against the Britons, and having drawn together the soldiers from all sides and concentrated a vast force, he prepared for the war. The Britons, much struck with the sudden arrival of the Emperor, and learning that such a mighty force was collected against them, sent ambassadors, sued for peace, and were willing to excuse their past transgressions. But Severus, purposely seeking delay that he might not return to Rome without his object, and, moreover, desirous to obtain from Britain a victory and a title, sent away their ambassadors without effecting their purpose, and prepared all things for the contest. He more especially endeavored to render the marshy places stable by means of causeways, that his soldiers treading with safety might easily pass them, and, having firm footing, fight to advantage. For many parts of the British country, being constantly flooded by the tides of the ocean, become marshy. In these the natives are accustomed to swim and wade about, being immersed as high as their waists. ... When everything appeared to Severus sufficiently arranged for the war, leaving his younger son, named Geta, in that part of the island which was subjugated to the Romans for the purpose of administering justice and directing other civil matters of the government, giving him as assessors the more aged of his friends, and taking Antoninus with himself, he led the way against the barbarians. The Notitia Dignitatum, or list of officials of the Roman Empire, a document drawn up about A.D. 400, mentions among the several thousand offices which it names a considerable number which were established in Britain. The names and characters of the offices seem to have been exactly the same there as in Gaul, Spain, Italy, Africa, Greece, and other parts of the Empire, and bring out with great clearness the fact that Britain was an integral part of the wide Roman dominions. The offices named are naturally of a military character, though equipped with a great force of clerks, collectors, and 20. List of Roman officials and other civil officers and subordinates. Some passages from the Notitia referring to Britain are here given. Under the Count of the Sacred Bounties are the accountant of the general tax of the Britons, the prefect of the storetheir subor- houses at London, the procurator of the weaving house at Winchester in Britain. dinates in Britain Duke of the four British provinces Troops along the wall The same Honorable Count has a staff as follows: a chief of staff from the office of the master of the imperial infantry, two receivers of taxes from the office above mentioned, a custodian from the office above mentioned, a chief deputy, a chief assistant, an assistant, a keeper of records; secretaries. Under the charge of the Honorable Duke of the Britains are the prefect of the sixth legion, the prefect of the Dalmatian cavalry at Presidium, the prefect of the Crispian cavalry at Doncaster, the prefect of the Catafractian cavalry at Morbium, the prefect of the band of Tigrisian Barcars at Arbeia, the prefect of the band of the Dictensian Nervii at Dictis, the prefect of the guards at Concangis, the prefect of the band of scouts at Lavatræ, the prefect of the band of guides at Verteræ, the prefect of the band of defenders at Brougham, the prefect of the band of Solensii at Maglonæ, the prefect of the band of Pacensians at Magis, the prefect of the band of Longovicarii at Longovicis, the prefect of the Petrurian band of supervisors at Derventio. Likewise, along the line of the wall are the tribune of the fourth cohort of the Lingones at Segedunum, the tribune of the first cohort of the Cornovii at Pons Ælii, the prefect of the first wing of the Asturians at Condercum, the tribune of the first cohort of the Frisians at Vindobala, the prefect of the Savinian wing at Hunnum, the prefect of the second wing of the Asturians at Cilurnum, the tribune of the first cohort of the Batavians at Procolitia, the tribune of the first cohort of the Tungrians at Borcovicus, the tribune of the fourth cohort of the Gauls at Vindolanum, the tribune of the first cohort of the Asturians at Æsica, the tribune of the second cohort of the Dalmatians at Magnæ, the tribune of the first Ælian cohort of the Dacians at Ambloglanna. Under the charge of the Honorable Vicar of the Britains are Tax officers the consulars of Maxima Cæsariensis, of Valentia, of Britan- of the four nia Secunda, of Flavia Cæsariensis. The Honorable Vicar of the Britains has a staff as follows: a chief of staff from the body of confidential agents of the first class, a chief deputy, two receivers of taxes, a chief clerk. Of the many hundred Roman inscriptions on stone tablets, tiles, altars, and metal plates, the following have been chosen to represent the most familiar classes: those found along the line of the wall and recording the progress of its construction, those found on dedicatory altars, those recording the performance of some vow, and those placed on funeral monuments. They are naturally most often of a religious or memorial character; the more ordinary affairs of life unfortunately left no such record. British provinces In honor of the Emperor Cæsar Titus Ælius Hadrianus 21. Typical inscriptions Antoninus Augustus Pius, the father of his country. A company of the Twentieth Legion, the Valiant-Victorious, exe cuted 4411 paces. To Jupiter best and greatest, and to the gods and goddesses On a house who preside over the household, and to the penates, for the hold altar preservation of the health of himself and his family, Publius Ælius Marcianus, prefect of a cohort, dedicated and conse crated this altar. To the god best and greatest, the unconquerable Mithras, An altar to lord of ages, Publius Proculinus, centurion, for himself and his Mithras son Proculus, performs his vow willingly and dutifully, in the consulship of our lords Gallus and Volusianus. To the gods of the shades. For Julia Veneria, aged thirty- On a tombthree years, Alexander, her most attached husband, and Julius stone Belicianus, her son, caused this monument to be made. A glimpse of Christianity in Roman Britain is to be found in the list of the signers of the canons adopted at the Council of Arles, in Gaul, held in A.D. 314; alongside 22. British Christians in A.D. 314 of the bishops of certain cities of Gaul are to be found the following representatives of the Christian church in Britain. Eborius, bishop of the city of York in the province of Britain. Restitutus, bishop of the city of London, in the province above mentioned. Adelfius, bishop of the city of Carleon-on-Usk. Sacerdos, priest. Arminius, deacon. 23. Gildas' the decay and inva III. LATER ROMAN BRITAIN The decay of the province of Britain through the fourth and fifth centuries has left almost no traces in written records. The somewhat fanciful descriptions of Gildas, who lived in Britain, and wrote about A.D. 550, and a few scattered references in continental chronicles, are the nearest we have to contemporary history. After this, Britain is left deprived of all her soldiery and description of armed bands, of her cruel governors, and of the flower of her youth, who went with Maximus, but never again returned; and utterly ignorant as she was of the art of war, she groaned the province in amazement for many years under the cruelty of two foreign the Scots from the northwest, and the Picts from sions of nations the north. The Britons, rendered desperate by the assaults of the Scots and Picts, their hostilities and dreadful oppressions, send ambassadors to Rome with letters, entreating in piteous terms the assistance of an armed band to protect them, and offering loyal and ready submission to the authority of Rome, if they only would expel their invading foes. A legion is immediately sent, forgetting their past rebellion, and provided sufficiently with arms. When they had crossed over the sea and landed, they came at once to close conflict with their cruel 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. . No sooner were they gone, than the Picts and Scots, like worms which in the heat of midday come forth from their holes, hastily land again from their canoes, in which they had been carried beyond the Cichican valley, differing one from another in manners, but inspired with the same avidity for blood. . . . Britons" Again, therefore, the wretched remnant, sending to Ætius, "The groans a powerful Roman citizen, address him as follows: "To Etius, of the now consul for the third time: the groans of the Britons." And again a little further, thus: "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, however, could not assist them, and in the meantime the discomfited people, wandering in the woods, began to feel the effects of a severe famine, which compelled many of them without delay to yield themselves up to their cruel persecutors to obtain subsistence; others of them, however, lying hid in mountains, caves, and woods, continually sallied out from thence to renew the war. . . . So that all the columns were leveled with the ground by the frequent strokes of the battering-ram, all the husbandmen routed, together with their bishops, priests, and people, whilst the sword gleamed, and the flames crackled around them on every side. Lamentable to behold, in the midst of the streets lay the tops of lofty towers tumbled to the ground, stones of high walls, holy altars, remains of human bodies. . . . The following fragment of a poem, commonly called The Ruined City, comes from Anglo-Saxon times, but it seems to refer to the ruins of the Roman city Aqua Solis, the modern city of Bath. It is not hard to imagine the effect which the sight of such ruins falling into decay would have upon a barbarian, even if he were a barbarian conqueror. Wondrously wrought and fair its wall of stone, 24. The Ruined City |