kings a legion consisted of 3000 foot, and 300 | but in Britain, where mention of the barbarian horse; under the consuls, of 4200 foot, and 400 auxiliaries constantly occurs, and where, as we horse; but under Cæsar and the emperors it have intimated, they performed services for which amounted to 6100 foot, and 726 horse. Like our the legions were not calculated, they seem to have regiments, the legions were distinguished from been at least as numerous as the Roman soldiers. each other by their number; being called the Three legions, say the historians, were competent first, the second, the third, &c. In the early ages to the occupation of Britain; but to this force of of the Republic they had no more than four or five 20,478 we must add the auxiliaries, which will legions kept on foot, but these were increased swell the number to 40,956. Gauls, Belgians, with increase of conquest and territory, and under Batavians, and Germans were the hordes that acthe Empire they had as many as twenty-five or companied the legions in our island. thirty legions, even in time of peace. The infantry of each legion was divided into ten cohorts. The first cohort, which had the custody of the eagle and the post of honour, was 1105 strong; the remaining nine cohorts had 555 men each. Such were the main features and appointments of the Roman legions in their prime, and such they continued during their conflict with the Britons, and long after all the southern parts of our island were subjugated by their might. They were afterwards sadly diminished in numbers and men threw off their defensive armour as too heavy for them to wear; changes were made in their weapons; and, not to notice many intermediate variations, a legion, at the final departure of the Romans from Britain, consisted only of from 2500 to 3000 indifferently armed men. Instead of a long, awkward sword of copper, every soldier had a short, manageable, well-tem-in consideration. They lost their discipline; the pered Spanish blade of steel, sharp at both edges as at the point; and he was always instructed to thrust rather than cut, in order to inflict the more fatal wounds, and expose his own body the less. In addition to a lighter spear, the legionary carried the formidable pilum, a heavy javelin, six feet long, terminating in a strong triangular point of steel, eighteen inches long. For defensive armour they wore an open helmet with a lofty crest, a breastplate or coat of mail, greaves on their legs, and a large strong shield on their left arms. This shield or buckler, altogether unlike the small, round, basket-looking thing used by the Britons, was four feet high, and two and a half broad; it was framed of a light but firm wood, covered with bull's hide, and strongly guarded with bosses or plates of iron or bronze. The cavalry of a legion was divided into ten troops or squadrons; the first squadron, as destined to act with the strong first cohort, consisting of 132 men, while the nine remaining squadrons had only sixty-six men each. Their principal weapons were a sabre and a javelin; but at a later period they borrowed the use of the lance and iron mace or hammer from foreigners. For defensive armour they had a helmet, a coat of mail, and an oblong shield. The legions serving abroad were generally attended by auxiliaries raised among the provinces and conquests of the Empire, who for the most part retained their national arms and loose modes of fighting, and did all the duties of light troops. Their number varied according to circumstances, being seldom much inferior to that of the legions; "The slow progress of the Romans in the reduction of Britain, is a fact which has not been sufficiently considered by historians. It forms a remarkable deviation from the ancient policy, and, indeed, a striking contrast to the conquest of Gaul, though that country was the last great acquisition in the West, and defended by a people as brave as the Britons, more improved, and far more numerous. It is an instance of the sudden change produced in their foreign volicy by a revolution in After Cæsar's departure, Britain was left undisturbed by foreign arms for nearly 100 years.' But few of the events that happened, during that long interval, have been transmitted to us. We can, however, make out in that dim obscurity that the country, and more particularly those maritime parts of it occupied by the Belge, and facing the coast of Gaul, made considerable advances in civilization, borrowing from the Gauls, with whom they were in close communication, some of those useful and elegant arts which that people had learned from the Roman conquerors, now peaceably settled among them. Besides their journeys into Gaul, which are well proved, it is supposed that during this long interval not a few of the superior class of Britons, from time to time, crossed the Alps, and found their way to Rome, where the civilization and arts of the world then centred. This progress, however, does not appear to have been accompanied by any improvement in the political system of the country, or by any union and amalgamation of the disjointed parts or states. Internal wars continued to be waged; and this disunion of the Britons, their constant civil dissensions, and the absence of any steady system of defence, laid them open to the Romans whenever those conquerors should think fit to revisit their fair island, and renew the struggle in earnest. their internal government. The patriciate steadily advanced to CHAPTER II.-CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY. THE INVASION UNDER CLAUDIUS TO THE ARRIVAL OF THE SAXONS.-A.D. 43-419 Roman invasion of Britain in the reign of the Emperor Claudius-Progress of the Roman generals Plautius, Vespasian, Ostorius-Brave resistance and defeat of Caractacus-Capture of Mona by Suetonius-Revolt of the Britons under Boadicea-Her defeat and death-Agricola appointed governor of Britain-His successful and wise administration-His northern campaigns and their progress-His victory at Mons Grampius over the Caledonians-Operations of his fleet, and its voyage round the island-Inconclusive result of his victories over the Caledonians-The Caledonians, after a long peace, attack the province of South Britain-Graham's Dyke built to repress them-Unsuccessful northern campaign of Severus-Builds a new wall of stone to protect the province-Carausius governor of Britain-Decay of the Roman power in Britain-Invasions of the Scots and Picts-Weakness of the South Britons and its causes-Their feeble resistance to the Scots and Picts-Their religious controversies-Their appeal to Rome in vain for military assistance-They invite the Saxons to their aid-Arrival of Hengist and Horsa. IN the ninety-seventh year after Casar's second expedition (A.D. 43), the Emperor Claudius' resolved to seize the island of Britain, and Aulus Plautius, a skilful commander, landed with four complete legions, which, with the cavalry and auxiliaries, must have made above 50,000 men. The Britons, who had made no preparations, at first offered no resistance; and when they took the field under Caractacus and Togodumnus, sons of the deceased Cunobelinus, who is supposed to have been King of the Trinobantes, they were thoroughly defeated in the inland country by the Romans. Some states or tribes detaching themselves from the confederacy, then submitted; and Aulus Flautius, leaving a garrison in those parts which included Gloucestershire and portions of the contiguous counties, followed up his victories beyond the river Severn, and made considerable progress in subduing the inhabitants. After sustaining a great defeat on the right bank of the Severn, the Britons retreated eastward to some marshes on the Thames, where, availing themselves of the nature of the ground, they made a desperate stand, and caused the Romans great loss. In these campaigns Plautius made great use of his light-armed barbarian auxiliaries (chiefly Germans), many of whom, on this particular occasion, were lost in the deep bogs and swamps. Though Togodumnus was slain, it does not appear that the natives were defeated in this battle; and Plautius, seeing their determined spirit, withdrew his army to the south of the Thames, to await the arrival of the Emperor Claudius, whose presence and fresh forces he earnestly solicited. Claudius embarked with reinforcements at Ostia at the mouth Pomponius Mela, who wrote in the time of Claudius, expresses a hope that the success of the Roman arms will soon make the island and its savage inhabitants better known. of the Tiber, landed at Massilia (Marseilles), and proceeded through Gaul to Britain. It is said that some elephants were included in the force he brought, but we hear nothing of those animals after his arrival in the island. There is some confusion as to the immediate effect of the emperor's arrival, the two brief historians of the events contradicting each other; but we believe that, without fighting any battles, the pusillanimous Claudius accompanied his army on its fresh advance to the north of the Thames, was present at the taking of Camalodunum, the capital of the Trinobantes, and that then he received the proffered submission of some of the states, and returned to enjoy an easily-earned triumph at Rome, whence he had been absent altogether somewhat less than six months. While Vespasian, his second in command, who was afterwards emperor under the same name, employed himself in subduing Vectis (the Isle of Wight), and the maritime states on the southern and eastern coasts, Aulus Plautius prosecuted a long and, in great part, an indecisive warfare with the inland Britons, who were still commanded by Caractacus. Between them both, Plautius and Vespasian thoroughly reduced no more of the island than what lies to the south of the Thames, with a narrow strip on the left bank of that river; and when Plautius was recalled to Rome, even these territories were overrun and thrown into confusion by the Britons. Ostorius Scapula, the new proprætor, on his arrival in the island (A.D. 50), found the affairs of the Romans in an all but hopeless state; their allies, attacked and plundered on all sides, were falling from them, the boldness of the unsubdued states was rapidly increasing, and the people they held in subjection were ripe for revolt. But Ostorius, who had pro 2 Dio Cass. (in the abridgment by Xiphilinus), lib. lx.; Suetonius in C. Claud. c. xvii. bably brought reinforcements into the island, | in their turn, and drawn a camp and fixed a cowas equal to this emergency: knowing how much lony of veterans among them, Ostorius marched depends on the beginning of a campaign, he put rapidly against the Silures-the inhabitants of himself at the head of the light troops, and ad- South Wales-the fiercest and most obstinate vanced against the marauding enemy by rapid enemies the Romans ever encountered in South marches. The Britons, who did not expect he Britain. To their natural ferocity, says Tacitus, would open a campaign in the winter, were taken these people added the courage which they now by surprise, and defeated with great loss. It derived from the presence of Caractacus. His should appear from Tacitus that Ostorius at once recovered all the country, as far as the Severn, that had been conquered, or rather temporarily occupied, by his predecessor Plautius; for the great historian tells us, immediately after, that he erected a line of forts on the Sabrina (Severn) and the Antona (Nene); but it is more probable that this advance was made by a series of battles rather than by one hasty blow struck in the winter by the light division of his army. Ostorius was the first to cover and protect the conquered territory by forts and lines; the line he now drew cut off from the rest of the island nearly all the southern and south-eastern parts, which included the more civilized states, who had either submitted or become willing allies, or been conquered by Plautius and Vespasian. It was by the gradual advance of lines like these that the Romans brought the whole of England south of the Tyne under subjection. Ostorius also adopted the cautious policy of disarming all such of the Britons within the line of forts as he suspected. This measure, always odious, and never to be carried into effect without shameful abuses of power, particularly exasperated those Britons within the line who, like the Iceni, had not been conquered, but, of their own good and free will, had become the allies of the Romans. Enemies could not treat them worse than such friends-the surrender of arms was the worst consequence that could result from defeat in a war which they had not yet essayed. It would also naturally occur to them, that if the Romans were permitted to coop them up within military posts, and sever them from the rest of the island, their independence, whether unarmed or armed, was completely sacrificed. The Iceni, a brave tribe, who are supposed to have dwelt in Norfolk and Suffolk, took up arms, formed a league with their neighbours, and chose their ground for a decisive battle. They were beaten by Ostorius, after having fought obstinately to the last, and giving signal proofs of courage. After the defeat of the Iceni and their allies the Romans marched beyond their line of demarcation against a people called the Cangi; and, Tacitus says, they got within a short march of that sea that lies between Britain and Ireland. From the pursuit of this timid enemy, Ostorius was recalled by a rising of the Brigantes, who occupied Yorkshire, with parts of Lancashire and the adjoining counties. Having subdued these BARBARIAN PRISONER.'-Drawn by J. W. Archer, from a marble in the British Museum. valour, and the various turns of his fortune, had spread the fame of this heroic chief throughout the island. His knowledge of the country, and his admirable skill in the stratagems of war, were great advantages; but he could not hope, with inferior forces, to beat a well-disciplined Roman army. He therefore retired to the territory of the Ordovices, which seems to have included within it nearly all North Wales. Having drawn thither to his standard all who considered peace with the Romans as another word for slavery, he resolved to wait firmly the issue of a battle. According to the great historian, he chose his field with admirable art. It was rendered safe by steep and craggy hills. In parts where the mountains opened, and the easy acclivity afforded an ascent, he raised a rampart of massy stones. A river which offered no safe ford flowed between him and the enemy, and a part of his forces showed themselves in front of his ramparts. As the Romans approached, the chieftains of the confederated British clans rushed along the ranks, exhorting their men, and Caractacus animated the whole. There is a lofty hill in Shropshire, near to the confluence of the rivers Colne and Teme, which is generally believed to be the 1 This fine head, remarkable from its expression of heroic me lancholy, is conjectured to represent the image of Caractacus, tion of Antique Marbles and Bronzes, with a description by R. P Knight. and is figured, accordingly, in the Dilettanti Society's publica scene of the hero's last action. Its ridges are furrowed by trenches, and still retain fragments of a loose stone rampart, and the hill for many centuries has been called by the people Caer-Caradoc, or the castle or fortified place of Caradoc, supposed to be the British name of Caractacus. Ostorius was astonished at the excellent arrange doubt contributed to procure him milder treatment than the Roman conquerors usually bestowed on captive princes; his chains and those of his family were instantly struck off. At this crisis Tacitus leaves him, and his subsequent history is altogether unknown. Their sanguinary defeat and the loss of Caractacus did not break the spirit of the Silures. They fell upon the Romans soon after, broke up their fortified camp, and prevented them from erecting a line of forts across their country. The prefect of the camp, with eight centurions and the bravest of his soldiers, was slain; and, but for the arrival of reinforcements, the whole detachment would have been sacrificed. A foraging party, and the strong detachments sent to its support, were routed; this forced Ostorius to bring his legions into action, but, even with his whole force, his success was doubtful. Continual Plan of BRITISH CAMP on Coxal Knoll. From Roy's Military and most harassing attacks and surprises fol Antiquities. Frontinus. lowed, till at length Ostorius, the victor of Caracment and spirit he saw, but his numbers, disci- tacus, sunk under the fatigue and vexation, and pline, and superior arms, once more gained him expired, to the joy of the Britons, who boasted a victory. Tacitus says that the Britons, having that though he had not fallen in battle, it was neither breastplates nor helmets, could not main- still their war which had brought him to the tain the conflict-that the better Roman swords grave. The country of the Silures, intersected and spears made dreadful havock-that the vic- by numerous and rapid rivers, heaped into mountory was complete. Caractacus escaped from the tains, with winding and narrow defiles, and cocarnage; but his wife and daughter were taken vered with forests, became the grave of many prisoners, and his brothers surrendered soon after other Romans; and it was not till the reign of the battle. The hero himself did not, however, Vespasian, and more than twenty years after the escape long, for having taken refuge with his step-death of Ostorius, that it was conquered by Julius mother, Cartismandua, Queen of the Brigantes, that heartless woman caused him to be put in chains, and delivered up to the Romans. From the camp of Ostorius he was carried, with his wife and all his family, to the foot of the emperor's throne. All Rome-all Italy were impatient to gaze on the indomitable Briton, who for nine years had bidden defiance to the masters of the world. His name was everywhere known, and he was every where received with marked respect. In the presence of Claudius his friends and family quailed and begged for mercy; he alone was superior to misfortune: his speech was manly without being insolent-his countenance still unaltered, not a symptom of fear appearing-no sorrow, no mean condescension; he was great and dignified even in ruin. This magnanimous behaviour no Caer-Caradoc was supposed by Camden to be the scene of the final struggle between Caractacus and Ostorius; but, from varicua circumstances mentioned by Tacitus referring clearly to the geography of the spot, and with which the site of Coxal Knoll alone corresponds, Roy, supported by other good authorities, believes that locality to have been the true scene of the action, and Caer-Caradoc to have been merely the castle of Caractacus. Coxal Knoll is situated on the river Teme, between Knighton and Lentwardine, some miles distant from Caer-Caradoc. Here the remains of a British camp still exist, measuring 1700 ft. in length; with a breadth, where widest, of 720 ft., and, where narrowest, of 600 ft. For some time the Roman power in Britain was stationary, or, at most, it made very little progress under Aulus Didius and Veranius, the immediate successors of Ostorius. Indeed, under these governors, the Emperor Nero, who had succeeded his father Claudius, is said to have scriously entertained the thought of withdrawing the troops, and abandoning the island altogether-so profitless and uncertain seemed the Roman possession of Britain. But the next governor, Paulinus Suetonius, an officer of distinguished merit (A.D. 59-61), revived the spirit of the conquerors. Being well aware that the Island of Mona, now Anglesey, was the chief seat of the Druids, the refuge-place of the defeated British warriors, and of the disaffected generally, he resolved to subdue it. In order to facilitate his approach, he ordered the construction of a number of flat-bottomed boats; in these he transported his infantry over the strait which divides the island from the main (the Menai), while the cavalry were to find their way across, partly by fording and partly by swimming. The Britons added the terrors of their superstition to the force of their arms for the defence of this sacred island. "On the opposite shore," says Tacitus, "there stood a widely diversified host: | cult enterprise to overrun a colony undefended there were armed men in dense array, and women running among them, who in dismal dresses, and with dishevelled hair, like furies, carried flaming torches. Around were Druids, pouring forth curses, lifting up their hands to heaven, and striking terror, by the novelty of their appearance, into the hearts of the Roman soldiers, who, as if their limbs were paralyzed, exposed themselves motionless to the blows of the enemy. At last, aroused by the exhortations of their leader, and stimulating one another to despise a frantic band of women and priests, they make their onset, overthrow their foes, and burn them in the fires which they themselves had kindled for others. A garrison was afterwards placed there among the conquered, and the groves sacred to their cruel superstition were cut down.” by a single fortification. Tacitus says (and the statement is curious, considering their recent and uncertain tenure) that the Roman governors had attended to improvements of taste and elegance, but neglected the useful that they had embellished the province, but taken no pains to put it in a state of defence. The storm first burst on the colony of Camalodunum, which was laid waste with fire and sword, a legion which marched to its relief being cut to pieces. Catus, the procurator, terrified at the fury his own enormities had mainly excited, fled, and effected his escape into Gaul. On receiving the news of these disasters, Suetonius hurried across the Menai Strait, and, marching through the heart of the country, came to London, which city, though not yet dignified with the name of a Roman colony, was a populous, trading, and prosperous place. He soon found he could not maintain that important town, and therefore determined to evacuate it. The inhabitants, who foresaw the fate of the fair town, implored him with tears to change his plan, but in vain. The signal for the march was given, the legions defiled through the gates, but all the citizens who chose to follow their eagles were takeu under their protection. They had scarcely cleared out from London when the Britons entered: of all those who, from age, or weakness, or the attractions of the spot, had thought proper to remain behind, scarcely one escaped. The inhabitants of Verulamium were in like manner utterly annihilated, and, the carnage still spreading, no fewer than 70,000 Romans and their confederates fell in the course of a few days. The infuriated in employed the gibbet, the fire, and the cross, without distinction of age or sex. But while Suetonius was engaged in securing the sacred island, events took place in his rear which went far to commit the safety of the entire empire of the Romans in Britain. His attack | on the Druids and the grove of Mona could not fail to exasperate all the British tribes that clung to their ancient worship: other and recent causes of provocation were particular to certain of the states. The Romans, in the colonies they had planted in the island, indulged too freely in what are called the rights of conquest: they treated the Britons with cruelty and oppression; they drove them from their houses, and, adding insult to wrong, called them by the opprobrious name of slaves. In these acts the veterans or superiors were actively seconded by the common soldiery --a class of men who, in the words of Tacitus, are by their habits of life trained to licentious-surgents made no prisoners, gave no quarter, but ness. The conquerors, too, had introduced priests of their own creed; and these," with a pretended zeal for religion, devoured the substance of the land." Boadicea, widow of King Prasutagus, and now Queen of the Iceni, probably because she remonstrated against the forcible seizure of the territory her husband bequeathed her, or possibly because she attempted to resist the Romans in their plunder, was treated with the utmost barbarity: Catus, the procurator, caused her to be scourged, her daughters to be violated in her presence, and the relations of her deceased husband to be reduced to slavery. Her unheard-of wrongs, the dignity of her birth, the energy of her character, made Boadicea the proper rallying point; and immediately an extensive armed league intrusted her with the supreme command. Boadicea's own subjects were joined by the Trino-minded them that she was not the first woman bantes; and the neighbouring states, not as yet broken into a slavish submission, engaged in secret councils to stand forward in the cause of national liberty. They were all encouraged by the absence of Suetonius, and thought it no diffi Suetonius, having received reinforcements which made his army amount to about 10,000 men, all highly disciplined, chose an advantageous field, and waited the battle. The Britons were also reinforced, and from all quarters: Tacitus says they were an incredible multitude, but their ranks were swelled and weakened by women and children. They were the assailants, and attacked the Romans in the front of their strong position. Previously to the first charge, Boadicea, mounted in a war-chariot, with her long yellow hair streaming to her feet, with her two injured daughters beside her, drove through the ranks, and harangued the tribes or nations, each in its turn.' She re that had led the Britons to battle; she spoke of her own irreparable wrongs, of the wrongs of her 1 Dio has described her costume as being a plaited tunic of various colours, a chain of gold round her waist, and a long mantle over all.-Do Nc. ud Xiphil |