The city was founded in AD 71, when the Ninth Legion conquered the Brigantes and constructed a wooden military fortress on flat ground above the River Ouse close to its confluence with the River Foss.
Brigantinsko plemensko območje je sprva postala rimska najemna država, kasneje pa so njeni voditelji postali bolj sovražni in rimska Deveta legija je bila poslana severno od reke Humber na Brigantiansko ozemlje.