12 



importance, round the shore from Wlutstablo to 

 L™pne. The oval circuit of Canterbm-y to this 

 day retains tho shape of the pre-Bomau earthen 

 walls which once engirdled it, and the P«histor c 

 remains of antiqmty found witlun and unmod.ately 

 .vithout its ancient limits are innumerable. Xet 

 in the teeth of this overwhelming mass of evidence 

 we are still gi-avely requested to believe that in 

 the days of Cssar Canterbury itselt had no exist- 

 ence. None of us, I hope, would be gmlty of any 

 disrespect to our historians, archaeologists and 

 commentators, but I may, perhaps, be acqiuttedo 

 undue temerity if I suggest that on this particulai 

 point their utterances seem a httle incoherent The 

 morning after the taking of the oppidum of Can- 

 terbur/ Caesar heard that =^^ ^"f'^"" f '^ .f^:? 

 scattered destruction on a part of his fleet, winch 

 he had left safely moored in the Downs. He at 

 once went back to the shore and spent ten days m 

 attending to the repair of the damaged ships and 

 enclosing the whole Armada withm a fortification 

 on the beach. When he returned to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Canterbury he found that the Britons 

 had already assembled there in greater force, and 

 that a chieftain named " Cassiyelaunus had 

 been appointed Commander- in- Chief of all t t 

 British armies. A river, which is called the 

 Thames, separated his own territories from those 

 of the maritime states. In days past contniual 

 warfare had beencarriedon between these maritime 

 states and Cassivelaunus. But, m face of the 

 common danger, all internal dissensions had been 

 suspended, and Cassivehaunus was chosen as heaa 

 of aU tho forces. After a nmiiber of encounters 

 —in several of which Cssar seems to h.ave been 

 considerably worsted-he succeeded m inflicting 

 a decisive defeat on Cassivelaunus, whose alUes 

 thereupon promptly deserted him and marched 

 home. Ctesar, a^ promptly, decided to march uuo 

 the territories of Cassivelaunus himself, on the 

 other side of the Thames. He gives no indication 

 whatever of his line of march, but the Watlmg 

 Street then, as now, went straight to London,and 

 there seems to be no reason for assuming that he 

 would unnecessarily go out of his way. It is true 

 that Caesar mentions no London by name, ]ust as 

 he mentions no Canterbmy by name, but the 

 evidence of their existence at the tune is not less 

 abundantly complete. London then, as now, but 

 in a far more exclusive sense, was a great com- 

 mercial centre ; and it was simply indispensable to 

 the success of Ca;sai-'s enterprise fi-om his own 

 point of view that the State in which London «as 

 situated should be compelled to accept the alhance 

 of Rome. That State was the State of the Trino- 

 bantes ("almost the most powerfid of those parts 

 Caisar calls them), whose teiTitories seem to have 

 extended over Essex and MidiUesex, and probably 

 some distance to tho North and West of the hitter 

 county. A little before Caesar set out on his secc,nd 

 .-xpedition, Cassivehiunus had invaded the b.ate 

 of the Trinobantos and sLaiu their King-Immanu- 

 cutius The son of Immanucutius, a yout^ 

 named " Mandubracius," escaped with his life, and 

 fled to Ca!sar in Gaul for protection. Caesar 

 ..ladly granted it, .and it is clear that Mandu- 

 bracius accompanied him to Britain. Meanwhile 

 Ca-ssivcLaunus was not only commander-m-chief 



but ■• Kin- ■• by the right of conquest over the 

 Trinobantis and London. Obviously Caesar s pobcy 

 in such a case would be tc, drive Cassivelaunus 

 beyond the.f rentier of the Trmob.antes and restore 

 Mandubracius to the sovereignty 0**^0 Mate 

 On the one hand, the young prmce would be bonnet 

 by ties of gratitude and interest to Cajsar, and, on 

 the other, the Trinobantes themselves would be 

 not less grateful tor their release from the usurpa- 

 tion of Cassivelaiuius, and the restoration o. their 

 former dynasty. Cassivelaunus himself seems to 

 have followed "the good old ride, the simple plan 

 that those should take, who ^ave *he powei, and 

 those should keep who can." He had London, and 

 L meant to hold it. It has been very generally 

 supposed that Verulam was the aucent capital of 

 Cassrvelaunus, and that the decisive battle in 

 wMch he was defeated took place in t he neighbour- 

 hood of St. Albans. It may have been. All the 

 definite information that Ca-sar gives is that he 

 crossed the Tlmmes" before reaching it. Tne r.vei 

 he says, is only fordable at one place and even 

 there with cUfficidty. The further bank w.is de- 

 fended by sharp stakes and th.i enemy were m 

 ,1 on 'the other side. Caesar's men however, 

 waded thi-ough the water up to their neck and 

 the enemy, imablc to sustain the attack ot the 

 egions and the horse, quitted the bank and t^^k 

 to flight. Cassivelaunus seems to have lo,t heai t 

 aftei Ws defeat, and the gi-e.ater part ot his forces 

 •had been disbanded or had '^f-.f f th^isc^^^^ 

 .and Cassar emphasises his destitute condition 

 by the remark tKat he had only 4,000 chiiiioteers 

 lef . How m.any chariotcei-s went to each chariot 

 is doubtful, but had there been more than 

 two the usual complement of classic antiquity, 

 it is extremely unlikely tbat Caesar would have 

 left the peciOiarity unnoticed. Each chariot at 

 all events, reqmred two horses, and when 4,000 

 charioteers arl represented »%^ '"^jVrZfnum- 

 a much larger force it is clear that Jio total num 

 be"of chariots employed in «ie earlier part of 

 the campaign must have been as disconcerting to 

 Clesar as it^is to the theory t'-t the early Bnton 

 had no towns in oiu- sense ot t'-»>"ord. About 

 this time the State of the T-.-r.obantes, P™^j''ly^^ 

 Cas-vr's own suggestion, sent ambassadors to him 

 promisln.^ to sm-?ender and to obey his conmiands. 

 ThCT petitioned him further to protect Mandu- 

 bracius from the violence of Cassivehuinus and o 

 send back their own prmce to govern the ^tate in 

 accordance with CeesaVs wishes. Ca;sar demanded 

 fortv hostages and corn for his army as thecondi- 

 Sn'of the alUance. Com and l-st.ages were sent 

 at once and Mandubracius was sent to them in le 

 ton. issoonastheTrinobanteshadthusacccp^^^^^^^ 

 the protection of Eome a number of other States 

 toUowed suit. From some of their envoys C^sar 

 learnt that he was in the neighboiirhood of the 

 principaloppidumof Cassivelaimushiuis -It .andhe 



Hn e defJrmined to att,K.k it with '- l;Yw„rf 

 Beforethisfinal defeat CassiveUunusbadsen-o^^^^ 

 to four k-in.rs in Kent, " Cmgetorix, CarviUus, 

 "Taximagulus" and " Segonax," to collect forces 

 secretly, and storm Caesars n.aval ca.np at Deal. 

 They accordingly att^kcd it, but were repulsed 

 with great slaughter by tlie Komans, who captiir^d 

 one of their most distinguished generals-Lugo- 



