Roman Britain, 43 - 410 AD

2. Invasion and conquest: In 55 and 54 BC, Julius Caesar had invaded Britain with the aim of conquest. But revolt in Gaul (modern-day France) had drawn him away before he had beaten down determined British guerrilla resistance. In the popular Roman imagination, it was a place of marsh and forest, mist and drizzle, inhabited by ferocious blue-painted warriors. Here was a fine testing-ground of an emperor's fitness to rule. For the Claudian invasion, an army of 40,000 professional soldiers were landed in Britain under the command of Aulus Plautius. The Romans fought a war of sieges to reduce the great Iron Age hill forts of the western tribes Later, under the provincial governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Romans occupied northern Britain, reaching what is now called the Moray Firth in 84 AD. This, though short of total victory, was to be the high water mark of the Roman empire in Britain.

The Fall of the Roman Republic Rome was transformed from a republic with democratic institutions into an empire under the control of one man - Augustus 1. Roman revolution: At the end of the second century BC the Roman people was sovereign but rich aristocrats dominated politics. In order to become one of the annually elected 'magistrates' (who in Rome were concerned with all aspects of government, not merely the law) a man had to be very rich. Even the system of voting was weighted to give more influence to the votes of the wealthy.When the first emperor Augustus died, popular elections had all but disappeared. Power was located not in the old republican assembly place of the forum, but in the imperial palace. The assumption was that Augustus's heirs would inherit his rule over the Roman world - and so they did.

This was nothing short of a revolutiony of constant civil strife, and sometimes open warfare. This ended when Augustus - 'Octavian' finally defeated his last remaining rivals Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC and established himself on the throne. 2. Daggers in the forum: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, held the office of 'tribune' (a junior magistracy which had originally been founded to protect the interests of the common people). Gracchus proposed to distribute to poor citizens stretches of state-owned land in Italy which had been illegally occupied by the rich. But instead of following the usual practice of first consulting the 'senate' (a hugely influential advisory committee made up of ex-magistrates), he presented his proposal directly to an assembly of the people. Gracchus's land bill was passed. But when he tried to stand for election for another year's term as tribune), he was murdered by a posse of senators. 3. Challenge of army The consequences of Rome's growing empire were crucial. Many of the poor had fallen into poverty after serving for long periods with armies overseas - and returning to Italy to find their farmland taken over by wealthier neighbours. This became an increasingly urgent issue as leading men in the first century BC, such as Julius Caesar, were sometimes given vast power to deal with the military threats facing Rome from overseas - and then proved unwilling to lay down that power when they returned to civilian life. There seemed to be no solution for curbing them apart from violence. 4. Intensifying crisis Tiberius's brother Gaius was elected to the tribunate, introduced a whole package of radical legislation, including state-subsidised corn rations - and was also murdered. At the end of the century Gaius Marius held the highest office of state, the consulship, no fewer than seven times, an unprecedented level of long-term dominance of the political process. Marius then came into violent conflict with Lucius Cornelius Sulla, another Roman warlord, who after victories in the east actually marched on Rome in 82 BC and established himself 'dictator'.This had been an ancient Roman office designed to give a leading politician short terms powers in an emergency. Sulla retired from the office and died in his bed. 5. Pompey vs Caesar

The two protagonists were Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ('Pompey the Great', as he was called, after Alexander the Great) and Julius Caesar. Originally allies, they became bitter enemies. Both had conquered vast tracts of territory: Pompey in what is now Turkey, Caesar in France.

But the fact is that, given the power each had accrued and their entrenched opposition, war between them was almost inevitable. Pompey was dead (beheaded as he tried to land in Egypt) and Caesar was left - to all intents and purposes - as the first emperor of Rome. But not in name. Using the old title of 'dictator', he notoriously received the kind of honours that were usually reserved for the gods. He also embarked on another programme of reform perhaps his most lasting innovation was his reform of the calendar and the introduction of the system of 'leap years' that we still use today.He too was murdered by a posse of senators, in the name of 'liberty'. 6. Augustus, emperor Octavian established the political structure that was to be the basis of Roman imperial government for the next four centuries. He directly controlled most of the provinces of the Roman world through his subordinates, and he nationalised the army to make it loyal to the state and emperor alone. No longer was it to be possible for generals, like Pompey or Caesar, to enter the political fray with their troops behind them. Like many autocrats since, Augustus invested heavily in reshaping the city of Rome. he and he was succeeded by his stepson, Tiberius.

Pompey Julius Caesar Marc Anthony Augustus (Octavio) Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero