By the Rev. Canon J. B. Jackson, F.8.A. 169 
No doubt they were witnesses to many deeds of heroic bravery, 
and many an Agamemnon lies under the turf, only (as Hamlet says) 
to be “knocked about the sconce by some rude knave with a dirty 
shovel,” for their very names and performatices are all alike lost, 
_beyond possibility of recovery. 
When we come down to the Roman occupation of Britain, wo 
find, no doubt, a great many relics scattered all over the country, 
proving that, during those four hundred years and more, the old 
Britons lived under a more civilised system than before. But what 
one would like to have is, a eareful and particular account of what was 
the general condition of the masses during that long period : how far 
they were actually Romanised. Cicero, in his letters to a brother who 
had accompanied Casar to Britain, mentions letters received from 
both of them whilst there.! These, if extant, would have been a 
_ valuable contribution to our knowledge. _ As it is, the accounts left 
to us of the four centuries of Roman occupation would hardly fill a 
Times newspaper when at its largest. Tacitus, in his life of Agricola, 
_ dwells chiefly upon the military movements in the North of the 
island, but throws very little light upon the common ordinary social 
_ state of things. He says, indeed, that at first the young nobles 
refused to learn the Latin language, but being led away by degrees 
_ into a liking for what were considered marks of taste and politeness, 
_ “baths, luxuries of the table, &c.,” they became desirous of speaking 
it eloquently. They also adopted the “toga” and fell even into a 
relish of Roman viees. This effeminaey, however, does not appear 
_ to have quenched the old British spirit of independence, for as soon 
_as the Romans were no longer at liberty to attend to the affairs of 
; Britain, all traces of them, baths, villas, &e., were immediately 
3 _ destroyed. 
| _ Roman relies are found in the neighbourhood of Calne; coins at 
be poldbury Camp; works for smelting iron ore at Heddington and 
| ***O jucundas mihi tuas de Britannia literas!’” De Britannicis rebus 
| ‘eognovi ex tuis literis.” ‘* Date mihi Britanniam, quam pingam coloribus tuis, 
| ~ penicillo meo.” ‘* Rx Britannié Cesar ad me Kal. Sept. dedit literas satis com- 
~ modas de Britannicis rebus.” (Epist. ad Quintum, Lib. ii. and ifi.) 
