In the heyday of ancient Rome, generals knew no restraint in their conquests, expanding the empire into 40 provinces. But Ibernia, as the Latins called Ireland, was never among them.
But why did the Green Isle never become a Roman province? Some scholars believed that Ireland was too far from the sea routes of the Romans and was not within their sphere of interest.
Historian Patrick Reinard of the University of Marburg came to a different conclusion after careful study of a huge amount of historical and archaeological data. In fact, the Romans were very interested in Ireland and scrutinized the island and its inhabitants.
In the works of Juvenal and Tacitus one can find detailed descriptions of Roman military actions in Ibernia and even plans for the conquest of the Green Isle.
So what prevented the realization of plans to conquer Ireland?
The German historian cites two reasons. First, purely economically Ireland was not of particular interest: it did not have rich natural resources that could plunder the conquerors, unlike, for example, neighboring Britain.
Secondly, the Irish posed no threat to the Roman Empire. Ireland could have been easily invaded “in between”, but it would have brought the Romans nothing but unnecessary waste and dubious glory.
However, not all Romans agreed with Emperor Domitian’s decision to leave the Green Isle and its inhabitants alone.