Romanising Britain

To the Romans, the people of Britannia were wild, uncivilised and strange. Caesar described how they would “dye their bodies with woad, which produces a blue colour”, whilst Horace called them the “furthest people of the world”. The land itself was unfamiliar and challenging, surrounded by terrifying seas, and with inhospitable weather. So distant from the civilising effect of Rome that it might as well have been as distant and alien as the moon. And yet it was invaded on no fewer (and possibly more) than three occasions, was garrisoned with large numbers of Rome’s professional citizen-soldiers, and became the western-most province of a massive empire, under Roman rule for four centuries before being abandoned. The military adventures of Caesar, Aulus Plautius, and Claudius may have put Britannia on the map (and then coloured it imperial purple), but Suetonius Paulinus kept it there when he was able to defeat the ‘Victorious Woman’ who led a successful, and violent, rebellion against the invaders. In this lecture, Rik Sowden will examine events of Rome and Britain in the first centuries BCE and CE, the invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius, and the Boudican revolt which followed. Tickets cost £12 per person. Tickets can be purchased online via our Eventbrite page, in-person at our Bookshop, or by calling . Pre-booking is essential, spaces are limited. Tickets are non-refundable. Doors open from 6:30pm-7:00pm, a complimentary hot drink is served upon arrival.