 The Roman conquest of England began almost 2,000 years ago in 43 AD under the Roman Emperor Claudius. Prior to this, both Julius Caesar and perhaps Calibula had tried to conquer the island of Britain, but they were largely unsuccessful. Following his second invasion of Britain in 54 BC however, Caesar had managed to establish a system where some British tribes of ancient southeastern England paid tribute to Rome with these arrangements potentially still in place by the time of Claudius' invasion. This system built links between Rome and these tribes with the elites of these British tribes of southeastern England developing a passion for Roman customs, having a love of wine and fine imported tableware for instance. Furthermore, some of these elites of southeastern England may have grown up in Rome after being exchanged as children during negotiations with Rome. Despite this, most of Celtic England still remained outside of Roman control in any strict sense, something Claudius sought to change. But why was Rome so intent on conquering ancient England and Britain? Obviously, a great conquest like Britain would look great on Claudius' CV. The initial pretext for the invasion however was to reinstall the exiled British client king of Rome, Verica. He had recently been expelled from the lands of the arch rebates which occupied an area around Sussex during a revolt. Britain may also have been seen in the eyes of many Romans as more of an enemy than an ally. During the Roman conquest of Gaul, led by Julius Caesar for instance, the Gauls of modern France, Belgium and other regions had received reinforcements from the Britons. More importantly however, the Roman Empire wanted to control Britain because of its natural resources as it was home to cattle, vast deposits of tin and iron. Whilst the inhabitants of ancient Celtic Britain used gold coins, in 43 AD the invasion began when Roman legions landed in coastal Kent. The legions were comprised of Roman soldiers mainly from Italia, Hispania and Gaul and they probably departed from Bologna. The English Channel was patrolled by a Roman naval fleet known as Classus Britannica or British Fleet. Under the command of the Roman senator in general, Aulis Plotius. The Romans made progress in taking large parts of southeastern England along the way. Rome won important battles, including in 43 AD at the Battle of Medway on the banks of the River Medway in the modern County of Kent. In a battle that raged for two days, the Roman Eagle finally triumphed. The Romans then soon consolidated their position in the southeast using war elephants in the process, with the living British tribes eventually surrendering and pledging loyalty to Roman rule. The Romans celebrated by establishing their capital in England at Comilodonum, which is modern day Colchester. The Romans had to overcome many instances of resistance in the early period of their campaign in England however. A notable rebel against Roman conquest was Characticus. Characticus initially fled from Colchester to south Wales to stir up resistance to the invading Romans, going on to resist Roman rule for years. Characticus was particularly effective when he and his army utilised guerrilla warfare tactics. In pitched battles however, the organised and disciplined Roman army tended to prevail. After defeat in one such battle, Characticus fled north to a territory controlled by Queen Cartomangioa of the Brigantis tribe. Queen Cartomangioa, who was loyal to Rome, captured Characticus in 51 AD and turned him over to the Romans in chains. He was taken to Rome in sentence to death, but after making an impassioned speech before the Emperor Claudius, his life was spared. He later died in Rome after consolidating their position in southeast England. The Romans moved west, under the leadership of the Roman general Vespasian, who would later become the Emperor of Rome between 69 and 70 AD. Vespasian and his legions overcame all resistance as they moved west, reaching as far west as Exeter in southwest England. Exeter became a major base of Roman operations between 55 and 75 AD. It was not all plain sailing for the Romans however. Resistance to Roman rule continued in areas, with the Druids serving as a core point of Celtic resistance against Roman rule. And in fact, it was during an attempt to quell the Druids of Anglesame Wales that the most famous rebellion against Roman rule in England occurred in 61 AD under the leadership of Boudicca. Initially things were very different for Boudicca. When the Romans invaded Britain decades earlier, Boudicca's husband Prasitagus, who was king of the Ancieni tribe at the time, allied his kingdom with the Romans. Father Prasitagus allied with the Romans after attempts to resist Roman conquest were defeated, or whether he surrendered without a fight are not quite clear. Regardless, the Ancieni tribe was an independent ally of the Romans going forward up until his death. In his will, he left half of his kingdom to his daughters and the other half to the Roman emperor Nero. When he died however, his will was ignored and his kingdom was annexed by Rome and his property taken. His wife, Boudicca, was flogged and abused in the streets and his daughters were raped. Naturally, Boudicca as a mother and a widow snapped. Boudicca, who was known as a very tall woman with her fierce gaze, organised others who had been aggrieved by the Romans. She led her Ancieni tribe, which occupied the region around the Norfolk area of Easter in England, along with other tribes, including the Tunavantes, which occupied the region corresponding to parts of modern-day Essex and Greater London and rebellion against Roman rule. It started when the Roman governor of Britain, Gaius Setonius Paulinus, who was on campaign against a druid's stronghold in Monet, modern-day Anglesey and Wales, with Paulinus and his army out of the way. Boudicca seized their opportunity. The Celtic Queen and her army sat Camillodinum, modern-day Colchester, overpowering and surprising the Romans guarding the city. Boudicca quickly moved on to attack Londinium, modern-day London. Paulinus, who had received word of Boudicca's success in Colchester, marched straight for Londinium to head off Boudicca's advance. Paulinus did not have sufficient numbers to defend Londinium, however, and ended up having to evacuate the city, leaving it for the Celts. Boudicca and her army taught Londinium as a demonstration of power and moved on to sack and burn other Roman controlled towns in England. In her campaign, Boudicca and her army killed an estimated 70-80,000 Roman troops, many by torture. Her uprising was so impactful that it apparently even made Nero the Roman Emperor at the time. To consider withdrawing his forces from Britain altogether. Paulinus eventually reorganised his forces and despite being outnumbered, the Romans defeated Boudicca's army in a decisive battle that suppressed the revolt. The fate of Boudicca herself is debated, however. Some sources argue that she killed herself to avoid being captured, whereas others say she died shortly after the battle due to illness. With Boudicca's rebellion suppressed and much of southeastern and southwestern England under Roman control, Rome looked north. The northern parts of England were finally conquered by Gaius Julius Agricola in around 78 AD. This region was controlled in large part by the Brigantis tribe. The leadership of the Brigantis had changed hands around a decade prior to the Roman conquest, after Queen Cartomangio, who we met previously in the story when she handed over Caracticus to the Romans, was forced to flee to the Roman side after a rebellion led by her husband, Venetius, removed her from power. After conquering the Brigantis, Agricola moved north to tackle Caledonia. By this point, Celtic England was under Roman control. The Roman position in England was fully consolidated after the completion of the Stingate Road in 87 AD. The Stingate was a Roman road that ran across northern England between Carlyle and Cor Bridge, linking two Roman forts that patrolled river crossings. Hadrian's Wall was later built just north of the Stingate, with construction of the wall starting in 122 AD. The Roman Empire would go on to control most of England and large parts of Britain for hundreds of years, until around 410 AD, when Roman imperial authority was withdrawn by the Emperor Honorius. The legacy left by the Romans is still felt today, from the cities they established to the roads they built. Thanks for watching, please subscribe and hit the bell to turn on notifications. You can also support this work through buymeacoffee.com and Patreon, all the links are in the description below. Thanks again, speak to you next time.