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Roman civilisation

Samara was the site of Caesar’s winter camp when he conquered Gaul (classic route, Stage 7)

By the time the Romans arrived in the first century BC, rising sea levels had split Britain from continental Europe, with both sides of the English Channel inhabited by Iron Age tribes of Gauls and Celts. Julius Caesar captured Gaul (most of modern France) between 58 and 51BC, but although he visited Britain, Roman occupation of England did not commence until AD43. The Romans involved local tribal leaders in government and control of the territory. With improvements in the standard of living, the conquered tribes soon became thoroughly romanised and tribal settlements became Romano-Gallic or Romano-British towns. Both London and Paris have their roots in the Roman Empire but while Londinium (London) was the capital of Britannia, Lutetia (Paris) was merely a provincial town in Gaul. The Romans built Watling Street, a road that linked the port of Dubris (Dover, the site of the best preserved Roman house in England) with London and the north. The towns of Canterbury and Rochester were built along this road, while Amiens and Beauvais were Roman towns in northern Gaul between Paris and the Channel. During the fourth century AD, the Romans came under increasing pressure from Germanic tribes from the east and by mid-fifth century had withdrawn their legions from both England and France.