[00:01.609] | Not once but twice, Julius Caesar's plans were sabotaged |
[00:07.022] | by that perennial secret weapon of the British, the weather. |
[00:10.775] | On the first go-round in 55 BC, a cavalry transport which had already missed the high tide and got itself four days late, |
[00:19.148] | Finally got going only to run directly into a storm and be blown right back to Gaul. |
[00:29.137] | A century later, Claudius, the club-foot stammerer, |
[00:32.756] | On the face of it, the most unlikely conqueror of all, was determined to get it right. |
[00:39.277] | If it was going to be done at all Claudius reckoned, it had to be done in such massive force that |
[00:44.585] | there was no chance of repeating the embarrassments of Julius. |
[00:49.026] | So Claudius's invasion force was immense, some 40,000 troops. |
[00:54.668] | The kind of army which could barely be conceived of, much less,encountered in Iron Age Britain. |
[01:02.536] | Claudius did succeed where Julius Caesar had failed, through a brilliant strategy of carrot and stick. |
[01:13.953] | Yes, he would seize the largely undefended oppida or towns and strike at the heart of the British aristocracy |
[01:20.997] | its places of status, prestige and worship. |
[01:26.232] | But for those chieftains, sensible enough to reach for the olive branch rather than the battle javelin |
[01:32.210] | Claudius had another plan. |
[01:34.415] | Give them, or rather their sons |
[01:36.149] | a trip to Rome, and a taste of the dolce vita, and just watch their resistance melt. |
[01:46.296] | While they were in Rome, many of them must have begun to notice that life for your average patrician was well, exceptionally sweet. |
[00:01.609] | Not once but twice, Julius Caesar' s plans were sabotaged |
[00:07.022] | by that perennial secret weapon of the British, the weather. |
[00:10.775] | On the first goround in 55 BC, a cavalry transport which had already missed the high tide and got itself four days late, |
[00:19.148] | Finally got going only to run directly into a storm and be blown right back to Gaul. |
[00:29.137] | A century later, Claudius, the clubfoot stammerer, |
[00:32.756] | On the face of it, the most unlikely conqueror of all, was determined to get it right. |
[00:39.277] | If it was going to be done at all Claudius reckoned, it had to be done in such massive force that |
[00:44.585] | there was no chance of repeating the embarrassments of Julius. |
[00:49.026] | So Claudius' s invasion force was immense, some 40, 000 troops. |
[00:54.668] | The kind of army which could barely be conceived of, much less, encountered in Iron Age Britain. |
[01:02.536] | Claudius did succeed where Julius Caesar had failed, through a brilliant strategy of carrot and stick. |
[01:13.953] | Yes, he would seize the largely undefended oppida or towns and strike at the heart of the British aristocracy |
[01:20.997] | its places of status, prestige and worship. |
[01:26.232] | But for those chieftains, sensible enough to reach for the olive branch rather than the battle javelin |
[01:32.210] | Claudius had another plan. |
[01:34.415] | Give them, or rather their sons |
[01:36.149] | a trip to Rome, and a taste of the dolce vita, and just watch their resistance melt. |
[01:46.296] | While they were in Rome, many of them must have begun to notice that life for your average patrician was well, exceptionally sweet. |
[00:01.609] | Not once but twice, Julius Caesar' s plans were sabotaged |
[00:07.022] | by that perennial secret weapon of the British, the weather. |
[00:10.775] | On the first goround in 55 BC, a cavalry transport which had already missed the high tide and got itself four days late, |
[00:19.148] | Finally got going only to run directly into a storm and be blown right back to Gaul. |
[00:29.137] | A century later, Claudius, the clubfoot stammerer, |
[00:32.756] | On the face of it, the most unlikely conqueror of all, was determined to get it right. |
[00:39.277] | If it was going to be done at all Claudius reckoned, it had to be done in such massive force that |
[00:44.585] | there was no chance of repeating the embarrassments of Julius. |
[00:49.026] | So Claudius' s invasion force was immense, some 40, 000 troops. |
[00:54.668] | The kind of army which could barely be conceived of, much less, encountered in Iron Age Britain. |
[01:02.536] | Claudius did succeed where Julius Caesar had failed, through a brilliant strategy of carrot and stick. |
[01:13.953] | Yes, he would seize the largely undefended oppida or towns and strike at the heart of the British aristocracy |
[01:20.997] | its places of status, prestige and worship. |
[01:26.232] | But for those chieftains, sensible enough to reach for the olive branch rather than the battle javelin |
[01:32.210] | Claudius had another plan. |
[01:34.415] | Give them, or rather their sons |
[01:36.149] | a trip to Rome, and a taste of the dolce vita, and just watch their resistance melt. |
[01:46.296] | While they were in Rome, many of them must have begun to notice that life for your average patrician was well, exceptionally sweet. |