Chapter 4: Caligula Conquers Britain

In Chapter 3, The Romans Come Again, Julius Caesar returned to Britain the following year with eight hundred ships and many thousands of men. The quarreling British tribes joined together under a brave leader, Cassivellaunus, and fought so well that Caesar was glad to make peace. The Britons promised to pay him money every year and gave him some Britons to take back to Rome, but storms wrecked so many of his ships, and he left no soldiers behind, so Britain was not really conquered.

• subdue: to conquer and bring under your control
• spoils: goods or riches taken from an enemy
• merciful: showing mercy and willing to forgive
• array: soldiers lined up in order for battle

This is a Kindred Thicket Revised Edition. Factual and historical errors are corrected and dated wording is put right, and these notes tell you plainly what we changed and what we left as Marshall wrote it.

• About this sectionThroughout this section we brought Marshall’s British spellings to American English, keeping the original spelling inside quoted material. Punctuation, readability and grammar may also be adjusted. Where offensive or outdated terminology or descriptions were present in Marshall’s original text, with the exception of direct period quotations, we have made minimal revisions.
• Kindred Thicket Revised Edition UpdatesMarshall pairs Caligula’s expedition with a British king named Guilderius. There is no record of a Guilderius. Marshall may have confused him with Guiderius, a king in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s book, who refuses to pay tribute to Rome and fights against Claudius, not Caligula (see the Chapter 1 note on Geoffrey of Monmouth’s book). Marshall also suggests that Caligula was afraid of the British army, but the ancient sources say nothing about the Britons gathering a force. Instead, they say Caligula accepted the surrender of a British prince, Adminius, who had been banished by his father and crossed the Channel with a small band of followers. Caligula then sent a boastful letter to Rome as if the whole island had surrendered. The sources suggest he wanted to announce a victory to the Roman people without the trouble of actually invading. The text here is revised accordingly.
• Marshall's original text places Caractacus's last fortress on the borders of Shropshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire and says its walls can still be seen today. In truth the site of his final battlefield is unknown. The Roman writer Tacitus places it in the Ordovician territory. Though several sites have been suggested, historians have never agreed on one. We revised the text accordingly.
• Teacher's Notes“he could not thoroughly subdue the Britons”Marshall says Claudius could not thoroughly subdue the Britons. This understates the success of the Roman invasion. In AD 43, Claudius sent a large Roman force under Aulus Plautius. After the initial victories, Claudius himself came to Britain with reinforcements for the capture of Camulodunum, the Catuvellaunian capital. The invasion secured Roman control over a large part of south-central and southeastern Britain and laid the foundation for a durable Roman province. Although the whole island was never fully conquered, warfare and expansion continued for decades.
• “He called his soldiers together”Caractacus's stirring speech to his soldiers is written by Marshall from Tacitus' account.
• “his wife and daughter, and all his brothers were made prisoner”Marshall simplifies Caractacus’s capture. After his final defeat, the Romans captured his wife and daughter, while his brothers surrendered. Caractacus himself escaped and sought protection from Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, but she had him arrested and handed over to the Romans.
• “would walk in the Triumph”Marshall presents Caractacus’s appearance before Claudius as a formal Triumph. Claudius’s British Triumph took place in AD 44. Caractacus was captured and brought to Rome around AD 51. Tacitus describes this later occasion as a public display of prisoners before Claudius and the praetorian cohorts, without specifying whether or not it was a formal Triumph.
• “I fought for my own land and for freedom”Caractacus’s speech before Claudius in Rome is adapted by Marshall from Tacitus’s account, which presents it as direct speech. Direct speech in ancient historical accounts, however, should not automatically be treated as a verbatim quotation.

• Caligula: A Roman emperor who claimed to have conquered Britain.
• Claudius: The Roman emperor after Caligula.
• Caractacus (also Caratacus): A British war-leader who fought against Rome.
• Agrippina: Claudius's empress.
• The Romans: The people of the Roman Empire, set on ruling Britain.
• Rome: The capital of the Roman Empire.
• Britain: The island Rome wanted to rule.