Claudius’s Decision to Invade Britain in AD43 as Motivated by a Desire to Emulate Julius Caesar

Claudius’s Decision to Invade Britain in AD43 as Motivated by a Desire to Emulate Julius Caesar

There are many arguments as to why Claudius invaded Britain in AD43.

One of his motives may have been to gain a quick military triumph,

which is one argument that Suetonius wrote in his book ‘The Twelve

Caesars’. He had said, “Britain was the country where a real triumph

could most readily be earned”. A sentence later, he also raises a

point about what is known as ‘The Bericus Theory’. The basis of this

theory is that a British Chieftain called Bericus persuaded Claudius

to invade. Claudius also faced many political troubles when he became

Emperor, so another interpretation is that he was trying to prove his

position. One way he could have done this is by emulating Julius

Caesar, who was seen as a great leader of Rome. This point of view has

been put forward by the archaeologists Martin Millet and Peter Salway.

One reason that there are so many arguments is down to the fact that

we do not have much substantial evidence that shows us Claudius’s true

reasons for invasion. Very little contemporary evidence survives, so

modern interpretations are based on opinion and the little evidence

that remains. This essay examines the view that Claudius’ invasion was

inspired by the memories of Julius Caesar’s campaigns against Britain.

First we need to investigate what is known of Claudius’ character and

personality so that was can try and understand his motivation. Our

chief source for this is chapters on Claudius from the Roman writer

Suetonius’ book The Twelve Caesars.

We do know from contemporary sources that Claudius was a weak and

disabled man. H...

... middle of paper ...

...at the real value of Britain

was in the fact it was exciting news for the people back in Rome.

Caesars stories about the exciting battles in Britain were read aloud

in Rome and he benefited when he returned to Rome because he could

appear to be a sensational military hero. He did not actually conquer

Britain, so the results were not very good if you judge by the amount

of land conquered. But Williams thinks that the territory was not as

important as the publicity for Caesar. So for Claudius there was the

same attraction of making news in Rome, but there was the bonus of

conquering land. Therefor, the extent that the emulation of Caesar was

the reason for Claudius’s invasion is rather uncertain, but mixed with

the argument for political stability; modern and contemporary sources

show this to be the most probable motive.