nuiT.\ 





-OfaDUM 

 the whole of which b 

 end d not -i 8 **- much in 

 people for UM swat part do not sow com. but live on milk and flesh, 

 sAJIur. their dothine, of akin*. All the Britons however stain them 

 selves with weed (eitwre iMoW), which makes them of a blue tinge, 

 ad rives them a more fearful appearance in battle : they also wear 

 their hair long, and shave every part of the body except the head and 

 the upper lip. Every ten or twelve of them have their wive* in com- 

 mon, especially brother* with brother, and parent* with children ; 

 but if say chddren are bore they are accounted the children of those 

 by whom tot each virgin was espoused," (UK v. c. 12, 1 4.) 



As to UM rdigion of the Britons, Draidiim flourished among them 

 in all ita vigour. Indeed this singular superstition wa considered by 

 the Oaul. to have originated in Britain. The following b Cesar's 

 account of Iht Druid. : 



"They are inlnliteri of sacred things; they have the charge of 

 aerinos* been public and private ; they give directions for the ordi- 

 nanee. of religion, worship (rtbfioim intfrpreltmtur). A great number 

 of young men resort to them for the purpose of instruction in their 

 ly ill i *. and they are held in the highest reverence. For it is they 

 who determine most dispute*, whether of the affair, of the state or of 

 individual. ; and if any crime has been committed, if a man has been 

 slam, if then- b a contest concerning an inheritance or the boundaries 

 of their land*, it b the Druid* who nettle the matter ; they fix rewards 

 and punishment*. If any one, whether in an individual or public 

 capacity, refuse* to abide by their sentence, they forbid him to come 

 to the sacrifices : thi* punishment is among them very severe ; those 

 on whom thi. interdict i* laid are accounted among the unholy and 

 accursed ; all fly from them, and shun their approach and their con- 

 versation, lest they should be injured by their very touch ; they are 

 out of the pale of the law, and excluded from all offices of 



IIKITANMA. 



1SJ 



intMlttCsatiam (Kent), a district 

 the coast, ex. by (sr the mo* civilised ; 

 UM Oaul*. The inland 





* Over all thnss Druids one presides, to whom they pay the highest 

 regard of any among them. Upon hi* death, if there is any of the 

 other Druids of superior worth, he succeeds ; if there are more than 

 one who have equal claim*, a successor is appointed by the votes of 

 the Druids ; and the contest b sometimes decided by force of arms. 

 These Druid* hold a meeting at a certain time of the year in a conse- 

 crated spot in the country of the Canutes (people in the neighbour- 

 hood of Chartre*), which country is considered to be in the centre of 

 all OanL Hither assemble all from every part who hove a litigation, 

 and submit themselves to their determination and sentence. The 

 ystem of Druidbm b thought to have been formed in Britain, and 

 from thence carried over into Oaul ; and now those who wish to be 

 more accurately versed in it, for the most part go thither (that is, to 

 Britain) in order to become acquainted with it 



" The Druid* do not commonly engage in war, neither do they pay 

 taxes like the rest of the community ; they enjoy an exemption from 

 military service and freedom from all other public burdens. Induced 

 by these advantages, many come of their own accord to be trained up 

 among them, and others are sent by their parents and connections. 

 They are said in thb course of instruction to learn by heart a number 

 of verses, and some accordingly remain twenty years under tuition. 

 Nor do the Druid* think it right to commit their instructions to 

 writing, although in most other things, in the accounts of the state 

 and of individual*, the Greek characters are used. They appear to 

 me to have adopted thb course for two reasons because they do not 

 wish either that the knowledge of their system should be diffused 

 the people at huge, or that their pupils, trusting to written 

 ' ir*. should become less careful about cultivating the memory ; 

 in most case* it happen* that men, from the security which 

 nharacleii afford, become careless in acquiring and retaining 

 It b especially the object of the Druids to inculcate 

 t *oub do not perbh, but after death pass into other bodies ; 

 end UMToonsider that by thb belief more than anything el*e men 

 to ^** t * w *y ** fe r * death. d to become courageous, 

 discus* moreover many point* concerning the heavenly bodies 

 S^ *?"?- ***** <* * universe and the world, the nature 

 UMUusTAi^rthJU?^ *.?^ ty rf th<l mMnorU1 BO* ! " nd th y 

 "The whole nation of the Gaul, b much addicted to religious 

 t L^ .._*** * w ^ nt tbo " wno attacked by any of 



?3*J?!I^r r !* "' "*' UK * t who " 'nw>lved in the dangers 



ofwarfare, either otW human saorUees or make a vow that theywill 



&&+!Si*ff.-9* > r ** P?"* to P*"** '* the*, sacrifices ; 

 that the fcvour of the immortal gods cannot be con- 

 OsMed WBlcs. the life of one man he oflered up for that of another 

 they heve abo .aortAce. of the oe kind appointed , behalf of t^ 



.tr^T'SL^' *" Umb * of which *y 



llw,th hvtag m, and setting them on 



Urture of Unse who have bsen taken in th 



who have been taken in the commission of theft or 

 ops. irobbery, or in any crime, b more agreeable to the immortal god. ; 

 bnlwbw there b not a suftUent number of criminal, they scruple 

 not /> inflict thi. torture on the innocent. 



"The chief deHy whom they worship b Mercury ; of him they 

 have many imass*, and they condder him to lie the Inventor of sfl 



arts, their guide in all their journeys, and that he has the greatest 

 influence in the pursuit of wealth nod the affairs of commerce. Next 

 to him they worship Apollo and Mars, and Jupiter and Minerva ; and 

 nearly resemble other nations in their views respecting these as that 

 Apollo wards off diseases, that Minerva communicates the rudiment* 

 of manufactures and manual arts, that Jupiter is the ruler of the 

 celestials, that Mars is the god of war. To Mars, when they have 

 determined to engage in a pitched battle, they commonly devote 

 whatever spoil they may take in the war. After the contest they slay 

 all living creatures that are found among the spoil ; the other things 

 they gather into one spot In many states, neaps raised of these 

 things in consecrated places may be seen; nor does it often happen 

 that any one is so unscrupulous as to conceal at home any part of the 

 spoil, or to take it away when deposited : a very heavy punishment 

 with torture is denounced against that crime. 



" AU the Gauls declare that they are descended from Father D!s 

 (or Pluto), and this they say has been handed down by the Druids ; 

 for this reason they distinguish all spaces of time not by the number 

 of days, but of nights ; they so regulate their birth-days, and the 

 beginning of the months and years, that the day shall conic after tlia 

 night." (Caesar 'De Bell. Gall.,' lib. vi. 13, 14, 16, 17, 18.) 



Although in what relates to or is closely connected with the system 

 of the Dniids we have quoted that part of Cscsar's ' Commentaries' 

 which has relation to Gaul, we have thought ourselves authorised in 

 applying his description to Britain by his declaration that the system 

 existed in its greatest vigour in that island. Of the account which 

 he gives of the civil institutions of the Gauls we do not feel ourselves 

 completely justified in making a similar application, although it is 

 likely that in their political and social arrangements a considerable 

 similarity existed between the two countries. 



In the autumn of the year B.C. 55, Ceesar, embarking with tho 

 infantry of two legions (about 8000 to 10,000 men) at the Port us Itius 

 (probably Witaond, between Calais and Boulogne), arrived with part 

 of his fleet, after a passage of about ten hours, on the coast of Britain, 

 and beheld the steep cliffs which skirted the shore covered with armed 

 natives ready to dispute his landing. Proceeding about seven miles 

 farther, he disembarked on the open and level beach which presented 

 itself to him (26th of August). The place at which Cajsar first touched 

 was near the South Foreland, and he landed somewhere on the flat 

 shore which extends from Walmer Castle towards Sandwich. He did 

 not make good his landing without a severe struggle. But the season 

 was late, and Cicsar mode apparently no progress in the island. Being 

 anxious to return, he contented himself with requiring an increased 

 number of hostages, whom he commanded to be brought to him on 

 the continent, for which he immediately embarked. 



In the next year (B.C. 54), Caesar, embarking again at the Portus 

 Itius, invaded the island with a much larger force. His fleet con- 

 sisted of 800 vessels of all classes. He landed in the same place as 

 on the former occasion, and, setting out about midnight in pursuit of 

 the natives, found them drawn up on the bonk of a river, the Stmir, 

 to oppose his further progress. His cavalry drove them into the woods 

 in the rear of their position, and one of his legions (the 7th) stormed 

 a stronghold, formed of timber, which had been formerly constructed 

 probably in some domestic war. Intelligence that his fleet had been 

 damaged by a storm obliged Ctcsar to recal his troops from the pur- 

 suit of the enemy ; and his return to the coast, to ascertain the extent 

 of the damage and take measures for repairing it, delayed his opera- 

 tions for some days. Upon his return to his former post he found 

 that the natives had augmented their forces from all ports, and had 

 intrusted the command-in-chief to Cassivellaunus, a prince whose 

 territories were divided from the maritime states by the river Tamesis 

 or Thames, at a part which was 80 Roman miles, or about 74 Knglish 

 miles, from the Kentish coast. This prince had been engaged pre- 

 viously in incessant wars with his neighbours ; but the common danger 

 compelled them to forego their disputes, and it is likely that his talents 

 for war pointed him out as the most suitable person for general. After 

 some severe but unsuccessful struggles Cassivellaunus dismissed the 

 greater port of his forces, detaining about 4000 charioteers, whose 

 skill in the management of their chariots rendered them very formid- 

 able, and retired, as it appears, into his own dominions across the 

 Thome*. That river was fordable only in one place in the lino of 

 Omar's advance, and the natives had planted stokes sharpened at the 

 point on the bank and in tho bed of tho river. C.-esar, crossing the 

 river, put the enemy to flight; received the submission of several 

 tribes, and took by storm the town of Cassivellaunus. These disaster.*, 

 combined with tho entire defeat of the princes of Cantium (Kent) in 

 an attack upon the maritime camp which the Romans had formed to 

 protect their fleet, induced Cassivellaunus to submit The conqueror 

 demanded hostages, fixed a tribute to be paid by the subject Britons, 

 and returned to Gaul with his forces and a number of captives. 



Tho line of Cajsar's march from the Stour to the Thames cannot be 

 determined, nor is it clear at what place he crossed the Thames. He 

 probably spent about two months in Britain in his second expedition. 

 (' The British expeditions of C. Julius Cicnar,' by G. Long, in ' domical 

 Mum-inn,' No. 1 :t.) 



The tribes witli whom the Romans in Cesar's expedition became 

 acquainted were as follows : we give also their names as written by 

 Ptolerasros, where they have been identified or where identity is 



