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The Roman conquest of Britain
Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 BC and 54 BC. He may have wanted to
make it part of Rome’s empire. But revolt in Gaul made him give up the plan. Nearly a
hundred years later, in AD 43, emperor Claudius tried again. He gave orders to his men to
build the first Roman town in Britain – at Colchester. He also ordered his generals to conquer
the rest of the island.
The Romans captured the south east quite quickly. But the west, Wales, and the north
gave them more trouble. So did Queen Boudicca, who led the revolt against the Romans in
AD 60. Her followers burned Colchester and London and killed thousands of Romans. A
Roman army had to march back from north Wales to crush (zerschlagen) them.
Between AD 77 and AD 84, Agricola led (to lead, led, led – führen) the Romans to
great success. He completed the conquest of Wales and the north. He marched into Scotland
and won a great battle near Aberdeen. It looked as if the whole of Britain would soon be part
of the Roman Empire.
But then Agricola returned to Rome, and the Romans changed their plans. They moved some
of their troops from Britain to Germany. Now there were not enough men left to conquer
Scotland, or hold on to what had been won. The Romans gave up most of Scotland and fell
back to the north of England.
Source: Robson, Walter, Rome the Empire, OUP 1992, p. 16-17. Slightly adapted.
1. Britain was invaded three times by the Romans. Underline in the text when this took
place and who conquered Britain.
2. Use a different colour to underline what each of the conquerors achieved (erreicht).
3. Use different colours to mark the places mentioned in the text in the map.
Read the text “The Roman conquest of Britain”; then fill in the blanks.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
Julius Caesar came to Britain in ______________BC and _________________BC.
Emperor _______________________ ordered the Romans to invade Britain in AD 43.
The first Roman town in Britain was ________________________.
The Romans had to fight hard to conquer the west and north of England, and
___________________.
Queen _____________________ led a revolt of the British tribes against the Romans.
Agricola was in command of the Romans in Britain for ________________ years.
Agricola won a big battle near _______________________ in Scotland.
The Romans left Scotland again because they had not __________________
________________ (two words) to hold the land they had won.