by the Roman military. After an initial skirmish, the British war leaders sought a truce, and handed over hostages.
In 54 BC,he invaded again with 37,0000 troops this time he marched inland and defeated the powerful Catuvellaunitribe in herdforshire.The Trinovantes in Essex surrendered.With these two invasions they proved their power.The southern tribes of Britain had surrendered but the conquest was not completed.
Julius Caesar never returned to Britain. The island was left undisturbed for nearly a century, until AD 43 when the Emperor Claudius ordered the invasion that succeeded where that of Rome's greatest generalhad so conspicuously failed.
Claudius, was the uncle of the much-hated Caligula. When Caligula was finally assassinated (after a reign that was murderous even by the standards of Roman emperors) Claudius came to power. He was generally seen as a stuttering old fool, but proved to be an effective emperor. After two years, he ordered the invasion of Britain. There were several factors contributingto this decision. They include:
* Claudius had to prove himself in the role of Emperor. Roman leaders traditionally achieved glory and popularity through military success that led to expansion of the Empire. Claudius had begun to show himself capable of restoring internal peace after Caligula's rule. However, the maintenance of internal stability in Rome depended on the Emperor's strength.Claudius' reputation as a weakling was likely to encourage constant challenge to his position if were not able to demonstrate his success in the type of actions that Romans expected of their leaders.
* Britain's wealth made it an attractive target. British mines produced metals, including iron, tin, silver and gold, which were traded for Roman goods long before the invasion. Other exports wereslaves, hides and hunting dogs. (Strabo, 1st century BC). The addition of Britain to the Empire promised to bring a good source of income for Rome. The more plunder and tax income he brought to teh roman treasury and the pockets of Roman soldiers, the more easily an Emperor could remain popular with all classes.
* As a consequence of the trading relationships between the British tribes and theEmpire, there was an existing Roman influence on the tribes of the southeast. Alliances made since Julius Caesar's time continued to influence the internal politics of British tribes. Tribal leaders had called for Roman support in their wars. However, according to Strabo, the British already paid more in duties than could be gained from them in taxes if they became part of the Empire. The Romans...