3. Early Contact: Caesar’s Invasions

Britain was not unknown in the Classical world. As early as the 4th century BC the Greeks and Carthaginians traded for British tin: the British Isles were known to the Greeks as the Cassiterides or "tin islands". But it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers even refusing to believe it existed.

The first direct Roman contact came when the Roman general and future dictator, Gaius Julius Caesar, made two expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC as an offshoot of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons had been aiding Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion. He gathered a fleet at Portius Itius (now Boulogne) consisting of eighty transport ships, sufficient to carry two legions (Legio VII and Legio X), and an unknown number of warships under a quaestor. Another eighteen transports of cavalry were to sail from a different port. Caesar gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but, undermined by storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry, with food supplies running short and with his return journey threatened by storm damage to his exposed beached ships during the high tide, he was unable to advance further. There were several battles with the local people, which the Roman won, but with enormous losses. The expedition was a military failure, but a political success: the senate declared a 20-day public holiday in Rome in honour of this unprecedented achievement.

In his second invasion Caesar took with him a substantially larger force. According to Caesar's own account the fleet comprised some 800 ships, many of which were built to Caesar's specifications: broader and lower for easier beaching. The Britons did not oppose the landing. Caesar put this down to their being intimidated by the size of the fleet, but equally this may have been a strategic ploy to give them time to gather their forces or simply because they were unconcerned. Later the Britons applied guerrilla tactics to slow the Roman advance, but they failed. In fact we should remember that there was no such thing as a unified "Britain", and there was no such thing as a unified Celtic army to meet the Roman advance.

Finally there were negotiations, tribute and hostages were agreed (though there is no evidence either was ever sent). A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Then Caesar left, leaving not a single Roman soldier in Britain to enforce his settlement.

Caesar had conquered no territory, but had established clients on the island and brought Britain firmly into Rome's sphere of political influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claims that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Likewise, archaeology shows an increase in imported luxury goods in south-eastern Britain. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in AD 16, they were sent back safe and sound by local rulers, telling tall tales of monsters.

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until AD 39 or 40. The contacts between the Roman Empire and Celtic Britain grew. Trade flourished, and it is suggested that some Celtic princes were sent to Rome to be educated.

One important social change that occurred at this time was that kingship became hereditary in some tribes, rather than a post awarded to the best war leader. This change was to have disastrous consequences; several princes fled to Rome to appeal for help in succession squabbles. Rome was happy to use this as a convenient excuse for invasion.