Part I An Epitome of the History of Roman Occupation in Britain
In no country of the world are there such evident traces of the march of Roman legions as in Britain. In the northern parts of England especially, the footprints of the Empire are very distinct. Northumberland, as Wallis long ago remarked, is Roman ground. Every other monument in Britain yields in importance to The Wall. As this work, in grandeur of conception, is worthy of the Mistress of Nations, so, in durability of structure, is it the becoming offspring of the Eternal City.
A dead wall may seem to most a very unpromising subject. The stones are indeed inanimate, but he who has a head to think, and a heart to feel, will find them suggestive of bright ideas and melting sympathies; though dead themselves, they will be the cause of mental life in him. A large part of the knowledge which we possess of the early history of our country has been dug out of the ground. The spade and the plough of the rustic have often exposed documents, which have revealed the movements, as well as the modes of thought and feeling, of those who have slept in the dust for centuries. The casual wanderer by the relics of the Vallum and the Wall, may not succeed in culling facts that are new to the Historian, but he will probably get those vivid glances into Roman character, and acquire that personal interest in Roman story, which will give to the prosaic records of chroniclers, a reality, and a charm, which they did not before possess.
As a natural introduction to the subject, and as a means of preparing for some discussions which are to follow, it may be well briefly to trace the progress of the Roman arms in Britain, from the arrival of Cæsar on our shores, to the eventual abandonment of the island.
EARLIEST NOTICES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
It is curious to observe, that the curtain of British history is raised by some of the earliest and greatest of profane writers. Herodotus, who wrote about the year B.C. 450, mentions the “Cassiterides, from which tin is procured”; Aristotle, about the year B.C. 340, expressly names the islands of Albion and Ierne; and Polybius, about the year B.C. 160, makes a distinct reference to the “Britannic Isles.” To Julius Cæsar, however, we are indebted, for the first detailed account of Britain and its inhabitants. On 26 Aug. B.C. 55, that renowned conqueror landed in Britain, with a force of about ten thousand men. Both on that occasion, and on a second attempt, which, with a larger force, he made the year following, he met with a warm reception from the savage islanders. Tides and tempests seconded the efforts of the natives, and great Julius bade Britain a final farewell, without erecting any fortress in it, or leaving any troops to secure his conquest. Tacitus says, that he did not conquer Britain, but only shewed it to the Romans. Horace, calling upon Augustus to achieve the conquest, denominates it ‘untouched’—
Intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet
Sacra catenatus via.
and Propertius, in the same spirit, describes it as ‘unconquered,’ invictus. There is, therefore, little exaggeration in the lines of Shakspere—
... A kind of conquest
Cæsar made here; but made not here his brag
Of, came, and saw, and overcame: with shame
(The first that ever touched him) he was carried
From off our coast, twice beaten; and his shipping
(Poor ignorant baubles!) on our terrible seas,
Like egg-shells moved upon their surges, cracked
As easily ’gainst our rocks.
PLAUTIUS AND CLAUDIUS VISIT BRITAIN.
During the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, Britain was unmolested by foreign invasion.
At the invitation of a discontented Briton, Claudius resolved to attempt the reduction of the island. In the year of our Lord 43, he sent Aulus Plautius, with four legions and their auxiliaries, amounting in all to about fifty thousand men, into Britain. It was with difficulty that the troops could be induced to engage in the undertaking. They were unwilling, as Dion Cassius informs us, “to engage in a war, as it were, out of the world.” The fears of the soldiery were not without foundation. The Britons, though their inferiors in discipline and arms, were not behind them in valour and spirit, whilst, in a knowledge of the country they had an important advantage.
The year following, Claudius personally engaged in the war. He advanced into the country, as far as Camelodunum (Colchester), and after some sanguinary contests, received the submission of the natives in that vicinity. The estimation in which Britain, even at this time, was held, was such, that the Senate, on learning what he had achieved, surnamed him Britannicus, granted him a triumph, and voted him annual games. The event was of sufficient importance, to be celebrated on the current coin of the day. Several gold and silver pieces have come down to our times, bearing on the reverse, a triumphal arch, on which is inscribed the words DE BRITANNis—Over the Britons. This is the first occasion on which allusion is made to Britain, on the coinage of Rome.
ITS PARTIAL SUBJUGATION. BOADICEA.
On the return of Claudius, the supreme command again devolved upon his lieutenant, Aulus Plautius, who succeeded in bringing into complete subjection, the tribes occupying the southern portion of the island. In this expedition, Vespasian, afterwards emperor, acted as second in command to Plautius. Titus, the son of Vespasian, accompanied his father. Thus was it, in Britain, that the destroyers of Jerusalem were unconsciously trained for inflicting upon God’s chosen, but sinful people, the chastisements of His displeasure.
Ostorius Scapula, A.D. 50, succeeded to the command in Britain. The brave Silures, headed by Caractacus, rendered his progress slow and bloody. Ostorius at length sank under the harassing nature of his duties.
In the reign of Nero, Roman affairs in Britain received a severe check. The Iceni, led on by their enraged queen Boadicea, threw off the yoke and attacked the principal stations of the enemy. London, which was then an important commercial city, fell, upon the first assault, and Verulam (near the modern St. Albans) shared the same fate. The British warrior-queen sullied the splendour of her exploits by her cruelty; seventy thousand Romans, or adherents of the government of Rome, fell under her hands. Suetonius, the Roman governor, collecting his forces, gave battle to the queen and routed her. A frightful carnage ensued; of the amazing number of two hundred and thirty thousand men of which the British forces are said to have consisted, not less than eighty thousand fell.
During the remainder of the reign of Nero, and the short rule of his three successors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, no advance was made in the conquest of Britain. In the strifes of the rival emperors, it was however destined to bear its part. Eight thousand soldiers were drafted from it to fight under the banners of Vitellius. Thus early, as Dr. Giles well observes, was this island, whose position in the bosom of the ocean indicates a peaceful policy, induced to bear the brunt of continental quarrels.
VESPASIAN ASSUMES THE PURPLE.
When Vespasian assumed the purple, a new era dawned upon the empire. This fact is well indicated upon a coin struck at this period. In the engraving, taken from a specimen found on the Wall, the emperor is observed raising a prostrate female from the ground (doubtless Rome), whilst Mars looks approvingly on; the inspiring motto “Roma Resurges”—Rome thou shalt rise again,—encircles the group.2 Vespasian appointed Petilius Cerealis his proprætor in Britain, who in five years succeeded in adding the Brigantes, a powerful tribe, to the subjects of the empire. Julius Frontinus was his successor, who, in the three years of his government, nearly subdued the warlike nation of the Silures.
HIS PROPRÆTORS SUBJUGATE THE ISLAND.
One hundred and thirty-three years had now elapsed since the first descent of Cæsar, and thirty-five years, since Claudius had claimed the honour of conquering Britain, and yet but a fraction of the island was in subjection to Roman power. Nothing, as Dr. Giles well remarks, can more strongly shew the stubborn spirit of the natives, than their protracted resistance to the invaders. Battle after battle had been lost; but many of these tribes were still unsubdued, and several even undiscovered.
THE OPERATIONS OF AGRICOLA.
But the reputation of all preceding governors, was obscured by a greater man than they. Cnæus Julius Agricola had served in Britain under some preceding commanders; so that when he landed as governor in the year 78 he was prepared to act with all the promptitude which a knowledge of the country and the people could give him. During the eight years of his rule, he subjugated the remaining tribes of southern Britain, carried his arms into the northern section of the island, and drove, in successive campaigns, the natives before him, until at length, in the battle of the Grampians, he paralyzed their strength for a while. He circumnavigated the whole island, and planted the Roman standard upon the Orkneys. He built walls and fortresses in all places where they were required, and softened the fierceness of the barbarians, by fostering a taste for letters and the luxuries of the Eternal City. But it is necessary to trace the movements of Agricola, with some of the detail with which they are given in the pages of Tacitus.
The summer of A.D. 78 was far spent when he arrived; yet before going into winter quarters, he attacked and subdued the Ordovices, and brought the sacred isle of Anglesea a second time to obedience. The respite from arms which the following winter afforded, was employed by the general in the most useful and necessary purposes. Being well acquainted with the temper of the inhabitants of the province, and having learnt from the conduct and experience of others, that what is gained by force avails little, where oppressions and grievances follow, he determined to put an immediate end to all the causes of the war. He began by checking and regulating the affairs of his own household, correcting the abuses that had crept into the army, promoting impartially those who deserved it; while at the same time he redressed the grievances of the inhabitants, made an equitable distribution of the public burthens, and abolished all hurtful monopolies. By the prosecution of measures so salutary as these, six months had scarcely elapsed, when affairs in Britain were entirely changed, and assumed a bright and settled aspect.
His second campaign, that of the year 79, was probably occupied in subduing the ancient tenants of the Lower Isthmus of the island.
On the approach of summer, he re-assembled his army, and in advancing, failed not to excite a proper spirit of emulation among the troops, praising those who best observed their several duties, and checking such as were remiss. He himself chose the ground for encamping; the marshes, firths, and difficult places, he always examined first; and, allowing the enemy no respite, he continually harassed them with sudden incursions and ravages. Having alarmed and terrified them sufficiently, he next tried the effect of good usage and the allurements of peace. By this wise and prudent conduct, several communities, which till then had maintained their independence, submitted to the Romans, gave hostages, and suffered garrisons and fortresses to be placed among them. These strongholds he established with such judgment, as effectually secured all those parts of Britain which had then been visited by the Romans.
The following winter was employed in civilizing and polishing the rude inhabitants, who, living wild and dispersed over the country, were thence ever restless and easily instigated to war. At first, they were prevailed upon to associate more together, and for this end were instructed in the art of building houses, temples, and places of public resort. The sons of their chiefs were taught the liberal sciences; hence it was no unusual thing to see those who lately scorned the Roman language, become admirers of its eloquence. By degrees, the customs, manners, and dress of their conquerors, became familiar to them, they acquired a taste for a life of inactivity and ease, and at length were caught by the charms and incitements of luxury and vice. By such as judged of things from their external appearance only, all this was styled politeness and humanity, while, in reality, Agricola was effectually enslaving them, and imperceptibly rivetting their chains.
During the third year of his command, he pushed his conquests northwards, and carried his devastations as far as the mouth of the Tay (Taus.) Here, the enemy were struck with so much terror, that they durst not attack the Roman army, though it was greatly distressed by the severities of the climate. Agricola, in order to secure possession of these advanced conquests, again erected forts in the most commodious situations; and so judiciously was this done, that none of them were ever taken by force, abandoned through fear, or given up on terms of capitulation. Each fort defended itself, and, against any long siege, was constantly supplied with provisions for a year. Thus the several garrisons not only passed the winter in perfect security, but were likewise enabled, from these strongholds, to make frequent excursions against the enemy, who could not, as heretofore, repair the losses they had sustained in summer, by the successes usually attending their winter expeditions.
The forts here referred to, are probably those, which were drawn along the Upper Isthmus of the island, extending from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde, and which were afterwards connected by the wall of Antoninus Pius.
This is rendered apparent from what follows:—
Agricola employed the fourth summer (A.D. 81) in settling and further securing the country he had subdued. Here, had it been compatible with the bravery of the army, or if the glory of the Roman name would have permitted it, there had been found a boundary to their conquests in Britain; for the tide, entering from opposite seas, and flowing far into the country by the rivers Glotta and Bodotria, their heads are only separated by a narrow neck of land, which was occupied by garrisons. Of all on this side, the Romans were already masters, the enemy being driven, as it were, into another island.
AGRICOLA IS RECALLED.
It is not necessary to pursue the operations of Agricola further. In the seventh summer he defeated Galgacus on the flanks of the Grampians. The Roman power was now at its height. Agricola, probably from motives of jealousy, was recalled by the emperor Domitian, and as his successors were not men of the same vigour as himself, the barbarians were in a condition, at least to dispute the pretensions of their conquerors.
HADRIAN ARRIVES IN BRITAIN.
In the year 120—thirty-five years after the recall of Agricola—affairs in Britain had fallen into such confusion, as to require the presence of the emperor Hadrian, who had assumed the imperial purple three years before. He did not attempt to regain the conquests which Agricola had made in Scotland, but prudently sought to make the line of forts, which that general had constructed in his second campaign, the limit of his empire. With this object in view, he drew a wall across the island—the Barrier of the Lower Isthmus. The testimony of Spartian, the historian of his reign, though brief, is decisive. Hadrian, says he, visited Britain, when he corrected many things, and first drew a wall (murus) eighty miles in length, to divide the barbarians from the Romans.
The arrival in Britain, of Hadrian, one of Rome’s greatest generals, was thought an event of sufficient importance to be commemorated in the currency of the empire. The large brass coin, here represented, was struck by decree of the Senate in the year 121.3
THE BARRIER OF THE UPPER ISTHMUS.
The plans and the prowess of the emperor were thought to have effectually secured those portions of the island, which it was prudent to retain in the grasp of Rome. This circumstance was announced to the world in another coin, bearing, on the reverse, a name destined to sound through regions Hadrian never knew—Britannia—and representing a female figure seated on a rock, having a spear in her left hand, and a shield by her side.4
About twenty years after Hadrian’s expedition, Lollius Urbicus took the command in Britain. He was not satisfied with the limits which Hadrian had prudently assigned to the empire in Britain. Forcing back the Britons, he raised an earthen rampart across the isthmus between the Forth and the Clyde. Graham’s Dike, in Scotland, is the wall which was built by Lollius Urbicus. This is proved by the numerous sculptures which have, at different times, been discovered among its ruins.
DECLINE OF THE ROMAN POWER.
The remaining history of the Romans, on the northern frontier of England, is fraught with disaster. The tide of war sometimes broke upon the northern, and sometimes on the southern boundary; but its roar and its devastation ceased not, until the Roman intruder had been driven altogether from the island—or, rather, until the successive strifes of Romans and Picts, Normans and Saxons, Border reavers and Scottish troopers, had been hushed, under the vigorous rule of the last of the Tudors. What Hadrian could not do, for the inhabitants of the North of England; what Severus failed to accomplish; what the great Alfred—the Norman oppressor—the Plantagenets—the despotic Henry VIII., attempted in vain, was accomplished under what John Knox calls ‘the monstrous regiment of a woman.’ Then, a ‘bright occidental star’ beamed upon these Northern Parts, and Law began to assert its supremacy.
Marcus Antoninus, who succeeded Antoninus Pius, was far from enjoying the tranquillity which the northern rampart was expected to give. He was obliged to carry on very troublesome wars with the Britons, and with much difficulty kept them in check.
THE BRITONS PREVAIL.
In the reign of Commodus, who became sole emperor A.D. 180, the Britons, as we are told by Xiphiline, who abridged the history of Dion, broke through the wall which separated them from the Roman province, killed the general, ruined the army, and, in their ravages, carried everything before them. The wall referred to, was probably that of the Lower Isthmus; for, as Horsley conjectures, “the Caledonians had broken through the wall of Antoninus Pius not long after it was erected,” and certain it is, “that we meet with no inscriptions on the wall of Antoninus but what belong to his reign.”
The circumstance, that the loathsome and ferocious Commodus assumed the title of Britannicus, is no proof that success attended his arms. He was the first person who had ascribed to him the conjoined titles of Pius and Felix; but, as Lampridius satirically observes, “When he had appointed the adulterer of his mother a consul, he was called Pius; when he had slain Perennis, he was called Felix; and when the Britons were ready to choose another emperor, he was flattered with the title of Britannicus.”
During the time that Septimius Severus, Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus contended with each other for the empire, the northern Britons were held feebly in check. At length, A.D. 197, Severus prevailed, and became sole master of the world. Virius Lupus became his proprætor in Britain. Unable to resist the attacks of the Caledonians in the field, and having in vain attempted to purchase their submission with money, his lieutenant sent hasty letters to the emperor, entreating succour, and, if possible, his presence.
It is stated by Richard of Cirencester, that about this time the Picts, a tribe to which reference will presently be made, first landed in Scotland. The extraordinary successes, as Dr. Giles remarks, which the Caledonians gained, prior to the arrival of Severus, confirm the supposition that they received considerable reinforcements from abroad.
THE ARRIVAL OF SEVERUS.
Severus came at the call of his lieutenant. Both Herodian and Xiphiline give us an account of the proceedings of this renowned emperor in Britain, and as their narratives are not only interesting in themselves, but important in the investigation of some subsequent questions, it will be well to avail ourselves of their statements. Herodian says—
Whilst Severus was under a mighty concern about the conduct of his two sons, he received letters from the governor of Britain, informing him of the insurrections and inroads of the barbarians, and the havoc they made far and near, and begging, either a greater force, or that the emperor would come over himself. Severus, for several reasons, was pleased with the news, and, notwithstanding his age and infirmity, resolved to go over in person. And though, by reason of the gout upon him, he was forced to be carried in a litter, yet, he entered upon the journey with a juvenile briskness and courage, and performed it with great expedition. He quickly crossed the sea, and as soon as he came upon the island, having gathered a very great force together, he made ready for war. The Britons, being alarmed and terrified, would fain have excused themselves, and treated about peace. But Severus, unwilling to lose his labour, or to miss the glory of being called Britannicus, dismissed their ambassadors, and carried on his military preparations. Particularly, he took care to make bridges or causeys through the marshes, that the soldiers might travel and fight upon dry ground.
Herodian next gives a short description of the inhabitants, and says that—
Many parts of Britain were become fenny, by the frequent inundations of the sea. The natives swim through those fens, or run through them up to the waist in mud; for, the greatest part of their bodies being naked, they regard not the dirt. They wear iron about their necks and bellies, esteeming this as fine and rich an ornament as others do gold. They make upon their bodies the figures of divers animals, and use no clothing, that they may be exposed to view. They are a very bloody and warlike people, using a little shield or target, and a spear. Their sword hangs on their naked bodies. They know not the use of a breastplate and helmet, and imagine these would be an impediment to them in passing the fens. The air is always thick with the vapours that ascend from these marshes.
THE OPERATIONS OF SEVERUS.
The historian proceeds with his story—
Severus provided everything which might be of service to his own people, and distress the enemy. And when all things were in sufficient readiness, he left Geta, in that part of the island which was subject to the Romans, to administer justice and manage civil affairs, appointing some elderly friends to be his assistants. His son Antoninus, better known by the name of Caracalla, he took with him when he marched against the barbarians. The Roman army passing the rivers and trenches, which were the boundaries of the empire, skirmished often in a tumultuous manner with the barbarians, and as often put them to flight. But it was easy for them to escape and to hide themselves in the woods and fens, being well acquainted with the country, whereas the Romans laboured under the opposite disadvantages. By these means the war was prolonged. Severus, being old and infirm, and confined at home, would have committed the management of the war to his son Antoninus. But he, neglecting the barbarians, endeavoured to gain the Roman army, with a view to the empire. During his father’s lingering sickness he endeavoured to prevail with the physicians and servants to despatch him. At last Severus died, worn out with sorrow, more than disease.
It will be observed, that in this detailed account of the proceedings of Severus in Britain, not the least allusion is made to the construction of a wall.
THE NARRATIVE OF DION CASSIUS.
Dion Cassius was contemporary with Severus. That portion of his work which narrates the transactions of this emperor in Britain, is unfortunately lost, but an epitome of it, prepared by Xiphiline, remains. From this abridgment the following extracts are taken.
Severus, observing that his two sons were abandoned to their pleasures, and that the soldiers neglected their exercises, undertook an expedition against Britain, though he was persuaded, from his horoscope, that he never should return from thence to Italy. Nor did he ever return from this expedition, but died three years after he first set out from Rome. He got a prodigious mass of riches in Britain. The two most considerable bodies of the people in that island, and to which almost all the rest relate, are the Caledonians and the Mæatæ. The latter dwell near the barrier wall which separates the island into two parts; the others live beyond them. Both of them inhabit barren uncultivated mountains, or desert marshy plains, where they have neither walls nor towns, nor manured lands, but feed upon the milk of their flocks, upon what they get by hunting, and some wild fruits.
The mode in which he speaks of the Wall, in this passage, implies its existence at the time of the arrival of Severus. The historian, after giving an interesting account of the manners of the inhabitants, proceeds:—
We are masters of little less than half the island. Severus, having undertaken to reduce the whole under his subjection, entered into Caledonia, where he had endless fatigues to sustain, forests to cut down, mountains to level, morasses to dry up, and bridges to build. He had no battle to fight, and saw no enemies in a body; instead of appearing, they exposed their flocks of sheep and oxen, with design to surprise our soldiers that should straggle from the army for the sake of plunder. The waters, too, extremely incommoded our troops, insomuch that some of our soldiers being able to march no farther, begged of their companions to kill them, that they might not fall alive into their enemies’ hands. In a word, Severus lost fifty thousand men there, and yet quitted not his enterprise. He went to the extremity of the island, where he observed very exactly the course of the sun in those parts, and the length of the days and nights both in summer and winter. He was carried all over the island in a close chair, by reason of his infirmities, and made a treaty with the inhabitants, by which he obliged them to relinquish part of their country to him.
The peace thus purchased, by the cession of the northern portion of the island, was badly observed. The inhabitants having taken up arms, contrary to the faith of treaties, Severus commanded his soldiers to enter their country, and to put all they met to the sword. He is said to have signified his savage intention, by quoting, from Homer, the lines which Cowper thus translates:
.... Die the race!
May none escape us! neither he who flies,
Nor even the infant in the mother’s womb
Unconscious.
THE DEATH OF SEVERUS.
But in the midst of his enterprise he was taken off by a distemper, to which, it was said, Antoninus, by his undutiful conduct, had very much contributed. He died at York, Feb. 4th, A.D. 211.
THE RECORDS OF HIS VICTORIES.
The coins of Severus record his victories. One of them is represented beneath. On the obverse is the laureated head of the ferocious African—on the reverse are two winged victories, attaching a buckler to a palm tree, at the foot of which two captives mournfully sit. The legend, VICTORIAE BRITTANNICAE, declares who these captives are. Times are changed! wide as ocean rolls, the burden of Britannia’s song exultingly declares, ‘Britons never will be slaves,’—and, better still, Britain has long been actively engaged in rescuing from chains the sable sons of that continent in which Severus first drew breath.
Another curious record of the wars of Severus is found in the poems of Ossian. The Caracul, son of the ‘King of the World,’ in the dramatic piece ‘Comala,’ is supposed to be Caracalla.
Dersagrena. These are the signs of Fingal’s death. The King of shields is fallen! and Caracul prevails.
Comala. Ruin overtake thee, THOU KING OF THE WORLD! Few be thy steps to the grave; and let one virgin mourn thee!
Melicoma. What sound is that on Ardven? Who comes like the strength of rivers, when their crowded waters glitter to the moon?
Comala. Who is it but the foe of Comala, THE SON OF THE KING OF THE WORLD! Ghost of Fingal! do thou from thy cloud, direct Comala’s bow....
Fingal. Raise ye bards, the song! Caracul has fled from our arms along the fields of his pride.
After the death of Severus, a long period elapsed, in which the Roman historians observe a profound silence respecting the affairs of Britain. Local records and native historians supply but feebly the deficiency. During the reign of Gallienus, which extended from A.D. 260 to 268, a large number of usurpers arose, who are commonly denominated the Thirty Tyrants. Of these Lollianus, Victorianus, Postumus, the two Tetrici, and Marius, are supposed to have assumed the sovereignty in this island; for their coins have been dug up more abundantly here than elsewhere.
BRITAIN REVOLTS.
Diocletian commenced his reign in the year 284. Though he was a man of energy and ability, the care of a crumbling empire was too much for him, and he divided his honours and anxieties with Maximian. Increasing perplexities a few years afterwards induced the emperors to appoint two Cæsars. Diocletian chose Galerius Maximianus, and Maximian nominated Constantius Chlorus. To Constantius was assigned the charge of Britain, where he eventually found a grave. He was the father of Constantine the Great.
CARAUSIUS ATTAINS THE SOVEREIGNTY.
During a portion of the united reign of Diocletian and Maximian, Britain assumed an independent position. In order to repress, in the northern seas, the ravages of the Franks and Saxons, who about this period began to demand a place in the world’s history, Carausius was appointed to the command of ‘the channel fleet.’ Gesoriacum, the modern Boulogne, was his place of rendezvous. Carausius, who was an expert seaman, exerted himself, at first, with extraordinary success, against the pirates. Afterwards, it was observed that he consulted his own interest, rather than the public service. The emperors resolved upon his destruction. Carausius, stimulated by self-preservation, as well as ambition, entered into an alliance with his former foes, the Franks and Saxons, and declared himself emperor of Britain. He was favourably received by the natives of the island, and for seven years wielded the sovereignty of his empire with vigour and ability. He repelled the Mæatæ and the Caledonians, and having subdued these tribes, attached them to his interest. Nothing, observes Mr. Thackeray, can more fully prove the maritime strength and resources of Great Britain, under an able ruler, than the fact, that Carausius for seven years bade defiance to the Roman power; and at the end of that time fell, not overcome by the imperial forces, but by private treachery. Never before, nor until several hundred years after this period, was the country firmly united under the government of one sovereign.
Constantius was preparing to invade Britain with a fleet of a thousand ships, when Carausius was murdered by Allectus, whom he had trusted as his dearest friend. For about three years the assassin held, though with a less firm grasp, the power formerly possessed by his victim.
THE SUCCESSES OF CARAUSIUS.
A very numerous suite of coins commemorates the successes of Carausius, and vindicates his claim to a share in the empire of the world. Two coins are represented here. On the reverse of one is a galley, which indicates the chief source of his strength, and on the reverse of the other is a lion with a thunderbolt in its mouth, significative, not only of the bold bearing which the ancient sea-king assumed, but of that which his successors in modern times have maintained.
Carausius, according to Macpherson, is the Caros of Ossian. The following extract, upon this supposition, contains a remarkable allusion to the Wall.
Who comes towards my son, with the murmur of a song! His staff is in his hand, his grey hair loose on the wind. Surly joy lightens his face. He often looks back to Caros.
It is Ryno of Songs, he that went to view the foe. “What does Caros, King of ships?” said the son of the now mournful Ossian; “spreads he the wings of his pride,5 bard of the times of old?”
“He spreads them, Oscar,” replied the bard, “but it is behind his GATHERED HEAP. He looks over his STONES with fear. He beholds thee terrible, as the ghost of night, that rolls the wave to his ships!”
BRITAIN UNDER DIOCLETIAN AND SUCCESSORS.
It would be improper to leave the reign of Diocletian without remarking, that under it, the church of Christ endured the last and most terrible of the ten persecutions, which pagan Rome inflicted upon the followers of the cross. Britain did not escape. Alban and many others, as Gildas and Bede inform us, were martyrs for the faith.
On the withdrawal, in the year 305, of Diocletian and Maximian from the cares of empire, Galerius and Constantius became the rulers of the world.
Constantine, afterwards surnamed the Great, was proclaimed emperor, on the death of his father Constantius, at York. After a protracted struggle with several rivals, he became, A.D. 313, sole possessor of the imperial power. He was the first Christian Emperor, and, in token of his faith, inscribed the monogram of the Redeemer upon his banner, and his coin. The circumstances under which he adopted this step are thus detailed—
Constantine was in Gaul, and having heard of the opposition of his rival, who was in possession of Rome, he immediately crossed the Alps, and proceeded against him. When near Verona, on his march, and meditating the difficulties of his situation, he was roused from deep thought by a bright light, which suddenly illumined the sky, and, looking up, he saw the sun, which was in its meridian, surmounted by a cross of fire, and beneath it this inscription, τουτῳ νικα—“IN THIS CONQUER.” He immediately adopted the cross as his ensign, and formed on the spot the celebrated Labarum, or Christian standard, which was ever after substituted for the Roman eagle. This, as Eusebius describes it, was a spear crossed by an arrow, on which was suspended a velum, having inscribed on it the monogram, ☧ formed by the Greek letters Chi and Rho, the initials of the name of Christ. Under this he marched forward, and rapidly triumphed over all his enemies; and, struck with the preternatural warning he had received, and its consequences, he now publicly embraced the doctrines of that religion under whose banner he had conquered.6
The monogram is well displayed on the reverse of a coin of Magnentius,7 which is here represented. The Alpha and Omega, which accompany the symbol, indicate the faith of the emperor in the divinity of Christ—‘the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’
Constantine removed the imperial seat from Rome to Constantinople.
BRITAIN OVER-RUN BY THE PICTS.
During the life-time of Constantine, Britain partook of the civil tranquillity of the rest of the world; but in the reign of his immediate successors, the Picts and Scots renewed their incursions into the lower province. This was not the only evil which Roman Britain had to endure. Magnentius, a native of the isle, entered into a contest with Constantius II. for the empire of the world, and in support of his claims, collected an army, (chiefly drawn from Britain) with which he three times met his foe. On the death of Magnentius, by his own hands, in the year 353, his successful rival inflicted a bloody revenge upon the Britons for having supported their countryman: meanwhile the Picts and Scots harassed them, on the north, with redoubled fury.
THEODOSIUS REPAIRS THE WALL.
Little is recorded of Britain in the reign of Julian the Apostate. In the time of Jovian his successor, the Picts, Saxons, and Scots, vexed it by increasing calamities. Valentinian obtained the purple A.D. 364, when the state of the country was so alarming as to require immediate attention. Even London seems to have been menaced by the enemy, if it was not actually in their hands. Theodosius, the ablest general of his time, went to the assistance of the Britons, drove the enemy before him, and recovered the provincial cities and forts. He then repaired the cities and prætenturæ and erected some new forts. Horsley thinks that the Wall in the North of England, and the stations upon it, are the prætenturæ referred to.
Valentinian, having, in 367, united with himself in the government of the empire, Gratian his son, died, A.D. 375. Six days afterwards, his second son, Valentinian II. was proclaimed his successor. The two brothers reigned together, Theodosius the Great presiding at the same time in the Eastern provinces, until Gratian was killed A.D. 383. Four years afterwards, Valentinian was robbed of the purple by Maximus, but applied for assistance to his eastern colleague, Theodosius, and once more entered Rome with imperial dignity. The sovereignty of Britain, Gaul, and Spain was, however, still conceded, for the present, to Maximus, who adopted Treves as the seat of his government.
THE ISLAND DRAINED OF ITS YOUTH.
In this struggle Britain suffered severely. Maximus, having served in the island under the elder Theodosius, was a favourite with the Romanized Britons. They flocked to his standard in such numbers that the island seemed drained of its youth. More than a hundred thousand persons are said to have accompanied him from Britain to the continent.
The loss of the native soldiery was severely felt in the North of England, where the ruthless barbarians renewed their ravages without molestation. The whole island, in the querulous language of its first historian, Gildas,8 “Deprived of all her armed soldiers and military bands, was left to her cruel tyrants, deprived of the assistance of all her youth who went with Maximus, and ignorant of the art of war, she groaned in amazement for many years under the cruelty of the Picts and Scots.”
Theodosius died A.D. 395. He left his dominions to his sons Arcadius and Honorius, who permanently divided them into the empires of the East and West. In the early part of the reign of Honorius, the province of Britain, by the prudence of the emperor’s minister Stilicho, had comparative rest from the incursions of the enemy. But when the Gothic war diverted the attention of the government from so remote a province, and the legions of Britain were called away to defend the seat of the empire from the attacks of Alaric, the troubles which before distracted the province, were again called into fearful operation. A spirit of disaffection and revolt increased the evil. Marcus and Gratian were successively declared emperors by the islanders, but were both speedily murdered. Constantine was next raised to the sovereignty, an honour for which he was indebted to his name, not his rank or fitness for the office. Instead of endeavouring to secure the peace of Britain, he transported his army to Gaul and made a successful stand against Honorius. He was assassinated in the year 411.
BRITAIN BECOMES INDEPENDENT.
Whilst Honorius was struggling with the usurper Constantine, he wrote letters to the cities of Britain, conceding the independence of the island, and urging them to adopt measures for their own government and protection. The gift of liberty was to them a fatal boon. Their implacable enemies, finding that the military science of the Romans no longer protected the south, rushed forth to invade the undefended province. The natives, in despair, turned to the still powerful name of Rome, and dispatched messengers to entreat help from the emperor.—But let Gildas ‘the wise,’ depict the closing scene of ancient Britain’s history—
THE NARRATIVE OF GILDAS.
The Britons, impatient at the assaults of their enemies, send ambassadors to Rome, entreating, in piteous terms, the assistance of an armed band to protect them. A legion is immediately sent, provided sufficiently with arms. When they had crossed over the sea, and landed, they came at once to close conflict with their enemies, and slew great numbers of them. All of them were driven beyond the borders, and the humiliated natives rescued from the bloody slavery which awaited them. By the advice of their protectors, they now built a wall across the island, from one sea to the other, which, being manned with a proper force, might be a terror to the foes whom it was intended to repel, and a protection to their friends whom it covered. But this wall being made of turf, instead of stone, was of no use to that foolish people, who had no head to guide them.
The Roman legion had no sooner returned home in joy and triumph, than their former foes, like hungry and ravening wolves, rushing with greedy jaws upon the fold, which is left without a shepherd, are wafted, both by the strength of oarsmen and the blowing wind, break through the boundaries, and spread slaughter on every side.
And now again they send suppliant ambassadors, with their garments rent, and their heads covered with ashes, imploring assistance from the Romans, like timorous chickens crowding under the protecting wings of their parents. Upon this, the Romans, moved with compassion, send forward, like eagles in their flight, their bands of cavalry and mariners, and planting their terrible swords upon the shoulders of their enemies, mow them down like leaves which fall at their destined period. Having driven their enemies beyond the sea, the Romans left the country, giving them notice, that they could no longer be harassed by such laborious expeditions, but that the islanders, inuring themselves to warlike weapons, should valiantly protect their country, their property, their wives, and children; that they should not suffer their hands to be tied behind their backs, by a nation, which, unless they were enervated by idleness and sloth, was not more powerful than themselves, but that they should arm those hands with buckler, sword, and spear, ready for the field of battle; and, because they thought this also of advantage to the people they were about to leave, they, with the help of the miserable natives, built a wall, different from the former, by public and private contributions, and of the same structure as walls generally are, extending in a straight line from sea to sea, between some cities, which, from fear of their enemies, had then by chance been built.
THE DISTRESSES OF THE BRITONS.
No sooner were they gone, than the Picts and Scots, like worms, which in the heat of mid-day, come forth from their holes, hastily land from their canoes, differing one from another in manners, but inspired with the same avidity for blood, and all, more eager to shroud their villainous faces in bushy hair, than to cover with decent clothing those parts of their body which required it. Moreover, having heard of the departure of our friends, and their resolution never to return, they seized, with greater boldness than before, on all the country towards the extreme north, as far as the Wall. To oppose them, there was placed on the heights, a garrison, equally slow to fight, and ill adapted to run away, a useless and panic-struck company, which slumbered away days and nights on their unprofitable watch. Meanwhile the hooked weapons of their enemies were not idle, and our wretched countrymen were dragged from the Wall, and dashed against the ground. Such premature death, however, painful as it was, saved them from seeing the miserable sufferings of their brothers and children. But why should I say more? They left their cities, abandoned the protection of the Wall, and dispersed themselves in flight more desperately than before.
Whilst the enemy butchered them like sheep, they increased their own miseries by domestic feuds—
They turned their arms upon each other, and for the sake of a little sustenance, imbrued their hands in the blood of their fellow countrymen.
Again, in their distress, they applied to the Romans. In the address, entitled ‘The Groans of the Britons,’ our author represents them as saying:—
The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea throws us back on the barbarians: thus two modes of death await us, we are either slain or drowned.
The Romans could not assist them, and, unwilling to assist themselves, they sought and obtained the help of those ‘wolves’, as Gildas calls them, the fierce and impious Saxons. The result is known to all—Celtic Britain became Saxon England—and England, with all its faults,—has it not been a blessing to the world?
The picture drawn by Gildas of the misery of the southern Britons, and of the ravages of the northern barbarians, is doubtless correct; but, in ascribing the erection of the earthen rampart, and the stone wall of the Lower Barrier to the period of the departure of the Romans, he probably leans upon the erring traditions of his own times. His statement is devoid of probability. A work so bold in its design, so skilfully planned, and involving so much labour in its execution, cannot have been the result of the expiring energies of Rome in Britain. Its very ruins bespeak the masculine vigour of Rome’s maturity.
Besides, if we receive the testimony of Gildas upon this point, we must either suppose that several walls have been drawn across the island, or we must reject the assertions of those classical writers who ascribe the works to Hadrian or Severus. The former supposition cannot be maintained, for we meet with no traces of more than one earthen vallum, and one stone wall, in the region in question; and with reference to the latter alternative, it is more likely that Gildas should err in his dates, than that Dion Cassius, and Herodian, and Spartian, should describe, as existing in their day, that which was not to be for centuries.
THE BRITONS SUPINE IN YIELDING TO THE PICTS.
Another question will arise in the mind of the thoughtful reader;—how was it that the Britons suffered themselves to become so easy a prey to the Picts and Scots? Roman civilization could not, greatly at least, have enervated them. The cultivation of the liberal arts removes from the minds and manners of men their unsightly asperities, but it brings out in bolder relief their more valuable qualities. The vices of the Romans, when grafted upon the previously polluted life of the Britons, would indeed have a tendency to unman them, but why should it have sunk them beneath the level of the Romans themselves? We do not find, moreover, that the Britons who fought in foreign parts were deficient in courage.
THE BRITONS HAD BREATHING-TIME.
An acquaintance with Roman discipline, a knowledge of the Roman art of war, ought to have given them great advantages over their less civilized neighbours on the north of the Wall, and enabled them easily to have retained that great structure as a boundary fence.9 It is true that great numbers of their youth had from time to time been drafted off by successive emperors, to engage in foreign quarrels, and that thus the land was deprived of its natural defenders. This accounts for a part of their distress, but not all. In a rude state of society, every man is a soldier, and it was an essential part of the policy of Rome to inure every citizen to the practice of arms. There surely would be men enough left to defend their homes, their liberties, and lives! Besides, half a century elapsed between the time when the Romans began to leave Britain to its own resources, and their final refusal of all succour. There was thus time enough to have nurtured a whole generation of veterans; and there was time enough—if the energy had been in them—to have shaken off those feelings of dependence upon Rome, which the presence of their conquerors had fostered. The opportunity, however, was lost; they entreated, and wept, and groaned—and passed off the stage of this world’s history. How are we adequately to account for this circumstance? |THE GENEALOGY OF THE PICTS AND SCOTS.|This is not the place to discuss the genealogy of the Picts, but if we adopt the theory of their Germanic origin,10 the enigma, if not made quite plain, will appear less difficult than before. However great the valour, and however estimable the other qualities of the Celtic race, they did not possess the patience, the perseverance, the capacity for united action, and the power of command, which characterized the Teutonic tribes; hence they would fall before them in any contest which required sustained exertion. |THE TEUTONES SUPPLANT THE CELTS.|Gibbon’s estimate of the character of the ancient Britons is probably correct—‘The various tribes possessed valour without conduct, and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms with savage fierceness, they laid them down, or turned them against each other with wild inconstancy; and, while they fought singly, they were successively subdued.’
ANTAGONISM OF THE RACES.
The Picts, without the artificial advantages which the Romanized Britons possessed, doubtless had the usual characteristics of the Gothic tribes. By these they were enabled, in defiance of the desultory attempts of the previous occupants of the soil, to ravage the land, until, through the efforts of Vortigern, they were confronted with foes of their own kith and kin. In our sister island, we unhappily witness, though in a subdued form, much of that animosity of race which led to the devastation and bloodshed that Gildas deplores. When will Saxon and Celt lay aside their differences, and unite for the common weal of Britain! Why should they regard each other with mutual suspicion? Why should the one triumph, and the other sink into hopeless, helpless despair? Creation groans—a prostrate world looks to united Britain and its offshoots, for that balm which may heal its woes—let it, strong in the confidence and love of its various constituent parts, faithfully fulfil its duty!
THE ROMAN ESTIMATION OF BRITAIN.
On reviewing this sketch of the proceedings of Rome, in relation to this distant portion of her great empire, the reader will perhaps be struck with the amount of attention which the Imperial City bestowed upon it.
The classic authors speak most disparagingly of the land, and its inhabitants—
Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos.
Virg. Ec. I.
Serves iturum Cæsarem in ultimos
Orbis Britannos.
Hor. Od. I. 35.
Visam Britannos, hospitibus feros.
Hor. Od. III. 4.
Te belluosus qui remotis
Obstrepit oceanus Britannis.
Hor. Od. IV. 14.
—and yet Britain, which, according to these authorities, scarcely formed a portion of the habitable earth, which was perpetually lashed by a stormy ocean, and whose inhabitants, unlike many barbaric tribes, were inhospitable to strangers, was the resort, not only of numerous legionary and auxiliary troops, but of very many of the emperors themselves. Great Julius came. Claudius fought upon our soil. Vespasian entered into conflict thirty-two times with the southern Britons. Titus shared in his toils and triumphs. Hadrian was here, and left the impress of his mighty mind behind him. Septimius Severus ended his days in Britain; his sons Geta and Caracalla first assumed the purple in Britain. The emperor Maximinus breathed, sixteen centuries ago, the sea-borne gales of Tynemouth. Britain, with its seas, was the chief scene of the exploits of the emperor Carausius. Allectus reigned three years over it. Constantius was long in the island, and his son, Constantine the Great is said to have first drawn breath upon our soil. Both Constans and Magnentius were here. Theodosius the Emperor fought under his father in Britain. Maximus, who had previously married a British lady, was invested by his soldiers with the purple at York—How comes it that so many of those who boasted of the mastery of this wide world, were induced personally to visit this little isle?—how was it, but that Coming events cast their shadows before.
ROME FORESHADOWS BRITAIN’S DESTINY.
It seems as though there was an affinity between England and Earth’s rulers—and that thus early it was pointed out as the spot in which, of all others, save one—Jerusalem—mankind had the greatest interest.
The importance of Britain, in the estimation of the Romans, is further shewn by the fact, that, of the different coins struck by the imperial government in the short period extending from the reign of Claudius to that of Caracalla, at least fifty-six relate to this country. Of these, two were struck in the reign of Claudius, five in that of Hadrian, seventeen bear the impress of Antonine, ten of Severus, twelve of Caracalla, and ten of his brother Geta.11
CAUSE OF THE ROMAN OCCUPATION.
Whilst however we maintain that Rome was led to Britain by the impulse of a power of which she was not conscious, and whilst we willingly acknowledge that the conquest of Britain by the Romans was the first of that series of signal providential arrangements, by which, from the dawn of history to the present hour, ‘the Governor among the nations’ has prepared this island for performing that important part in the drama of history, which she now sustains,—the enquiry yet remains, by what motive were the conquerors more immediately impelled to settle in so remote an island? Such toils would not have been endured, such sacrifices would not have been made, victories over tribes so savage would not thus have been gloried in, except the question ‘cui bono?’ could have been satisfactorily answered. ‘I confess,’ says Horsley, ‘that when I view some part of the country in the north of England, where the Romans had their military ways and stations, that question naturally arises, which has been often proposed: What could move them to march so far to conquer such a country? It appears wild and desolate enough at present, but must have been more so at that time, from the accounts the Roman historians have given us of it. I shall leave the Caledonian Galgacus, or Tacitus for him, to return the answer—If the enemy was rich, their covetousness moved them; if poor, their ambition. And when they added further desolation to a desolate country, this was their peace.’ Ambition was doubtless the leading motive. From the earliest periods of Roman history we find her bent upon conquest. Incessant wars engendered a thirst for victory, and military glory became the ruling passion of the people. The wide grasp of their ambition gave to the features of Roman character harder, but grander lineaments than those which their more polished neighbours of Greece possessed. Flattered, as the lords of the world, by their favourite poets and historians, they gloried in their proud pre-eminence, and thought that they were but fulfilling their destiny in asserting a claim to universal dominion. Candidates for public favour knew well that to fan the popular passion was the readiest way to succeed in their aims. None understood this better than Julius Cæsar; and the later emperors, who possessed not the power to strike an energetic blow, found it necessary to maintain the show at least of conquest and of triumph.
WEALTH OF ANCIENT BRITAIN.
Less worthy inducements were, however, not wanting. There are few evils in the fibres of whose roots the love of money will not be found. Gold was another secret but powerful cause of the hardships which the Romans themselves underwent, and of the countless ills which they mercilessly inflicted upon the miserable islanders. The British chiefs in general appear to have had considerable riches among them. Cæsar, according to Strabo, acquired a large booty in his two descents upon our shore. Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, died possessed of very great wealth. To a few states in the south, and within a few years after their first subjection, the philosophical Seneca lent more than four hundred and eighty thousand pounds of our money upon good security, and at exorbitant interest.12 Severus got a prodigious mass of riches in this land. Gold is not now an article of mineral wealth in Britain. We are not from this to infer that it was not so when it was first invaded. The precious metal is not met with in veins or strata, but is diffused over the alluvial soil, or mixed with the sand of rivers in grains or lumps. When the commercial value of the glittering dust is discovered, it is speedily picked up, and a country, once rich in it, becomes, in the course of ages, impoverished. The number of massive golden torques and armillæ of the ancient Britons, which even yet are from time to time being brought to light, favours the idea that the metal was, in ancient days, tolerably abundant. Whatever the secret motives, Cæsar came and conquered—
The Roman taught thy stubborn knee to bow,
Though twice a Cæsar could not bend it now.
THE FATE OF ROME.
In passing from the contemplation of the Roman occupation of Britain to our examination of the remains of the chief monument of imperial power which time has left us, the mind will experience a great transition. In the Wall, we have evident traces of the might of Rome, but it is the might of a giant laid prostrate—
..... Her haughty carcass spread,
Still awes in ruins, and commands when dead.
Centuries have elapsed since the vast fabric was upreared, but they have been centuries rife with the fate of empires.
The most ardent lover of the olden time cannot but startle, as he treads the deserted streets, or enters the unbarred portals of Borcovicus, and other cities of the Wall, at the thought that the Mistress of Nations is now no more,13 and that the Eternal City is buried in her own debris. The broken column, the prostrate altar, ever and anon obtrude the fact upon him. Another empire has sprung into being of which Rome dreamt not. In a sense different from that which Virgil intended, the words in his third Georgic are peculiarly striking—
Vel scena ut versis discedat frontibus, utque
Purpurea intexti tollant aulæa Britanni.
Or see how on the stage the shifting scenes
In order pass, and pictured Britons rise
Out of the earth, and raise the purple curtain.
PROSPECTIVE FATE OF BRITAIN.
In that island, where, in Roman days, the painted savage shared the forest with the beast of prey—a lady sits upon her throne of state, wielding a sceptre more potent than Julius or Hadrian ever grasped! Her empire is threefold that of Rome in the hour of its prime. But power is not her brightest diadem. The holiness of the domestic circle irradiates her. Literature, and all the arts of peace, flourish under her sway. Her people bless her.
Will Britain always thus occupy so prominent a position in the scene of this world’s history?
... Valet ima summis
Mutare, et insignem attenuat Deus
Obscura promens.
The power that did create, can change the scene
Of things; make mean of great, and great of mean.
LESSON INCULCATED.
Is the fate of Persia, Macedon, and Rome, never to be hers? ‘O Thou, that didst build up this Britannic empire to a glorious and enviable height, with all her daughter islands about her; stay us in this felicity!’ What would Britain at this moment be without the Bible? Let the seven-hilled city say! If Britain herself obey the inspired word, and give it to the nations, then she needs not fear the shock of empires. If not, at a future day the native of a distant isle, or obscure nation, then newly risen into greatness, moralizing over the reedy docks and grass-grown streets of London, may exclaim—How true the words of their own Milton! ‘But if... as you have been valiant in war, you should grow debauched in peace, you that have had such visible demonstrations of the goodness of God to yourselves, and his wrath against your enemies... you will find that God’s displeasure against you, will be greater than it has been against your adversaries, greater than his grace and favour has been to yourselves, which you have had larger experience of than any other nation under heaven.’
The Roman Barrier of the
Lower Isthmus.