the roman invasion and conquest of britain[1]

8/18/2019 The Roman Invasion and Conquest of Britain[1]

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The Roman Invasion and

Conquest of Britain


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The First Invasion

• The first Roman general

to invade Britain was

Julius Caesar. While

fighting Celtic tribes in

aul !modern France"#Caesar believed the$

were getting hel% from

the Celtic %eo%le of

Britain. &e resolved toinvade Britain and %unish

those %eo%le.


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Crossing the Channel

• In '' B.C. Caesar set

sail with a fleet of

shi%s to cross over to

Britain. &e %lanned toland near the famous

white cliffs of (over.


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British Resistance

• &owever# Caesar

re%orts that the British

%eo%le were waiting

for him# and threwdown u%on his troo%s

a barrage of s%ears

and stones# so that

the landing for theRoman soldiers was

made ver$ difficult.


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Caesar)s *econd Invasion

• +fter some initial

s,irmishes with various

Celtic tribes# since winter

was a%%roaching# Caesar

decided to return to aul.&owever# in the s%ring of

'- B.C. he attem%ted a

second invasion of

Britain. This time he wasable to land without

o%%osition. &e marched

inland and set u% a fort.


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nd of Caesar)s Invasions

• In '- B.C. Caesar foughta few small battles withthe British tribes# andthen concluded some

treaties with their ,ings.*oon# he again leftBritain# in order to returnto Rome# where %oliticaldevelo%ments demanded

his attention. &e nevergot bac, to Britain# for in-- B.C. he wasassassinated.


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m%eror Claudius Invades

• +lmost /00 $ears went

b$# before the Romans

again turned their

attention to Britain. In -1

+.(. m%eror Claudiussent an invasion force of

about -0#000 soldiers to

conquer the island and

ma,e its %eo%lesubmissive to Roman

%ower.


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The Britons *ubmit to Rome

• Claudius) arm$ was too

great for the Britons to

resist. *oon# a number of

the Celtic ,ings decided

to as, for terms of %eace.Claudius himself came to

Britain to receive a

%ledge of lo$alt$ to Rome

from these ,ings. Britainwas now officiall$ a %art

of the Roman m%ire.


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Roman 2ower Changes Britain

• The British %eo%le were

ver$ agricultural and

rural. The$ had small

villages# but no real cities.

The Romans began tochange all this. The$

immediatel$ set about

building cities on the

Roman model. 3ne ofthese cities was

4ondinium# now ,nown as

4ondon.


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Roman Religion Introduced to

Britain• m%eror Claudius wanted the

Britons to acce%t elements ofRoman culture. &e es%eciall$wanted them to ,now aboutthe Roman gods. In the new

cit$ of 5oviomagus# he built atem%le in the Roman st$le anddedicated it to himself. In man$%arts of the m%ire# them%eror was worshi%ed as agod# and Claudius ho%ed this

would ha%%en in Britain aswell.


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The Roman +rm$ *ettles In

• To ,ee% the British tribes

%eaceful and obedient to

Rome# a number of

militar$ cam%s were

established around theisland# so that soldiers

could ,ee% constant

watch on what the natives

were doing. 3ne of thelargest cam%s was at

Chester.


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Boudicca)s Rebellion

• 5ot all the Celtic tribes werecontent to have the Romansruling over them. In 66 +.(. thequeen of the Iceni tribe# awoman named Boudicca# led a

rebellion against the Romans. +t first she was successful.*he managed to burn the cit$of 4ondon. &owever# theRoman arm$ soon caught u%with her# and her followers

were slaughtered in a ver$blood$ battle.


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Trouble in the 5orth

• The Celtic tribes in the north#the area we ,now as *cotland#had never submitted to Romanrule. The$ often made raids onthe south# and %illaged Roman

settlements. The Romansdecided to %unish these tribes.7nder the Roman governor

+gricola# a great battle wasfought at a %lace called 8ountrau%ius# and these northern

Celts were soundl$ defeated.


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+ *$stem of Forts

• In order to ,ee% the north%eaceful# the Romansnow constructed a seriesof forts from one side of

the island to the other.The soldiers stationed inthese forts were to %atrolthe border and %reventthe northern tribes for

threatening the towns tothe south. 3ne of theseim%ortant forts was builtat 9indolanda.


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m%eror &adrian *trengthens the

Border.• In /:: +.(. the m%eror

&adrian decided to build a wallcom%letel$ across Britain tomar, a %ermanent border forthe m%ire and to shut the

northern Celts out of thecivili;ed regions to the south.The fort at 9indolanda andseveral other northern fortswere incor%orated into thiswall. &adrian)s Wall was built

b$ soldiers and is a marvel ofRoman engineering s,ill.

the roman invasion and conquest of britain[1]

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