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end, boats with broad flat bottoms, the easier to approach a shore full of shallows and uncertain landings; in these the foot were embarked; the horse followed, partly by fording, partly by swimming.

"On the opposite shore stood the enemy's army, in thick array compact with men and arms; amongst them were women running frantically every where, to and fro, representing the wild manner and transports of furies; dismally clad in funeral apparel, with their hair dishevelled and torches in their hands; round the host also appeared their priests the Druids, with their hands lifted up to heaven, uttering direful imprecations, and invoking celestial vengeance; insomuch, that at the amazing novelty of the spectacle, the spirit of the Roman soldiers was struck with dismay; and, as if all their limbs had been benumbed, they stood motionless, their bodies exposed, like fixed marks, to wounds and darts; till, by the repeated exhortations of the general, as well as by mutual incitements from one another, they were at last roused to shake off the scandalous terror inspired by a band of raving women and fanatic priests; and thus advancing their ensigns, they discomfited all that resisted, and involved them in their own fires."

The aboriginal Britons are described as dwelling in slight cabins of reeds and wattles, and in some instances in caverns in the earth, many sets of which, arranged with some degree of symmetry, antiquaries have recognized, in various parts of the country; but Cæsar tells us that the maritime tribes had buildings in the fashion of the Gauls, that is, of wood, of a circular figure, and thatched. They had, however, public edifices for the purposes of religion, of which we have an example in the stupendous fabric of Stonehenge'.

i The cromlechs which are found in various parts of our island were formerly regarded as temples, but recent investigation has convinced the

Such of their towns as came under his observation were clusters of huts erected on a cleared portion of the forests which covered the greater part of the island, and they were invariably surrounded by a rampart constructed of felled trees strongly interlaced and wattled, and a deep foss, which together constituted a.fortification that we may believe even the veteran legionaries often found it difficult to storm. The site of the modern city of London, with the river Thames in front, the river Fleet on the west, and an almost impenetrable forest in the rear, may be taken as a fair specimen of the nature of the locality usually selected for the residence of a British chief.

At the time that the Roman supremacy had its greatest extent, we distinguish the two great districts of Britannia Superior and Inferior (in a general way, England and Wales, and Scotland) divided into the five provinces of Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Flavia Cæsariensis, Maxima Cæsariensis, and Valentia.

1. Britannia Prima contained the country south of the Thames and the Severn, and, proceeding westward, we find tribes known to us by their Romanized names of the Cantii, Regni, Belgæ, Atrebates, Durotriges, and Dumnonii.

2. Britannia Secunda may be called Wales, and contained the Silures in the south and south-east, the Demetæ on the western coast, and the Ordovices in the north.

3. Flavia Cæsariensis, the country between the Thames, the Severn and the Humber, contained the Trinobantes in the south, north of them the Catyeuchlani and Iceni, and in the central and western parts the Dobuni, Coritavi, and Cornavii.

generality of antiquaries that they are in reality sepulchral monuments. One of the finest examples is the double cromlech at Plas Newydd, in Anglesey, figured at the head of this Introduction.

4. Maxima Cæsariensis, between the Humber and the Tyne, contained the Parisii on the Yorkshire coast, and the Brigantes, who occupied the rest of the north of England.

5. Valentia, between the Tyne and the Frith of Forth, was occupied by the Ottadeni on the east coast, the Gadeni in the centre, and the Selgovæ, Novantæ, and Damnii to the west and north. This province contained the Roman walls known as, (1) the Wall of Agricola (or of Lollius Urbicus, or Antoninus, from its restorers), which was the most northern, and (2) the Wall of Hadrian, to the south; this last being re-edified in the third century, or rather replaced by a wall of stone, the new structure is commonly spoken of as (3) the Wall of Severus. A wall, or rather chain of forts, also existed in the central part of the country, stretching from the Nen to the Severn; few traces of this remain, but of the other walls most of the stations have been identified, and many portions are still in a good state of preservation.

Beside these walls strong fortresses were erected in many places, particularly on the coast, of which the remains at Burgh castle, in Suffolk, Reculver, Richborough and Lympne, in Kent, and near Pevensey, in Sussex (probably Anderida), are especially interesting.

This wall has been closely investigated by antiquaries, and its whole course satisfactorily traced. From the researches of Dr. Collingwood Bruce in particular, we learn that the wall was about 73 miles long and probably 20 feet high. It had a deep ditch on its northern front, and on its southern side a triple rampart of earth and stones, with foss, ran parallel to it, at a distance generally of 60 or 80 yards. The included space was traversed by a military road along which were disposed nearly twenty Stationes (permanent camps), linked together by Castella at less than a Roman mile distant, and these connected by watch-towers, ("little more than stone sentryboxes," says Dr. Bruce,) within hail of each other. Even in its present state the Wall is one of the most remarkable works in Europe, and it furnishes a proof of the difficulty with which the Romans maintained their position in the north of England. It is in fact one vast intrenched camp from end to end, and seems to have been intended as much to meet a rising of the tribes to the south as to guard against an invasion from the north.

Our early historians mention four great roads by which South Britain was traversed, and these have usually been considered the work of its conquerors, but recent research has led to the conclusion that the Romans only kept in repair, and perhaps improved, the roads which they found in use on their settlement in the island. These great roads, under their modern names, are, the Watling Street, the Hermin Street, the Foss Way, and the Ikenild Street', and along their course, or in their immediate vicinity, are found the principal towns which, in pursuance of their usual policy, the Romans either founded or re-edified, and to which, according to the privileges bestowed, the various names were given of colonies, municipalities, stipendiary, and Latian cities m

Many other Roman roads exist, one of which stretches beyond the Wall of Agricola to the foot of the Grampians, and a Roman camp is found near the mouth of the Spey, on the Murray Frith, which may probably be taken as the most advanced post of the Imperial rule. The names of several tribes beyond the Roman limits occur in Ptolemy and other writers, but before the time of Severus they appear to have been all merged in the general appellations of Caledonians and Mæatæ, as these in their turn in after days are known only as Picts and Scots.

1 The courses usually ascribed to these highways are, the Watling Street from Kent to Cardigan Bay; the Hermin Street from St. David's to Southampton; the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincoln; and the Ikenild Street from St. David's to Tynemouth. There appears reasons for supposing that these statements are incorrect, and that the Watling Street extended from Kent to the Frith of Forth; the Hermin Street from the Sussex coast to the Humber; the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincolnshire; and the Ikenild Street from Caister to Dorchester.

m There have been identified among the colonies (using modern names), Bath, Cambridge, Caerleon, Chester, Colchester, Gloucester, Lincoln, London, and Richborough; among the municipia, St. Alban's and York; among the Latian cities, Carlisle, Cirencester, Dumbarton, Old Sarum; and among the stipendiariæ, Canterbury, Dorchester, Exeter, Leicester, Rochester and Winchester. A much longer list is given in "De Situ Britanniæ," a book ascribed to Richard of Cirencester, but that this is a forgery of the last century, has been conclusively shewn by Mr. Mayor, in his preface to Richard's genuine work, "Speculum Historiale."

The towns, and forts, and roads, already enumerated, are, however, very far from being the only traces of Roman occupation that remain in our country. Camps, occupying well-chosen positions, occur in numbers which attest the difficulty with which the subjugation of the island was accomplished; while the remains of stately buildings, ornamented with baths, tessellated pavements, fresco paintings and statuary, and articles of personal ornament, which are discovered almost every time that the earth is disturbed to any considerable depth, prove the eventual wide diffusion of the elegant and luxurious mode of life which it was the aim of the conquerors to introduce ".

Roman glass and pottery, in great variety, and frequently of most elegant shape, abounds, but the most valuable are the sepulchral urns, which betoken the neighbourhood of towns of which perhaps no other traces now remain.

When first conquered, Britain was considered so important, that it was made a province of the Roman empire, and was governed by an officer of high rank, who was called the proprætor, and vicegerent of the emperor. The five departments, as they may be termed, (Britannia Prima, &c.,) had each a president, and there was a large establishment of subordinates, the names and offices of many of whom have been preserved to us by inscriptions. Afterwards, but at a date that is somewhat uncertain, Britain was reduced to a dependence on the prefect of Gaul, and the resident governor was then termed only vicar (or lieutenant). In pursuance of their ordinary policy, which made each conquered nation assist in keeping down the rest, the Romans sent the British youth in large numbers to

n Upwards of one hundred Roman villas have been discovered, mainly in the south and west of England. Many of them contain pavements of extreme beauty, as those at Bignor, in Sussex, and at Woodchester, near Stroud, in Gloucestershire.

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