page_title: History of Hertfordshire
section_title: The Roman Invasion of Britain
hierarchical_section_title: History of Hertfordshire / Early history / The Roman Invasion of Britain
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of sign at entrance to the Devil's Dyke, Hertfordshire, by Colin Riegels (2 July 2006) 日本語: イギリス、ハートフォードシャー州にある古代ケルト人の遺跡the Devil's Dykeの入口の写真
context_page_description: Hertfordshire is an English county, founded in the Norse–Saxon wars of the 9th century, and developed through commerce serving London. It is a land-locked county that was several times the seat of Parliament. From origins in brewing and papermaking, through aircraft manufacture, the county has developed a wider range of industry in which pharmaceuticals, financial services and film-making are prominent. Today, with a population slightly over 1 million, Hertfordshire services, industry and commerce dominate the economy, with fewer than 2000 people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
  Hertfordshire is one of the historic counties of England first recorded in the early 10th century. Its development has been tied with that of London, which lies on its southern border. London is the largest city in Western Europe; it requires an enormous tonnage of supplies each day and Hertfordshire grew wealthy on the proceeds of trade because no less than three of the old Roman roads serving the capital run through it, as do the Grand Union Canal and other watercourses. In the 19th century, rail links sprang up in the county, linking London to the north.
context_section_description: In 55 BCE when the Romans first attempted to invade Britain, the Catuvellauni (which is Brythonic for "Expert Warrior") were the largest British tribe.  Caesar's report to the Senate said that "Cassivellaun" (Cassivellaunus) was leader of the Britons, and Cassivellaunus' headquarters were near Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire.  On Caesar's second invasion attempt in 54 BCE, Cassivellaunus led the British defensive forces. The Romans besieged him at Wheathampstead, and partly because of the defection of the Trinovantes (whose King Cassivellaunus had had murdered), the Catuvellauni were forced to surrender.  However, after the siege of Wheathampstead, Caesar returned to Rome without leaving a garrison.
  Cunobelinus became king of the Catuvellauni in 9 or 10 CE and ruled for about thirty years, conquering such a large area of Britain that the Roman writer Suetonius called him Britannorum Rex ((in Latin) "King of Britain").  He built Beech Bottom Dyke, a defensive earthwork, at St Albans, which may be related to another Iron Age defensive earthwork, the Devil's Dyke, at Cassivellaunus' headquarters in nearby Wheathampstead. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni again in July 43 CE and this time, garrisoned Britain. When the Romans took over, their settlement, laid out in 49 CE, became known as Verulamium. Alban, a Roman army officer who became Britain's first Christian martyr after his arrest at Chantry Island, died in the 3rd or 4th century and gave his name to the modern town of St Albans. Verulamium became one of Roman Britain's major cities, the third-largest and the only to be granted self-governing status. Strong though Verulamium's defences may have been, they were not enough to stop Boudica, who burned the city in 61 CE. Verulamium was rebuilt, with defences enclosing a site of some 81 hectares (200 acres) and was occupied into the 5th century.
  A number of Roman Roads run through Hertfordshire including Watling Street and Ermine Street. The ancient trackway, the Icknield Way also runs through Hertfordshire. These are three of the "four highways" of medieval England (the other being the Fosse Way, which does not run through Hertfordshire) which were still the main routes through the country more than a thousand years later. The first Roman Road to be built was the Military Way, constructed very early in the Roman conquest to speed the troops' access north. Later, Ermine Street would be built directly on top of it.
caption: The Devil's Dyke, probably the site of Caesar's defeat of the Catuvellauni
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