136 ANCIENT CASTLES OF DEVON. 



however, penetrated not far enough to know the 

 true nature of the British fortresses, and, in his work, 

 '^ De bello Gallico'' has given only the description 

 of a lowland camp. In all parts of England there 

 is a great number of strong entrenchments, of a very 



t)eculiar kind, situated chiefly on the tops of natural 

 lills, and which can be attributed to none of the 

 different people who have ever dwelt in the adjacent 

 country, but the ancient Britons. These were the 

 strong posts and fastnesses of the aboriginal settleis, 

 where they lodged their wives, formed their garri- 

 sons, and made their last stand. That the Britons 

 were accustomed to fortify such places, we have the 

 authority of Tacitus, who, descril)ing the strong 

 holds, formed and resorted to by Caractacus, says, 

 ^* Tunc montibus arduis, et si qua elementer accedi 

 poterant, in modum valli saxapreaestruit.'' (Annal. 

 lib. XII., sec. 33). **Then, on steep eminences, 

 " and where the hold might be accessible by a 

 " gentler acclivity, it was pointed with stone, in the 

 ^Morm of a wall.'* 



That hill fortresses were used in the earliest ages 

 appears from the records of ancient times. Samson 

 dwelt on the top of the rock of Elain ; and the Isra- 

 elites made their stand to repel invasion upon mount 

 Tabor. Tacitus describes the temple in Jerusalem 

 as a citadel and a sanctuary. "Templum in modum 

 arcis, propinque muri." The very porches surround- 

 ing the temple formed a urand bulwark. Within its 

 precincts there was a fountain of peiennial water, 

 and the rocks were excavated for the protection of 

 its garrison. There were towers of defence, and a 

 temple of Minerva, the Parthenon, planted on the 

 acropolis of Athens. A very curious instance of 

 the attack and surrender of such a muniment of rock 

 in Sogdiana, in Asia, is related by Quintus Curtius, 

 (Lib. VII., cap. 11). Alfred the Great, however, 

 seems to have been the first of our princes, with 

 whom the building: of castles became an object of 

 nalional policy : Eifleda, too, his daughter, gover- 



