l6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



The plan of the Claudian invasion of Britain was next 

 dealt with by Mr Bellows. 



The popular idea that the invaders came from Rome 

 and followed the line of Julius Caesar's march across Gaul, 

 is, he said, a mistake. A force sulhciently large was 

 already stationed near the mouth of the Rhine, with ample 

 means of transport, and with nothing to do there, for the 

 Germans were efTectually conquered, and kept in entire 

 subjection. In the century which had elapsed since Julius 

 Caesar's abortive invasions, England had ceased to be a 

 " terra incognita " to the Romans, for Strabo says the 

 Romans during the reign of Augu.stus were brought into 

 intimate relationshij) with Britain, and he mentions four 

 " principal " ports on the continent which were used for 

 traffic with this island, namely, the mouths of the Rhine, 

 the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne. A definite plan ol 

 invasion could therefore be arranged; and Mr Bellows 

 hinted at his belief that this plan was really the work of 

 Julius Caesar, and laid in the pigeon-holes at the war 

 office at Rome until the Emperor Claudius found a fitting 

 opportunity to carry it out. The reason for this belief is 

 that Julius Caesar was the first man to devise the [)olicy 

 of making great rivers the boundaries of the Empire ; and 

 we have the clearest archaeological evidence that the 

 Claudian invasion made the securing of the Severn its 

 [)rimary object. The order for the invasion was given in 

 the year 43 A.D., and it was given to Aulus Plautius, 

 under whom Vespasian was placed as a General of 

 Division. Dion Cassius says that as they sailed along, 

 they were discouraged by contrary winds, but encouraged 

 l)y a meteor, which lied from east to west, the direction in 

 which they were sailing ; so that clearly they sailed [)ast 

 Dover and along the English Channel, and not from 

 Boulogne, or Calais, north, as many take for granted. 

 There is also good evidence that they landed on the 

 shores of Southampton Water, and entrenched themselves 



