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Before the Romans invaded, the Celts ruled Britain. The Celts were divided up into different tribes ruled by kings or chiefs who lived in hill forts.
In Celtic Britain there were no towns, as such. Most people were farmers who lived in round thatched houses made from wood. There were no roads either, people would travel on dusty tracks or muddy paths instead. And neighbouring tribes would often quarrel, which sometimes led to vicious battles between them. Tribes would send out fierce
warriors riding huge chariots to attack each other.
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In 55 B.C. the Roman general Julius Caesar conquered France (At the time the country was called Gaul, and the Romans called it Gallia). The Gauls fought hard against the Romans and had been helped by their friends in Britain. Caesar was upset by their assistance and decided to teach the Britons a lesson.
Julius Caesar made two attempts to invade Britain, first in 55 B.C. and then again in 54 B.C. Both times the British warriors and the rotten British weather made his army give up and return to Gallia.
Nearly a hundred years later in A.D. 43 the Emperor Claudius sent another army to invade Britain. This time the Romans were successful, Roman Britain had begun!
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Some Celts decided to make peace with the Romans in return for keeping their kingdoms. These people were called client kings, and they had to agree that once they died the Romans could take over their lands. One client king was Cogidumnus, the ruler of the Atrebates. The famous palace at Fishbourne in West Sussex was probably built for him with help from the Romans. Other British leaders, such as Caratacus, carried on fighting against the Romans until they were captured.
In some parts of Britain there were still fierce battles against the Romans. For example at Maiden Castle (a huge hill fort near Dorchester in Dorset) archaeologists found evidence of a battle which the Romans had won. Buried on the site were the skeletons of young men, some of which even had cut marks of Roman swords on their bones.
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In his portraits Julius Caesar wore a wreath on his head to hide his baldness!
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After winning a battle the Celts would leave with the heads of their enemies swinging from the necks of their horses
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