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Not everyone surrendered to the Romans. Caratacus, remember him from 43AD, was still being a nuisance 8 years after the Roman
invasion. Having fled to the west, he continued to hound the Roman Army. He knew he wouldn’t win in a straight battle so he would hide away and come out and attack
a Roman patrol, often in a wooded area where he and his followers could disappear again.
Eventually the new Roman governor, Scapula, found Caratacus’ hideout
and defeated him, capturing his wife and daughters. Caratacus escaped to the lands of the Brigantes but the Brigantian queen, Cartimandua, who was friendly to the
Romans, handed him over to the Romans in chains.
The Romans were very skilled fighters and their army superbly trained. They had shields and swords and some fought on horseback. The Roman army had
about 30 legions. As each legion had about 5,000 men that means the Roman army was about 150,000 men. Each legion was very proud and, when marching, a soldier at
the front would carry the standard, or flag, of that legion.
Each legion was split into ten cohorts. And each cohort was made up of six troops of about 80 men, known as centuries. They were commanded by a centurion.
The cavalry were the best paid of all Roman soldiers. When they were stationed at a fort, particularly along Hadrian's wall (more later) men and
horses would share a room, usually 3 soldiers and 3 horses together. They could ride up to 40 miles a day. The soldiers would wear chain mail armour (check it out),
a helmet and a face mask for protection and carry a shield. All of this equipment was quite heavy making riding even more difficult.
I told you the Roman army was very skilful at fighting. If they were
advancing against an enemy who had arrows or javelins they would use their shields just as is shown in the picture. They would also be able to march for long
periods of time, usually along the straight Roman roads that had been built all over Great Britain.
No Briton could carry weapons unless he was serving in the Roman army, However if they did serve it would be unlikely that it would be in a legion in
their own country. The Romans would be frightened that they might be spies and pass secrets to the enemy. However, after 25 years’ service they would become a
Roman citizen and be given a piece of land. Seems a bit more use than a medal.
You can read about Caratacus in our story for this period and see what happened to him when he was taken to Rome.
Forward to 60AD
