The Romans invaded Britain three times:

55 bc

• The British had been helping the Gauls (in France) fighting against the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar. This made him very angry.
• He sent an army to invade Britain
• He wanted to show what a fantastic emperor he was.
• However, he underestimated the strength of the British army. 
• The two sides met in battle, but it is unclear who won.
• The Romans then turned round and went home.

54 bc

• In Britain, there was a strong King of the Catuvellauni tribe (pronounced cat-oo-well-orn-ee) from Hertfordshire, called Caswallon. He threw King Andwrag of the Trinovantes tribe (pronounced trin-o-wan-tays) out of Essex.
• Andwrag fled to Rome and asked Caesar for help.
• Caesar's reputation as a great leader had been damaged by his last failed invasion.
• So he agreed to help and sent another army to Britain.
• The Romans defeated the British in Kent and pushed well into the Midlands to capture Caswallon.
• However, they agreed to make peace with one another instead.
• The Romans left. In return, Andwrag got his throne back, but the British also had to pay the Emperor lots of money every year.

The third and final invasion took place just under a hundred years later, in AD 43. This time, the Romans took over almost all the country.