Romans, Anglo-Saxons & Vikings (43–1066)

The Romans came in 43 AD under Emperor Claudius and stayed for almost 400 years. They built Londinium (London), Aquae Sulis (Bath — the hot springs!), a road network that is still partially used today, and Hadrian's Wall (122 AD, 118 km across northern England, to keep the "barbaric" Scots at bay). When the Romans withdrew around 410, they left behind an infrastructure that no one maintained.

Into the power vacuum rushed the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes — Germanic tribes that gave the land its name: Angle-Land → England. They brought the foundation of the English language with them. In the 9th century, the Vikings (Danes) came, conquering the east of England (Danelaw). King Alfred the Great (849–899) of Wessex stopped the Vikings and laid the foundation for a united England. He is the only English king called "the Great."

In parallel, Wales and Scotland developed as independent kingdoms with Celtic culture, their own languages, and fierce resistance against English expansion.