Nearby excavations reveal remains of an ancient defensive base, bones and iron weapons, which suggest bay as most likely landing spot for Roman fleet 
 
 Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain was launched from the sandy shores of Pegwell Bay on the most easterly tip of Kent, according to fresh evidence unearthed by archaeologists. 
 
 Researchers named the wide, shallow bay the most likely landing spot for the Roman fleet after excavators found the remains of a defensive base dating to the first century BC in the nearby hamlet of Ebbsfleet, near Ramsgate. 
 
 
 
 We came, we saw, we detected: relics from Caesar era among amateur finds Read more 
 
 The ancient base covered more than 20 hectares and would have been ideally placed to protect the 800 ships the Roman army had to haul ashore when they were battered by a storm soon after they arrived from France in 54BC. 
 
 
 
 “This is the first archaeological evidence we have for Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain,” said Andrew Fitzpatrick, a researcher at the University of Leicester. “It’s a large defended site that dates to the first century BC.” 
 
 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Excavations at Ebbsfleet, with Pegwell Bay in the background. Photograph: Dean Barkley/University of Leice/PA 
 
 Archaeologists got their first glimpse of the Roman base while excavating land ahead of a new road project. They uncovered a deep defensive ditch that looks similar to Roman defences found at Alesia in France, site of the decisive battle in the 52BC Gallic war. 
 
 
 
 Further excavations uncovered bones that appear to have been damaged in fights and iron weapons, including a Roman pilum or javelin. The archaeologists believe the site included a Roman fort and served to protect Caesar’s ships from attackers coming from the north. “The main purpose of the site is to defend the fleet,” Fitzpatrick said. 
 
 The Roman general’s own account of the invasion describes how the fleet set off from France on the night of 4 July but got swept eastwards by currents when the wind failed. Early the next morning, the crew spotted England and rowed west to reach land at about noon. 
 
 
 
 The fleet was left at anchor at an even and open shore, Caesar wrote, but a high tide combined with a storm to wreak havoc on the ships, which broke anchor and smashed into one another. The general had the ships drawn onto the beach and set thousands of craftsmen to repair the damage. 
 
 
 
 Pegwell Bay had not been considered a viable landing site before because it lies on the Isle of Thanet, which was separated from mainland England until the middle ages by the Wantsum Channel. But the discovery of the Roman base makes the bay the most likely landing spot, Fitzpatrick said. “The Wantsum Channel wouldn’t have been a barrier to such accomplished engineers as the Roman army,” he said. 
 
 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The point of a Roman pilum found in the defensive ditch at Ebbsfleet. Photograph: University of Leicester/PA 
 
 Pegwell Bay is the only large bay on the east coast of Kent with an open sandy shore that could accommodate the vast fleet, the archaeologists believe. With at least 20,000 men and two thousand horses to disembark, the ships would have taken up more than a kilometre of beach when they arrived. 
 
 
 
 The British originally opposed the landing but on seeing the size of the fleet, retreated to higher ground, in positions that are now thought to be on the Isle of Thanet around Ramsgate. 
 
 
 
 While the Roman general returned to France without leaving an occupying army, the treaties Caesar set up between Rome and British royal families led to rulers of the south east of England becoming client kings of Rome. Those allegiances may have aided the invasion by the emperor Claudius nearly 100 years later in AD43. 
 
 “This was the beginning of the permanent Roman occupation of Britain, which included Wales and some of Scotland, and lasted for almost 400 years, suggesting that Claudius later exploited Caesar’s legacy,” said Colin Haselgrove at the University of Leicester. The findings will be explored as part of BBC Four’s Digging for Britain on Wednesday 29 November. 
 
 ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Archaeologists have identified Pegwell Bay as the place they believe the Romans landed 
 
 Archaeologists believe they may have uncovered the first evidence of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 54BC. 
 
 The discovery of a defensive ditch and weapons led them to identify Pegwell Bay in Thanet, Kent, as the place they believe the Romans landed. 
 
 The ditch, in the nearby hamlet of Ebbsfleet, was part of a large fort, the University of Leicester team says. 
 
 Its location was consistent with clues provided by Caesar's own account of the invasion, the team said. 
 
 Image copyright University of Leicester Image caption Archaeologists from the University of Leicester believe the ditch was part of a large fort in Kent 
 
 Image copyright University of Leicester Image caption The team found part of a Roman pilum - a type of javelin 
 
 Caesar's 54BC invasion, which ultimately ended in retreat, came almost 100 years before Claudius's conquest in AD43. 
 
 The 5m-wide ditch was discovered during an excavation ahead of a new road being built. 
 
 The university said its shape was very similar to Roman defences found in France. 
 
 It is thought it formed part of a large fort protecting Caesar's ships on the nearby beach. 
 
 Who was Julius Caesar? 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 Born into a prestigious patrician family in 100BC, he became one of the key figures in 1st Century BC Roman politics. 
 
 He formed a political pact, known as the First Triumvirate, with Pompey and Crassus. 
 
 After successful military campaigns against the Gauls he invaded Britain, where he was eventually forced into retreat. 
 
 He defeated Pompey in a civil war and declared himself dictator, but was famously assassinated by Brutus, Cassius and other senators in 44BC. 
 
 His adopted son Octavian became Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. 
 
 Image caption Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain came almost 100 years before Claudius's successful conquest in AD43 
 
 Pottery found at the site was consistent with the 54BC arrival date and the team also found iron weapons, including a Roman javelin. 
 
 Archaeologist Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick said descriptions from Caesar's account of the invasion - which describes him leading a force of about 800 ships, 20,000 soldiers and 2,000 cavalry - suggested it was the correct landing site. 
 
 "The presence of cliffs, the existence of a large open bay, and the presence of higher ground nearby, are consistent with the 54BC landing having been in Pegwell Bay," he said. 
 
 "It's a big force, and you need a big landing place, because simply to land that number of vessels you need a big front. 
 
 "We think that the location of the site fits very closely with what Julius Caesar gives in a series of clues - he doesn't tell us in detail, but he gives some snippets, and by piecing those snippets together we think it fits very well." 
 
 Dr Fitzpatrick said the low-lying, coastal nature of the site was "defending the coast rather than looking inland", which led them to believe it could be Caesar's base. 
 
 Image copyright University of Leicester Image caption The defensive ditch is about two metres deep 
 
 Prof Colin Haselgrove, who led the investigation, said it was likely treaties set up in the wake of Caesar's invasion made it easier for the Romans to conquer parts of Britain almost 100 years later. 
 
 He said: "The conquest of south-east England seems to have been rapid, probably because the kings in the region were already allied to Rome. 
 
 "This was the beginning of the permanent Roman occupation of Britain, which included Wales and some of Scotland and lasted for almost 400 years." 
 
 The findings will be explored further as part of Digging For Britain, on BBC Four at 21:00 GMT and afterwards on BBC iPlayer. ||||| The first Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar in 55BC is a historical fact, with vivid accounts passed down by Tacitus, Cicero and Caesar himself. 
 
 Yet, despite a huge landing force of legionaries from 800 ships, no archaeological evidence for the attack or any physical remains of encampments have ever been found. 
 
 But now a chance excavation carried out ahead of a road building project in Kent has uncovered what is thought to be the first solid proof for the invasion. 
 
 Archaeologists from the University of Leicester and Kent County Council have found a defensive ditch and javelin spear at Ebbsfleet, a hamlet on the Isle of Thanet. 
 
 The shape of the ditch at Ebbsfleet, is similar to Roman defences at Alésia in France, where a decisive battle in the Gallic War took place in 52 BC. 
 
 Experts also discovered that nearby Pegwell Bay is one of the only bays in the vicinity which could have provided harbour for such a huge fleet of ships. And its topography echoes Caesar’s own observations of the landing site. 
 
 Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, Research Associate from the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History said: “Caesar describes how the ships were left at anchor at an even and open shore and how they were damaged by a great storm. This description is consistent with Pegwell Bay, which today is the largest bay on the east Kent coast and is open and flat.
– The Roman invasion of Britain signified an empire at its peak. Now, archaeologists believe they've identified the very spot where the Romans began their assault more than 2,000 years ago and more than a century before Britain was won. For millennia, historians have had little more than Julius Caesar's own account of two invasions (in 55BC and 54BC) on which to base their theories as to where the operation began, reports the BBC. But an investigation near Ebbsfleet on Pegwell Bay in Kent—across the Strait of Dover from Calais, France—has revealed a 6-foot-deep, 15-foot-wide defensive ditch archaeologists from the University of Leicester believe was part of a fort spanning 50 acres, constructed to protect Caesar's intimidating force of 800 ships, 20,000 soldiers, and 2,000 horses, per the Guardian and Telegraph. The ditch, similar to Roman defenses in France dating to 52BC, housed pottery from the era, along with a Roman javelin and bones showing evidence of violence, per the Guardian. In addition, "the location of the site fits very closely with what Julius Caesar gives in a series of clues," describing its high ground and open bay, archaeologist Andrew Fitzpatrick tells the BBC. Though the 55BC and 54BC invasions led to no new territory for Rome, they did result in the appointment of kings allied to the empire, which allowed for a "rapid" conquest of the region beginning in AD43 under Emperor Claudius, explains project leader Colin Haselgrove. "This was the beginning of the permanent Roman occupation of Britain, which included Wales and some of Scotland and lasted for almost 400 years," he says. (In Scotland, Romans used bullets.)