FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[397]We do not find that Pennant mentions, among the amphibious animals, theVituli Marini, by which Richard probably meant seals.[398]Richard calls these shellsCochleæ, or snails, though he probably alludes to the species styled by naturalistsMurea, which contained the famous Tyrian purple, so much valued by the ancients. Yet, whatever our island may have formerly produced, we discern no traces in later ages, of any testaceous animal yielding a purple or scarlet dye.[399]Richard here doubtless principally alludes to Bath, the Aquæ Solis of the ancients.[400]This substance appears to have been wrought into ornaments for the person. In the barrows, jet beads of a long elliptical form were found, together with others of amber, and a coarse blue glass.

[397]We do not find that Pennant mentions, among the amphibious animals, theVituli Marini, by which Richard probably meant seals.

[398]Richard calls these shellsCochleæ, or snails, though he probably alludes to the species styled by naturalistsMurea, which contained the famous Tyrian purple, so much valued by the ancients. Yet, whatever our island may have formerly produced, we discern no traces in later ages, of any testaceous animal yielding a purple or scarlet dye.

[399]Richard here doubtless principally alludes to Bath, the Aquæ Solis of the ancients.

[400]This substance appears to have been wrought into ornaments for the person. In the barrows, jet beads of a long elliptical form were found, together with others of amber, and a coarse blue glass.

1. Britain, according to the most accurate and authentic accounts of the ancients, was divided into seven parts, six of which were at different times subjected to the Roman empire, and the seventh held by the uncivilized Caledonians.

2. These divisions were called Britannia Prima, Secunda, Flavia, Maxima, Valentia, and Vespasiana, which last did not long remain under the power of the Romans. Britannia Prima is separated by the river Thamesis from Flavia, and by the sea[401]from Britannia Secunda. Flavia begins from the German Ocean, is bounded by the Thamesis,[402]by the Sabrina,[403]on the side of the Silures and Ordovices, and trends towards the north and the region of the Brigantes.[404]Maxima, beginning at the extreme boundary of Flavia, reaches to the wall,[405]which traverses the whole island, and faces the north. Valentia occupies the whole space between this walland that built by the emperor Antoninus Pius, from the estuary of the Bdora[406]to that of the Clydda.[407]Vespasiana stretches from the estuary of the Bdora to the city of Alcluith,[408]from whence a line drawn to the mouth of the Varar[409]shows the boundary. Britannia Secunda faces the Irish Sea to the north and west. But sufficient notice has now been taken of the provinces.

3. Before we proceed to a more minute description, let us touch upon the form of government. In remote times all Britain was divided among petty princes and states, some of whom are said to have existed after the country was occupied by the Romans; though, under the Roman domination, they retained scarcely the shadow of regal authority. A legate being appointed by the emperor over the conquered countries, Britain became a proconsular province. This form of government continued several ages, although in the meantime the island underwent many divisions, first into the Upper and Lower districts, and then, as we have before shown, into seven parts. It afterwards became the imperial residence of Carausius and those whom he admitted to a share of his power. Constantine the Great, the glory and defence of Christianity, is supposed to have raised Maxima and Valentia to consular provinces, and Prima, Secunda, and Flavia, to præsidials. But over the whole island was appointed a deputy-governor, under the authority of the prætorian prefect of Gaul. Besides whom, an ancient volume, written about that period, mentions a person of great dignity, by the title ofcomes, or count of the Britons, another as count of the Saxon coast, and a third as leader or duke of Britain; with many others, who, although possessed of great offices, must be passed over in silence, for want of certain information.[410]

4. I now commence my long journey, to examine minutely the whole island and its particular parts, and shall follow the footsteps of the best authors. I begin with the extreme part of the first province, whose coasts are opposite Gaul. This province contains three celebrated and powerful states,namely, Cantium, Belgium, and Damnonium, each of which in particular I shall carefully examine.

First of Cantium.

5. Cantium,[411]situated at the extremity of Britannia Prima, was inhabited by the Cantii, and contains the cities of Durobrobis[412]and Cantiopolis,[413]which was the metropolis, and the burial-place of St. Augustine, the apostle of the English; Dubræ,[414]Lemanus,[415]and Regulbium[416]garrisoned by the Romans; also their primary station Rhutupis,[417]which was colonized and became the metropolis, and where a haven was formed capable of containing the Roman fleet which commanded the North Sea. This city was of such celebrity that it gave the name of Rhutupine to the neighbouring shores; which Lucan,

"Aut vaga quum Thetis Rhutupinaque littora fervent."

From hence oysters of a large size and superior flavour were sent to Rome, as Juvenal observes,

"Circæis nata forent, anLucrinum ad saxum,Rhutupinoveedita fundoOstrea, callebat primo deprendere morsu."

It was the station of the second Augustan legion, under the count of the Saxon coast, a person of high distinction.

6. The kingdom of Cantium is watered by many rivers. The principal are Madus[418], Sturius,[419]Dubris,[420]and Lemanus,[421]which last separates the Cantii from the Bibroci.

7. Among the three principal promontories of Britain, that which derives its name from Cantium[422]is most distinguished. There the ocean, being confined in an angle, according to the tradition of the ancients, gradually forced its way, and formed the strait which renders Britain an island.

8. The vast forest called by some the Anderidan, and by others the Caledonian, stretches from Cantium a hundred and fifty miles, through the countries of the Bibroci and the Segontiaci, to the confines of the Hedui. It is thus mentioned by the poet Lucan:—

"Unde Caledoniis fallit turbata Britannos."

9. The Bibroci[423]were situated next to the Cantii, and, as some imagine, were subject to them. They were also called Rhemi, and are not unknown in record. They inhabited Bibrocum,[424]Regentium,[425]and Noviomagus,[426]which was their metropolis. The Romans held Anderida.[427]

10. On their confines, and bordering on the Thames, dwelt the Atrebates,[428]whose primary city was Calleba.[429]

11. Below them, nearer the river Kunetius,[430]lived the Segontiaci,[431]whose chief city was Vindonum.[432]

12. Below, towards the ocean, and bordering on the Bibroci, lived the Belgæ,[433]whose chief cities were Clausentum,[434]now called Southampton; Portus Magnus;[435]Venta,[436]a noble city situated upon the river Antona. Sorbiodunum[437]was garrisoned by the Romans. All the Belgæ are Allobroges, or foreigners, and derived their origin from the Belgæ and Celts. The latter, not many ages before the arrival of Cæsar, quitted their native country, Gaul, which was conquered by the Romans and Germans, and passed over to this island: the former, after crossing the Rhine, and occupying the conquered country, likewise sent out colonies, of which Cæsar has spoken more at large.[438]

13. All the regions south of the Thamesis[439]were, according to ancient records, occupied by the warlike nations of the Senones. These people, under the guidance of their renowned king Brennus, penetrated through Gaul, forced apassage over the Alps, hitherto deemed impracticable, and would have razed proud Rome, had not the fates, which seemed like to carry the republic in their bosom, till it reached its destined height of glory, averted the threatened calamity. By the cackle of a goose Manlius was warned of the danger, and hurled the barbarians from the capitol, in their midnight attack. The same protecting influence afterwards sent Camillus to his assistance, who, by assailing them in the rear, quenched the conflagration which they had kindled, in Senonic blood, and preserved the city from impending destruction. In consequence of this vast expedition, the land of the Senones,[440]being left without inhabitants, and full of spoils, was occupied by the above-mentioned Belgæ.

14. Near the Sabrina and below the Thamesis lived the Hedui,[441]whose principal cities were Ischalis[442]and Avalonia.[443]The baths,[444]which were also called Aquæ Solis, were made the seat of a colony, and became the perpetual residence of the Romans who possessed this part of Britain. This was a celebrated city, situated upon the river Abona, remarkable for its hot springs, which were formed into baths at a great expense. Apollo and Minerva[445]were the tutelary deities, in whose temples the perpetual fire never fell into ashes, but as it wasted away turned into globes of stone.

15. Below the Hedui are situated the Durotriges, who are sometimes called Morini. Their metropolis was Durinum,[446]and their territory extended to the promontory Vindelia.[447]In their country the land is gradually contracted, and seems to form an immense arm which repels the waves of the ocean.

16. In this arm was the region of the Cimbri,[448]whose country was divided from that of the Hedui by the river Uxella.[449]It is not ascertained whether the Cimbri gave toWales its modern name, or whether their origin is more remote. Their chief cities were Termolus[450]and Artavia.[451]From hence, according to the ancients, are seen the pillars of Hercules, and the island Herculea[452]not far distant. From the Uxella a chain of mountains called Ocrinum extends to the promontory known by the same name.

17. Beyond the Cimbri the Carnabii inhabited the extreme angle of the island,[453]from whom this district probably obtained its present name of Carnubia (Cornwall). Their chief cities were Musidum[454]and Halangium.[455]But as the Romans never frequented these almost desert and uncultivated parts of Britain, their cities seem to have been of little consequence, and were therefore neglected by historians; though geographers mention the promontories Bolerium and Antivestæum.[456]

18. Near the above-mentioned people on the sea-coast towards the south, and bordering on the Belgæ Allobroges, lived the Damnonii, the most powerful people of those parts; on which account Ptolemy assigns to them all the country extending into the sea like an arm.[457]Their cities were Uxella,[458]Tamara,[459]Voluba,[460]Cenia,[461]and Isca,[462]the mother of all, situated upon the Isca. Their chief rivers were the Isca,[463]Durius,[464]Tamarus,[465]and Cenius.[466]Their coasts are distinguished by three promontories, which will be hereafter mentioned. This region was much frequented by the Phœnician, Grecian, and Gallic merchants, for the metals with which it abounded, particularly for its tin. Proofs of this may be drawn from the names of the above-mentioned promontories, namely Hellenis,[467]Ocrinum,[468]and Κριου μετωπον[469]as well as the numerous appellations of cities, which show a Grecian or Phœnician derivation.

19. Beyond this arm are the isles called Sygdiles,[470]which are also denominated Œstromenides and Cassiterides.

20. It is affirmed that the emperor Vespasian fought thirty battles with the united forces of the Damnonii and Belgæ. The ten different tribes who inhabited the south banks of the Thames and Severn being gradually subdued, their country was formed into the province of Britannia Prima, so called because it was the first fruit of victory obtained by the Romans.

21. Next in order is Britannia Secunda, which is divided from Britannia Prima by the countries already mentioned, and from the Flavian province by the Sabrina[471]and the Deva;[472]and the remaining parts are bounded by the internal sea. This was the renowned region of the Silures,[473]inhabited by three powerful tribes. Among these were particularly distinguished the Silures Proper, whom the turbid estuary of the Severn divides from the country we have just described. These people, according to Solinus, still retain their ancient manners, have neither markets nor money, but barter their commodities, regarding rather utility than price. They worship the gods, and both men and women are supposed to foretell future events. 22. The chief cities of the Silures were, Sariconium,[474]Magna,[475]Gobanium,[476]and Venta[477]their capital. A Roman colony possessed the city built on the Isca,[478]and called after that name, for many years the station of the second or Augustan legion, until it was transferred to the Valentian province, and Rhutupis.[479]This was the primary station of the Romans in Britannia Secunda.

23. The country of the Silures was long powerful, particularly under Caractacus, who during nine years withstood the Roman arms, and frequently triumphed over them, until he was defeated by Ostorius, as he was preparing to attack the Romans. Caractacus, however, escaped from the battle, and in applying for assistance to the neighbouring chieftains was delivered up to the Romans, by the artifices of a Roman matron, Cartismandua, who had married Venutius, chief of Brigantia. After this defeat the Silures bravely defended their country till it was overrun by Veranius, and being finally conquered by Frontinus, it was reduced into a Roman province under the name of Britannia Secunda.

24. Two other tribes were subject to the Silures. First the Ordovices, who inhabited the north towards the isle of Mona;[480]and secondly the Dimetiæ, who occupied the west, where the promontory Octorupium[481]is situated, and from whence is a passage of thirty miles[482]to Ireland. The cities of the Dimetiæ were Menapia[483]and Maridunum[484]the metropolis. The Romans seized upon Lovantium[485]as their station. Beyond these, and the borders of the Silures, were the Ordovices, whose cities were Mediolanum[486]and Brannogenium.[487]The Sabrina, which rises in their mountains, is justly reckoned one of the three largest rivers of Britain, the Thamesis (Thames) and the Tavus (Tay) being the other two. The name of the Ordovices is first distinguished in history on account of the revenge which they took for the captivity of their renowned chief. Hence they continually harassed the Roman army, and would have succeeded in annihilating their power, had not Agricola turned hither his victorious arms, subdued the whole nation, and put the greater part to the sword.

25. The territory situated north of the Ordovices, and washed by the ocean, was formerly under their dominion. These parts were certainly inhabited by the Cangiani, whose chief city was Segontium,[488]near the Cangian promontory,[489]on the Minevian shore, opposite Mona,[490]an island long distinguished as the residence of the druids. This island contained many towns, though it was scarcely sixty miles in circuit; and, as Pliny asserts, is distant from the colony ofCamalodunum two hundred miles. The rivers of the Cangiani were Tosibus,[491]called also Canovius, and the Deva,[492]which was their boundary. In this region is the stupendous mountain Eriri.[493]Ordovicia, together with the regions of the Cangiani and Carnabii, unless report deceives me, constituted a province called Genania, under the reign of the emperors subsequent to Trajan.

26. I now proceed to the Flavian province; but for want of authentic documents, am unable to ascertain whether it derived its name from Flavia Julia Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who was born in these parts, or from the Flavian family.

27. Towards the river Deva were situated, in the first place, the Carnabii.[494]Their principal places were Benonæ,[495]Etocetum,[496]and Banchorium,[497]the last the most celebrated monastery in the whole island, which being overthrown in the dispute with Augustine was never afterwards restored; and the mother of the rest, Uriconium,[498]esteemed one of the largest cities in Britain. In the extreme angle of this country, near the Deva, was the Roman colony Deva,[499]the work of the twentieth legion, which was called Victrix, and was formerly the defence of the region. This place is supposed to be what is now termed West Chester.

28. Below these people stretched the kingdom, or rather the republic, of the Cassii, called by Ptolemy Catieuchlani, which arose from the union of two nations. Those nearest the Sabrina were called the Dobuni, or, according to the annals of Dio, the Boduni.[500]In their country the Thames rises, and, proceeding through the territories of the Hedui, Atrebates, Cassii, Bibroci, Trinobantes, and Cantii, after a long course flows into the German Ocean. The cities of the Dobuni were Salinæ,[501]Branogena,[502]on the left of the Sabrina [Severn], Alauna,[503]and the most venerable of all, Corinium,[504]a famous city supposed to have been built by Vespasian. But Glevum,[505]situated in the extreme part of the kingdom, towards the territory of the Silures, was occupied by a Roman colony, which, according to the writers of those times, was introduced by Claudius Cæsar. Adjoining to these were the Cassii, whose chief cities were Forum Dianæ[506]and Verulamium.[507]But when the last was raised by the Romans to the municipal rank, it obtained the pre-eminence over the other cities. St. Alban the martyr was here born. This city was involved in the ruin of Camalodunum[508]and Londinium,[509]in the insurrection of Bonduica, which is related by Tacitus. The Cassii were conspicuous above the other nations of the island; and Cæsar in his second invasion had the severest conflicts with their renowned chief Cassibellinus, to whom many people were tributary; and was repulsed by the Cassii in league with the Silures; to which Lucan alludes:—"Territa quæsitis ostendit terga Britannis." But on the coming of Claudius, they, with the neighbouring people, were subdued, and their country reduced to a Roman province, first called Cæsariensis, and afterwards Flavia.

29. Near the Cassii, where the river Thamesis approaches the ocean, was the region of the Trinobantes,[510]who not only entered into alliance with the Romans, but resigned to them Londinium their metropolis, and Camalodunum situated near the sea, for the purpose of establishing colonies. In this city was supposed to be born Flavia Julia Helena, the pious wife of Constantine Chlorus and mother of Constantine the Great, who was descended from the blood of the British kings. It was the chief colony of the Romans in Britain, and distinguished by a temple of Claudius, an image of Victory, with many ornaments.[511]But Londinium was and ever will be a city of great eminence. It was first named Trinovantum, then Londinium, afterwards Augusta, and nowagain Londona. According to the chronicles it is more ancient than Rome. It is situated upon the banks of the Thamesis, and is the great emporium of many nations trading by land or sea. This city was surrounded with a wall by the empress Helena, the discoverer of the Holy Cross; and, if reliance may be placed on tradition, which is not always erroneous, was called Augusta, as Britain was distinguished by the name of the Roman Island.

30. The boundary of this people towards the north was the river Surius,[512]beyond which lived the Iceni, a famous people divided into two tribes. The first of these, the Cenomanni, dwelt to the north towards the Trinobantes and Cassii, and bordered on the ocean towards the east. Their cities were Durnomagus,[513]and their metropolis Venta.[514]Camboricum[515]was a Roman colony. A tongue of land stretching into the sea towards the east was called Flavia Extrema.[516]Their most remarkable rivers are the Garion,[517]the Surius,[518]and the Aufona[519]which falls into the bay of Metaris.[520]Beyond the Aufona, bordering on the Carnabii, Brigantes, and the ocean, lived the Coitani,[521]in a tract of country overspread with woods, which, like all the woods of Britain, was called Caledonia.[522]This is mentioned by the historian Florus.[523]The chief city of the Coitani was Ragæ.[524]Besides this was Lindum,[525]a Roman colony, on the eastern extremity of the province. The river Trivona[526]divides the whole country into two parts. The nation of the Iceni, being of a warlike character, neglected husbandry as well as the civil arts; they voluntarily joined the Romans; but, revolting, and exciting others to follow their example, were first subdued by Ostorius. A few years afterwards, Præsutagus their king, at his decease, made Cæsar and his descendants his heirs. But the Romans, abusing the friendship of these people and giving themselves up to every speciesof debauchery, excited their resentment, and the Iceni with their allies, under the warlike Bonduica, widow of Præsutagus, destroyed their colonies, and massacred eighty thousand Roman citizens. They were afterwards reduced by the legate Suetonius, a man highly esteemed for prudence.

31. On the northern part of this region is the river Abus,[527]which falls into the ocean, and was one of the boundaries of the province Maxima, as Seteja[528]was the other. This province was also called the kingdom of Brigantia, because it comprehended the region of that name inhabited by three nations. At the eastern point,[529]where the promontories of Oxellum[530]and of the Brigantes[531]stretch into the sea, lived the Parisii, whose cities were Petuaria[532]and Portus Felix.[533]

32. Above, but on the side of the Parisii, are the proper Brigantes,[534]a numerous people who once gave law to the whole province. Their towns were Epiacum,[535]Vinovium,[536]Cambodunum,[537]Cataracton,[538]Galacum,[539]Olicana,[540]and the chief city Isurium.[541]Eboracum,[542]on the Urus,[543]was the metropolis, first a colony of the Romans, called Sexta, from being the station of the sixth legion, termed the Victorious, and afterwards distinguished by the presence of many emperors, and raised to the privileges of a municipal city.

33. This province is divided into two equal parts by a chain of mountains called the Pennine Alps, which rising on the confines of the Iceni and Carnabii, near the river Trivona,[544]extend towards the north in a continued series of fifty miles.

34. The people to the west of this chain[545]are the Voluntii and Sistuntii, who are united in a close confederacy.[546]Theircities are Rerigonium,[547]Coccium,[548]and Lugubalium.[549]The two last were occupied by Roman garrisons.

35. The northern frontier of this province was protected by a wall[550]of stupendous magnitude built by the Romans across the Isthmus, eighty miles in length, twelve feet high and (nine) thick, strengthened with towers.

36. We collect from history, that these people were first attacked by the emperor Claudius, then overrun by the legate Ostorius, and finally defeated by Cerealis. By their voluntary submission to Agricola they obtained peace. The actions and unheard-of perfidy of their queen have disgraced their name in history. These people were descended from those powerful nations, who in search of new habitations quitted their country, which was situated between theDanube, the Alps, and the Rhone.[551]Some of them afterwards emigrated into Ireland, as appears from authentic documents.

37. Further north were situated those powerful nations, who in former times were known under the name of Mæatæ, and from whom that fratricide Bassianus,[552]after the death of his father, basely purchased peace. They possessed Ottadinia towards the east, Gadenia, Selgovia, Novantia, and further north Damnia.

38. Nearest the wall dwelt the Gadeni,[553]whose metropolis was Curia.[554]The Ottadini[555]were situated nearer the sea. Their chief city was Bremenium,[556]and their rivers Tueda,[557]Alauna,[558]and the two Tinas,[559]which ran within the wall.

39. The Selgovæ[560]inhabited the country to the west. Their cities were Corbantorigum,[561]Uxellum,[562]and Trimontium,[563]which, according to ancient documents, was a long time occupied by a Roman garrison. The principal rivers of this region were Novius,[564]Deva,[565]and partly the Ituna.[566]

40. The Novantes[567]dwell beyond the Deva, in the extreme part of the island, near the sea, and opposite Ireland. In their country was the famous Novantum Chersonesus,[568]distant twenty-eight miles from Ireland, and esteemed by the ancients the most northern promontory of Britain,[569]though without sufficient reason. Their metropolis was Lucophibia, or Casæ Candidæ;[570]their rivers Abrasuanus,[571]Jena,[572]and Deva,[573]which was the boundary towards the east.

41. The Damnii[574]dwelt to the north of the Novantes, the Selgovæ, and the Gadeni, and were separated from them by the chain of the Uxellan mountains.[575]They were a very powerful people, but lost a considerable portion of their territory when the wall was built, being subdued and spoiled by the Caledonians. Besides which, a Roman garrison occupied Vanduarium[576]to defend the wall.

42. In this part, Britain, as if again delighted with the embraces of the sea, becomes narrower than elsewhere, in consequence of the rapid influx of the two estuaries, Bodotria and Clotta.[577]Agricola first secured this isthmus with fortifications, and the emperor Antoninus[578]erected another wall celebrated in history, which extended nearly five and thirty miles, in order to check the incursions of the barbarians. It was repaired, and strengthened with eleven towers, by the general Ætius. These regions probably constituted that province, which, being recovered by the victorious arms of the Romans under Theodosius, was supposed to have been named Valentia, in honour of the family from whom the reigning emperor was descended.

43. Beyond the wall lay the province Vespasiana. This is the Caledonian region so much coveted by the Romans, and so bravely defended by the natives, facts which the Roman historians, generally too silent in regard to such things, have amply detailed. In these districts may be seen the river Tavus,[579]which appears to separate the country into two parts. There are also found the steep and horrid Grampian hills, which divide the province. In this region was fought that famous battle between Agricola and Galgacus, which was so decisive in favour of the Romans.[580]The magnitude of the works at this day displays the power of the Romans, and the ancient mode of castrametation; for, in the place where the battle was fought, certain persons of our order, who passed that way, affirmed that they saw immense camps, and other proofs which corroborated the relation of Tacitus.

44. The nations which were subject to the Romans shall now follow in their order. Beyond the Isthmus, as far as the Tavus, lived the Horestii.[581]Their cities, which before the building of the wall belonged to the Damnii, were Alauna,[582]Lindum,[583]and Victoria,[584]the last not less glorious in reality than in name. It was built by Agricola on the Tavus, twenty miles above its mouth.

45. Above these, beyond the Tavus, which formed the boundary, lived the Vecturones or Venricones,[585]whose chief city was Orrea,[586]and their rivers Æsica[587]and Tina.[588]

46. The Taixali[589]inhabited the coast beyond the boundaries of the Vecturones. Their principal city was Devana,[590]and their rivers the Deva[591]and Ituna.[592]A part of the Grampian hills, which extends like a promontory into the sea, as it were to meet Germany, borrows its name from them.[593]

47. To the west of these, beyond the Grampian hills, lived the Vacomagi,[594]who possessed an extensive tract of country.Their cities were Tuessis,[595]Tamea,[596]and Banatia.[597]Ptoroton,[598]situated at the mouth of the Varar,[599]on the coast, was at the same time a Roman station, and the chief city of the province. The most remarkable rivers of this region, after the Varar, which formed the boundary, were the Tuessis[600]and Celnius.[601]

48. Within the Vacomagi, and the Tavus, lived the Damnii Albani,[602]a people little known, being wholly secluded among lakes and mountains.

49. Lower down, to the banks of the Clotta, inhabited the Attacotti,[603]a people once formidable to all Britain. In this part is situated the great lake formerly called Lyncalidor,[604]at the mouth of which the city of Alcluith[605]was built by the Romans, and not long afterwards received its name from Theodosius, who recovered that province from the barbarians. These people deserved high praise for having sustained the attacks of the enemy after the subjugation of the neighbouring provinces.

50. This province was named Vespasiana, in honour of the Flavian family, to which the emperor Domitian owed his origin, and under whom it was conquered. If I am not mistaken, it was called under the later emperors Thule, which Claudian mentions in these lines:

"Incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule,Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis Hierne."

But this country was so short a time under the power of the Romans, that posterity cannot ascertain its appellations or subjugation. We have now examined in a cursory manner the state of Britain under the Romans; we shall next as briefly treat of the country of the Caledonians.

51. Although all the parts of Britain lying beyond theIsthmus may be termed Caledonia, yet the proper Caledonians dwelt beyond the Varar, from which a line drawn accurately points out the boundary of the Roman empire in Britain. The hithermost part of the island was at different times in their possession, and the remainder, as we have related, was occupied by barbarous Britons. The ancient documents of history afford some information thus far; but beyond the Varar the light is extinct, and we are enveloped in darkness.[606]Although we know that the Romans erected altars there to mark the limits of their empire, and that Ulysses, tossed by a violent tempest, here fulfilled his vows; yet the thick woods and a continued chain of rugged mountains forbid all further research. We must therefore be satisfied with the following information, gleaned from the wandering merchants of the Britons, which we leave for the use of posterity.

52. The Caledonians,[607]properly so called, inhabited the country to the westward of the Varar, and part of their territory was covered by the extensive forest called the Caledonian wood.

53. Less considerable people dwelt near the coast. Of these the Cantæ[608]were situated beyond the Varar, and the above-mentioned altars, to the river Loxa,[609]and in their territory was the promontory Penoxullum.[610]

54. Next in order is the river Abona,[611]and the inhabitants near it, the Logi.[612]Then the river Ila,[613]near which lived the Carnabii,[614]the most remote of the Britons. These people being subdued by the proprætor Ostorius, and impatiently bearing the Roman yoke, joined the Cantæ, astradition relates, and, crossing the sea, here fixed their residence. Britain in these parts branches out into many promontories, the chief of which, the extremity of Caledonia, was called by the ancients Vinvedrum, and afterwards Verubium.[615]

55. After these people were placed the Catini,[616]and the Mertæ[617]further inland near the Logi. In these regions was the promontory of the Orcades,[618]contiguous to which are the islands of that name. Beyond this part flowed the Nabæus,[619]which bounded the territory of the Carnabii.

56. In the lower part of this region were situated the Carnonacæ,[620]in whose territories was the promontory Ebudum,[621]beyond which the ocean forms a large bay, formerly called Volsas.[622]The lower coast of this bay was inhabited by the Cerones;[623]and beyond the Itys,[624]the territory of the Creones extended as far as the Longus.[625]The promontory stretching from thence, and washed by the ocean and the bay Lelanus,[626]is named after the inhabitants the Epidii.[627]

57. I cannot repass the Varar without expressing my wonder that the Romans, in other respects so much distinguished for judgment and investigation, should have entertained the absurd notion, that the remainder of Britain exceeded in length and breadth the regions which they had subdued and occupied. There is, however, sufficient evidence that such was their opinion; for whoever attentively considers their insatiable desire of rule, and reflects on the labour employed in the erection of those stupendous works which excite the wonder of the world, in order to exclude an enemy scarcely worthy of their notice or resentment, mustin this respect, as in all others, adore the providence of the Divine Being, to whom all kingdoms are subject, and perpetual glory is due, now and for ever. Amen!

Back to Index Next