Julius Caesar's Channel Crossing
F2. Maritime Culture, Heritage, Archaeology, Art and MuseumsDefinition
Foundational episode in classical maritime literature.
Julius Caesar’s Channel crossings were two Roman seaborne expeditions to Britain, in 55 BC and 54 BC, described in Book IV and Book V of his Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The 55 BC reconnaissance, with two legions, landed near Deal in Kent against Britons on the shore and was hampered when a storm and high spring tides damaged his beached fleet. The larger 54 BC expedition crossed the Channel from Gaul with about 800 ships and pushed beyond the Thames before withdrawing. Neither crossing produced a permanent occupation.
Source: Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Books IV and V; British expeditions 55 BC and 54 BC.