THE
CONQURING OF GREAT BRITIAN
In
the first section of London the inhabitants of Britain found out that Caesar
is coming.This frightens most of
the tribesmen.They prepare their
defenses for the coming of Julious Caesar.The
Roman juggernaut is virtually unstoppable at this point in history.The
tactics of the Roman’s are ingenious.The
Tortoise was used for attacking enemy forts or entrenched positions.The
shields that the soldiers carried would come together to form a box shape
and the soldiers in the center would hold there shields in the air completely
covering the formation.This would
not allow arrows to penetrate the unit.Another
tactic was called the wedge.Roman
soldiers would form a V and cut their way through a group of the enemy
splitting their force in half.
Probably
one of the most important things in the conquering of the British tribes
was the equipment possessed by the Roman’s.In
the American Civil War the Confederate army had better generals but not
better equipment or trained troops.The
same is the case here.The Roman
soldiers had exelant training and weapons.There
shields where constructed of thin layers of wood covered with leather.The
boss located in the middle of the shield was made of metal.The
typical Roman sword was about 70cm long and incredibly sharp.These
swords where not used for cutting or slashing enemies but rather to stab
them.A man shield or armored vest
was worn.It was constructed of metal
strips held together by leather straps.Archer’s
man shields where made with leather and had little metal leaves hang from
them.This armor was considerably
lighter.The helmets worn by the
troops protect their whole head, face and neck without distorting vision
or hearing.A belt was worn around
their armor consisting of a dagger and a sword.The
apron located on the front was used as armor.
Caesar’s
army consisted of twenty five thousand men and two thousand cavalry.The
Celts had a good strategy of hit and run attacks with chariots (Guerrilla
war).Unfortunately for the Celts
they didn’t continue the battle of attrition, they elected to “pitch a
battle” this was the Roman’s strong suit.As
anticipated the Celts where massacred by the Roman’s.The
hardest part of the battle seemed to be crossing the river.In
this battle Segovax’s father was killed.He
was stabbed with a short sword in the side.The
Roman army would then leave not fully conquering Britain until their return
during the rule of Claudius.
Tiberius
Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus born in 10 BC.He
became emperor despite his physical disabilities like partial paralysis,
stammering, slobbering and limping.Claudius
took power in 41 AD with a goal of expanding the empire.In
43 AD he captured Britain and captured camulodunum.Claudius
also took control of North Africa and annexed Mauretania, later in 49 AD
he annexed Iturea as well.
Despite
being considered a weaker leader he did very well for the Roman Empire.He
conquered and colonized Britain, established provinces in North Africa
along with progressing the judicial system.He
was killed by his wife in 54 AD.
Return to Unit
2, Part I.