Colchester and the Roman invasion of Britain

Today (27th August), in 55 BC, the Roman army first invaded Britain. A small force led by Julius Caesar landed in Kent where they met resistance from the British tribes, and were only able to establish a beachhead before returning to Gaul (modern France). Almost a year later, in early July of 54 BC, they tried again, with a larger force. They again landed in Kent and, this time, they got as far as Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire or Camulodunum in Essex (Camulodunum was, of course, the Iron Age precursor of Colchester). The British tribal leader Cassivellaunus of the Catuvellauni tribe was leading the British tribal resistance to the Roman army. Cassivellaunus held territory north of the River Thames and was also holding Camulodunum, the principal settlement of the Trinovantes tribe of Essex and south Suffolk: he had also deposed the tribal leader of the Trinovantes. The Romans made for his stronghold – Wheathampstead or Camulodunum – and forced him to surrender. The Roman army’s invasion of Britain in 54 BC was undertaken to limit Cassivellaunus’ power and territorial activities. The Roman army left Britain in September, having forced Cassivellaunus to reinstate the leader of the Trinovantes and having established a relationship with the tribes in the east of England.

Camulodunum consisted of a large area of land defined by defensive earthworks and the River Colne and Roman River, which included farms of round-houses and fields, and a network of droveways, an industrial area at Sheepen, a saltworks, groups of burials and a royal burial at Lexden, and the tribal leader’s farmstead at Gosbecks. Perhaps it also included an Iron Age hillfort on the site of Colchester’s modern town centre… The River Colne provided easy access to the sea and to the Continent for trade. Togodumnus and the famous Caratacus were two brothers: from about AD 40, they were the leaders of the Catuvellauni, and they held the Catuvellaunian territory, the former Trinovantian territory and Camulodunum. It was their annexation of territory in Kent which, apparently, provoked the final Roman invasion.

In AD 43, the Roman army invaded Britain properly. They landed in Kent with a large invasion force, probably in July, because of the good weather and the availability of ripened crops in the agricultural east of England and, also, because the British tribes would have been occupied with harvesting the crops at that time. Togodumnus and Caratacus led the tribal defence against the invasion. The Roman army’s first target was Camulodunum. They defeated the British tribes in battles at the River Medway and the River Thames and reached Camulodunum: they then waited for the Roman emperor Claudius to join them from Rome so that he could lead the attack on Camulodunum. This probably took place in late August. Claudius was in Britain for 16 days and then left for Rome before the September storms, having taken the surrender of eleven British tribal leaders here. Togodumnus died just after the battle at the River Thames. Caratacus and his family escaped the Roman attack on Camulodunum and fled to Wales – and he led a ten-year campaign of resistance against the Roman occupation of Britain.

Legio XX was one of the units of the Roman army which took part in the invasion of Britain. It was then stationed at Colchester, so it would have built the fortress, probably in AD 43-44, and occupied it. Then, when the fortress was decommissioned in about AD 48, soldiers of Legio XX would have retired at Colchester and converted the fortress for civilian use as a colony, where they would have lived. Legio XX moved on to another part of Britain. The only evidence for Legio XX being stationed at Colchester’s legionary fortress is one funerary inscription (M. Favonius Facilis, dated to the 1st century). (Another funerary inscription at Colchester with a reference to Legio XX is of a later date.) Facilis may have served in Colchester or lived here as a veteran. A thesis which has been published online identifies two further named, known Roman soldiers of Legio XX who may have served during the invasion of Britain and at Colchester: Livius Saturninus (funerary inscription at Gloucester) and G. Mannius Secundus (funerary inscription at Wroxeter) – see Legio XX Valeria Victrix: a prosopographical and historical study (PhD thesis by Stephen Malone, University of Nottingham, 2005). The British Cassivellaunus, Togodumnus and Caratacus are known from documentary sources (Dio Cassius and Caesar), and Cassivellaunus and Caratacus both issued coins.

The image shows a conjectural portrait of Caratacus in a stained glass window at Colchester Town Hall. [Image to follow.]

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