The Claudian Invasion: what do we really know?

The Claudian Invasion of Britain: what do we really know?

Paul’s talk explores the circumstances that led to the Roman Emperor, Claudius, sending an army of invasion to Britain in AD 43, and its earliest stages. It is a subject on which Roman historians and archaeologists hold varying opinions. Paul will explore these, examine exactly what little we know from Roman documentary sources and the slowly accumulating body of archaeological evidence that helps to build a picture of the invasion, and crucially what the limits are of all these sources.

Paul Pattison FSA is an independent scholar with 46 years of professional experience in archaeological fieldwork and historical study. He has examined sites dating from prehistoric times to the modern period, including the mapping, unravelling and understanding of complex multi-period landscapes. He was until recently a public sector historian, in which role he undertook detailed documentary research that was pivotal in implementing interpretation schemes on a range of sites visited by the public, with AV and film presentations, exhibitions, guidebooks, podcasts, blogs, and site information panel schemes. In 2021-22 he led on the new interpretation project at Richborough Roman fort and amphitheatre.