How Significant Was the Role of Vespasian in the Claudian Conquest of Britain

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How significant was the role of Vespasian in the Claudian conquest of Britain 43-47AD? The role of Vespasian in the Claudian conquest of Britain cannot be undermined. Commanding the second legion, he skilfully quelled the tribes of the South West of England, conquered the isle of Vectis [The Isle of Wight], built roads and constructed naval bases including the, what was to be, the Roman capital in Britain and a model for Roman life, Chichester, all through his excellence as a military leader. Despite his obvious successes, we must question whether Vespasian can be given all the credit. Plautius, the roman general of the time was also very instrumental in the invasion, there is speculation as to whether Vespasian was heavily under his influence and perhaps deserves less credit for his actions. Also, the Roman classical sources of Biographers such as Josephus, one of the foremost classical writers on Vespasian during the conquest, could have been heavily bias. An extract from the Roman Biographer Suetonius offers and excellent recollection of the magnitude of Vespasian’s involvement in the conquest of Britain when he writes: “…he fought thirty battles with the enemy. He reduced to subjection two powerful nations, more than twenty towns, and the isle of Vectis” From this we understand that Vespasian was important in conquering a huge amount of areas including a whole island. We also learn that his skill as a military leader was significant as fighting thirty battles is a very considerable figure. Furthermore, his decision to attack the Durotriges was a skilful one, as they were considered some of the most hostile and enforced of the Biritish tribes, perhaps if Vespasian didn’t do this, the Durotriges would later join the Icenian rebellion. Also, we know his involvement in the Battle of Medway was crucial to the Romans’ success (despite it running into a second day),

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