Roman Britain
A teaching resource designed to energise your English lessons.
About the series
A three-level (A1, A2, B1) documentary series retelling the Roman conquest of Britain across three stories: Discovery and Preparing for Conquest, Conquest! and Occupation, from Julius Caesar's failed 55 BC expedition to Claudius's invasion in 43 AD and the Roman rule that followed. Each episode profiles a key figure or event and builds past-tense narrative listening skills, with vocabulary for historical dates, government and famous people. Comes with an in-app comprehension quiz.
Episodes (3)
1Discovery and Preparing for Conquest
This episode details Julius Caesar's initial expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, explaining why he didn't launch a full-scale conquest, and setting the stage for the later invasion.
3:54
2This episode focuses on the successful Roman invasion of Britain under Emperor Claudius, covering the gradual Roman control of the land and the famous rebellion led by the Iceni queen, Boudica.
4:59
3This final episode describes how Roman rule transformed Britain, including the development of towns and infrastructure. It concludes by explaining the eventual Roman withdrawal from the island.
3:57
- 1
Discovery and Preparing for Conquest
This episode details Julius Caesar's initial expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, explaining why he didn't launch a full-scale conquest, and setting the stage for the later invasion.
4:40 - 2
This episode focuses on the successful Roman invasion of Britain under Emperor Claudius, covering the gradual Roman control of the land and the famous rebellion led by the Iceni queen, Boudica.
4:53 - 3
This final episode describes how Roman rule transformed Britain, including the development of towns and infrastructure. It concludes by explaining the eventual Roman withdrawal from the island.
5:18
- 1
Discovery and Preparing for Conquest
This episode details Julius Caesar's initial expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, explaining why he didn't launch a full-scale conquest, and setting the stage for the later invasion.
4:37 - 2
This episode focuses on the successful Roman invasion of Britain under Emperor Claudius, covering the gradual Roman control of the land and the famous rebellion led by the Iceni queen, Boudica.
4:54 - 3
This final episode describes how Roman rule transformed Britain, including the development of towns and infrastructure. It concludes by explaining the eventual Roman withdrawal from the island.
5:19
Teaching guide
Objective & content
Roman Britain is a three-level (A1, A2, B1) documentary series of nine episodes: the same three stories, Discovery and Preparing for Conquest, Conquest! and Occupation, are each retold at a rising level of difficulty. A single narrator takes pupils through the arc of the Roman conquest: Julius Caesar's failed 55 BC expedition and the build-up to invasion, Emperor Claudius's conquest in 43 AD and the resistance it faced, including Boudica's revolt, and the Roman towns, roads and rule that followed, up to their end. Each episode runs roughly six hundred to nine hundred words of past-tense narrative English and ends with an in-app comprehension quiz.
Pedagogical guide
The series is built around the past tense: every episode leans on past simple (regular and irregular), was/were and past continuous, with recurring vocabulary for historical dates, government and famous people (Caesar, Augustus, Claudius). Because the same three stories return at A1, A2 and B1, a teacher can set the same episode across a mixed-level group, or replay an earlier level as a warm-up before moving up. The UK-regions and slavery-history culture tags flag where the content touches sensitive historical material, which the scripts handle factually rather than dramatize.
Suggested procedure
- Choose the level that matches the class and play one episode straight through, without stopping.
- Ask pupils to recall the story so far, in their own words, before moving on.
- Open the in-app comprehension quiz and let pupils answer individually or in pairs.
- Go through the answers together, focusing on the past-tense verbs used to tell each event.
- With stronger classes, replay the same story at the next level up to compare how much more detail it adds.
- Use the historical figures (Caesar, Claudius, Boudica) as a speaking prompt: who took the biggest risk, and why?
Possible adaptations
- Lower levels: Offer segmented listening and additional visual aids.
- Advanced levels: Encourage an oral summary and a debate in English on the theme.
- Large groups: Organise group work with differentiated roles.
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