Roman conquest and the founding of military York

After establishing York's terrain and resources, the book turns to the Roman conquest and the legionary fortress. The army arrived around AD 71 in a landscape of scattered farming settlements, decades after Claudius began the conquest of Britain in AD 43. Roman expeditions had already moved into northern England in AD 48 and AD 51-52, and the later advance may have established a temporary base at York. The permanent military centre therefore followed earlier reconnaissance and campaigning in the region.