Site of the Claudian invasion of Britain

The site of the Claudian invasion of Britain in AD 43 is a matter of academic debate. Although it is generally believed that the force left from Gesoriacum (Boulogne), it is possible that part of the fleet sailed from near the mouth of the Rhine. And while Rutupiæ (Richborough, on the east coast of Kent) is often stated as the site of the landing (e.g. by Sheppard Frere), there are equally plausible arguments in favour of a landing further west along the south coast of Britain.

The only contemporary detailed account of the invasion comes from Cassius Dio's Roman History, written in the early 3rd century. He states that the main invasion force under Aulus Plautius sailed in three divisions, and George Patrick Welch argues that there were three landing sites in Kent: Lympne furthest west (the Legio II Augusta under Vespasian), Dover in the centre (the XXValeria Victrix under an unknown commander) and Richborough in the east (the IX Hispana and XIV Gemina under the overall command of Plautius). The three divisions would have then advanced from the coast and met at the River Medway.

Other historians dispute that the Romans landed in Kent. Dio describes how the troops saw a shooting star whilst at sea and were cheered by this omen. He adds that it travelled from east to west and that this was the direction the Romans were sailing in. However, a voyage from Boulogne to Kent sails from south to north.

Taking Boulogne as the point of departure, historians such as John Morris and J. G. F. Hind have used Dio's account to suggest a landing point much further west along the south coast of Britain, around the Solent or Southampton Water. This is supported by Dio's stated reason for the Roman invasion, that Verica, the king of the Atrebates who lived in the area of modern-day Hampshire, had appealed for Roman assistance after he was expelled in a coup, and by Suetonius's assertion that Vespasian conquered the Isle of Wight.

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