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In this episode of Rearview Mirror Chronicles, we return to the moment Julius Caesar steps onto the shores of Britain in 55 BC, a bold gamble at the very edge of the Roman world. Britain is not yet a conquest but a rumour, a place of shifting tribes, chariots on the beaches, and uneasy diplomacy. Caesar’s landings are about prestige and intelligence as much as warfare, and they bind Britain, loosely but permanently, to Rome’s ambitions.

From there, we trace how Britain becomes entangled in the long collapse of the Roman Republic. Alliances are made, hostages taken, and client kings cultivated, while Rome turns inward through civil war, assassination, and the rise of emperors. Augustus hesitates, Caligula blusters, and Britain remains an unresolved question, known now, but not yet claimed.

We end on the threshold of change. By AD 43, Britain is no longer beyond Rome’s reach, merely awaiting the moment when Claudius will finally act. Episode two begins there, when Rome returns, not to visit, but to conquer.

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