Follow the connections
People of Roman Britain
Meet the rulers, rebels and people whose lives connect the places and events of Roman Britain.
Beyond individual lives
Peoples and communities
Discover the communities behind the named leaders. Explore their changing relationships with Rome, from resistance and alliance to life within the province.
The Picts · Who were the Celts? · Caledonians and Maeatae · The Iceni · The Brigantes · Silures and Ordovices · The Trinovantes · The Catuvellauni
The Atrebates · The Dobunni · The Durotriges · The Deceangli
Emperors and rulers
person · Emperors and rulers
Allectus
The ruler who followed Carausius in breakaway Britain and issued coins naming him as emperor.
person · Emperors and rulers
Antoninus Pius
The emperor whose northern frontier policy gave the Antonine Wall its name, although he governed from Rome.
person · Emperors and rulers
Caracalla
A member of the Severan court in Britain who later issued a far-reaching grant of Roman citizenship.
person · Emperors and rulers
Carausius
A naval commander who claimed imperial power in Britain and advertised his rule through coinage.
person · Emperors and rulers
Cartimandua
A Brigantian queen whose alliance with Rome offers a different view of leadership during the conquest.
Person · Roman emperor
Claudius
The emperor who ordered the invasion of AD 43, connecting imperial politics with the early conquest of Britain.
person · Emperors and rulers
Constantine
The emperor proclaimed by troops at York in AD 306, whose career reached far beyond Britain.
person · Emperors and rulers
Constantius Chlorus
An emperor whose reconquest of Britain and death at York connect the breakaway rulers with Constantine.
Person · Roman emperor
Hadrian
Emperor from AD 117 to 138. His visit to Britain in AD 122 connects the imperial court with the frontier wall that bears his name.
person · Emperors and rulers
Julia Domna
An empress from Syria who travelled to Britain with the Severan court and appeared in widely distributed portraits.
person · Emperors and rulers
Nero
The emperor during Boudica’s revolt, whose reputation needs to be read alongside the evidence for imperial government.
person · Emperors and rulers
Prasutagus
King of the Iceni and husband of Boudica, known chiefly through accounts of the crisis after his death.
person · Emperors and rulers
Septimius Severus
An emperor born in North Africa who brought the imperial court to York and campaigned in northern Britain.
person · Emperors and rulers
Togidubnus
A British king named in a temple dedication from Chichester, linking local authority with Roman power.
person · Emperors and rulers
Vespasian
A commander in the invasion of AD 43 who later became emperor, linking provincial conquest with imperial careers.
Resistance and rebellion
Person · Iceni leader
Boudica
The Iceni leader whose rebellion in AD 60 or 61 brought destruction to Colchester, London and St Albans.
person · Resistance and rebellion
Calgacus
A northern leader known through the speech Tacitus places before the battle of Mons Graupius.
person · Resistance and rebellion
Caratacus
A leader of resistance whose capture became a carefully staged Roman victory.
person · Resistance and rebellion
Venutius
A Brigantian leader whose struggle with Cartimandua changed Rome’s relationship with northern Britain.
Letters and everyday life
person · Letters and everyday life
Barates
A man from Palmyra who commissioned Regina’s memorial at South Shields, leaving evidence of connection and remembrance.
Person · Letters and everyday life
Claudia Severa
A birthday invitation preserves a friendship and a rare personal trace of handwriting from Roman Britain.
person · Letters and everyday life
Octavius of the Vindolanda letters
A correspondent whose letter about grain, hides and money reveals the practical difficulties of supply.
person · Letters and everyday life
Regina
A freedwoman remembered on a bilingual tombstone at South Shields, linking Britain and Palmyra.
person · Letters and everyday life
Sulpicia Lepidina
A woman at Vindolanda whose correspondence reveals friendship and household connections on the frontier.
person · Letters and everyday life
Victor
A young freedman from North Africa remembered in a carved memorial found at South Shields.
Governors and commanders
person · Governors and commanders
Agricola
A governor whose campaigns and surviving biography connect administration with the conquest of northern Britain.
person · Governors and commanders
Aulus Plautius
The commander who led the Roman invasion force into Britain in AD 43.
person · Governors and commanders
Flavius Cerialis
A commander at Vindolanda whose papers reveal military orders, personal networks and household life.
person · Governors and commanders
Iulius Verecundus
A prefect named in a military strength report that distinguishes a unit’s total numbers from the men available for service.
person · Governors and commanders
Julius Caesar
The Roman commander whose expeditions of 55 and 54 BC brought armies across the Channel before the later conquest.
person · Governors and commanders
Julius Frontinus
A governor of Britain whose career also links military command with the management of Rome’s water supply.
person · Governors and commanders
Lollius Urbicus
A governor from North Africa associated with the Roman advance into Scotland under Antoninus Pius.
person · Governors and commanders
Masclus
An officer known through a Vindolanda letter that combines a request for orders with a practical supply problem.
person · Governors and commanders
Petillius Cerialis
A commander associated with the crisis of Boudica’s revolt and later Roman expansion in northern Britain.
person · Governors and commanders
Suetonius Paulinus
The governor who defeated Boudica’s forces, known through Roman accounts of conquest, revolt and command.
Ancient writers
Meet the authors whose accounts help shape our understanding of Roman Britain, and consider their audiences and viewpoints.
person · Ancient writers
Cassius Dio
A Roman senator writing in Greek whose history is a major source for the invasion and revolts in Britain.
person · Ancient writers
Claudius Ptolemy
A second-century geographer whose place names and coordinates remain important—and challenging—evidence for ancient Britain.
person · Ancient writers
Pliny the Elder
The author of the Natural History, whose wide-ranging collection includes Britain, islands, materials and the natural world.
person · Ancient writers
Strabo
A Greek geographer whose account reveals how Britain was understood before the lasting Roman conquest.
person · Ancient writers
Tacitus
A Roman historian whose accounts preserve much of Britain’s early imperial history while raising questions about viewpoint and purpose.
Romans in Britain · People · Places · Learning resources