Roman Britain timeline

Roman Britain timeline, Roman mosaic, St Albans, Oceanus
Here is a timeline for Roman Britain, from the invasion of 43AD to the end of imperial rule in the early 5th century.

43AD
Full-scale Roman conquest of Britain begins, ordered by the Emperor Claudius.  Troops land near present-day Richborough (Rutupiae), Kent.
|
51AD
British resistance leader Caratacus (or Caractacus)  is captured.
|
60 or 61AD
Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni (a tribe located in present-day Norfolk), is defeated after leading a rebellion in which the Roman towns of Colchester (Camulodunum), St Albans (Verulamium) and London (Londinium) were burned to the ground.
|
71AD
The Romans campaign in the north of what is now England, reaching the area around Carlisle (Luguvalium) by 73AD
|

78AD
The Romans conquer present-day Wales and destroy the sacred Druid sites on Mona (Anglesey).
|
84AD
The Caledonian tribes are defeated at the Battle of Mons Graupius.  The Roman armies have got as far as modern-day Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the furthest extent of their conquest – though Scotland was never settled like England and Wales.
|
122AD
Construction of Hadrian’s Wall, from the River Tyne in the east to the Solway firth in the west, begins.
|
142AD
Construction of the Antonine Wall, from the Firth of Forth in the east to the Clyde in the west, begins.
|
163AD
The Antonine Wall is abandoned.
|
c200-300AD
Christianity arrives in Britain.
|
211AD
Britain is divided into two provinces, Britannia Superior (Upper Britain) with its capital in London and Britannia Inferior (Lower Britain) with its capital in York (Eboracum).
|
c260AD
The Romans start to build coastal defences to discourage attacks from Germanic raiders.  The defences come to be known as the Saxon Shore, a military command stretching from present day Norfolk to Hampshire.
|
306AD
Constantine is declared Emperor by the army in Britain.
|
313AD
|
The Edict of Milan grants toleration of Christianity.
|
367AD
Near simultaneous raids on Britain by Picts from Scotland, Scots from Ireland and Franks and Anglo-Saxons from Germany.  Coastal defences are overwhelmed.
|
370sAD
An Asiatic tribe, the Huns, appear in Western Europe.  Germanic tribes, such as the Visigoths, begin to threaten the Empire.
|
397AD
St Ninian, Scotland’s legendary first Christian missionary, lands in Strathclyde.
|
400AD
Troops are withdrawn from Britain to help defend Italy against the Goths.  By this time, independent kingdoms had been established in Strathclyde, Gododdin and Galloway, immediately north of Hadrian’s Wall.
|
410AD
Attacks on Britain continue.  British leaders make a vain appeal for help from the Emperor Honorius in Rome.  It was in this year that the city of Rome itself fell to the Goths.
|
410-449AD
It is generally accepted that Roman rule in Britain gradually fades away at around this time – though a Roman way of life continues for a while.

[
 
Scroll to Top