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Up to and during the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 occupation of Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, the native inhabitants of Roman Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
 spoke Brythonic languages (a sub-family of the Celtic languages
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
) and were regarded as Britons (or Brythons). The area of modern Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
 was divided among a number of tribes, of which the Silures
Silures

The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Great Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire in south Wales....
 in modern south-east Wales and the Ordovices
Ordovices

The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Islands, before the Roman invasion of Britain. Its tribal lands were located in Wales between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east....
 in central and northwest Wales were the largest and most powerful. These two tribes were the ones who put up the strongest and sustained resistance to the Roman invasion.

The first attack on the Celtic tribes of what is now Wales was made under the legate
Legate

Legate may refer to:*Legatus, a general officer of the ancient Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class*Papal legate, a messenger from the Holy See...
 Publius Ostorius Scapula
Publius Ostorius Scapula

Publius Ostorius Scapula was a Roman empire statesman and general who governed Roman Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of Caratacus....
 about 48 AD.






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Up to and during the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 occupation of Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, the native inhabitants of Roman Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
 spoke Brythonic languages (a sub-family of the Celtic languages
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
) and were regarded as Britons (or Brythons). The area of modern Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
 was divided among a number of tribes, of which the Silures
Silures

The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Great Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire in south Wales....
 in modern south-east Wales and the Ordovices
Ordovices

The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Islands, before the Roman invasion of Britain. Its tribal lands were located in Wales between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east....
 in central and northwest Wales were the largest and most powerful. These two tribes were the ones who put up the strongest and sustained resistance to the Roman invasion.

The first attack on the Celtic tribes of what is now Wales was made under the legate
Legate

Legate may refer to:*Legatus, a general officer of the ancient Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class*Papal legate, a messenger from the Holy See...
 Publius Ostorius Scapula
Publius Ostorius Scapula

Publius Ostorius Scapula was a Roman empire statesman and general who governed Roman Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of Caratacus....
 about 48 AD. Ostorius first attacked the Deceangli
Deceangli

The Deceangli or Deceangi were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Isles, prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. The tribe lived in north Wales, though it is uncertain whether their territory covered only the modern counties of Flintshire and Denbighshire in the north-east of Wales or whether it extended further west....
 in the north-east, who appear to have surrendered with little resistance. He then spent several years campaigning against the Silures
Silures

The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Great Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire in south Wales....
 and the Ordovices. Their resistance was led by Caratacus
Caratacus

Caratacus was a historical British Iron Age chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. The legendary Welsh mythology character Caradoc and the legendary British king Arvirargus may be based upon Caratacus....
, who had fled what is now southeast England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 when it was conquered by the Romans. He first led the Silures, then moved to the territory of the Ordovices, where he was defeated by Ostorius in 51 AD. Caratacus fled to the Brigantes
Brigantes

The Brigantes were a List of Celtic tribes who in British Iron Age times controlled the largest section of Northern England and a significant part of the Midlands#The English Midlands....
, whose queen handed him over to the Romans.

The Silures were not subdued, however, and waged effective guerrilla warfare against the Roman forces. Ostorius died with this tribe still unconquered; after his death they won a victory over the Roman Second Augusta Legion, Legio II Augusta. There were no further attempts to extend Roman control in Wales until the governorship of Caius Suetonius Paulinus, who attacked further north and captured the island of Anglesey
Anglesey

Anglesey is an island and principal areas of Wales off the northwest coast of Wales, with a predominantly Welsh language-speaking population. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges spanning the Menai Strait: the original Menai Suspension Bridge , designed by Thomas Telford in 1826; and the newer reconstructed Britannia Bridge ; which...
 in 60
60

Year 60 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar....
 or 61 AD. However he was forced to abandon the offensive to meet the threat from the rebellion of Boadicea. The Silures were eventually subdued by Sextus Julius Frontinus
Sextus Julius Frontinus

Sextus Julius Frontinus was one of the most distinguished Roman Empire aristocrats of the late first century AD, but is best known to the post-Classical world as an author of technical treatises, especially one dealing with the aqueducts of Rome....
 in a series of campaigns ending about 78 AD. His successor Gnaeus Julius Agricola
Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman Empire general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Roman Britain. His biography, the Agricola , was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him....
 subdued the Ordovices and recaptured Anglesey by the beginning of 79 AD.

The Romans occupied the whole of the area now known as Wales, where they built Roman road
Roman road

The Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire, by enabling the Romans to move Military history of ancient Rome and Roman commerce goods and to communicate news....
s and Roman forts, mined gold and conducted commerce, but their interest in the area was limited because of the difficult geography and shortage of flat agricultural land. Most of the Roman remains in Wales are military in nature. The area was controlled by Roman legion
Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
ary bases at Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix

Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary castra and town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement evolved into Chester, the county town of Cheshire, England....
 (modern Chester
Chester

Chester is the county town of Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, Wales, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider local government district of the Chester , which had a population of 118,210 according to the United Kingdom Census 2001....
) and Isca Augusta (Caerleon
Caerleon

Caerleon is a suburban village and Community , situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales.It is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman Empire legionary Castra and an Iron Age hill fort....
), with roads linking these bases to Roman auxiliary forts such as Segontium
Segontium

Segontium is a Roman fort for a Roman auxiliary force, located on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, north Wales.It probably takes its name from the nearby River Seiont, and may be related to the Segontiaci, a British tribe mentioned by Julius Caesar....
 (Caernarfon
Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a List of UK place names with royal patronage in Gwynedd, northwest Wales.The name comes from Welsh Caer yn Arfon = "castle in Arfon", referring to the Roman Empire fort named Segontium....
) and Moridunum (Carmarthen
Carmarthen

Carmarthen is the county town of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy and lays claim to being the oldest town in Wales. In 2001, the combined population of the town's three wards was 13,760....
). Romans are only known to have founded one town in Wales, Venta Silurum
Venta Silurum

Venta Silurum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia . Today it consists of remains in the village of Caerwent in Monmouthshire, south east Wales....
 (Caerwent
Caerwent

Caerwent is a village and Community in Monmouthshire, Wales, located about 5 miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It is famous for its Roman Britain remains....
) in (Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a principal area in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covers a larger area....
), although the fort at Moridunum (Carmarthen
Carmarthen

Carmarthen is the county town of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy and lays claim to being the oldest town in Wales. In 2001, the combined population of the town's three wards was 13,760....
) was later superseded by a civilian settlement. The modern-day Wales is thought to have been part of the Roman province of Britannia Superior
Britannia Superior

Britannia Superior was one of the provinces of Roman Britain created around 197 AD by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus immediately after winning a civil war against Clodius Albinus....
 and later of the province of Britannia Prima
Britannia Prima

Britannia Prima was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c. 312 AD. It was probably created as part of the administrative reforms of the Roman Emperor Diocletian after the defeat of the usurper Allectus by Constantius Chlorus in 296 AD....
, which also included what is now the West Country of England.

See also

  • British military history
    British military history

    The military history of the peoples of the British Isles is long and varied, extending from the prehistoric and ancient historic period, through the Roman invasion of Britain of Julius Caesar and Claudius, with the subsequent Roman Britain of most of the island; warfare in the Great Britain in the Middle Ages, including the invasions of the S...
  • History of the United Kingdom
    History of the United Kingdom

    The history of the United Kingdom as a unified sovereign state begins with the political union between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707....
  • History of Wales
    History of Wales

    The country of Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years, though continuous human habitation dates from the period after the end of the last Ice age, around 9,000 BC....
  • Welsh People
    Welsh people

    The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language. John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman withdrawal from Britain, although Celtic languages seem to have been spoken in Wales far longer....


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