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Roman Soldiers

A straight road

Travel through time and explore the historical events that shaped Roman Britain in our timeline.

All at sea?

Raleigh finished his bowls and then polished off the Spanish? Not quite - the threat didn't end with the Armada.

The transcript of the first programme in the Romans In Britain series explores the real story of invasion

(At the Roman Baths in Bath)

GUY DE LA BÉDOYÈRE

It's almost impossible to imagine what Britain was like 2000 years ago. As far as the Romans, the conquerors of the known world were concerned, Britain was exotically remote, full of mountains, swamps, forests, warlike tribes, and forever shrouded in mist and gloom. Here at Bath where they found hot water bubbling up out of a swamp the Romans built a showcase town and turned it into a spa and a shrine. Everything they were best at came together here: engineering, hydraulics, building - and the sheer theatre of doing something on a monumental scale. Britain was never going to be the same again.

I've been fascinated by the Romans and their impact on this country ever since I was a child. And since then I've travelled the length and breadth of Britain trying to unravel the story of Roman Britain. There's so much we still don't fully understand - and so much that we were taught at school that now seems to be just plain wrong. But if you know where to look - and if you're prepared to let your imagination go to work - you can follow the Romans almost anywhere in Britain.

(On the cliffs at Dover)

If you’d stood up here about sixty years ago looking out over the straits of Dover you’d have known that there was a huge force over there waiting to invade. About 2000 years ago it was pretty much the same but probably a great deal more terrifying for anyone looking out over the water. You’d have seen about 50,000 Roman soldiers sailing straight for you.

(Clip from "Asterix in Britain" feature film)

The Romans have captured our imagination - and not just in serious history books but in popular culture too. The trouble is it's sometimes hard to separate fact from fiction.

(At Richborough Castle in Kent)

What we do know is that the Romans actually invaded Britain twice - the first time was under Julius Caesar in 55 BC, and they left again soon after. In AD 43 they came back - and most of the invasion force is thought to have landed here at Richborough Castle in Kent - now land-locked and two miles from the sea, but then it was right on the coastline.

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