Battle of the Medway 43
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 43 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 1st century | derived |
| Period | Roman Britain | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | Roman conquest of Britain | Wikidata |
| Participants | Ancient Rome, Aulus Plautius, Caratacus, Galba, Gnaeus Hosidius Geta, Titus Flavius Sabinus, Togodumnus, Vespasian | Wikidata |
About the battle
The Battle of the Medway took place in 43 AD, probably on the River Medway in the lands of the Iron Age tribe of the Cantiaci, now the English county of Kent. This was an early battle in the Claudian invasion of Britain, led by Aulus Plautius.
Visiting the battlefield
Dio does not name the battle's location, nor the river, but its site is claimed to be on the Medway. The Romans would have used existing trackways as they moved west from Richborough, and the best-travelled prehistoric trackway would have been the route of the later Pilgrims' Way, which forded the Medway at Aylesford. Other theories, however, note that the river is narrow enough at Aylesford not to pose significant difficulties in crossing, and place the battle closer to Rochester, where a large Iron Age settlement stood at the time.
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 51.4400, 0.7420
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Medway (revision 1370601125), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Location”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby battlefields
- Raid on the Medway 1667 · 15 km
- Battle of Benfleet 894 · 18 km
- Battle of Assandun 1016 · 18 km
- Battle of Aylesford 455 · 22 km
- Siege of Leeds 1321 · 23 km
- Battle of Maidstone 1648 · 24 km
Other battles of the Roman conquest of Britain
All battles of the Roman conquest of Britain →
Browse more: battles in Kent · battles in England · Roman Britain · 1st century battles
Further reading
- Battle of the Medway on Battlefields of the World (the battle in world context, with others of its war worldwide)
- Wikipedia: Battle of the Medway
- Wikidata Q617650