The Roman world
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Britain
Britain is the big island northwest of Gaul. Rome ruled much of it for hundreds of years.
More to know
Not all of the island was held. Lands far north stayed outside the main province. Hadrian’s Wall marked a famous border. Wooden letters from a fort called Vindolanda still survive.
What happened here
55–54 BC
Caesar’s visits
Julius Caesar crossed the sea twice. He did not stay and rule.
AD 43
Claudius’s army lands
A Roman army invaded. Claudius came to claim the win. Britain became a province.
AD 60 or 61
Boudica’s revolt
Queen Boudica led a huge rising. Towns burned. The Roman army defeated her. The year is given both ways.
We are not sure of every detail.
about AD 122
Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian ordered a long wall across the north. You can still walk parts of it.
People tied to this place
- Julius CaesarHe was a general, a writer, and Rome’s dictator.
- ClaudiusHe was the emperor who made Britain a Roman province.
- BoudicaShe was a queen in Britain who fought the Romans.
- Claudia SeveraShe wrote a birthday invitation that we can still read.
- HadrianHe built a famous wall across northern Britain.
- FrontinusHe ran Rome’s water system and wrote a book about it.
- Septimius SeverusHe was an emperor from a grand city in North Africa.
- ConstantineHe favored the Christian church and built Constantinople.