Page 72 - All About History - Issue 28-15

Caesar’s invasion of Britain

The Second Invasion

Caesar’sfirsttriptoBritainhadbeencostly,buthenowknew
thathewantedtoconquertheland,forRomeandhimself

verthewinterof55-54BCE,Caesarbrooded Before Caesar could capitalise on this rapid
overhisexpeditiontoBritain.Sure,ithad progress,he’dagainendupcursingtheBritish
donehiscelebritystatusnoharm–infactin weather. Another freak summer storm clattered
Romenewsofhisexploitssparkeda20-day its way through the Channel, and when the main
Oparty–buthewasnotamanusedtofailure. body of his troops returned, they found most of
He resolved to return, and this time to conquer. their ships damaged, with 40 destroyed completely. personnel carriers in much the same way, and it
He ordered the construction of a new invasion Caesar ordered the remaining boats to be was further proof to the Romans that these Britons
force with the galleys built to a different spec. brought ashore. A huge fort was then constructed were more than mere savages.
“Made a little shallower than those that are around them so that they could be repaired in The battle was bitter, but as good as
habitually used in the Mediterranean,” as explained safety. It was a massive undertaking, but it took Cassivellaunus was, he was no match for Rome’s
in his campaign diary, “to enable them to be hauled Caesar’s men just ten days to complete. In that greatest tactician or the world’s finest war machine.
up on shore.” He also put together a far bigger army. time, the British tribes did something they’d never His forces were eventually overwhelmed and forced
When he landed near Deal on 7 July 54 BCE, his done before – they united against a common to retreat. As he was chased back, he switched
flotilla of 800 ships disgorged more than 25,000 enemy. They chose as their leader Cassivellaunus, to guerrilla tactics, destroying food sources and
legionaries, 2,000 cavalry and a huge baggage train who ruled the Catuvellauni tribe north of the laying traps. His army of resistance, however, was
to supply them. The force was so great that the Thames. Having recently defeated the Trinovante crumbling from the inside. As the bodies mounted,
Britons onshore made no attempt to confront them, tribe, Cassivellaunus was the best the Britons had. tribe after tribe joined the Romans, and by the time
instead retreating to higher ground. His army met Caesar’s head on at the Stour River. Caesar crossed the Thames, he knew the location
Caesar chased them all the way to the Stour Here, the Romans witnessed first hand one of the of Cassivellaunus’s secret stronghold.
River, 12 miles from the coast, and at dawn the British warriors’ unique tactics. Using lightweight As Caesar prepared to lay siege to
following day his troops made their first contact chariots pulled by two fast ponies, a driver would Cassivellaunus’s fort at Verulamium, near present-
with them. After a brief skirmish near present-day transport a soldier into battle at high speed. From day St Albans, the British warlord took one last
Canterbury, the Britons fled to a nearby hill fort, the back of the chariot he would launch javelins gamble. He ordered an attack on the Romans’ camp
which the Romans now attacked. into the Roman ranks, before dismounting to fight on the beach near Deal. It was an inspired but
The fort was ringed by a defensive at close quarters with a sword or spear. If he doomed move. When news of its failure reached
ditch, which the legionaries hen tired or found himself becoming Cassivellaunus, the canny warrior, by now out
overcame using the ‘tortoise’ overwhelmed, he could return to the of options, offered up his surrender. Britannia, it
formation. By creating an all- chariot and be sped away to safety. seemed, was within Caesar’s greedy grasp. The
encompassing shield wall, A modern army uses armoured gods however, had other plans.
they could work in relative
safety, building a ramp
across the ditch. The fort’s
walls were then breached
and the stronghold taken. It’s widely believed that Vikings The ‘testudo’, or tortoise,
wore horned helmets, but this is formation was employed to
a myth. Some Ancient Britons, great effect on the battlefield
however, did, like this one from by the Romans, and
the 1st century BCE demonstrates the ingenuity
of their combat tactics

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