Before the Roman invasion of Britain the Roman General, and later dictator, Julius Caesar had made two expeditions to the island.  Caesar did not conquer any territory but had established clients on the Island and brought Britain into the Rome’s influence. 

In AD43 the Roman emperor Claudius successfully invaded.  A strike force of four legions landed in either Surry or Kent and in a number of weeks the emperor was present to capture Camulodunum (Colchester).  After this victory the emperor instructed the commander of the legions to conquer the rest of the country.  This was a very lengthy process with the Roman period starting at different dates in various parts of the island. 

By 60AD Rome was subduing the druids in Anglesey when the revolt of the Iceni, lead by their queen Boudicca, broke out.  This revolt leads to the natives sacking the towns of Colchester, London and Verulamium.  This revolt came near to ending Roman control until the much smaller Roman force annihilated the Britons.  By 72-73AD the legions were building a fort at Carlisle and in 83AD they won a set piece battle on the edge of the Scottish highland at Mons Graupius.  Before the full conquest of Briton though trouble on the Danube lead to the withdrawal of a legion and signalled the end of the idea of complete conquest.  Roman control ended in AD410 with the withdrawal of troops.

There is still much debate over how this province benefited from being part of the Roman Empire when contrasted against the suffering from Imperial oppression.  Some towns flourished with the wealthy building villas, mosaics and hypocausts.  With their advanced building techniques the Romans built water supply, sanitation and sewage systems for these towns. The expanding road network allowed rural farmsteads to supply the towns with the goods needed for them to flourish and often the most successful farms turned into impressive villa estates. Sites of these villa estates have mostly been found in central, southern and eastern England.  In contrast Wales, northern England and Scotland appear mostly as militarised zones with the indigenous population continuing to live in round houses.

The British nation was not centrally governed before the arrival of the Romans, but was a collection of tribal kingdoms.  This changed with the Roman invasion where a form of centralised government was established.  Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eburacum) were founded by the Romans.