In 61 AD the Druids made their last stand on Anglesey, then called Mona. It was the Roman Empire's most determined attempt to destroy the religious and political centre that British resistance was organised from.
The Battle of the Menai Strait (61 AD)
Roman Advance: The governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, led his legions across the Menai Strait, the infantry in flat-bottomed boats and the cavalry swimming alongside their horses.
The Scene: According to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Romans faced a frightening sight on the shore: ranks of warriors, women in black robes with wild hair like the Furies, and Druids raising their hands to the heavens and shouting curses.
Roman Paralysis and Victory: At first the Roman soldiers froze in fear. Then Paulinus's legions attacked, crushed the defenders and burned them in their own fires.
Destruction of Sacred Groves: The Romans deliberately cut down the Druids' sacred oak groves, where they had carried out human sacrifice and prophecy.
Aftermath and Historical Context
Boudicca's Rebellion: Paulinus had to cut his campaign short when he heard about Boudicca's uprising in the east of Britain, and he left Anglesey to put it down.
The island was only fully conquered when Gnaeus Julius Agricola returned in 78 AD and wiped out what was left of the Druids in Wales.
The Llyn Cerrig Bach hoard, a collection of Iron Age weapons and other objects found in a peat bog, is evidence of the last religious offerings the Druids made before their defeat.
