Storming the Isles: Caesar's Invasion of Britain

Storming the Isles: Caesar's Invasion of Britain

 

In 55 and 54 BCE, Julius Caesar launched two military campaigns against Britain. Although Caesar achieved only limited success and failed to establish a permanent Roman presence in the British Isles, he forged treaty relations with numerous British tribes. He brought Britain into the sphere of Roman political ambitions.

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 nti-Roman revolt by the Veneti of Armorica (modern Brittany) in 56 BCE, which likely received some support from Britain, prompted Julius Caesar to shift his focus northward. Venturing into Britain, an island seen as impossibly distant beyond “the bounds of the ocean,” would have earned him immense prestige. However, political difficulties delayed his invasion plans for a year. Finally, in 55 BCE, Caesar prepared to cross the Channel with a small expeditionary force. His main adversary was Cassivellaunus, probably the king of the Catuvellauni, a tribe expanding from its base at Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire to dominate much of southern England.

Preparation

Caesar received envoys from several British tribes eager to show their submission and avoid having their lands invaded. He dispatched a small reconnaissance force under the tribune Volusenus to scout suitable landing beaches and sent a diplomatic mission under the Gallic chieftain Commius to rally pro-Roman opinion. Unfortunately, both missions failed—Volusenus was unable to locate a sheltered harbour for the Roman fleet, and Commius was promptly arrested.

On August 26, Caesar set sail with a force composed of the Seventh and Tenth Legions. The cliffs and beaches around Dover were occupied by British defenders, forcing the Roman ships to run aground near Deal in Kent. The legionaries had to disembark in relatively deep waters under a constant hail of missiles. Although the legions managed to establish a beachhead, disaster struck four days later when a severe storm scattered the ships bringing over 500 cavalry reinforcements, and badly damaging many of the landing craft. Deprived of cavalry support, Caesar was vulnerable, and after the Seventh Legion was severely mauled in an ambush, he chose to declare the expedition a success and returned to Gaul, accompanied by a number of British hostages.

A New Campaign

Preparations soon began for a new expedition, as Caesar had learned valuable lessons from the relative failure of his first invasion into Britain. This time, he brought five legions—amounting to over 30,000 men—and around 2,000 cavalry. The cavalry was a critical component in countering the battle tactics of the Britons, who, unlike their counterparts in mainland Europe, still used chariots in battle to harass infantry units lacking mounted support.

On July 6, 54 BCE, Caesar set off for Britain once more. His navy of 800 ships landed near Deal, this time unopposed, apparently because the Britons were so intimidated by the size of the force that they chose not to resist. However, the Roman fleet was again battered by a serious storm. The ten-day delay in building a rampart extensive enough to beach their remaining naval force encouraged the Britons, who then offered a more effective defending under the leadership of Cassivellaunus.

The Romans won a series of engagements, capturing a hillfort at Bigbury near Canterbury, overcoming an attempt to entrap a Roman foraging force, and pushing on toward the Thames. Diplomatic pressure also began to tell, as Caesar had with him Mandubracius of the Trinovantes, one of Cassivellaunus’s arch-enemies. Some British chieftains, fearing that Cassivellaunus might use success against Caesar to increase his power, began to waver in their support for the campaign against the Romans. The capture of Cassivellaunus’s chief stronghold—likely the oppidum at Wheathampstead—led to a desperate attempt to stir the Kentish tribes into a final uprising against Caesar. This attempt was to no avail, and Cassivellaunus sued for peace. Caesar readily accepted, having already decided not to overwinter in Britain, fearing a revolt might break out in Gaul during his absence. He accepted British hostages and fixed a tribute to be paid by Cassivellaunus before returning across the Channel in mid-September. The Trinovantes became, in effect, a client kingdom of Rome, and Cassivellaunus was forbidden to interfere in their territory. Whatever his intentions regarding a third and more decisive invasion of Britain might have been, Julius Caesar was distracted from taking any action until 51 BCE by a major uprising in Gaul and later by his involvement in the Roman civil wars, which led to his appointment as Dictator in Rome in 47 BCE.

… Britons dye themselves with woad… and as a result their appearance in battle is all the more daunting.”

JULIUS CAESAR, THE GALLIC WARS, .47 BCE

 

Attempts by Augustus

Augustus, Caesar’s adoptive son and successor and the first Roman emperor, made plans to invade Britain at least twice, in 34 BCE and 26 BCE. However, suspected revolts elsewhere in the Empire caused him to call off both expeditions. Instead, the Romans, who regarded "the whole of the island as Roman property" according to the historian Strabo, supported client-kings like Tincommius and Verica, who ruled over a Belgic kingdom in southern England. This support was aimed at countering the growing power of the Catuvellauni, who overran the Trinovantian capital of Camulodunum (Colchester) around 9 CE. By involving themselves in British politics, the Romans maintained their influence on the island.

Conquest and Resistance

The Romans began their conquest of Britain in 43 CE. After initial successes, they faced persistent and bitter resistance in Wales and the north, as well as revolts in the south. Forty years after the landing, however, their armies stood on the borders of the Scottish Highlands, the furthest north they would reach.

The immediate pretext for the Roman invasion of Britain was the appeal by Verica, the exiled king of the Atrebates, to Emperor Claudius for help in restoring him to power. In response, four Roman legions—comprising more than 20,000 men—embarked for England in late April 43 CE. Under the command of Aulus Plautius, the Claudian invasion force established its main base at the sheltered harbor of Richborough in eastern Kent and began advancing westward. The Britons, led by Caratacus and Togodumnus, leaders of the Catuvellauni tribe, resisted the Roman advance but were eventually pushed back to the Thames. Finding a crossing point, the Romans engaged in fierce fighting, resulting in the death of Togodumnus. A pause in the campaign allowed for the arrival of Emperor Claudius himself, who took personal command. With Claudius leading, the Romans captured the capital of Camulodunum (Colchester). Following this success, Claudius returned to Rome, celebrating the glory of his new conquest.

Roman Expansion in Britain

Over the next four years following the Claudian invasion, the Romans expanded their control over Britain. They absorbed the remnants of the Catuvellaunian kingdom, while future Roman emperor Vespasian subdued resistance in the south and southwest. By around 47 CE, the Romans had secured a defensive line roughly along the future Fosse Way, extending from the Devon coast to Lincolnshire. They established a network of forts to solidify their control.

The Romans then turned their attention westward into Wales, where they encountered vigorous opposition from Caratacus, who had escaped and was leading renewed British resistance. In 51 CE, Caratacus was finally captured after seeking refuge with Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, who subsequently handed him over to Roman authorities.