Roman Britain. Following the raids of Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC the southern British tribes; though unwilling to acknowledge it; were regarded by Rome as vassals. The actual conquest of Britain was delayed till AD 43; in the reign of Claudius. Within four years the different territories south of the Humber and east of the Severn had been annexed or were ruled as protectorates by native princes. The struggle was continued by the hill-tribes of Wales and Yorkshire for thirty years; and the ten years between 70 and 80 AD were decisively in favour of the Romans. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson; c.1920).