 The infamous Roman general and later dictator of Rome, Julius Caesar, is one of history's greatest conquerors, yet there was one notable region of the world that Caesar never conquered despite two attempts, the mysterious lands of ancient England, inhabited by the Celtic Britons, known for, amongst other things, having vast deposits of tin. Caesar invaded Britain twice, firstly in 55 BC and then a year later in 54 BC, in part to increase his popularity back in Rome. These invasions came during the conquest of Gaul, which was modern-day France, Belgium and other territories, which Caesar managed to conquer between 58 and 50 BC, in Caesar's own account, found in his Gaulic commentaries, which were written on campaign in Gaul. Caesar wrote that in nearly all the Gaulic campaigns, the Gauls had received reinforcements from the Britons. Prior to the invasion, Caesar tried to accrue as much information as possible about the mysterious Britons at the edge of the Roman world, interviewing merchants who were traded with these Celts of ancient England. Unable to get enough information, Caesar sent a warship on a reconnaissance mission under the command of the Roman officer Volocenus. Weary of the barbarian Britons however, Volocenus did not land in Britain and merely observed from the sea what could be gleaned, returning five days later to report to Caesar in Gaul. Caesar also sent a Gaulish chieftain who was loyal to Rome, called Commus, who was king of the Belgic tribe of the At-Rubates, ahead of his army to gain support for the Romans amongst the tribes of Britain. The chieftain was arrested on arrival in Britain however and was later exchanged as part of negotiations. In the first invasion in 55 BC, Caesar only took two legions with him, although cavalry vessels were intended to meet them in Britain. Caesar's first view of Britain was the white cliffs of Dover, when his ships arrived in British waters at nine o'clock in the morning. It was a hostile reception however as Celtic warriors and chariots lined the top of the cliff. After being unable to find a spot to land, Caesar sailed northeast and landed in another part of modern Kent, thought to be a beach in the coastal town of Deal. The Romans had a problem however, as their ships could not travel in shallow water. This meant that Roman soldiers had to disembark their ships in deep water and fight the Britons who were trying to stop them taking the beach. In Caesar's own words, his men were not skilled at this and the Britons were comfortable throwing javelins and galloping their horses on the beach as they stopped the Romans progressing. The Romans only managed to push forward after Caesar ordered their ship to flank the Britons and launch bows, slings and artillery at them. After more fighting, the Romans managed to take the beach and make camp. With food scarce, the Romans raided neighbouring lands for supplies, but were often ambushed by the Britons. After several days, Caesar managed to lure the Britons into fighting a pitched battle. The more organised Roman army inflicted heavy casualties, but could not fully solidify their position. This was partly because the ships carrying the cavalry forces had never reached Britain as they were forced to turn back to Gaul due to bad storms. Weather destroying Roman ships was a common theme of Caesar's invasions of Britain. At this juncture, it is important to note that much of what we know about this first invasion and the invasions in general was written by Caesar himself in a work of propaganda designed to make him look good amongst Roman audiences back in the capital. Some Welsh sources for instance suggest that Caesar and his army suffered some devastating and embarrassing defeats at the hands of the Britons and were forced to flee back to Gaul. Regardless of the precise details, Caesar soon left Britain after some brief negotiations and an agreement for some hostages to be given to the Romans. Caesar put his men on their ships and sailed for Gaul. The first invasion was over and very little was accomplished at all. The second invasion was a much larger ordeal, with Caesar taking over 600 ships, 5 legions and 2,000 cavalry. The Roman ships were also redesigned to allow them to effectively travel in shallow waters and to be more effective at beach landings. The Roman force at this time was so great that the Britons never met the invading force at Kent, according to Caesar anyway, with various scraps breaking out as the Romans marched inland. The Romans crossed the Thames River and reached as far inland as Middlesex. The Britons resorted to guerrilla warfare tactics in an attempt to avoid any further pitch battles against unorganised Roman army. Caesar and his army eventually forced Casavillianus, the king of the southeastern Celtic tribe of the Trinovantes, whose capital was a modern Colchester and who occupied an area that included Greater London, to agree to pay tribute to Rome and refrain from attacking Roman forces. Caesar then installed Mande Brachius as the puppet king of the Trinovantes, in fighting amongst the Britons had contributed to this capitulation. Shortly after this victory, however, Caesar and his men returned to Gaul, with not a single Roman soldier left in Britain to enforce the settlement. Although Caesar made some accomplishments in his second invasion, the vast majority of Celtic Britain remained outside of Caesar's control and it is unclear whether he consolidated any small gains he made. Perhaps this was due to a lack of a serious commitment by Caesar to truly conquer and hold the region, with the weather proving difficult for the Romans to contend with. It was not until over 100 years later that Rome conquered the majority of ancient England, which I will explore more in a future video. Thanks for watching and please subscribe and hit the bell to turn on notifications. If you would like to support this work, through Buy Me a Coffee or Patreon, please see the links below in the description. Please also share this channel with your family and friends. Thanks again, I'll speak to you soon.