The Romans Are A Coming!

The Romans brought many changes to Britain once they had invaded us. Whether you see the invasion as good or bad depends on your view, but certainly, the invasion and the changes they produced helped to shape the country that we know today.

Before the Romans took a liking to our land, Britain was a mixture of Celtic tribes. The word "tribes" might make you picture a primitive society - you know the type, we slurp on a chicken bone and then fling it over our shoulder without even a backward glance. Please don't try that at home, I doubt even "but Mum, I was just wondering what it was like way back then," will work!
Well we Celts might have been a little more course with our gestures, but it was what we were used to and we were just a touch different at the end of the day.

So why did the Romans want to invade our chicken slurping bone eating nation anyway? Well, first of all we had really annoyed them. We had helped Gaul (modern day France) fight Rome in the past, and so they were a little peeved at us. In 55 B.C., the then famous Roman general Julius Caesar wanted revenge and he also believed that we had piles of treasure awaiting him. The urge was too great. Revenge was sweet, it would make Caesar look good back in Rome and he'd also come away with lots of loot!

As it turned out, Caesar failed to invade us, which miffed him even more. He left it a year, during which he'd stewed as he dreamed of glory and treasures galore, and attempted a second invasion on our good land. He did a little better on the second attempt, he actually got ashore this time, but only long enough to discover that the treasures he thought we had didn't exist. Although Caesar went back to Rome frustrated and treasureless, it did raise his status in the eyes of Rome itself.

It would be ninety years before the Celts saw the Romans again. By this time we'd left old B.C. behind and were now into the A.D. years. In A.D. 43, Claudius sent four Roman legions across the sea. Britain at the time was in a state of constant battle. The Celts were a hot-blooded people intent on fighting and besting one another. Fighting among themselves left them weak and open to attack and despite the brave attempts of the Celts to drive the Romans out, they were beaten. Chances are that if the Celts hadn't been so divided, they could have fought off the Roman invasion once more. This time it wasn't to be, the Romans conquered us and life in Britain as we knew it, was about to change.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic