Year by year

Roman Britain from Caesar to the last people living in a Roman fort, set out century by century. The Romans kept their own lists of years, the fasti; this is ours.

Every date, to scale

IIIIIIIVVVI50 BCAD 1AD 100AD 200AD 300AD 400AD 500
Above: the six lessons, numbered, over the years they cover. Below: each mark is one dated event from the list; red marks have a lesson of their own. The first century is crowded: the conquest moved fast.

The 1st century BC

  1. 55 and 54 BC

    Julius Caesar crosses to Britain twice, fights, takes tribute, and leaves.1

    Lesson I

The 1st century AD: conquest

  1. AD 41

    Caligula is murdered; the Praetorian Guard makes Claudius emperor.1

  2. AD 43

    About 40,000 men under Aulus Plautius invade, probably landing at Richborough. Claudius comes for the fall of Colchester and stays sixteen days.1

    Lesson IRichborough

  3. AD 47

    Much of lowland Britain is under Roman control. Ostorius Scapula succeeds Plautius as governor. A cavalry fort goes up at Wroxeter.15

    Wroxeter

  4. AD 47 to 50

    Londinium is founded on the north bank of the Thames, with a bridge and a port.2

    London

  5. AD 60 to 61

    Boudica’s revolt. Colchester, London and St Albans are burnt; the revolt is crushed.3

    Lesson II

  6. AD 62 to 100

    London is rebuilt with a forum, basilica, baths and amphitheatre, and becomes the capital of the province.2

    Lesson V

  7. About AD 71

    The Ninth Legion founds a fortress at York, where the Ouse and the Foss meet.4

  8. About AD 85

    The first fort at Vindolanda. Rome now holds “much, though not all” of Britain.61

    Vindolanda

  9. The 90s

    The legion leaves Wroxeter, and a city is laid out on its streets.5

    Lesson V

  10. AD 97 to 105

    Claudia Severa invites Sulpicia Lepidina to her birthday, in a letter found at Vindolanda.7

    Lesson IV

The 2nd century: the walls

  1. AD 122

    Hadrian visits Britain with Sabina. Building of the Wall begins.82

    Lesson III

  2. AD 120 to 130

    A great fire destroys much of London. Its cause is unknown.2

  3. AD 138

    Hadrian dies. His successor, Antoninus Pius, moves the frontier north to a new turf wall between the Forth and the Clyde.8

  4. About AD 150

    About 30,000 people live in London, its peak.2

  5. About AD 160

    After about twenty years the army comes back to Hadrian’s Wall.8

  6. About AD 165

    At Housesteads the Tungrians set up a dedication on the advice of an oracle in Turkey, probably during a great plague.9

    Housesteads

  7. About AD 200

    Britain is split into two provinces, governed from London and York.2

The 3rd century: new provinces, new threats

  1. AD 200 to 220

    London is ringed by a stone wall about 3 kilometres long. At Birdoswald, the Dacians build a granary.210

    Birdoswald

  2. AD 211

    The emperor Septimius Severus, in Britain for a war in Scotland, dies at York.11

  3. AD 240

    The Temple of Mithras is built in London.2

  4. About AD 250

    London’s port closes. Raiders from across the North Sea attack the coasts.212

    Lesson VI

  5. AD 286 to 296

    Carausius, commander of the Channel fleet, rules Britain as emperor; then Allectus, until Britain is taken back.2

    Lesson VI

  6. AD 285 to 290

    Portchester is built, one of the forts of the Saxon Shore.12

    Portchester

The 4th century: a Christian empire

  1. Early 300s

    Britain is split into four provinces.2

  2. AD 313 to 314

    Christianity is tolerated across the empire; a bishop of London is recorded.2

  3. About AD 350

    Towers are added to London’s walls against Saxon raids.2

  4. AD 367

    London is renamed Augusta, “imperial”.2

The 5th century: after Rome

  1. AD 400 to 410

    The Roman army and officials leave. The emperor Honorius refuses to defend Britain. The latest coins found on Hadrian’s Wall were minted in 403 to 406.28

    Lesson VI

  2. About AD 450

    London is largely empty. Wroxeter’s centre is empty too, with a small community by the river crossing.25

  3. To about 500 and beyond

    People live on in timber halls inside the fort at Birdoswald.10

    Birdoswald

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. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. York Archaeological Trust and partners. History of York: Roman York (Eboracum). www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/romanUsed for: York: its founding by the Ninth Legion around AD 71, and the emperors acclaimed and died there. Checked 12 November 2026.
  5. White, R. H. History of Wroxeter Roman City. English Heritage. (Honorary Research Fellow, University of Birmingham.) www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wroxeter-roman-city/history/Used for: Wroxeter: the Cornovii, the fortress, the 78-hectare city and its slow end. Checked 12 November 2026.
  6. Northumberland County Council, Keys to the Past (Historic Environment Record N6566). Vindolanda Roman fort (Chesterholm), Henshaw. keystothepast.info/Site-Details?PRN=N6566Used for: The sequence of forts at Vindolanda, their dates, sizes and garrisons, and the finding of the writing tablets. Checked 11 November 2026.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Crow, J. History of Housesteads Roman Fort. English Heritage. (Professor of Classical Archaeology, University of Edinburgh; author of the English Heritage guide to Housesteads.) www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/housesteads-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/history/Used for: Housesteads: size, date, garrison, the Tungrians and Frisians, and the end of the fort. Checked 12 November 2026.
  10. Wilmott, T. History of Birdoswald Roman Fort. English Heritage. (Senior Archaeologist, Historic England; excavator of Birdoswald.) www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/birdoswald-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/history-and-stories/history/Used for: Birdoswald: the Turf Wall, the Dacian cohort, and the timber halls after Rome. Checked 12 November 2026.
  11. 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.
  12. History of Portchester Castle, and Description of Portchester Castle. English Heritage. www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/portchester-castle/history-and-stories/history/Used for: Portchester: date, Carausius, the 20 towers, wall height and life inside the walls. Checked 12 November 2026.