Rule Britannia! Rome’s Northern Jewel

To the Roman emperors of the first century A.D., Britain (or Britannia, as that remote territory was known) must have seemed beyond the pale of the civilized world, culturally inferior to the great cities of the empire.

The Romans nonetheless coveted these northern lands, if only as another jewel in the empire’s crown. The second-century A.D. historian Florus (a name used by three, more-or-less contemporaneous writers) observed that the annexation of Britain had no benefit other than to add luster “to the bearing of imperial power.”

The Romans first invaded Britain in 55 B.C., under Julius Caesar, who had conquered Gaul in a bloody campaign that began in 59 B.C. Caesar no doubt believed that another show of military might would impress the political elite in Rome. Caesar left Gaul with two legions of soldiers, most likely landing at Kent, on England’s southern coast. Although the Romans fought hard and were victorious in battle, hostile weather forced them to retreat to Gaul. Caesar returned the following year with five legions, triumphing again over the local tribes of Britain. The indigenous tribes could muster little defense, after all, against the javelins and short swords of the armored Roman infantries.