ABSTRACT
Claudius is presented here as conqueror of a legendary place, a land of myth shut away until now by its remoteness beyond the north-western edge of the world: the Ultima Thule of classical writers. Britain what sort of a place it is and what sort of inhabitants it produces soon be described more precisely and on the basis of greater exploration. Two of the most important classical literary sources for Claudius's British campaigns are the narratives of Dio Cassius and Suetonius. Britannia's bared breast may contain meaning not just in terms of sexual violence but also in her intended image as a barbarian, in particular an Amazon, one of the legendary bands of warrior-women from Greek myth who personified ideas of otherness, wildness and lack of control so. Aulus Plautius was the first ex-consul to be appointed governor, and soon after him came Ostorius Scapula both of them fine soldiers.
