Editing Roman Britain (section)

=== Early contact ===
{{Main|Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain}}

Britain was known to the [[Classical world]]. The [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]], the [[Phoenicia]]ns and the [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] traded for [[Cornwall|Cornish]] [[tin mining in Britain|tin]] in the 4th century BC.<ref name="Welsh">{{Cite book |last=Patrick Welsh |first=George |title=Britannia: the Roman Conquest and Occupation of Britain |year=1963 |pages=27–31}}</ref> The Greeks referred to the ''{{Lang|grc-Latn|[[Cassiterides]]}}'', or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe.<ref>{{Citation |author=[[Herodotus]] |title=[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]] |at=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+3.115.1 3.115]}}</ref> The Carthaginian sailor [[Himilco]] is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer [[Pytheas]] in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.<ref name="Plutarch">{{Citation |author=[[Plutarch]] |title=Life of Caesar |at=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#23.2 23.2]}}</ref>

The first direct Roman contact was when [[Julius Caesar]] undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of [[Gaul]], believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of [[Kent]] but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the [[Roman Senate]] declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating [[Belgae|Belgic]] tribes on returning to the continent.<ref>{{Citation |last=Caesar |first=Julius |title=''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' |at=[[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 4#20|IV 20–36]] |language=la}}</ref>

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, [[Mandubracius]], was installed, and his rival, [[Cassivellaunus]], was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.<ref>{{Citation |last=Caesar |first=Julius |title=''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' |at=[[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 5#8|V 8–23]] |language=la}}</ref>

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established [[patronage in ancient Rome|clients]] and brought Britain into Rome's [[sphere of influence]]. [[Augustus]] planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable,<ref>{{Citation |last=Dio |first=Cassius |title=Historia Romana |trans-title=Roman History |at=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/49*.html#38 49.38], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/53*.html#22 53.22], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/53*.html#25 53.25] |language=la}}</ref> and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. [[Strabo]], writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could.<ref>{{Citation |author=[[Strabo]] |title=[[Geographica]] |at=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4E*.html 4.5]}}</ref> Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain.<ref name="Branigan">{{Cite book |last=Branigan |first=Keith |title=Peoples of Roman Britain: The Catuvellauni |publisher=Sutton Publishing |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-8629-9255-2}}</ref> Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own ''{{Lang|la|[[Res Gestae Divi Augusti|Res Gestae]]}}'' refers to two British kings he received as refugees.<ref>{{Citation |author=[[Augustus]] |title=[[Res Gestae Divi Augusti]] |trans-title=The Deeds of the Divine Augustus |at=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Augustus/Res_Gestae/6*.html#32 32] |language=la}}</ref> When some of [[Tiberius]]'s ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in [[Germania|Germany]] in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.<ref>{{Citation |author=[[Tacitus]] |title=[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]] |at=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#24|2.24]]}}</ref>

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the [[Catuvellauni]], ruled by the descendants of [[Tasciovanus]], and the [[Atrebates]], ruled by the descendants of [[Commius]].<ref>{{Harvp|Creighton|2000}}.</ref> This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when [[Caligula]] received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul.<ref>{{Citation |author=[[Suetonius]] |title=[[The Twelve Caesars#Caligula|Caligula]] |at=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html#44 44–46]}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dio |first=Cassius |title=Historia Romana |at=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/59*.html#25 59.25] |language=la}}</ref> When [[Claudius]] successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, [[Verica]] of the Atrebates.