Just Finished Reading: The Romans Who Shaped Britain by Sam Moorhead and David Stuttard (FP: 2012) [251pp] 

It may have been true, but it was certainly a piece of significant propaganda as well as a shot at personal aggrandisement. When Julius Ceaser was fighting in Gaul he pointed at Britain as a haven for trouble makers, a haven that needed to be tamed, to be brought to heel. The only way to do that was to invade – which he did with a relatively small force in 55BC achieving little more than a ‘photo-op’. He returned with a much larger force the following year achieving his limited war aims and essentially put the locals on notice that the Roman Empire was watching and would be back. Then... Nothing. 

Only after around 100 years in AD43 under Emperor Claudius did a full invasion and occupation get underway. Resistance was, at first, significant – at least amongst some of the Britannic tribes but Rome, being Rome, dealt with any signs of opposition in their usual brutally methodical manner. In this case at least resistance was, generally, useless. With each passing year the Empire pressed north and west towards what is now Scotland and Wales. Both future countries proved far more difficult to subdue than first thought although Wales eventually fell after many years of warfare. Scotland proved a somewhat tougher nut to crack – or simply too expensive for minimal gain – and a series of walls were built to contain any possible threat. But not all was well (or peaceful) in Britannia.  

In AD60 the Roman’s pushed too far. With a heavy hand they turned a compliant ally into an implacable enemy. The Iceni queen Boudica rose in revolt to avenge her husband, her daughters and herself against an oppressive regime. This was no idle threat. Tens of thousands reached for their swords and shouted ‘Death to Rome’. The city of Colchester went down in blood and flame followed by London. The 9th Legion was ambushed on the way to intercept Boudica’s army and destroyed. Rearmed and reinvigorated who could stand against them? Returning from the Druid heartland of Anglesey the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, did just that with appalling consequences and the revolt bled out in an English field. The death toll was truly staggering with the Romans and their allies losing around 80,000 and the Celtic tribes considerably more. Although Emperor Nero considered abandoning Britain the defeat of Boudica led to Roman consolidation in the south and a confirmed presence in the rest of the country for centuries to come. 

When the Romans finally left early in the 5th century, they left a partially Romanised province largely unable to stand on its own feet. For centuries it had been a place of some value but always at a cost. It was one of the most heavily garrisoned provinces in the Empire and seemed to be a regular producer of troublesome Emperor ‘wannabies’ safely far from the centre of things. 

This was a very good overview/introduction to Roman Britain. I was aware of the rough outline of things (back in my day they taught this sort of thing in History class) so it was nice to fill in some detail. There is much, at least on the surface, to admire about the Romans but it was gratifying to see then get their assess handed to them on more than one occasion by the Brits (even though the ‘British’ didn’t actually exist at that time), the Welsh and the Scots (ditto and ditto). Naturally I was drawn particularly to Boudica (or Boadicea as I knew her growing up – yes, I’m THAT old) so there’s more to follow on that amazing woman and hero of mine for many years. Definitely worth a read and recommended to anyone wanting a firm foundation to this most interesting slice of Britain's early history.