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43 CEReputable source · 3 sourcesWell documented

Claudius Conquers Britain to Prove He Belongs on the Throne

On the timeline · around 43 CE · The PrincipateThe RepublicThe PrincipateClaudius Conquers Britain to Prove He Belongs on the Throne25 BCE1 CE25 CE50 CE75 CE100 CE

What happened

Claudius had been treated as a family embarrassment for most of his life, walking with a limp, speaking with a stutter, and twitching constantly, disabilities severe enough that his own mother called him a monster only half finished by nature. When the Praetorian Guard found him hiding behind a curtain after Caligula's assassination in January 41 CE, they proclaimed him emperor almost by accident, over a man with no political base of his own. Two years later, Claudius sent a force of four legions and roughly equal numbers of auxiliary troops, under the general Aulus Plautius, across the Channel to conquer Britain, a land Julius Caesar had raided but never held. Roman forces fought their way to the Thames against the Catuvellauni tribal kingdom, killing its co-ruler Togodumnus in the fighting, while his brother Caratacus continued resisting. Claudius then crossed to Britain himself and was present for the fall of the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum, modern Colchester, staying only 16 days before returning to Rome.

Why it matters

A conquest of genuinely new territory, something even Julius Caesar and Augustus had not managed to hold, gave Claudius exactly the kind of legacy his shaky claim to power needed. He returned to Rome to a full triumph, and the Senate awarded his two-year-old son the honorific name Britannicus to commemorate the victory. The conquest did not end resistance. Caratacus kept fighting from Wales for years before his capture, when Claudius spared his life rather than executing him, but the political purpose back home had already been served the moment Camulodunum fell.

How we know

World History Encyclopedia's biographical article on Claudius and its dedicated article on Caratacus both describe the invasion, the four legions under Aulus Plautius, the death of Togodumnus, Claudius's personal 16-day visit, and his subsequent triumph, drawing on the ancient historians Suetonius, Cassius Dio, and Tacitus, who together are the primary ancient sources for Claudius's reign and the conquest of Britain.

Sources

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Part of a timelineAncient Rome30 events · From a legendary fratricide on the Palatine Hill to a teenage emperor's quiet deposition twelve centuries later, told through the battles, plagues, and one bridge-crossing that ended a republic.View all →