The Roman Occupation
Julius Caesar landed in Britain in 55 B.C. with a few legions and returned the next year with a larger army. He defeated the Celts, led by the Belgae, but soon left. The Romans did not return for almost a century.
Stonehenge, a prehistoric ruin near Salisbury, was probably built for ceremonial purposes. Some of the stones may have come from as far away as Wales. In 43 A.D. Roman soldiers under Emperor Claudius occupied Britain. In the second century Emperor Hadrian and Emperor Antoninus Pius built great walls in the north to protect their Roman province from the fierce, unconquered Caledonians (later known as Picts), in Caledonia (Scotland).
The Roman occupation ended in 407, when the legions were recalled to defend Italy from the Visigoths. Despite more than 300 years of occupation, few traces of Roman civilization remained in Britain, except for the fine Roman roads and the ruins of Roman cities.
