Wales in The Roman Era - Invasion and Conquest

Invasion and Conquest

In AD 47 or 48 the new governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula, moved against the Deceangli along the northeastern coast of Wales, devastating their lands. He campaigned successfully but indecisively against the Silures and then the Ordovices, the most notable feature of which is the leadership of both tribes against him by Caratacus. Scapula died in 52, the same year that the resurgent Silures inflicted a defeat on one of the Roman legions. Scapula was succeeded by a number of governors who made steady but inconclusive gains against the two tribes. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was in the process of conquering Anglesey in AD 60 when the revolt led by Boudica in the east forced a delay in the final conquest of Wales.

There followed a decade of relative peace while Roman imperial attention was focused elsewhere. When expansion into Wales resumed in 73, Roman progress was steady and successful under Sextus Julius Frontinus, who decisively defeated the Silures, followed by the success of Agricola in defeating the Ordovices, and in completing the conquest of Anglesey in AD 77-78.

There is no indication of any Roman campaigns against the Demetae, and their territory was not planted with a series of forts, nor overlaid with roads, suggesting that they quickly made their peace with Rome. The main fort in their territory was at Moridunum (modern Carmarthen), built around AD 75, and it eventually became the center of a Roman civitas. The Demetae are the only pre-Roman Welsh tribe that would emerge from Roman rule with their tribal name intact.