Caratacus (Caractacus) and his brother Togodumnus were said to be the sons of Conobelinus, King of the Catuvellauni. On the death Conobelinus after a long illness the eldest son Togodumnus inherited the majority of the tribal lands. Caratacus, no doubt encouraged by his brother, had already ousted King Verica of the Atrebates c, AD42, and gained control over much of southeast England.
Forced from his throne Verica fled first to Gaul and then to Rome to plead his case before the emperor Claudius. In an effort to strengthen his hold on the Roman Empire the aged Claudius used this as an excuse to send an expedition to Britain.
The Roman Aulus Plautius commanded the invasion and immediately came up against the opposition, instigated and led by Togodumnus and Caratacus. After an initial engagement the Celts were forced back beyond the river Medway, where they regrouped and attacked the Romans again. They fought long and hard but in the end were routed and pushed back beyond the Thames. Not long afterwards Togodumnus died.
Having routed the Celts Aulus Plautius halted and sent word to Claudius. The Emperor arrived with reinforcements and elephants and led the advance on Camulodunum (Colchester) the Catuvellaunian capital. Where according to Claudius’s triumphal arch “he received the surrender of eleven kings of the Britain’s defeated without loss” The fact that there were no losses probably meant that Plautius had already beaten the Celts before Claudius arrived.
Forced to abandon Camlodunum, Caratacus, his family and his retinue travelled west to the wood covered hills of Wales, where his reputation as a fierce warrior stood him in good stead with the Welch tribes. Operating out of the lands of the Silures, he gathered together a mixed force consisting of men from the Demetae, Ordovices and Deceangli as well as the Silures and struck deep into Roman held territory. The attack was well timed and created havoc in Glevum (Gloucestershire). So much so that after restoring order and pushing Caratacus back across the River Severn, the Roman governor, Ostorius Scapula moved the Twentieth Legion Valeria from the fortress of Camulodunum toGlevum, where they established a fortress to guard the lower Severn.
As soon as the Twentieth were in place Scapula sent the Second Legion Augusta across the river to strike into the Silurian heartland. Caratacus and his men however had slipped away through the woods, moved on to mid Wales and set up a base in the land of the Ordovices. From there Caratacus used guerrilla tactics to hold back the Roman advance.In a counter move Scapula brought into play the Fourteenth Legion Gemina and built another fortress At Viroconium as a second base. With the Second Legion pushing the rebels ever northward Scapula sent the Fourteenth southwards, forcing Caratcus to fight or melt away into the hills of Wales.
Caratacus decided it was time to face up to Romans in an all or nothing fight, chose a hill beyond a river as the battleground and built as part of his defences, a stone rampart part way up the hillside.
Fred Watson May 2008.
The battle and its consequences, as described by Tacitus.
The army then marched against the Silures, a naturally fierce people and now full of confidence in the might of Caratacus, who by many an indecisive and many a successful battle had raised himself far above all the other Generals of the Britons. Inferior in military strength, but deriving an advantage from the deceptiveness of the country, he at once shifted the war by a stratagem into the territory of the Ordovices, where joined by all who dreaded peace with us, he resolved on a final struggle. He selected a position for the engagement in which advance and retreat alike would be difficult for our men and comparatively easy for his own, and then on some lofty hills, wherever their sides could be approached by a gentle slope, he piled up stones to serve as a rampart. A river too of varying depth was in his front, and his armed bands were drawn up before his defences.
Then too the chieftains of the several tribes went from rank to rank, encouraging and confirming the spirit of their men by making light of their fears, kindling their hopes, and by every other warlike incitement. As for Caratacus, he flew hither and thither, protesting that that day and that battle would be the beginning of the recovery of their freedom, or of everlasting bondage. He appealed by name, to their forefathers who had driven back the dictator Caesar, by whose valour they were free from the Roman axe and tribute, and still preserved inviolate the persons of their wives and of their children. While he was thus speaking, the host shouted applause; every warrior bound himself by his national oath not to shrink from weapons or wounds.
Such enthusiasm confounded the Roman general. The river too in his face, the rampart they had added to it, the frowning hilltops, the stern resistance and masses of fighting men everywhere apparent, daunted him. But his soldiers insisted on battle, exclaiming that valour could overcome all things; and prefects and tribunes, with similar language, stimulated the ardour of the troops. Ostorius having ascertained by a survey the inaccessible and assailable points of the position, led his furious men, and crossed the river without difficulty. When he reached the barrier, as long as it was a fight with missiles, the wounds and slaughter fell chiefly on our soldiers; but when he had formed the military testudo, and the rude, ill-compacted fence of stones was torn down, and it was an equal hand-to-hand engagement, the barbarians retired to the heights. Yet even there, both light and heavy-armed soldiers rushed to the attack; the first harassed the foe with missiles, while the latter closed with them, and the opposing ranks of the Britons were broken, destitute as they were of the defence of breast-plates or helmets. When they faced the auxiliaries, they were felled by the swords and javelins of our legionaries; if they wheeled round, they were again met by the sabres and spears of the auxiliaries. It was a glorious victory; the wife and daughter of Caratacus were captured, and his brothers too were admitted to surrender.
There is seldom safety for the unfortunate, and Caratacus, seeking the protection of Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, was put in chains and delivered up to the conquerors, nine years after the beginning of the war in Britain. His fame had spread thence, and travelled to the neighbouring islands and provinces, and was actually celebrated in Italy. All were eager to see the great man, who for so many years had defied our power. Even at Rome the name of Caratacus was no obscure one; and the emperor, while he exalted his own glory, enhanced the renown of the vanquished. The people were summoned to a grand spectacle; the praetorian cohorts were drawn up under arms in the plain in front of their camp; then came a procession of the royal vassals, and ornaments and neck-chains and the spoils, which the king had won in wars with other tribes, were displayed. Next were seen his brothers, his wife and daughter; last of all Caratacus himself. All the rest stooped in their fear to abject supplication; not so the king, who neither by humble look nor speech sought compassion.
When he was set before the emperor’s tribunal, he spoke as follows: “Had my moderation in prosperity been equal to my noble birth and fortune, I should have entered this city as your friend rather than your captive; and you would not have disdained to receive, under treaty of peace, a king descended from illustrious ancestors and ruling many nations. My present lot is as glorious to you as it is degrading to myself, I had men and horses, arms and wealth. What wonder if I parted with them reluctantly?If you Romans choose to lord it over the world, does it follow that the world is to accept slavery? Were I to have been at once delivered up as a prisoner, neither my fall nor your triumph would have become famous. My punishment would be followed by oblivion, whereas, if you save my life, I shall be an everlasting memorial of your clemency.”
Upon this the emperor granted pardon to Caratacus, to his wife, and to his brothers. Released from their bonds, they did homage also to Agrippina who sat near, conspicuous on another throne, in the same language of praise and gratitude.
