Free Republic

Paulerspury – Development and HeritageBoudicca's last stand is believed to have taken place within the Parish, since Tacitus' history accurately describes local geographical features. Suetonius Paulinus's forward base was probably Lactodorum since it was not sacked. Boudicca with her forces and supporters swept up Watling Street from St Albans and the final battle was likely fought on the slopes below Toothill, opposite Cuttle Mill. Tactical clearing of trees by the Romans funnelled the Britons and led to an impasse, creating confusion and Boudicca's defeat.Mid 5th century, at the time most of the Romans were leaving Britain, a massacre of Britons...

Just like in modern times, many people in antiquity enjoyed visiting the tombs of famous historical figures. One of the most famous historical figures in the Greco-Roman world was Alexander the Great. According to ancient records, one of the Roman emperors visited his tomb. However, while doing so, this Roman emperor ended up breaking off Alexander the Great’s nose. Did this really happen, though? The tomb of Alexander the Great Alexander the Great died in the fourth century BCE in the year 323. He was buried in a magnificent tomb, which was just as famous in antiquity as it is...

The ruins of a Roman villa near Mount Vesuvius, discovered under the remnants of another villa built above it many years later, may have been where Augustus, the first Roman emperor, drew his last breath, archaeologists say.The earlier villa, which excavations suggest was inhabited before the first century A.D., seems to have been destroyed in the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, and the later villa was built there in the second century...She noted that the site corresponds with writings by the Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, who recorded that Augustus died in A.D. 14 at...

The first major recorded battle of the Roman invasion of Britain under the orders of the emperor Claudius, the battle is thought to have been fought at a crossing of the River Medway, near the modern day city of Rochester in Kent, England, and it raged for nearly two days.The British force was led by two brothers: Togodumnus, king of the Catuvellauni, and Caratacus, a chieftain of the same tribe. The Roman invasion force, under the command of Aulus Plautius, consisted of four legions, a force approximately 20,000 strong. On hearing of the Roman landing at Richborough, British resistance united...

Conqueror of Dacia. Subduer of Parthia. The Roman Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus — or Trajan as he is known to history — died on August 8 in the year AD 117. By most measures, Trajan was a superior emperor. In his satirical work The Caesars, written in AD 361, the emperor Julian the Apostate puts these words into the mouth of Trajan in defense of his reign and exploits before the gods: "O Zeus and ye other gods, when I took over the empire it was in a sort of lethargy and much disordered by the tyranny that had long...