Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain with Ferdinand Addis

Ferninand Addis demystifies the invasion of Britain by the Romans and how it wasn’t conquered in a day.

About the event

Ferdinand Addis discusses the epic, visceral history of the Romans in Britain, from Caesar’s first invasion attempt in 55 BC to the fall of the Roman empire.

Britain wasn’t conquered in a day. Caesar invaded twice but didn’t try to complete a conquest of the island. It was only when Claudius and his legions arrived in AD 43 that true colonization was possible. Forty years later, almost the whole of southern Britain was under Roman control, where it stayed until the final decline of the empire, the weakness of the colony’s defences and the quarrels of Roman generals brought the experiment to an end.

Piecing together evidence from the often-propagandistic Roman literary sources – including the writings of Caesar, Tacitus and Livy – and making brilliant use of archaeological and anthropological research, Addis paints a vivid portrait of Roman and British life both in prehistoric times and in the first century AD. He brings the violence and intrigues of British tribal life into vivid relief, but also evokes the ways in which these diverse peoples lived, their monumental burial sites, their customs, their trade with continental Europe, their military organization and the kinds of war they practiced.

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About the speaker

Ferdinand Addis read classics at Oxford, before embarking on a career as a journalist and author. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.