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The frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain is sometimes styled Limes Britannicus ("British Limes") by authors for the boundaries, including
fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...
and
defensive rampart In fortification architecture, a bank or rampart is a length of embankment or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth and/or ...
s, that were built to protect
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...
(the term ''Limes'' is mainly and originally used for the Roman frontier in the Germanic provinces). These defences existed from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD and ran through the territory of present-day
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. Britain was one of the most troubled regions in the European part of the Roman Empire and could only be secured by the
Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
at considerable effort. Despite a rapid victory over the tribes in the south, which
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...
' field commander, Aulus Plautius, achieved in 43 AD for Rome, the resistance of the British was not completely broken for a long time afterwards. Nevertheless, the Romans succeeded in further consolidating their rule in the period that followed, although the troops stationed there were overburdened by having to defend Britain simultaneously on three fronts. The incursions of barbarians from the north of the island repeatedly caused serious problems. To the west and south, the Britannic provinces had to be defended against Hibernian and Germanic attacks. Against all odds, Britain was held for almost three centuries by the Roman Empire. In retrospect, the Roman domination of Britain is generally considered to be positive. For a long time there was peace and prosperity on the island. Behind the protection of
Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...
and that formed by the natural coastal boundaries to the east, south and west, the region we now know as England was heavily influenced by the achievements of Roman civilization.
Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...
and the ''
castra In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular a ...
'' on the
Saxon Shore The Saxon Shore ( la, litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the " Count of the Saxon Sh ...
are still the most prominent symbols of Roman rule over Britain.


Development


Overview

The conquest of Britain was ordered in 43 AD by Emperor
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...
. Claudius had a low reputation among his troops and was forced - according to the tradition of emperors - to acquire glory on the battlefield in order to secure his rule permanently. Britannia had large deposits of precious metals, fertile soil and vast forests, which made it economically attractive to the Romans. Most of Great Britain was conquered in the first year of the invasion. However, this campaign sparked a long-running resistance by the native
Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
s against their occupiers that lasted for decades. Following the
Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...
Uprising, they almost succeeded in expelling the
Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
from the island. It may have been that Claudius initially planned to occupy only the lowland regions of Britain. In the 1st century, the Romans had no clear idea how large the island was. Roman influence was therefore continually extended as the borders of their conquered territory shifted significantly several times. Time and again fighting broke out with the indigenous Celtic tribes in the border zones of the new province, compelling Roman troops to move into new areas in the west and north, in order to ensure the permanence of Roman rule and to secure their borders. In 80 AD, the army of Agricola penetrated well into ''Caledonian'' territory (modern-day Scotland) after his victory in the
Battle of Mons Graupius The Battle of Mons Graupius was, according to Tacitus, a Roman Empire, Roman military victory in what is now Scotland, taking place in AD 83 or, less probably, 84. The exact location of the battle is a matter of debate. Historians have long que ...
. After attempts to permanently occupy the Highlands failed, the Romans fell back in 120 AD to the
Stanegate The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbridge) on the River Ty ...
line. The majority of troops in Britain had to continue to be stationed in the north. As protection against raids by pirates from Ireland (''Hibernia''), a powerful protection force was also needed on the west coast. In particular, the regions of
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
and
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
suffered time and again from the plundering of the Irish. Even during the reign of Hadrian, Britain was still not an entirely peaceful province. Coin missions dating to this time indicate that Britain was in a "permanent state of defence" and pre-Roman tribal societies continued to occupy the outer regions of the island. The greatest danger was always posed by the
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
from who lived on the far side of the Scottish rivers, the
Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...
and the Clyde. Moreover, in the lands between these rivers and Hadrian's Wall, the Central Lowlands, there were still four other Celtic tribes - the
Votadini The Votadini, also known as the ''Uotadini'', ''Wotādīni'', ''Votādīni'', or ''Otadini'' were a Celtic Britons, Brittonic people of the British Iron Age, Iron Age in Great Britain. Their territory was in what is now south-east Scotland and ...
, Selgovae, Damnonii and Novantae - which Rome sought to incorporate in order to be able to neutralise their fighting power and make use of their farmland. To that end, road forts were built to protect Rome's territorial claims. From 122, the northern border was secured by Hadrian's Wall. The fortifications on the coast of Cumbria, which were erected later, were intended to prevent the Wall being circumvented in the West. Under Hadrian, the three legion camps were rebuilt in stone. In 140 AD, Roman troops advanced again against the Caledonians and built the
Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some ...
further to the north but, by 160, it had been abandoned. In the period 155-158 AD there was a revolt in Britain which led to heavy losses being inflicted on the local legions. These losses had to be made up by reinforcements from the Germanic Rhine provinces. At the end of the 2nd century seafaring Germanic peoples – the
Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...
,
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...
- began to threaten the Gallic and British coasts with the first raids from the continent. During the course of the civil war that followed the election of
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
as emperor, his rival,
Clodius Albinus Decimus Clodius Albinus ( 150 – 19 February 197) was a Roman imperial pretender between 193 and 197. He was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain and Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) after the murd ...
, set forth for the continent in 197 with the Britannic army, but suffered a crushing defeat against Severus’ troops in the Battle of Lugdunum (
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
). In the 3rd century, Roman Britain underwent profound changes. With the return of soldiers to the island, their first task was to drive back the Picts, who had taken advantage of the absence of Roman troops to raid and plunder extensively. As a result, Septimius Severus ordered a large-scale punitive expedition against the tribes north of Hadrian's Wall and even reoccupied the Antonine Wall for a short time. Unlike the other provinces, Britain appeared relatively stable and calm. The short-term separation of the island from the rest of the Empire under the usurper
Carausius Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius (died 293) was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, during the Carausian Revolt, declaring himself emperor in Britain and ...
showed that this was an illusion and that the power of Rome was becoming increasingly weaker in Britain as well. Carausius used ''inter alia'' the anger of the Britons arising from their neglect by Rome for his own power-political purposes and founded his own empire consisting of Britain and a strip of land in northern Gaul. He wanted to build it up into his own centre of power within the Roman world, but failed in the face of a Roman counter-offensive ordered by
Constantius Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 ...
, which soon toppled the newly founded Romano-British Empire. In the late 3rd and into the 4th century, the security situation on the continent became critical again, as the pressure from barbarian tribes on the borders of the Rhine and Danube had not waned. From the 4th century, Britain was again increasingly the target of attacks by Saxons, Picts and Scots. The last named sailed around Hadrian's Wall and initially penetrated far into the south of the country. The crews of the watchtowers and forts on the coast of Cumbria were usually only able to warn the population. Due to the precarious security situation in the rest of the Empire, units were increasingly withdrawn from the island so that, in the end, the British provinces were almost exclusively guarded by locally raised ''
auxilia The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
'' or newly recruited Germanic mercenaries. At the end of the 4th century, the last Roman troops left their camps in Wales, with the result that raiding and settling by the Irish significantly increased there. Around 400 AD, much of Hadrian's Wall also had to be abandoned for lack of troops. Most units of the mobile field army were ordered to leave Britain in 401/402 to go to the defence of Italy against the
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...
under Alaric. After the invasion of Gaul by several barbarian tribes in
406 __NOTOC__ Year 406 ( CDVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arcadius and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1159 ''Ab u ...
, contact was broken between Britain and the Western Roman central government in Ravenna. As a result, the provincial Roman army - probably encouraged by the local nobility – elected three of their own emperors in rapid succession, of whom the commander of the army eventually succeeded in 407 in holding onto power. He wanted to take advantage of the political and military chaos in Gaul caused by the barbarian invasion to strengthen his power and crossed with his loyal troops across the English Channel. At this point, the Romano-British renounced him probably in the wake of an uprising against the governor appointed by him. Around 410 AD, the last units of the mobile field army left the island, drawing to a close 300 years of Roman rule over Britain. Thereafter,
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
s were apparently recruited from the continent by the Romano-British ''
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
'' as reinforcements in order that they might defend themselves more effectively against the constant attacks. While some researchers assess that some of them had already reached the shores of Britain by 380 as mercenaries, the majority of historians believe this first took place in 440. However, these mercenaries soon rose up against their masters, allegedly because they were not adequately supplied by them. Their leaders now established their own independent kingdoms which expanded rapidly to the west and north. Many regions of Britain continued to be governed by the Roman model even after the Romans left, but this practice soon ceased with the continuous encroachment of Anglo-Saxon
renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *''Command ...
s. With the collapse of the old administrative districts into independent small kingdoms, the jointly maintained provincial army also lost its Roman character.


1st Century


North

Four years after the Roman invasion, the conquered territory extended roughly as far as a line from
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
'' ( Isca Dumnoniorum) '' to Lincoln '' ( Lindum Colonia)'', an important intra-Britannic transport hub. Around 55 AD the main camp of the ''
Legio II Augusta Legio II Augusta ( Second Legion "Augustus'") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "''Augusta''" from a victory ...
'' was established in ''Isca Dumnoniorum''. This was abandoned about 75 AD and the place was elevated into the ''
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
'' of the Dumnonii. The city of Lincoln was initially the headquarters of the '' Legio IX Hispana'' and, at the end of the reign of
Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
, was elevated to a '' Colonia''. It lay on the river Witham, another important communication route. Near the town there was probably a bridge across the river. "
Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London ('' Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York ('' Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earn ...
" linked
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
(''
Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cros ...
'') with the legion camp of
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
(''
Eburacum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...
''). In addition, one of Roman Britain's main roads, the "
Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis ( Ilchester), Aquae Sulis (Bath), ...
", which ran from the west from the Welsh legion base of Exeter, terminated in Lincoln. Furthermore, a road led from Lincoln eastwards to the shores of the English Channel. The first Roman frontier in the north and west of the island was marked by watchtowers and military camps, or ''
castra In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular a ...
'', along the Fosse Way. This has led many historians to suggest that it served as the permanent border in the early years of Roman occupation. However, it is more likely that the boundary between Roman and Celtic Britain fluctuated markedly during this period. In ''Eburacum'' in 71 AD, a wood and earth military camp was built by the ''Legio IX Hispana'' to secure the northern region. Following the defeat of the Welsh tribes, Agricola's army advanced against particularly warlike
Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...
tribes in the inhabited areas in the north. In 79, his soldiers reached the ''Tanaus'' (or ''Taus''; its location is unknown today, but it could have been the
Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; gd, Linne Tatha) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow) empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Dun ...
) and established several camps. In 80 AD, Agricola secured his conquests further, and built a row of defensive camps across a narrow neck in the north of Britain where the inlets of the sea cut deeply into the island between what Tacitus had called ''Clota'' (the
Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
) and ''Bodotria'' (the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
). In 82, he moved with his troops and a unit of the fleet along the east coast of Scotland, into the regions north of the Firth of Forth. To support this incursion he built bases such as ''
Pinnata Castra ''Pinnata Castra'' ( Ancient Greek: Πτερωτον Στρατοπεδον, ''Pteroton Stratopedon'') was a settlement located in the north of the island of Great Britain, featuring in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as one of the four places ...
'', a legion camp near Inchtuthil. Subsequently, he tried to secure the north permanently with further fortifications on the so-called
Gask Ridge The Gask Ridge is the modern name given to an early series of fortifications, built by the Romans in Scotland, close to the Highland Line. Modern excavation and interpretation has been pioneered by the Roman Gask Project, with Birgitta Hoffman ...
. However, the expenditure on military equipment and logistics and the losses in this endless fighting greatly outweighed the benefits gained. After his recall, ''Caledonia'', with its harsh climate and sparse resources, was once again left to itself and the Romans restricted themselves to securing the most fertile and economically attractive regions of the island. Moreover, the troops tied up in Britannia were increasingly needed on the continent to defend the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...
and Lower
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
from Germanic and Dacian attacks. In 87 AD, when
Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
withdrew the ''Legio II Augusta'' and the majority of auxiliary units from the Scottish Lowlands for his Dacian war, this region could also no longer be held due to the lack of troops. The northern border of Roman Britain became the
Tyne Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography *River Tyne, England *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England *River Tyne, Scotland *River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia People ...
-
Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
line, a chain of military camps on the
Stanegate The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbridge) on the River Ty ...
road. After 100 AD, the last Roman ''castra'' in the lowlands - with one or two exceptions - were abandoned.


Southeast

After the invasion of the Romans, the first legion camp was established near the town of ''
Camulodunum Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...
'' around 43-44 AD. This became home to the '' Legio XX Valeria Victrix'' and various
auxilia The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
units. However, in the winter of 48-49, its garrison was ordered by
Publius Ostorius Scapula Publius Ostorius Scapula standing at the terrace of the Roman Baths (Bath) Publius Ostorius Scapula (died 52) was a Roman statesman and general who governed Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of Ca ...
to move to '' Glevum'' (
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...
) in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and the fortifications in ''Camulodunum'' were
slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...
. The camp was left to civilians and legion veterans and turned into a Roman colonial town.


West

The occupation of the West was largely completed by AD 52 with a victory over the tribe of the
Silures The Silures ( , ) were a powerful and warlike tribe or tribal confederation of ancient Britain, occupying what is now south east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas. They were bordered to the north by the Ordovices; to the east by the Dobun ...
. From 74/75 AD '' Isca Augusta'' (
Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...
) became the new headquarters of the ''
Legio II Augusta Legio II Augusta ( Second Legion "Augustus'") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "''Augusta''" from a victory ...
''. The Silurii were only finally overthrown, however, until 78 after several campaigns led by
Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...
. His successor, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, finally subjugated the
Ordovices The Ordovīcēs (Common Brittonic: *''Ordowīcī'') were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain before the Roman invasion. Their tribal lands were located in present-day North Wales and England, between the Silures to the south and the ...
in early 79, and occupied the island of '' Mona'', a holy island of the Britons and centre of the Druid cult. To consolidate Roman rule, Agricola had several ''auxilia'' camps built in 77 or 78 AD on the Welsh coast, such as those at ''Canovium'' (
Caerhun Caerhun ( cy, Caerhûn) is a scattered rural community, and former civil parish, on the west bank of the River Conwy. It lies to the south of Henryd and the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and includes several small villag ...
) and ''
Segontium Segontium ( owl, Cair Segeint) is a Roman fort on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The fort, which survived until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, was garrisoned by Roman auxiliaries from present-day Belgium and Ge ...
'' ( Caernarvon). Following the evacuation of the military camp in Inchtuthil, the legion stationed there, the '' Legio XX Valeria Victrix'' was moved in 88 to the camp of ''
Deva Victrix Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the Roman army advanced north ag ...
'' (
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
), originally built by the '' Legio II Adiutrix''. The legion later rebuilt the old wood and earth camp into a stone fort and also operated a lead mine there.


2nd Century


North

At the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Stanegate and the camps and watchtowers lined along it marked the northern border of Roman dominion. Unlike the other '' limites'' in the Roman Empire, there was no natural barrier such as wide river that crossed the entire island and whose banks could be relatively easily fortified against continuous attacks and plundering by the northern tribes. As a result, the Romans were forced to build artificial barriers there. First, they secured the land between the mouth of the Tyne and the
Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
(
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...
) and, later, the isthmus between the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
and
Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
(
Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some ...
). Around 108, the camp of ''Eburacum'' was rebuilt in stone and, from 120, it formed the base for the ''Legio VI Victrix''. In the years 139 to 141, conflict with the Caledonian tribes escalated. In response, Rome occupied the Lowlands again. Around 155, the Romans withdrew from the Antonine Wall, only to reoccupy it a short while later. In 155-158, serious unrest broke out in the north. The local legion had to be reinforced with contingents from the Germanic provinces. In 163, the Antonine Wall was finally abandoned and, instead, Hadrian's Wall was manned again and - where necessary - repaired. Most of the passages of the milecastles in the north were bricked up and causeways over the forward defensive ditches were removed.


West and Southeast

Defence and observation on the coasts in the West and Southeast were also carried out by chains of ''castra'', watchtowers and signal towers and along the main roads in the interior. The majority of provincial troops stationed in such camps, forts and watchtowers. In an emergency, they received support from the legions, who had their headquarters in the three major military centres of the island. These legion camps were connected by a good road network to all those regions across the island that were occupied by the Romans.


3rd Century


North

At the end of his reign, in the early 3rd century, the already seriously ill
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
and his sons,
Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor ...
and Geta, led a costly campaign against the tribal areas north of the border. Caracalla was given the command of the army, while Geta received no command, but was responsible for purely civilian tasks. Nevertheless, both sons bore the victors’ name ''Britannicus maximus'', as did Severus. The Roman army encountered heavy losses in the far north. A large number of military installations along Hadrian's Wall were repaired, but some towers may also have been demolished and some forts downsized during this period. The Antonine Wall was occupied again, in 208, for a short time and refortified. Severus died on 4 February 211 in ''Eburacum''. In 287-296, during the usurpation of
Carausius Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius (died 293) was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, during the Carausian Revolt, declaring himself emperor in Britain and ...
, Hadrian's Wall had fallen into disrepair and was partially destroyed in fighting. At the same time Carausius successfully defended his island kingdom against barbarian invasions. By his order Hadrian's Wall was repaired in order to re-establish an effective barrier against the northern Picts and Scots. As in his earlier actions against Frankish pirates Carausius rebuilt good diplomatic relations with the northern barbarians, and his local military successes may have been partly due to his good contacts with their leaders. Carausius' successor,
Allectus Allectus (died 296) was a Roman-Britannic usurper-emperor in Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296. History Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapian officer in the Roman navy who had seized power in Britain and northern Gaul in 286. I ...
, withdrew the majority of troops defending the Wall to the south to guard the Channel coast against
Constantius Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 ...
. In the late 3rd century the
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
and Scots changed their attack tactics. The Picts no longer attacked Hadrian's Wall directly but circumnavigated it by sea. Then they invaded the Roman provinces on the east coast. The Scots landed at the same time on the west coast, and plundered the population there. After the defeat of the usurper, Allectus Chlorus waged a revenge campaign against the invaders and his troops invaded their settlement areas north of Hadrian's Wall. He was accompanied by his son, Constantine. Constantius must have quickly won the fighting: in January 306 he had himself proclaimed as the "second victor of Britannia". But in that same year he died in ''Eburacum''. Constantine was elected as emperior there by the soldiers. At the turn of the 4th century, the northern border was again stable but needed additional strong units to hold it.


West

The position of Roman emperors was especially at risk from being usurped by their legion commanders (see the imperial crisis of the 3rd century). Several of these agitators came from Britannia. In order to muster enough soldiers for their march on Rome, they reduced their British garrisons in every case far below the level needed for them to mount a credible defence. The forts in the west were always the first to have to give up their garrisons because this region was regarded as unimportant due to its remoteness and minor economic significance. Even the advance on Scotland under Antoninus Pius resulted in a substantial reduction of troops in Wales. Only a few forts like ''Segontium'' on the northwest coast remained occupied to keep the Celtic tribes living there under control. In the early third century, the ''Legio II Augusta'' returned to Caerleon after a prolonged campaign; despite that, the number of Roman troops in Wales remained very low. In the late third century, the local coastline was increasingly threatened by Irish and Scots bandits whose pirate ships operated mostly in the
Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Se ...
, the seaway between the southwest peninsula of England and southern Wales. From there, they advanced into the richest regions of Britain, the
Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...
and
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. For their defence, a new camp was built in Cardiff and other existing forts were repaired. Nevertheless, the border here became more and more porous since the decimated defending troops could no longer drive off the Irish settlers in the coastal regions.


Southeast

Fortified military camps and watchtowers were also used on the southeast coast, in this case to stop migration and plundering by the Franks, Angles and Saxons. From about 270, attempts were made to gain the upper hand over the seaborne attacks of Germanic marauders using heavily fortified strongholds, some of which were newly built. In his chronicle of the second half of the 4th century Eutropius reported that the commander of the ''Classis Britannica'', Carausius, was tasked in 285 with tackling Frankish and Saxon piracy in the English Channel. The constant raids on the local coasts hindered maritime traffic and in particular the safe transportation of goods and precious metals to
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. The heavily branched river system in Britain enabled the Germanic invaders to quickly penetrate the interior of the island in their small flat boats. As a countermeasure the Roman administration created a separate military district covering both sides of the English Channel. During Carausius' short-lived Britannic Empire, these strategically important fortresses and naval stations were probably manned by his most loyal officers and soldiers, who could just as easily repel Roman invaders. The exact date of its formation, however, is unknown. However, the military situation in Britain, which was already difficult, worsened still further. The local army command had to face new threats without having enough soldiers available and was therefore forced to withdraw troops from other vulnerable areas of the island.


4th Century


North

In the early 4th century, the ''Legio VI Victrix'' once more carried out upgrade work on their camp in ''Eburacum''. The fortifications and towers were strengthened and other buildings such as the ''Principia'' were repaired. During the 4th century, the city continued to claim the status of the "capital of the North". In 368, army commander,
count Theodosius Flavius Theodosius (died 376), also known as Count Theodosius ( la, Theodosius comes) or Theodosius the Elder ( la, Theodosius Major), was a senior military officer serving Valentinian I () and the western Roman empire during Late Antiquity. U ...
, landed in Britannia where, on behalf of Emperor Valentinian I, he first of all overthrew the insurrection by Valentinus, then defeated a "barbarian conspiracy" of Picts, Scots and Anglo-Saxons and finally secured Hadrian's Wall again. In the fighting, the two commanders of the provincial army were killed. In 383, the acting commander of the Provincial Army (''comes britanniarum in praesenti''),
Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in B ...
, was proclaimed as emperor by his troops. The trigger for this rebellion was supposedly the increasing irritation of the militarywith the emperor in the west,
Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...
, who allegedly preferred Alani warriors to his own soldiers. However, a decisive factor was probably that the Roman troops on the island, who were involved in constant and costly minor wars with the Picts, Scots and Irish, felt that the Emperor had left them in the lurch. It was typical of troops engaged in constant combat to develop a great desire to be "near the emperor". Since Gratian was fully occupied with other crises in the empire, the Romano-British soldiers elected their commander as emperor without hesitation. For his subsequent campaign in Gaul, Maximus drew on a large number of garrison units stationed on the northern border. This meant that Hadrian's Wall from this point must have been almost unguarded and ceased to be a coherent and uniformly organized border security system. Some historians argue that Maximus also settled the first Anglo-Saxon ''
foederati ''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...
'' (allies) on the island. After the end of Maximus' brief reign, many of his soldiers did not return to Britain, but settled instead on the west coast of Gaul, in ''Bretannia'' or modern-day
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
. In 398/399 a Roman army was again transferred to Britain. The
panegyrist A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...
,
Claudian Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (; c. 370 – c. 404 AD), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almost e ...
, reported that the West Roman ''magister militum'',
Stilicho Flavius Stilicho (; c. 359 – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosiu ...
, led a campaign against the Picts and Scots at Hadrian's Wall. The ''Comes Britanniarum'' clearly placed nine units of ''comitatenses'' under Stilicho. In 402, however, he withdrew most of these soldiers back to Italy to use against the rebellious West Gothic army of Alaric. Around this time, the '' praepositus'', Justinian, had a tower replaced in the Roman camp of Ravenscar and had the last known Roman inscription in Britain placed on it for this occasion.


West

In the 4th century, western ports suffered from attacks by Irish pirates, particularly Cardiff, Caernarfon, Holyhead and Caerhun. This was not helped by a lack of defenders and it is thought that Magnus Maximus was responsible for the final withdrawal of most of the Roman troops from Wales. Welsh historical sources report that Maximus reorganized the defence of Britannia before departing for Gaul. He divided Wales into new military districts, which he then allocated either to regional tribal princes or to officers of the '' limitanei''. It is unclear when the legion was transferred away from the camp in Caerleon; perhaps at the end of the third or towards the mid-fourth century. Coins found there with dates up to 370 prove there was a - possibly only civilian - continuous settlement until that time. The final coin dates from the reign of Theodosius (388-395). The military camp of Chester may also have been evacuated during this period.


Southeast

From the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries, Frankish and Saxon pirates made mischief in the southeast of Britain. In the middle of the 4th century, responsibility for the security of this part of the coast was in the hands of a ''
Comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...
'' ("count"). In 367, there was a joint invasion of Britain by several
Barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...
tribes. The Roman provincial forces were wiped out almost entirely. Even their commanders were killed, including the "Count of the Coastal Areas". His remit was divided no later that around 395 into three military districts. This was done to prevent a military commander having too many units under his command and using them to order a rebellion, such as that usurpation by Carausius.


5th Century


North

In the forts along Hadrian's Wall, no more Roman coins have been found in the excavation layers dating to after 407. Following the withdrawal of the Britannic field army between 407 and 410 by the usurper
Constantine III Constantine III may refer to: * Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor), self-proclaimed western Roman Emperor 407–411 * Heraclius Constantine, Byzantine Emperor in 641 * Constans II, Byzantine emperor 641–668, sometimes referred to under this ...
the garrisons on the Wall probably lost troops as well. But it is unlikely that many soldiers from the north followed Constantine, as they were mostly born there and cultivated their own farms at their cantonment sites with their families. According to the ''
Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents o ...
'', last amended in 420, the Wall appears to have been still guarded by regular ''limitanei'' until at least the early 5th century. They were at that time under the command of a ''dux'' (“duke”) who probably had significant military assets. Before leaving Britain, Magnus Maximus probably appointed a certain Coelius as the supreme commander on the northern border; he was the last to use the title ''Dux Britanniarum'' ("Duke of Britannia") introduced by the Romans. John Morris suspects that '' Coel Hen'' who, according to a Welsh tradition, was the ancestor of all Celto-British kings of the north, was in fact this Coelius. Archaeological finds prove that some forts along the Wall were still inhabited until the first half of the 5th century by the descendants of the Roman soldiers.
Birdoswald Birdoswald is a former farm in the civil parish of Waterhead in the English county of Cumbria (formerly in Cumberland). It stands on the site of the Roman fort of Banna. Middle Ages Birdoswald first appears in the written record in 1211 whe ...
was even continuously inhabited until the Early Middle Ages. In the course of time, most of them became fortified villages ('' oppida'') or were used as quarries; a few milecastles were ''inter alia'' used as cattle pens. The southeast continued to be defended by the troops of the ''dux'' in ''Eburacum'' against attacks by the Picts and Scots. However, the administrative districts of the late Roman provinces in the south quickly became small independent kingdoms by inheritance, which is why the ''dux'' soon ceased to receive any material or financial contributions from there. In the early fifth century ''Eburacum'' became the metropolis of the Celto-British kingdom of '' Ebrauc''. The ''dux'' and his followers were now also rulers of an independent statelet. The consequence of this was that he finally left the southeast to itself and intruders were only fought when they threatened his own territory.


Southeast

Even the ''Comes'' of the
Saxon Shore The Saxon Shore ( la, litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the " Count of the Saxon Sh ...
did not join forces with Constantine's campaign to Gaul. He was probably able to maintain his defensive organization until the early 5th century. This part of Britain had most of the towns and the most highly developed commodity production. It is believed that military activity in the forts there continued well into the early 5th century. The Saxon Shore forts were probably no longer supplied from state magazines however. As on Hadrian's Wall, their garrisons, already largely composed of Germanii, managed small farms with their families and produced most of what they needed to live, themselves. As the pressure of Anglo-Saxon migration in Britain grew steadily and they slowly acquired land in the fertile lowlands, the Romano-British fled to the forts of the Saxon Shore, which were probably largely still intact. However, this only protected them temporarily from the invaders. One of them, ''
Anderitum Anderitum (also ''Anderida'' or ''Anderidos'') was a Saxon Shore fort in the Roman province of Britannia. The ruins adjoin the west end of the village of Pevensey in East Sussex, England. The fort was built in the 290s and was abandoned after it ...
'', was besieged and stormed by the Anglo-Saxons led by the first king of
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...
, Ælle (477-514), and his son, Cissa, in 491. The defenders were massacred to the last man. This is one of the rare surviving reports from the migration period of the successful siege of a fortified Roman settlement by new immigrants. In the Gallic Chronicles there is further evidence that the island had increasingly come under Anglo-Saxon domination no later than 440/441 - probably resulting from a rebellion of the ''
foederati ''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...
'' recruited by the provinces.


West

Because there was no central government in the south at that time, the local commanders conceded to the Irish their conquest of the Welsh coast and the remoter regions of
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
and
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. At this time, there were probably still large Romano-British settlements in Wales, such as Carmarthen and Caerwent. After the collapse of Roman administration in the early fifth century, the ancient tribal communities were revived and the West disintegrated rapidly into little, independent, constantly warring kingdoms. Only around the larger cities of Chester, Wroxeter, Gloucester and Caerlon was the Roman way of life are still maintained.


Troops

As resistance - at least in the south - largely subsided in the late 1st century, Britannia stood out among the other provinces for the next 300 years on account of its massive military presence. Until the middle of the 2nd century, 10-12% of the Roman army was stationed there ''(Exercitus Britannicus)'', although it only constituted 4% of the entire Empire. Legions, auxiliary cohorts and the fleet were commanded by the respective incumbent provincial governors. At its peak, the Roman army in Britannia probably comprised 35,000 to 40,000 men. Such a high number of soldiers can only partly be explained by the stubborn resistance of the British against Roman occupation. It is conceivable that Britannia's location on the margins of the Empire was seen as the ideal place e.g. to permanently isolate and occupy those legions potentially inclined to unrest. Even their commanders, the ''
legati A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...
'', were blamed on several occasions for their rebellious behavior. Britain is surrounded by water, so it was not so easy to launch a rebellion against the emperor from there. Despite that, in 185 AD, 1,500 British ''lanciarii'' (javelin throwers) marched to the gates of Rome and murdered there the praetorian prefect of the
Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
,
Tigidius Perennis Sextus Tigidius Perennis (died 185) served as Praetorian Prefect under the Roman emperor Commodus. Perennis exercised an outsized influence over Commodus and was the effective ruler of the Roman Empire. In 185, Perennis was implicated in a plot ...
, and his family. How the soldiers succeeded in freely penetrating to the heart of the Empire, without the imperial court taking appropriate countermeasures, remains a mystery even now. Perhaps those in Rome were too firmly convinced that troops in Britain were too far away to represent a serious threat. During the era of Gallic and British Empires in the 3rd century, the Britannic troops were always on the side of the usurpers.


Legions

In the first four decades after the invasion of 43, four legions were stationed in Britannia. Thereafter until the end of Roman rule, the number was reduced to three. Their headquarters were located in: * ''
Eburacum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...
''/York, * '' Isca Silurum''/Caerlon und * ''Deva''/
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. Taken together their total strength was around 15,000 men.


Auxiliary troops

More than half the Roman occupation troops in Britannia were recruited as auxiliary units (''auxilia''). Auxiliary units were only rarely mentioned in ancient literary sources. Under Hadrian there were 14 regiments of cavalry ('' ala'', each about 500 strong) and 45 battalions of infantry (, each about 480 strong) making up the auxiliary forces: * ''civium Romanorum'' = Roman citizens * ''equitata'' = partly mounted * ''milliaria'' = 1,000 men strong


Fleet

The provincial navy, ''
Classis Britannica The ''Classis Britannica'' (literally, ''British fleet'', in the sense of 'the fleet in British waters' or 'the fleet of the province of Britannia', rather than 'the fleet of the state of Britain') was a provincial naval fleet of the navy of an ...
'', was responsible for the monitoring and surveillance of the waters around the British Isles. It was initially drawn from the naval forces deployed in the invasion. Its units operated mostly in close cooperation with the ground forces and also had a key role in supplying the provincial army with the necessary materiel. They played an important role especially in the campaigns of Gnaeus Julius Agricola in the north of the island. Its crews teams explored the coasts of Ireland and Scotland and circumnavigated Britain. With the construction of the ''limes'' on the Saxon Shore in the 3rd century the fleet became more important again. Vegetius, a chronicler who published his works in the late 4th century, mentions the existence of the provincial fleet at this time. The main task of its warships was to secure the strategically and economically important passage between the British and Gallic coast, i.e. from Dover to Calais. Its main port on the British side was initially probably ''
Dubris Dubris, also known as Portus Dubris and Dubrae, was a port in Roman Britain on the site of present-day Dover, Kent, England. As the closest point to continental Europe and the site of the estuary of the Dour, the site chosen for Dover was ide ...
/Dobra'' (Dover). Under Carausius, the Fleet Command was temporarily based in '' Portus Adurni'' (Port Chester), after which it was transferred to '' Rutupiae'' (Richborough).Vegetius. Epitoma 4, 37.


References


Literature

* Anthony R. Birley, ''The Roman government of Britain'', Oxford University Press, 2005, . * Anthony R. Birley, ''The people of Roman Britain'', University of California Press, 1980, . * Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone (eds.): ''The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 11: The High Empire, A.D. 70-192.'' University Press, Cambridge, 2000, . * Kai Brodersen, ''Das römische Britannien. Spuren seiner Geschichte.'' Primus, Darmstadt, 1998, . * Geoff & Fran Doel, Terry Lloyd, ''König Artus und seine Welt. Ein Streifzug durch Geschichte, Mythologie und Literatur''. Aus dem Englischen von Christof Köhler. 2nd edn. Sutton Verlag 2000, . * A. Simon Esmonde-Cleary, ''The Ending of Roman Britain'', Routledge, 1991, . * Thomas Fischer, ''Die Armee der Caesaren. Archäologie und Geschichte.'' With contributions by Ronald Bockius, Dietrich Boschung and Thomas Schmidts. Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, 2012, . *
Sheppard Frere Sheppard Sunderland Frere, CBE, FSA, FBA (23 August 1916 – 26 February 2015) was a British historian and archaeologist who studied the Roman Empire. He was a fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. Biography The son of Noel Gray Frere, of the ...
, ''Britannia: a history of Roman Britain'', Routledge, 1987, . * Alexander Gaheis, "Iulius 49", ''Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' (RE). Vol. X,1, Stuttgart, 1918. * Alfred Michael Hirt, ''Imperial Mines and Quarries in the Roman World: Organizational Aspects 27 BC-AD 235'' (Oxford Classical Monographs), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, . * Richard Hobbs, Ralph Jackson, ''Das Römische Britannien'', Theiss 2011, . * Stephen Johnson, ''The Roman Forts of the Saxon Shore.'' 2nd edn.. Elek, London, 1979, . * Stephen Johnson, ''Late Roman fortifications''. Batsford, London 1983, . * Lawrence J. F. Keppie, ''Legions and veterans: Roman army papers 1971-2000'' (''Mavors. Roman Army Researches'' Band 12), Steiner, Stuttgart, 2000, . * Margot Klee, ''Grenzen des Imperiums. Leben am römischen Limes.'' Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart, 2006, . * Wolfgang Kuhoff, ''Diokletian und die Epoche der Tetrarchie. Das römische Reich zwischen Krisenbewältigung und Neuaufbau (284–313 n. Chr.)'', Frankfurt am Main, 2001. *
Claude Lepelley Claude Lepelley (8 February 1934 – 31 January 2015
on DRACONTIUS) was a 20th-21st-century Fr ...
(ed.), ''Rom und das Reich in der Hohen Kaiserzeit, Bd. 2: Die Regionen des Reiches'', de Gruyter, Munich, 2001, . * Simon McDowall, Gerry Embleton, ''Late Roman Infantryman, 236–565 AD. Weapons – Armour – Tactics''. Osprey Military, Oxford, 1994, (Warrior Series 9). * John Morris, ''The Age of Arthur'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1973, . * Victor Erle Nash-Williams, ''The Roman frontier in Wales'', University of Wales Press, 2nd edn., Cardiff, 1969. * National Museums & Galleries of Wales (ed.): ''Birthday of the eagle: the second Augustan legion and the Roman military machine'', 2002, . * Peter Salway, ''History of Roman Britain'', Oxford History of England, Oxford Paperbacks, 2001. * Oliver Schmitt, ''Constantin der Große'', Stuttgart and others, 2007. * Matthias Springer, ''Die Sachsen''.
Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-l ...
, Stuttgart, 2004. *
Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...
, ''Tacitus''. Vol. 1 (of 2). Oxford 1958. * Malcolm Todd, ''Julius Agricola, Gnaeus''. In: ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (ODNB). Vol. 30 (2004). * John Stewart Wacher, ''Coming of Rome (Britain Before the Conquest)'', Routledge, 1979, . * Alex Woolfe, ''Romancing the Celts: Segmentary societies and the geography of Romanization in the north-west provinces'', in: Ray Laurence und Joanne Berry (eds.): ''Cultural Identity in the Roman Empire''. Routledge, Oxford, 1998. {{Coord, 54.9913, -2.3608, region:GB-ENG, format=dms, display=title Fortifications in Roman Britain