The Romans

The Romans The Romans 43 A.D. - 409 A.D. The Romans decided to invade Britain for two reasons. First the British Celts were aiding the Celts of Gaul against the Romans; then Britain was a very productive land. Julius Cesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C., but he did not succeed in conquering the country; a year later he invaded the island again, but though all opposition was crushed and Britain was left to itself. In the years 43 - 47 A.D. Claudius succeeded in establishing a Roman - British culture across the southern half of Britain. They introduced their civilization and language; the name Britain comes Pretani. However Latin almost completely disappeared when the Anglo - Saxons invaded Britain. Britain's towns were the basis of Roman administration and civilisation. There were three different kinds of towns. The coloniae, peopled by Roman settlers; The municipia, where the inhabitants were given Roman citizenship; The civitates, which were the old Celtic tribal capitals. Emperor Hadrian ordered the building of a wall to mark the border between the two later countries, England and Scotland. Emperor Honorius withdrawed his soldiers to defend Rome against Barbarian raiders.