The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
History · Key Stage 2 · The School
Twice, nearly a century apart
Julius Caesar crossed to Britain in 55 and again in 54 BC. Neither was a conquest — he came, fought, took hostages and left. The real invasion came under the emperor CLAUDIUS in AD 43, almost a hundred years later. Confusing the two is the commonest error in this topic, and the gap between them is nearly as long as the time from the First World War to now.
Why the army won
Rome's advantage was organisation rather than individual bravery. Soldiers were paid professionals who drilled constantly, fought in disciplined formations, and built as much as they fought — roads, forts and walls went up as the army advanced, so ground taken stayed taken. Resistance was real and sometimes very costly: BOUDICA of the Iceni destroyed three cities including London around AD 60 before being defeated.
What stayed after they left
Roman rule lasted in Britain until about AD 410, and left roads still followed by modern ones, the sites of London, York, Chester and Bath, the idea of the town itself, coinage, writing in Latin, central heating in villas, and HADRIAN'S WALL across the north. Christianity arrived during this period too. Much of it fell out of use afterwards, which is itself part of the story.
Take one Roman town: Bath, which the Romans called AQUAE SULIS, meaning the waters of Sulis. A local goddess called Sulis was worshipped at the hot spring. The Romans linked her with their own goddess Minerva. In the later first century AD they built a temple next to the spring. Over the next few hundred years the site grew into a large bathing complex. After Roman rule ended, the baths fell into disrepair and silted up. In the 1100s a new bath was built over the spring. A gilt bronze head of Sulis Minerva was found in 1727. Pulling down old buildings uncovered Roman baths in 1755 and again in 1865. In the 1870s and 1880s the city architect, Charles Davis, dug out the Great Bath, which is lined with lead. Today visitors can tour the baths.