Beginnings英国起源(11)

Not once but twice, Julius Caesar's plans were sabotaged

by that perennial secret weapon of the British, the weather.

On the first go-round in 55 BC, a cavalry transport which had already missed the high tide and got itself four days late,

Finally got going only to run directly into a storm and be blown right back to Gaul.

A century later, Claudius, the club-foot stammerer,

On the face of it, the most unlikely conqueror of all, was determined to get it right.

If it was going to be done at all Claudius reckoned, it had to be done in such massive force that

there was no chance of repeating the embarrassments of Julius.

So Claudius's invasion force was immense, some 40,000 troops.

The kind of army which could barely be conceived of, much less，encountered in Iron Age Britain.

Claudius did succeed where Julius Caesar had failed, through a brilliant strategy of carrot and stick.

Yes, he would seize the largely undefended oppida or towns and strike at the heart of the British aristocracy

its places of status, prestige and worship.

But for those chieftains, sensible enough to reach for the olive branch rather than the battle javelin

Claudius had another plan.

Give them, or rather their sons

a trip to Rome, and a taste of the dolce vita, and just watch their resistance melt.

While they were in Rome, many of them must have begun to notice that life for your average patrician was well, exceptionally sweet.