Battle of Medway

The first major recorded battle of the Roman invasion of Britain under the orders of the emperor Claudius, the battle is thought to have been fought at the site of a river. Cassius Dio does not name the river, but it is probably the Medway.

[Plautius] advanced further and came to a river. The barbarians thought the Romans would not be able to cross this without a bridge, and as a result had pitched camp in a rather careless fashion on the opposite bank.
Cassius Dio Cocceianus, The Histories of Rome, Chapter 20

On reaching the banks of the Medway river, Plautius stood on a high ground and could see into the marshland of Essex, where the Britons were waiting in force.

The barbarians thought the Romans would not be able to cross this without a bridge, and as a result had pitched camp in a rather careless fashion on the opposite bank.
Cassius Dio Cocceianus, The Histories of Rome, Chapter 20

From there the Britons withdrew to the Thames, at a point where it flows into the sea and at high tide forms a lake.
Cassius Dio Cocceianus, The Histories of Rome, Chapter 20

What do we know about the site of the Battle of Medway?

 

“The barbarians thought that the Romans would not be able to cross it without a bridge”.
Cassius Dio Cocceianus, The Histories of Rome, Chapter 20

We know that the British though that to cross the river would you would need a bridge, so the river would have been classified as unwadeable, tidal or otherwise, i.e. it could not be waded because of depth of water, force of flow, exceptionally steep banks, overwhelming mud or, of course, a combination of these factors.

From there the Britons withdrew to the Thames, at a point where it flows into the sea and at high tide forms a lake. This they crossed with ease since they knew precisely where the ground was firm and the way passable. The Romans, however, in pursuing them, got into difficulties here. Once again the Britons swam across, while others crossed by a bridge a little way upstream, and they engaged the enemy from several sides at once, cutting many of them down. However, in pursuing the survivors without due precautions the got into marshes from which it was difficult to find a way out and lost a number of men.
Cassius Dio Cocceianus, The Histories of Rome, Chapter 20

Placing the post-battle combatants at the Thames, coupled with a logical geographical progression for the Roman advance, means that the sites of the landing ground, earlier battles and the two-day river battle were located south of the Thames and lay within southeast (SE) England (the modern counties of Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex and Hampshire).

The only place to cross near to the Thames is at the Medway Gate near Rochester, where the river cuts through the chalk ridge of the North Downs. East of the gate were salt marshes where the Medway opens into the Thames estuary and to the west was the Weald of Kent, a tangled forest impenetrable by armies (weald from the Old English for forest, cf wild in modern English or Wald in modern German). This crossing is the primary strategic route connecting the English Midlands and London to the Channel Ports, and hence the continent.

Where along Medway did the Battle take place?

There are two prevalent theories regarding the placement of the battle.

Battle of Medway: Aylesford & Pilgrims Way

If the Roman army advanced along the North Downs ancient prehistoric track, now known as the “Pilgrims Way” they would have arrived on the Medway at Aylesford.

Battle of Medway: Rochester & Watling Street

Alternatively they may have advanced along the productive lowland of north Kent and that Watling Street has perpetuated their route. If they had followed the ancient trackway which would later become Watling Street the Romans would have come to Chatham Great Lines, that open plateau overlooking the Medway which has long been used for military manoeuvres. On the left, the deep Luton valley led down to the Rochester crossing. In front, the Medway flowed northward before turning east to enclose the low-lying land now occupied by Chatham dockyard. Across the river at Upnor there was a broad gap in the hilly background, and from the Great Lines one could see right across the neck of the Hoo Peninsula and over the Thames to the high ground at Mucking. South of Rochester the river is constrained by a narrow valley – the Medway Gap – created by the river as it down-cut through the chalk during eustatically-induced sea-level falls.

This could mean that the Britons had destroyed a bridge at Rochester after retreating across it, though no direct evidence of a pre-Roman bridge has yet come to light. They were now encamped in the hilly Strood area west of the Medway.

The Bredgar Hoard – In the summer of 1957, a cache of thirty seven Roman gold coins was dug up at the village of Bredgar near Junction 5 of the M2 motorway. The most recent coins were four Claudian aurei in near mint condition dated 41 AD. They would represent about three months’ pay for an ordinary soldier. Presumably they were buried before the battle for safekeeping. The soldier never returned to claim them, which is suggestive as to his fate.

 

 

 

 

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