The Roman Army in Practice
The Battle of Medway 43AD

It was a start that made many people feel he was not fit for the post and that he would struggle to carry on the job of building the empire. In fact this was not true and he proved to be one of the most successful emperors that Rome had.

A model of Claudius; one of Rome's best emperors. It was only under him that a successful invasion of Britain took place.

Once the Roman's arrived it was essential that they take on the might of the British quickly and effectively. This was done at Medway.

A map showing the progress made by the Romans in 43ADA map showing the progress made by the Romans in 43AD

The Roman general; Aulus Plautius ordered his men to stop on high ground opposite the main Briton force at the river side. While he was able to get his soldiers to distract the attention of the Britons. he was able to get a small force of highly trained 'Batavians' to swim across the river at its widest point. They were so highly trained and fit they could do this in full armour. Once across they chased off and killed the horses for the Britons chariots. Confused the Britons split up and were hopelessly unorganised for battle. The main force now attacked and made easy work of the Britons.

You can see from the map above that the river at its widest point made it a very unexpected place for a Roman crossing. By controlling the high ground the Romans had an extra advantage. However, it was the organisation of the Roman force that once again won the day. Once this battle had been won the Romans were able to keep control in Britain for over 350 years.