GUY DE LA BÉDOYÈRE
It wasn’t just the natural resources which brought the Romans to Britain There was another reason. A new emperor had just come to power, and he was desperate to assert his authority. He had a lot to prove.

(Extract from "I Claudius" TV series)

The "I Claudius" series in the 1970s introduced millions of viewers to the stammering, long-suffering Emperor Claudius.

Widely perceived as a bumbling idiot, Claudius was suddenly thrust into power after his mad nephew Caligula was brutally murdered. As new emperor what he needed was to stamp his authority on Rome and on the Empire - and what better way than to take on an island of Barbarians on the edge of Empire - and win.

(At Colchester town centre)

Now when the Roman army arrived in Britain it didn’t waste time attacking sleepy hamlets. It made straight for the tribal headquarters to cut the enemy off at the head. And that wasn’t at London, as you might have expected - London didn’t exist - it was here at Camaludunum, on the site of modern Colchester. And this is where the Emperor Claudius got his mighty victory - that triumph he needed. He arrived here with all his soldiers and even brought elephants to terrify and overwhelm the natives.

(Outside Colchester Castle Museum)

To symbolise and celebrate the arrogant magnificence of the power of Rome, a huge classical temple - something on the scale of the Parthenon in Athens - was built here. It was so big that a Norman castle could be built on the site more than a thousand years later. And meanwhile the Roman army was setting it’s stamp across the rest of what we call the Midlands and Southern England.

(In the vaults of Colchester Castle Museum)

These are the vaults of the once mighty temple of Claudius at Colchester. By the time this temple was built it was only a few short years after the Roman invasion. But the Roman government already felt confident enough to move away the legion that was stationed here and establish Colchester as a colony - a model town - in fact the capital of Roman Britain, to set a wonderful example of the Roman way of life and laws and customs. But the ex-soldiers who lived here were cultural Nazis. They were really oppressive and brutal. They forced the natives to come along and sacrifice at the temple, made them pay extortionate taxes, and stole their land. It was bound to blow up in the Romans’ faces.

(Extract from "The Viking Queen" feature film)

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