Roman Dates

[Nathan Ross]

other first century British dates

Plautius, I would say, definitely became governor in 43, immediately following the conquest. Tacitus, in Agricola, gives a list of ten governors that followed him, and the dates of their terms can be reconstructed - often rather roughly - either from events mentioned in the text or from outside sources, I think. It is tricky, though - you've no doubt seen the debates around the year of the battle of Mons Graupius, based on the date that Agricola became governor; it's the same problem with Suetonius Paulinus's terms and those of his replacement in 61/62. Basically there seems to be a year's plausible variation in each case.

Part of the problem is that governors usually seem to have taken up their posts in late spring or thereabouts, well into the sailing season. Paulinus apparently didn't reach Britain until the early summer. So when Tacitus mentions the number of years each governor served in his post, it's unclear whether he means consular years or calendrical years from their date of arrival. So, for example, Didius Gallus took over from Scapula when the latter died, apparently the same year as the capture of Caratacus, which seems to have been 51. So he might have arrived in the autumn of 51, or (more likely?) the spring of 52. But it's not possible to be any more certain, I think.