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The Roman Invasion of Anglesey - March upon the Island,

© Sion Grufydd

The Romans invaded Britain in AD 43, under the command of Aulus Plautinus. The Emperor Claudius visited the isles briefly to view the new province but returned to Rome soon after. Perhaps the climate did not appeal to him?

In military terms nothing had been seen to match the Roman Army. Indeed, it was not until a thousand years after the Romans that anything appeared to match them. They were a well-organised, well-disciplined and well-trained force of men and machines whose tactics and methodology in warfare were to be the mainstay of military tacticians for centuries after. Even today, we still marvel at the brilliance of their campaigns and at the way they were instrumental in pushing Rome’s expansionism far beyond its natural borders.

When the Romans landed in Britain it was in the guise of offering help to Verica, King of the Atrebates, in what is now Hampshire. Verica had contacted Rome to assist him in repelling the powerful Catuvellauni. Claudius had four legions and their auxiliaries shipped from Gaul under the command of Aulus Plautinus. Landing at Richborough and at other points on the Kent coast, the Roman Army established a base with no significant interference from the local tribes. Soon they moved inland, crossing the River Medway and pushing the local tribes back as far as the River Thames. They met resistance here – answered by Plautinus committing his specialist Batavian troops to the fore by fording the river and establishing a beachhead. With the local tribes promptly subdued, the Romans built a fort and waited for the arrival of Claudius.

Claudius duly arrived but before he left in August of the year, he flexed his muscles as asked by Verica – though his intentions were more than an answer for help. The army marched on the Catuvellauni – their capital was at Camulodunum, which is modern Colchester - and captured it without difficulty. There Claudius received a formal surrender of a number of tribes and then returned to Rome. He left orders to the army in Britain to crush the inland tribes and bring the province under the ‘protection’ of Rome. The seasoned and experienced army met with little in the way of stubborn resistance.

By AD 47, the army had given the emperor almost half of the island of Britain.

Between AD 47 and AD 60, Wales itself was to feel the power of Rome.

Suetonius Paulinus was the man responsible for the first invasion of Anglesey and, later, for the defeat of Boudicca. Paulinus was well versed in the arts of command, strategy and warfare. Commanding the IInd Augusta in Britain, he fought 30 battles, conquered two tribes, took 20 towns - and captured the Isle of Wight. He was seen as a seasoned, experienced soldier. By AD 59, Suetonius Paulinus had been made Military Governor of Britain. Now he looked at Wales and in particular at Anglesey. Centre of Druidism, grain store for the mainland and with its rich copper mines for metalwork and weapons, it was a strategic target that he planned to capture and garrison. By doing so the Romans would be able to control Wales.