Aulus Didius Gallus arrived in Britain in 52 AD following the death in office of his predecessor Ostorius Scapula, who died whilst campaigning against the Silures of south Wales. In the immediate aftermath of Scapula's death, the Roman Second Legion suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Silures, leaving the province in a precarious condition. Didius was tasked with stabilising a deteriorating situation, the south-east of the province being securely held but the tribes of what is now Wales, particularly the Silures, continuing to resist despite the capture of Caratacus the previous year.
Rather than seeking to extend Roman territory further into difficult terrain, Didius pursued a policy of consolidation and containment. He quelled the rebellion and built roads and forts along the borders, including fortifications at Usk, to contain the native population. Tacitus criticised him for being reactive and defensive, though the historian Sheppard Frere has argued that Didius was in fact acting on instructions from Emperor Claudius, who did not consider the benefits of further conquest in such challenging country to be worth the risk. During his governorship Didius also despatched troops under Caesius Nasica to aid Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes when Venutius launched his first insurrection against her.
Didius held the governorship for five years, spanning the final two years of the reign of Claudius and the first three years of Nero, before being replaced by Quintus Veranius in 57 AD. His tenure, whilst condemned by Tacitus as insufficiently aggressive, secured the Roman position in Britain without seeking fresh conquests in the face of continued Welsh resistance.
Following the death of Ostorius Scapula in 52 AD and the subsequent heavy defeat of the Roman Second Legion by the Silures, Didius Gallus was sent to Britain to restore order; he quelled the rebellion and, rather than pushing further into the difficult terrain of Wales, constructed roads and forts at the borders such as those at Usk to contain the native tribes, a strategy that Sheppard Frere attributed not to timidity but to direct instructions from Emperor Claudius, who judged the potential gains of further conquest insufficient to justify the hazard.
The Roman Second Legion suffered a heavy defeat by the Silures following the death of Ostorius Scapula
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