WI: Celtic tribes of Britain unified under a single king instead of tribal leaders

Would Celtic Britian be able to hold the Roman for atleast a little while longer if the country was unified under a king rather than a trible leader?
 
The French Celts where unitied and Ceasar still defeated them. At the time the Romans would have won (just about) any battle that involved armies (rather than scimashes or hit and run actions) so my feeling is that it may have held the Romans up, but they would still have won almost as fast.

The only advantage the King would have is that none of the local tribes would have helped the Romans so at first all the supplies would have had to have come from Gaul by ship.
 

KCammy

Banned
The reason they couldn't conquer all of Britain was because of supply lines. If I remember correctly, Rome didn't even want Britain, they were dragged in because of allied tribes or something like that. It's still a little too far out of the way.

Who wants a soggy little island on the edge of the known world?
 
Boudicca almost managed it. She led the Iceni and many other tribes into a major revolt that almost resulted in Roman withdrawal from the island. She burned three major Roman outposts (including Londinium). If she had won her final battle instead of lost it, the Romans would have withdrawn entirely from the island, and probably would not return for some decades, maybe even a century.
 
Caractacus also led multiple tribes. Ultimately the Romans were going to win absent a major threat to Rome from another direction.
 
Well, we all know that Eowyn managed, thus establishing the Holy Britannian Empire XD All Hail Britannia!

Mmh. In all honesty, I don't think that the effects would be worth considering ... even an united Britain wouldn't have been able to resist Claudius' invasion. Caesar would perhaps failed even more, but that's it.
 
The reason they couldn't conquer all of Britain was because of supply lines. If I remember correctly, Rome didn't even want Britain, they were dragged in because of allied tribes or something like that. It's still a little too far out of the way.

Who wants a soggy little island on the edge of the known world?

A soggy little island they held for three hundred years, required a garrison of three legions and supplied the empire with a lot of it's silver.

Plus, Claudius wanted to conquer Britain to enhance his own reputation.
 
Boudicca almost managed it. She led the Iceni and many other tribes into a major revolt that almost resulted in Roman withdrawal from the island. She burned three major Roman outposts (including Londinium). If she had won her final battle instead of lost it, the Romans would have withdrawn entirely from the island, and probably would not return for some decades, maybe even a century.

The idea should be possible:)
 
Vercingetorix and his celtic uprising.
I know that Caesar was held to a draw the first time he took on the united tribes, so conquered them one at a time, but Vercingetorix did lead many tribes in the great uprising of 52BC

I think what Sandmannius was getting at is the fact that you said French Celts... which never existed. The French are descendant from a Germanic tribe called the Franks who originated in, well, Germany.

What you meant to say was Gauls.
 
Boudicca almost managed it. She led the Iceni and many other tribes into a major revolt that almost resulted in Roman withdrawal from the island. She burned three major Roman outposts (including Londinium). If she had won her final battle instead of lost it, the Romans would have withdrawn entirely from the island, and probably would not return for some decades, maybe even a century.


If they take five years or so to get round to it, then they are tied up in the Jewish War which will occupy them for some time at the other end of the Empire. After that, maybe Vespasian sends an expedition to exact some tribute from Boudicca's successor, but doesn't bother with a full dress reoccupation. Iirc that's about how things worked out in Germany.
 
A better way....

....to save Britain might have been for Claudius to stay behind the curtain and for the Praetorians to put some hard living, ex-military type up for Emperor.

With no need to prove his machismo by invading some desolate islands on the edge of the Known World, Rome might have decided an invasion wasn't worth the hassle and left us alone, like they did with Ireland.
 
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