Julius Caesar conducted an amphibious invasion against Britain in 55 BC, and then again with a larger force the following year in 54 BC. Neither invasion was successful in that they did not establish a permanant Roman presence on the British Isles. However, they did establish political treaties and relationships with some of the local tribes, in addition to drawing the island into the Roman conscience. Nearly 100 years later in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius, the Romans returned to stay (til 410, or about 367 years. To put that in context a bit, as of this post the United States has only been around for 236 years).
Julius Caesar was the man who turned Rome from a republic, into more of a military dictatorship. He believed in taking power from the people, and placing it within the hands of one ruler.
Starting in 58 BC, Julius Caesar began conquering Gaul (northern France), and at some point he cast an ambitious eye across the Channel and began scheming an invasion.
The tribes of southern Britain had heard of his advance north, probably from some of the tribes from northern Gaul of whom they maintained good relations. Several of these tribal heads sent envoys to meet with Caesar, promising support in his invasion if they would be allowed to keep their own lands. Caesar also sent a reconnaissance force under a tribune named Volusenus across the Channel to scout potential landing sites for his amphibious force. He also sent a Gallic chieftain named Commius into Britain to rally the locals into supporting the oncoming Romans. Volusenus couldn't find any good landing spots and Commius was arrested as a nuisance to public safety.
On August 26, 55 BC, Caesar set sail for the short voyage across the Channel to Britain with a force of two legions, the Seventh and the Tenth. Far from taking the Britons by surprise, they were instead waiting on the cliffs of Dover overlooking the beach where the Romans were forced to make landing. It was an unsuitable site near Deal in Kent, and the landing force had to disembark in deep water under a barrage of hurled Briton projectiles. The soldiers were apprehensive at first to jump from the ships into an unknown depth of water under while being showered with spears, javelins, and stones, but once the standard bearer of the Tenth plunged in the rest followed. A short fierce fight took place at the waters edge, but soon the Britons took flight and a Roman beach head was established. Then, misfortune dealt Caesar two heavy blows. First, a flotilla of 18 vessels carrying 500 cavalry who had set sail 3 days later than the rest, was within sight of the Roman beach head when a severe storm hit and pushed them far down the coast and out of the potential fight. Then, the high tide of the full moon of which the Romans were unaware caused alot of damage to his ships at anchor. He later wrote "A number of ships were shattered, and the rest, having lost their cables, anchors, and the remainder of their tackle were unusable which naturally threw the whole army into great consternation." The Romans had not brought supplies capable of sustaining them through the winter, so they had to either fix the fleet or attack inland to gather food from the local farms. They did both. While many worked to fix the ships, many more went on foraging attacks for supplies.
The Romans were able to sustain themselves until the fleet was repaired, then they left as fast as they could. Caesar was already planning for next time.
Preparations soon began for a second invasion. This time Caesar brought 5 legions amounting to about 30,000 soldiers, and 2,000 cavalry. Cavalry was extremely important to the Romans because the Britons, unlike other peoples that the Romans had faced, still used chariots in battle.
On July 6, 54 BC, Julius Caesar embarked for Britain once again. This time his force was over 2 and half time the size of his last one, and were transported by over 800 vessels. The Britons seemed to be intimidated by this huge force, and the landing went unopposed. Although the Britons were initially unprepared, they soon mounted a defense force under a man named Cassivellaunus. Yet another storm scattered Caesar's fleet somewhat, and during the 10 days it took to re-organize, the Briton defense grew in numbers and in preparation. Cassivelaunus was a master tactitian considering the circumstances. He used guerilla style tactics to engage the Romans, and avoided open field engagements where Roman discipline and tactics would have been terribly effective. Soon however, the Romans captured a fort near Canterbury, thwarted an ambush against a foraging party, then marched toward the Thames river. At this point Caesar began to use diplomacy, and recruited Mandubracius, a sworn enemy of Cassivelaunus's to march with him as an advisor. Some of the local chieftains were afraid that Cassivelaunus may try to consolidate power and rule the area himself if he was successful against Caesar. For this reason, many of them stopped supporting him in his resistance to the Romans, and his defense force was weakened. Soon, the Romans captured an important stronghold, then beat off a well planned attack against the Roman supply base. At this point political prudence won the day, and Cassivelaunus negotiated a surrender which included hostages and a promise of tribute and submission. Julius Caesar was happy to oblige him. He was already anxious to get back to Gaul to suppress a rumored revolt, and after some substantial success during this invasion, would be able to sail away as a conqueror. It seems that a potential 3rd invasion was cancelled due to more Gaulish uprising in 51 BC, but whatever the case, Julius Caesar sailed south and never returned to the Island.
References:
"History of Britain & Ireland" by R.G Grant, Michael Kerrigan, and Philip Parker
"History of the English Speaking Peoples" by Winston Churchill
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