The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon: a history of the early inhabitants of Britain, down to the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Illustrated by the ancient remains brought to light by recent research

Front matter

THE CELT, THE KOMAN, AND THE SAXON. THE CELT, THE ROMAN, AND THE SAXON: A HISTORY OF THE EARLY INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN, DOWN TO THE CONVERSION OP THE ANGLO-SAXONS TO CHRISTIANITY. ILLUSTRATED BY THE ANCIENT REMAINS BROUOHT TO LIOHT BY RECEKT RESEARCH. By THOMAS WRIGHT, Esq. M.A. F.S.A. M.R.S.L. Corresponding Member of the Institute of France (JemUmie da Inscription 4t Bella Lettres). WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. SECOND EDITION. CAREFULLY REVISED, WITH ADDITIONS. LONDON : ARTHUR HALL, VIRTUE, & CO., 25, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1861. LONDON : BRADBURY AN£-anif3p^RINTERS, WHITErRIARS.

Preface

. There is hardly a corner in our island in which the spade or the plough does not, from time to time, turn up relics of its earlier inhabitants, to astonish and to excite the curiosity of the observer, who, when he looks to an ordinary history of England, finds that the period to which such remains belong is passed over with so little notice, that he is left with no more information on the subject of his research, than he possessed before he opened the book. There is, in fact, no popular history of what is termed by antiquaries the Primeval Period, and those who are placed in the position just mentioned, if they happen not to possess a library of expensive publications, or to have the opportunity of consulting with those who have made archæology their study, are at present obliged to remain satisfied with un certain conjectures, and are thus led, in the absence of the requisite elementary knowledge, to form theories of their own which are far removed from the truth.

It was in the wish to supply a want thus very extensively felt that the follow ing little volume originated. Its object is to give a sketch of that part of our history which is not generally treated of, the period before Britain became Christian England — the period, indeed which, in the absence of much documentary

PREFACE.

. VI evidence, it is the peculiar province of the antiquary to illustrate. Every article which, as just stated, is turned up by the spade or the plough, is a record of that history, and it is by comparing them together, and subjecting them to the assay of science, that we make them tell their story. I have attempted in the following pages to show what light the still imperfect discoveries of the antiquary have thrown upon the condition of this island, during centuries which present little more than a blank in our ordinary annals. The studies of the antiquary are not so dry or so useless as many have been led to suppose, and it is clear that this is beginning to be generally understood by the widely in creased popularity which they have gained during the last few years. His science, however, is yet but very imperfectly developed, but the difficulties which stood in the way of its advance are now in a great measure cleared away, and we may hope that it is making a steady and satisfactory progress.

The great obstacle with which the student has had to contend was, the want of examples brought together for com parison, which led him continually to make assumptions that had no foundation, and to appropriate incorrectly, the conse quences of which are visible in almost every work touching on the primeval antiquities of Britain that has appeared until the last few years. This obstacle is now rapidly giving way before the increasing facility of communicating know ledge, thu formation of local museums, and the greater number of good books on the subject. But there is another danger against which the student in British archæology is to be especially warned ; the old scholars failed in not following a sufficiently strict course of comparison and deduction ; but some of the new ones run into the opposite extreme of generalising too hastily, and they thus form systems specious

PREFACE.

. VII and attractive in appearance, but without foundation in truth. Such I am convinced is the system of archæological periods which has been adopted by the antiquaries of the north, and which a vain attempt has been made to introduce into this country. There is something we may perhaps say poetical, certainly imaginative, in talking of an age of stone, or an age of bronze, or an age of iron, but such divisions have no meaning in history, which cannot be treated as a physical science, and its objects arranged in genera and species. We have to do with races of mankind, and we can only arrange the objects which come under our examination according to the peoples to whom they belonged, aud as they illustrate their manners and history. In fact, the divisions alluded to are hi themselves incorrect, and so far is the dis covery of implements of stone, or of bronze, or of iron, in themselves a proof of any particular age, that we often find them together.

It is true that there may Lave been a period when society was in so barbarous a state, that sticks or stones were the only implements with which men knew how to furnish themselves ; but I doubt if the antiquary has yet found any evidence of such a period. Stone implements are certainly found with articles of metal, and it may fairly be doubted if the stone implements in general, found either in these islands or in the north, belong to a period antece dent to that in which metals were in common use. In the early period to which the present volume refers, intercom munication was slow and difficult, and an individual in any obscure village could not, as at present, send off by post to any distant town and get immediately the material he wanted, in any given quantity. It was thus necessary to use such materials, as came to hand, and there is no possible reason why one man should not possess a weapon or a tool formed of stone, while his richer or more fortunate contem-

PREFACE.

. porary had one of hon or of bronze. This latter is the metal found almost exclusively in what seem to be the earliest sepulchral interments ; but we are not sufficiently acquainted with the manners and sentiments of the people to whom they belonged, to say that there was not some particular reasons why the deceased preferred articles of bronze rather than other metals. Perhaps it was looked upon as more precious. What was the origin of bronze but the attempt to harden copper in countries where hon was not known, or could not be procured . it is a mixed metal, and it is absurd to suppose that its use could have preceded that of iron in countries where the latter metal was abundant. We must also bear in mind that iron undergoes much more rapid decomposition ; and if even in interments of the Anglo-Saxon period we very often find scarcely a trace remaining of what we know were articles composed of that metal, what must be the case with regard to similar interments made six or seven hundred years earlier, or possibly at a still more remote period t I have thought it necessary to make these observations, because it will be seen, that in the following manual I have altogether discarded this vague system of metallic periods.

I have treated antiquities simply according to the races to which they belonged. In fact, I have attempted to make archæology walk hand-in-hand with history. I feel conscious, at the same time, that my attempt must be, in many respects, an imperfect one, and that I have good reason for appealing to the indulgence of my readers. My object was to supply the want of a manual of British archæology, where there was really no such work existing, and it has been the occupation of leisure moments under

PREFACE.

. IX many disadvantages. If it help to render the science more popular, and to call the attention of Englishmen more generally to the memorials of the past history of their country, my object will be fully accomplished. Those who wish to pursue the subject further must study the objects themselves, and refer to some of the larger and more ex pensive works which may be found in public libraries. To place such objects and works within the reach of people in general is the chief purpose of local museums and societies. A great mass of valuable material for the illustration of the antiquities of the period under our present consideration, will be foimd scattered through the volumes of the Archæologia of the Society of Antiquaries of London ; but the unexperienced antiquary must pay more attention to the plates than to the descriptions.

The best collection of antiquarian materials we possess at present is the Collectanea Antiqua by Mr. Roach Smith, which, however, is already becoming rare. Many good papers on primeval antiquities, by Mr. Roach Smith aud others, will also be found in the volumes of the Journal of the British Archæological Association, and in the Archæological Journal published by the Archæological Institute. Other valuable works for reference, but of a less general character, will be pointed out in the notes to the following pages. - The value of a work on antiquities depends much on its pictorial illustrations, for it is evident that descriptions of the objects without engravings would be very vague and unsatisfactory. I have endeavoured in the present work to give engravings of such objects as represent the classes, or peculiar types, with which it is necessary that the student in archæology should make himself acquainted. In doing this, I have to acknowledge the kind and ready assistance of one or two friends, to whom the antiquarianism of this

PREFACE.

. X country owes much of its progress at the present day ; and, although by far the greater part of the illustrations were. engraved expressly for this work, and are due to the skilful pencil of Mr. Fairholt, I have availed myself of the offers of Dr. Bruce of Newcastle, to lend me some of the cuts from his excellent work on the Roman Wall, and of Mr. Roach Smith, who similarly placed at my disposal the cuts of his Collectanea, of his work on the antiquities of Rich borough, Reculver, and Lymne, and of his still more recent work on Roman London. A new edition of this work having been called for, I have only here to add a few words to the foregoing remarks. A volume like this, containing so many facts brought together from different sources, could hardly be expected to be free from errors. I have done my best to discover and detect these in the new edition, and the text has not only been revised throughout, but many additions have been made, chiefly arising out of discoveries made since the appearance of the former edition, and among these additions are a considerable number of new illustrative engravings. THOMAS WRIGHT. Brosipion, December, 1S60. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Page

Ethnological Views — Political Movements in Gaul — Cæsar's first and second Invasions — Cassivellaunus — The Britons, as described by Cæsar, Strabo, and Diodorus — Cunobeline and his Sons — Expedition of Claudius — Conquests of the earlier Proprætors — Caractacus — Cartismandua and Venusius — Invasion of Mona — Insurrection of Boadicea — War with the Brigantes — Campaigns of Agricola — Total Subjection of the Island to Rome — Enumeration of the British Tribes — Hiburnia — Manners of the Britons, as described by Ancient Writers — The Druids ... 1

Chapter II

British Antiquities — Barrows — Cromlechs, and Sepulchral Chambers — Circles ; Stonehenge — Other Monuments of Stone — Various descriptions of British Barrows — Their contents — Pottery — Instruments of Stone — Instruments of Metal — Other articles — Their value as illustrative of History — The 'British Coinage — Earthworks, and supposed sites of Towns and Villages . . * 49

Chapter III

Britain at the beginning of the Second Century — Towns enumerated by Ptolemy — Hadrian — The Wall — Lollius Urbicus ; the Wall of Antoninus — Rebellion of the.Soldiery in Britain — Albinus contends for the Purple — Campaigns of Severus, who dies at Eburacum (York) — The Caledonians — Carausius usurps the Purple — Allectus — Britain restored to the Empire by Constantius — Constantine the Great — Revolt of Magnentius — The Picts and Scots 93

Chapter IV

A Journey through Roman Britain — Londininm — Great Road from Londinium to Segontium — Verulamium ; Uriconium, &c. — Direct Northern Road from Londinium ; Durobrivæ, Lludum, Danum, Eburacum, Isurium — CONTENTS. XII PAGE Passage of the two Walls — Stations on the Wall — Branch to Luguballium and Blatum Bulgium — Eastern Road ; Camulodunum, Camboricum — From Londinium to Calleva — Branch to Corinium and Glevum; Isca and Maridunum — From Glevum by Magna to Deva, and thence through Coccium to the North — Cross Roads — Salinæ and other Towns — The Western Road, from Calleva to Sorbiodunum, Durnovaria, and Isca Dumnoniorura — Aquæ Solis — The trcyectus to Wales, and the Sarn Helen — The Road on the Southern Coast ; Venta Belgarum, Clausentum, Portns Magnus, Regnum, Anderida, Portus Lemanis . . . .119

Chapter V

A Roman Town in Britain — Its Walls, Towers, and Gates — Materials, and Modes of Construction — The Houses — Their Plan and Arrangement — The Tesselated Pavements and Frescoed Walls — Method of Warming the Houses ; the Hypocausts — The Baths — Windows and Roofs — Distribution of the Houses in Streets — Public Buildings ; Temples, Basilicœ, Theatres, Amphitheatres — The Suburbs and Burial-places — Sanitary Arrangements ; Sewers, Rubbish-pits 145

Chapter VI

The Country — Roman Roads and their Construction — Milliaria ; the Roman Mile — Bridges — Roman Villas ; Woodchester, Bignor, &c. — Tesselated Pavements, and the Subjects represented on them — Rustic Villages — Agriculture and Farming — Country Life ; the Chase — British Dogs . 182

Chapter VII

Manufactures of the Romans in Britain — Pottery — The Upchurch Ware — Dymchurch — The Potteries at Durobrivæ — The Samian Wart; — Romano- Salopian Wares — Other Varieties — Terra-cottas — Roman Glass — Kimmeridge Coal Manufacture — Mineral Coal — Metals — The Roman Iron-works in Britain ; Sussex, the Forest of Dean, &c. — Tin and Lead — Other Metals— Bronze— The Arts ; Sculpture — Medicine ; the Oculists' Stamps — Trades ; a Goldsmith's Sign . 212

Chapter VIII

Ethnological Character of the Roman Population of Britain — Countries from which it was derived— The Auxiliary Troops— Names and Birthplaces of Individuals— Traces of Languages ; Inscribed Pottery ; the Roundels found at Colchester— Debased Latin ity— Remains of the British Populati(m .253

Chapter IX

Religious WTorship of the Romans in Britain — Roman Chief Deities ; Jupiter Mars, Apollo, Minerva, Ceres, &c— The eight Deities— Lesser Deities * CONTENTS. XIII PAGK Silvanus, Æsculapius — Grecian and Eastern Deities ; the Tyrian Hercules, Mithras, Serapis— The Nymplis and Genii, Fortune, and Deified Personifications — Deities of the Auxiliary Races; the Deæ Matres, Viteres, or Vitris, Belatucadrus, Cocidius, Mogontis, &c. Did Christianity prevail or exist in Roman Britain ! 260

Chapter X

Modes of Sepulture in Roman Britain — Cremation and Urn-Burial — Modes of Interment — Burial of the Eody entire— Sarcophagi — Coffins of Baked Clay, Lead, and Wood — Barrows — Sepulchral Chambers — Inscriptions and their Sentiments — Various Articles deposited with the Dead — ■ Fulgor Divom 804

Chapter XI

Domestic Life among the Romans in Britain as Illustrated by their Remains — Dress and Personal Omamer is — The Toilette — The Household ; Fur. niture and Utensils — Female Occupations — Cutlery — Styli — Scales — Ornamental Articles — Weapons, &c 331

Chapter XII

The Roman Province — Its Divisions and Officers — The Military Force — Centurial and other Inscriptions — Towns and their Municipal Constitution — The Coinage — Roman Coins relating to Britain — Spurious Coinage — Different methods of Hoarding Money 356

Chapter XIII

Declining State of the Roman Empire after the age of Julian— Theodosius sent to Britain — Revolt and Career of Maximus — Stilichio — Marcus and Gratian Revolt in Britain — The Usurper Constantine — Honorius— Britain independent of the Empire and harassed by the Northern Barbarians — The Britons receive assistance from Rome — The last Roman Legion withdrawn — The Angles and Saxons come in — The Angles settle in Northumbria — The Jutes in Kent — Hengest and Horsa — Ælla in Sussex — Cerdic arrives in Hampshire — Essex and the Angles — Mission of St. Augustine and Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity . 380

Chapter XIV

Anglo-Saxon Antiquities — Barrows, or Graves, and the general Character of their Contents — Arms — Personal Ornaments ; Fibulæ, &c. — Anglo- Saxon Jewellery — Pottery — Glass— Other Articles found in the Barrows ; Bowls, Buckets, Ac— Coins — Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage . . . CONTENTS. XIV CHAPTER XT. PAGE Anglo-Saxon Settlement — Division of the Land — Population of the Country and of the Towns — Continuance of the Roman Municipalities — Traces of Municipal Privileges in the Towns ; Canterbury, Rochester, Dover, Exeter, London ....... 438

Chapter XVI

Celtic Establishments — Cumbria, Cornwall, "Wales — Early Sepulchral Inscriptions found m the two latter Countries 458 Appendix I. — The Itineraries and Lists of Towns : Itinerary of Antoninus 463 Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester 466 The Ravenna List of Towns . 459 Appeitoix U. — Roman Potters' Marks r LIST OF PLATES. MAP OF BRITAIN UNDER THE ROMANS . . . .to sacs Title RTONEHENOE, FROM THE W.N.W tu face page 59 RUINS OF THE GATE AT LYMNE .....,, 148 FART OF THE WALLS OF A TOWN ,152 FOUNDATIONS OF ROMAN HOUSES AT ALDBOROUGH . „ 163 THE PROCESS OF FRESCO -PAINTING ....,, 169 HYPOCAUST IN THE ROMAN VILLA AT WOODCHESTER . . „ 197 CORNER OF THE CRYFTOPORTICUS, ROMAN VILLA AT BtON'OR ,, 200 tessellated pavejients at wroxeter, no. 1 . . ,, 204 „ „ no. 2 . . „ 205 roman pottery from castor and the upchurch MARSHES , 213 ROMAN POTTER'S KILN AT CASTOR ....,, 215 GROUP OF SAMIAN WARE „ 221 ROMAN TOMBS ,, 308 ANGLO-SAXON WEAPONS, ETC. . . . . . . „ 409 ANGLO-SAXON FIBULÆ .......,, 416 ANGLO-SAXON JEWELLERY . . . . . . ,, THE BRITONS.

Chapter I

Ethnological Views — Political Movements in Gaul — Cæsar's first and second Invasions — Cassivellaunus — The Britons, as described by Cæsar, Strabo, and Diodorus — Cunobeline and his Sons — Expedition of Claudius — Conquests of the earlier Proprætors — Caractacus — Cartismandua and Venusius — Invasion of Mona — Insurrection of Boadicea — War with the Brigantes— Campaigns of Agricola — Total Subjection of the Island to Rome — Enumeration of the British Tribes — Hiberaia — Manners of the Britons, as described by ancient writers — The Druids. According to the system now generally adopted by ethnologists, Europe was peopled by several successive migrations, or, as they have been technically named, waves of population, all flowing from one point in the east. Of these the two principal were the Celts and the Germans, both branches of the same great race, which has been popularly termed the Japhetan, because, according to the scriptural account, the various peoples which belonged to it were all descended from Japhet.

The Celts came first in point of time, and, making their way apparently through the districts bordering on the Mediterranean, they spread over all Western Europe. The German nations, entering Europe from the shores of the Black Sea, advanced through its central parts, till, coming in contact with the Celts, they gradually drove them forwards to the west and south-west. The Germans themselves were urged westward by a new migration which was pressing upon them from behind, that of the Sclavonic or Sarmatian race, which, as early as the time of the Greek historian Herodotus, that is, in the middle of the fifth century before Christ, had already established itself on the eastern borders of Europe. Of the successive movements of these nations, and the mutual straggles which ended in their location in the positions u [chap. I. 2 THE BRITOKS. they occupied when we first became acquainted with them, history has preserved no record.

The early Greek writers knew little of Western Europe, and Herodotus could only inform us that the western extremity was occupied by a people whom he terms the Cynetæ, and that all the countries next to them were said to be inhabited by the Celtæ or Celts ; and he had an indistinct notion of the British Isles, under the general term of Cassiterides, or the tin islands, as the grand source from which the Phœnicians derived their supply of that metal. The philo sopher Aristotle, who lived a hundred years later, or about three centuries and a half before Christ, speaks more definitely and distinctly of the ocean without the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), in which he tells us there were " two islands, which are very large, Albion and Ierne, called the Britannic, which lie beyond the Celtæ."

This is the earliest mention of our islands by their names. Another Greek historian, Polybius, who wrote very little more than a hundred and fifty years before the Christian era, adds nothing to our knowledge on this subject, but he speaks of the method in which the tin was ob tained and prepared in the " Britannic Isles, " as of a matter with which he was well acquainted, and which was then a subject of so much interest that he wrote a separate treatise upon it, now unfortunately lost. All that we learn from these few and scanty notices is, that from a very early period of the history of the world, the merchants of Phœnicia obtained their supply of tin (an article in use as far back as the time of Homer) from Britain. As this metal is found chiefly in Cornwall and the Scilly islands, the parts of Britain which would first present themselves to navigators from the Phœnician port on the coast of Spain, Gadeira or Gades (the modern Cadiz), we are justified in believing that these and the south of Ireland were the only districts visited by that people, who, as we are further assured, kept their knowledge a profound secret, in order that they might with greater ease monopolise a lucrative branch of commerce.

The geographer Strabo tells us that the Eomans long attempted in vain to discover the place from whence the Phœnicians obtained their tin, to which at this time were added lead and perhaps copper, and that on one occasion a Phœnician captain, perceiving that he was followed and watched by Roman vessels, run his own ship intentionally on the rocks rather than let the secret be discovered, and, escaping with his crew on a raft, was rewarded by his own government for his patriotism. It was not till a Roman named Publius Crassus, who is sup- CHAP. I.] THE TIN ISLANDS. 3 posed to be the commander sent by Cæsar at the end of his first campaign in Gaul to reduce the Gallic tribes on the shores of the British Channel, discovered the trade of the Phœnicians with Britain, that the Romans became acquainted with the route by which their merchants reached Britain by sea, and with the ease with which the tin was dug up, it being then found at a very small depth under the surface of the ground.

Previous to this, however, two other commercial states had established an intercourse with the tin district of Britain. The Carthaginian Himilco, sent by his government on a voyage of discovery between the years 362 and 350 before the Christian era, visited the tin islands, which he calls Œstrymnides, near Albion, and two days' sail from Ierne, by which he is supposed to mean some of the isles on the Cornish coast ; and the Phocean colonies of Massilia and Narbona carried on the same commerce overland. We are informed by another Greek writer, Diodorus Siculus, that the tin was conveyed from the district in which it was found to an island "in front of Britain," named Ictis, apparently the Isle of Wight, where it was pur chased by native merchants, who transported it to Gaul, and it was then carried overland on pack-horses a journey of thirty days to the mouth of the Rhone.

Everything, however, relating to this distant region, almost unconnected with the world as then known, was wrapped in mystery ; and Scipio could obtain no satisfactory answer to the anxious inquiries concerning Britain which he made among the merchants of the great cities of Massilia, Narbona, and Corbelo. The veil was at length drawn aside by the ambition of Julius Cæsar. At this time the movement of the German race towards the west was proceedings rapidly, and the Celtic populations of Gaul aud Britain would probably have been soon crushed beneath the invasion, had not the Romans stepped in to arrest its progress. Perhaps the northern parts of Gaul were already extensively peopled by tribes of German extraction, and there are reasons for believing that the Belgæ were themselves a Teutonic race,* a circumstance which would explain some diffi culties in the history of Western Europe at this period. * Cæsar tells us distinctly, that the Belgæ differed in language, customs, and lawsK from the Celtæ, equally with the Aquitaui : " Gallia est omius divisa in partes tres ; quarum unam incolunt Belgæ, aliam Aquitaui, ter tiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtæ nostra Galli adpeilantur.

Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se ditferunt." This statement, combined with various circumstances of their history, lead me to believe that the Belgæ B [CHAP. I. 4 THE BRITONS. The mass of the Celtic population, as we learn from Cæsar, were serfs, without civil influence or even civil rights ; the mere slaves of the superior orders. The latter were divided into two very distinct classes — the Druids and the knights (milites) ; -or in other words, the priests and the chiefs of clans or military leaders. The former, who resembled the Brahminical class in India, combined with the sacerdotal profession the functions of judges and legislators, and during the course of ages they seem gradually to have usurped uhe supreme powers in the state, and to have reduced the military chiefs to a state of. political sub jection.

These, however, had not entirely forgotten then ancient independence, and the spirit of resistance appears to have been stirred up and encouraged by the example of the Teutonic tribes who were now mixing with them, and who were far less priest-ridden, for Cæsar tells us that they had no Druids. The whole of Gaul became thus divided into two great political factions, some of the tribes uniting in support of the Druidic influence, while others took part with the military chiefs. The western Celtæ — among whom were the Carnutes, in whose territory (the modern Chartres) stood the sacred grove, the head seat of Druidic worship in Gaul, with the people of Brittany, of whose devotion to the religion of their race so many rude monuments still remain — all supported the Druidic faction, of which the Hedui, who inhabited the modern Burgundy, took the lead.

The Belgæ, as might be expected, with the northern tribes, supported the other faction, at the head of which were the Sequani, whose capital was Vesontio (the modern Besancon). Hard pressed by the Druid faction, the tribes who supported the military chiefs had called to their assistance the Germans under Ariovistus, while to resist these terrible invaders, the Hedui appealed for protection to Rome. To Cæsar this was a welcome proposal ; he came with his legions, drove the Germans back over the Rhine, and then taking advantage of the political divisions among the nations of Gaul, proceeded to reduce it to a Roman province. The Gauls, too late, threw aside their mutual animosities in order to resist their common enemy, and when Cæsar thought that they were cut off from all foreign aid by the ocean behind them, he found that they were drawing powerful reinforcements from Britain.

The Belgæ, who sur passed all the other nations of Gaul in valour and conduct, were of German origin ; and I confess that the arguments of Dr. Prichard and others, to the contrary, &eem to me unsatisfactory. CHAP. I.] CÆSAR'S INVASION OF BRITAIN. 5 were the last to yield to the military genius of the Roman commander, and the steady discipline of his cohorts. When he at length reached their coast, and saw from the heights between Boulogne and Calais the white cliffs of Albion, he resolved to carry his arms into the island which had so long been an object of curiosity to his countrymen, and ascertain tho resources which might be used to assist those whom he had made their foes. Britain contained at this time nearly the same political ele ments as Gaul. The basis of its population was the same Celtic race which there held with the Druidic faction ; and the supremacy of the Druids or priestly order seems to have been established more firmly in Britain even than in Gaul.

We s.re not able to say with any certainty if any, or how much, of the population of the western parts of our island derived its origin from the Aquitanian or Basque race, but we know that the Belgæ had taken possession of the richest parts of South Britain, and that these settlers were in close alliance with their brethren on the other side of the Straits, while the Celtic Veneti of Gaul, a seafaring tribe, maintained their old commercial inter course with the Celts of Britain. We are ignorant of the extent to which the division between the Druids and the military chiefs had been introduced into this island, but we know that the British tribes in the time of Cæsar were no strangers to civil strife. As the season was far advanced, the Roman commander saw that no time was to be lost, and he called together the mer chants from different parts of the coast, in the hopes of obtaining from them the necessary information relating to the country which he was about to invade.