Julius Caesar decided to invade Britain in 55 B.C. as a strategic military move, since he thought the Britons were conspiring with the Gauls against him. But he hit immediate resistance when landing in what is now England and failed to conquer any territory.
For the next century, Roman emperors tried unsuccessfully to make inroads into Britain. But in A.D. 43, Emperor Claudius launched a series of campaigns that resulted in the Romans establishing a capital at Camulodunum, now called Colchester.
The Romans suppressed a series of uprisings led by Celtic chiefs and, under Emperor Hadrian, built a defensible wall across the new northern frontier of the Roman Empire in A.D. 122. Even though Caesar got tossed out of England, the country is full of evidence the Romans ruled the province of Britannia for nearly four centuries.
Think you’re an encyclopedia of Britannia? Start the quiz below to find out if you’re a font of Roman knowledge or if you’ll end up in ruins.
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