People

Out of millions of people who lived in Roman Britain, we know the names of very few. Emperors, a queen, and a handful of ordinary people whose words or tombstones survived. Here they are, in order.

  1. Emperor · Roman

    Claudius

    Invaded AD 43

    Made emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula was murdered in AD 41. He sent about 40,000 men to Britain in AD 43, came himself for the fall of Colchester, and stayed sixteen days.1

    The invasion

  2. British leader · British

    Caratacus

    From AD 43

    One of the leaders who would not surrender to Claudius. He escaped and fought on for years.1

    The invasion

  3. A bronze statue of a woman in a chariot drawn by rearing horses

    Queen of the Iceni · British

    Boudica

    Revolt AD 60 to 61

    After her husband Prasutagus died in AD 60, the Romans seized his kingdom, had her whipped and her daughters raped. She led a revolt that burnt Colchester, London and St Albans, and was defeated. Tacitus says she died by poison; Dio says of illness.234

    Boudica’s revolt

    Photo: Richard Croft, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

  4. Officer’s wife · Roman

    Claudia Severa

    About AD 97 to 105

    Wrote to her friend Sulpicia Lepidina at Vindolanda, inviting her to a birthday party. The goodbye at the end of the letter is almost certainly in her own hand.5

    Life on the frontier

  5. A marble statue of the emperor Hadrian in a museum gallery

    Emperor · Roman

    Hadrian

    Publius Aelius Hadrianus

    Visited Britain AD 122

    Came to Britain with his wife Sabina in AD 122, the year building of the Wall began. He died in AD 138.69

    Hadrian’s Wall

    Photo: Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

  6. A carved Roman tombstone of a seated woman with a basket and a jewellery box

    A freed Briton and a man from Palmyra · British and from the East

    Regina and Barates

    Tombstone found in 1878

    Regina was a Catuvellaunian who had been enslaved and freed, and married Barates, from Palmyra in what is now Syria. She died aged 30. He set up her tombstone at South Shields, in Latin and in his own language.7

    Life on the frontier

    Photo: Jeremy Bolwell, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

  7. Emperor · Roman

    Septimius Severus

    Died at York, AD 211

    Came to Britain for a war in Scotland, and died at York.8

    Year by year

  8. Fleet commander, then emperor · Roman

    Carausius

    Emperor in Britain from AD 286

    Commander of the Channel fleet who rebelled and ruled Britain as emperor. He, and then Allectus, held it until Britain was taken back in 296.9

    How it ended

Almost everyone here was rich, powerful or both, or is known because of someone who was. The farmers who made up most of the population left no names at all.

Sources for this page

Every number on this page comes from one of these. How we check.

Last reviewed 12 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

  1. The Roman invasion of Britain, AD 43. English Heritage, Story of England: Romans. www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/romans/invasion/Used for: Why Claudius invaded, the size of the army, and the debate over where it landed. Checked 12 November 2026.
  2. London Museum. Boudica: rebel queen of the Iceni. www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/boudica-rebel-queen-iceni/Used for: Boudica: who she was, the revolt, the burnt layers in London, and how Roman writers described her. Checked 12 November 2026.
  3. Tacitus, Annals, book 14, chapters 29 to 39 (written in the early 2nd century AD). Translated by J. Jackson, Loeb Classical Library, 1937, public domain; online at LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer). penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/14B*.htmlUsed for: Boudica’s revolt as a Roman senator told it, about fifty years later. Checked 12 November 2026.
  4. Cassius Dio, Roman History, epitome of book 62 (written around AD 200). Translated by E. Cary, Loeb Classical Library, 1925, public domain; online at LacusCurtius. penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/62*.htmlUsed for: Boudica as Dio described her, and his figures for the revolt. Checked 12 November 2026.
  5. Roman Inscriptions of Britain online. Tab. Vindol. 291: Birthday invitation of Sulpicia Lepidina. Translation after A. K. Bowman and J. D. Thomas. romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/TabVindol291Used for: The text, date, handwriting and present home of the birthday invitation. Checked 11 November 2026.
  6. Breeze, D. J. History of Hadrian’s Wall. English Heritage. (Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland; co-author of the standard work on the Wall.) www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hadrians-wall/hadrians-wall-history-and-stories/history/Used for: Hadrian’s Wall: its length, plan, builders, garrisons, changes of plan and the end. Checked 12 November 2026.
  7. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, RIB 1065: funerary inscription for Regina, South Shields. Text, translation, description and notes. romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/1065Used for: Regina’s tombstone: its words in Latin and Palmyrene, its carving, where and when it was found. Checked 12 November 2026.
  8. Historia Augusta, Life of Septimius Severus (written in the late 4th century AD). Translated by D. Magie, Loeb Classical Library, 1921, public domain; online at LacusCurtius. penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.htmlUsed for: Where Severus died, and a later writer’s version of his last words. Checked 12 November 2026.
  9. London Museum. A timeline of Roman London: Londinium from start to end. www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/timeline-roman-london-londinium/Used for: Londinium: founding, population, the fires, the wall, the provinces and the end. Checked 12 November 2026.