Strabo wrote the finest work we possess on the political geography of the Roman Empire. In a passage (4.5.3) concerning distant Britannia, as that land of mystery was known to the classical world, but was called Albion by its inhabitants, he explains why it was useless to conquer lands with poor resources; that is to say, keeping them would soon outstrip any economic benefits. Britannia certainly did not enjoy an exceedingly mild climate that allows the vine, the olive, the laurel, the pomegranate, and in short all the fruits of a Mediterranean sky to come to perfection. However, the Claudian adventure of AD 43, followed by the expansionist campaigns that followed, meant the Romans occupied a large chunk of the island and thereby added a province beyond the natural bounds of the empire. This Augustus himself had fully recognized and, despite being Caesar's heir, he had rejected the option of invasion (Strabo 2.5.8). 'What wall', Josephus asks, 'could be a better obstacle than the open sea that is the bulwark of Britannia' (Bellum ludaicum 6.331).
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