Ruling Roman Britain locates the island in the broader context of Roman imperial thought and action from the late republic and Julius Caesar to the end of the first century AD. This study discusses Roman imperialism starting with the intellectual and political atmosphere surrounding Caesar's invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC. It includes a chapter on queens, whose importance for the Roman empire has seldom been acknowledged. Britain's position at the edge of the world in the encircling Ocean is also emphasised. David Braund shows how ideologies and power politics in Rome shaped classical accounts of politics and society in Roman Britain. He develops an understanding of the literary sources which goes beyond mere translation and allows the reader new insights into this remote frontier of the Roman world.