BRIT A 



BRITANNIA. 



1M 



ad infirm, ccnessrt over into the island A.D. 20 or 207. The natives 

 who had been in state of insurrection offered to submit; but 

 Seven* dimi<J thir ambassador* and continued hi* military 

 preparation*. Two people, the Matte, who dwelt neve* to the 

 Raman wall, and the Caledonian*, who were more remote, were the 



Roman wall, MM too Caledonians, who were more remote, were me 

 mat object, of the emperor, hostility. Theee tribei wore little 

 clothing, and painted or otherwise marked upon their bodies the 

 Afores of direr* animal* ; a mall Urgtt or shield, a ipear, a poniard, 

 and a* we learn from Tacitu* a oumbenome unpointed word, com- 

 pased their offensive and defensive arm*. They had neither walls 

 oar town*, but lired in teuti ; a pastoral race, feeding upon milk and 

 wild fruiu. and the flesh of such animaU ae they took by hunting. 



It wa during thi* war that Serenu ordered the erection of the 

 wall which stretches across the Uland from the Sol way to near the 

 mouth of the Tyne. The length of thi* wall, owing to the corruption 

 of the tut of ancient aathon, i* given with great diversity. It is 

 probable that the true reading in each of them was uxm. or i.xxxv. 

 mile*, which i* rather more than the length assigned to Hadrian's 

 rampart of turf, which wu near this wall, and extended in the same 

 direction. Remain* of both these great works exist 



The rampart of Severus, which is of stone, is for the most part, 

 bat not invariably, parallel to that of Hadrian ; it lies to the north 

 of it, and extends rather farther at each end. It is accompanied 

 throughout by a military road, or indeed by several military roads. 

 Perhaps the most complete account of the wall of Severus in by 

 Hutton (' History of the Roman Wall/ pp. 138-140). 



Severua died probably at Eboracum (York), A.D. 210 or 211. He 

 appears to have carried his amis far into Scotland, and probably fixed 

 the boundary of the empire at the rampart of Antoninus, though Ins 

 erection of a wall so near to the rampart of Hadrian indicates that he 

 thought the intermediate territory either of little value or of uncer- 

 tain tenure. His on Caracalla soon after his death surrendered a 

 great part of this territory when he made peace with the Caledonians. 

 In the reign of Diocletian and Maximum, Carauuus, a Menapian (the 

 Menapians were a people of the Netherlands), who commanded the 

 Roman Beet in the North Sea against the Frankish and Saxon pirates, 

 aeued Britain and assumed the purple (about A.D. 288) ; and such 

 was bis activity and power that the emperors consented to recognise 

 him as their partner in the empire. He was however after some 

 years killed by AUectus, one of his friends (A.D. 297), and three years 

 afterwards (A.D. 800) Britain was recovered for the emperors by 

 Aaclepiodotus, captain of the guards. Upon the resignation of 

 Diocletian and MaTJmian (A.D. 304) Britain was included in the 

 dominions of Constantins Chlorus, one of their successors. This 

 prince died at Eboracum A.I). 307, after an expedition against the 

 Caledonians. His son Constantino the Great also carried on some 

 hostilities with the same people and the MsaaUe. The northern tribes 

 BOW began to be known by tie names of Picta and Scots. 



The Roman power was now decaying, and the provinces were no 

 longer secure against the irruptions of the savage tribes that pressed 

 upon the long line of their frontier. Britain, situated at one extre- 

 mity of the empire, suffered dreadfully. The northern tribe., Picta, 

 SouU, aad AtUcotti, bunt in from the north, and the Saxons infested 

 the coast In the reign of Valentiniaa, Theodosius (father of the 

 emperor of that name), being sent over as governor, found the 

 northern people plundering Augusta (London). He drove them out, 

 recovered the provincial towns and forte, re-established the Roman 

 power, and gave the name of Valentia either to the district between 

 the walls of Antoninus and Severus (Richard of Cirencester, Roy), or 

 ae Honby thinks, to a part of the province south of the wall of 



Wbea Onrtiaa aad Valentiniaa II. associated Theodosius (son of 

 Ik* above) with them in the empire, Maximus, a Spaniard, who had 

 erred with great distinction in Britain, took umbrage at the pre- 

 fenroce shown to another, and raised in the Uland the standard of revolt, 

 A.O.S81. Levying * considerable force he proceeded over tot). 

 Uncut, defected Orattaa. whom be ordered to be put to death, and 

 maintained himself for *ome time in the poetMafc.n 



. 



. 



He was however at last 

 rHunvrd to ft* subjection 



who had followed Maximo* into the oontin 



i hi Arniorira, where they laid the fmnid.it ion of a state 



his usurped 

 "us, and 

 Britons 

 uitslleJ from him 



i stilt retain* their name. [BurtAost] 

 StBicho. wbcjse owe is oa* of the most eminent in the degenerate 

 age ia which be lived, served In Britain with miocees, prebabTv about 

 A.D, 408 ; but the time and particulars of hi* service are not known. 

 The unhappy proriaee after hi* departure was again attacked by 

 barbariana, and .giUted by the UceotiooMMS of the Roman soldiery, 

 who suoaeselv.ly eat up three claimant, to the imperial throne, 

 Marcus, Oratian. and ConeUntiae. The first and second were soon 

 dethroned and destroyed by the very power which bad raised them. 

 OMrtamtoi was for a time more fortunate. Hai*iag a force among 

 the youth of the island be paesed over into Gaul (A.D. 409), acquired 

 of that province sad of Spain, and fixed the seat ..f l,i. 



overnmeat at Aries, where he was soon after besieged, taken, and 

 killed. Hi* expedition served to exhaust Britain of it* natural 

 defender. : the itiHriesis of the empire rendered the withdrawal of 

 the Roman troops necessary, and near the middle of the 6th century, 



BRITANNIA 

 Channel, 



or according to some about A.D. 420, nearly 500 years after the 

 first invasion by Julius Cnsar, the island was abandoned by them. 



We proceed to give an account of the subdivision, government, and 

 general state of Britain while a province of the Roman empire. 



The first Roman governors were the proprietors, officers chiefly or 

 entirely military ; nor are there, so far a* we know, any record* or 

 trace* of a subdivision of Britain till a comparatively later period of 

 the Roman dominion. The extensive and important changes intro- 

 duced into the Roman government by Diocletian affected Britain. 

 The whole empire was divided into four great prefectures, and Britain 

 was included in the prefecture of Gaul. 



Our authority for the administration of Britain is the ' Notitia 

 Imperii,' a record of late date, probably as late as the time of the 

 Romans quitting the island. From the ' Notitia ' we learn that the 

 government of the Uland was intrusted to an officer called ' Vicarius,' 

 which Horsley, not inaptly, translates 'vice-gerent' Under him 

 there were five governors (for civil purposes, we presume), two ' C'on- 

 sulares' (men of consular rank) for the two provinces of Maxima 

 Casariensis and Valentin, and three ' Presides ' (presidents) for the 

 province:) of Britannia Primo, Britannia Secunda (First and Second 

 Britain), and Flavia Ccesariensis. Three other principal officers are 

 mentioned, the ' Comes littoris Saxonici per Britanmam ' (Count of 

 the Saxon shore in Britain), the ' Comes Britanniarum ' (Count of 

 Britain), and the ' Dux Britanniarum ' (Duke of Britain). We have 

 translated the words ' Cornea ' and ' Dux ' by ' Count ' and ' Duke,' 

 after Horsley: the modern titles are obviously derived from the 

 more ancient; but there is this difference, that while the modern 

 names now indicate only rank and title, the ancient names were 

 attached to offices. 



The situation of the five provinces of Britain, according to Richard 

 of Cirencester (a monk of the 14th century, whose work was disco- 

 vered and published at Copenhagen about the middle of the hut 

 century, and whose authority, though disputed by some, is apparently 

 trustworthy), was as follows. We give them in a tabular form, with 

 the nations which occupied each : 



Pun A, the) country south of the Thames and the Bristol 



including the territories of the 



These nations ore mentioned by Richard of Cirences- 

 ter : the Cantii were the inhabitants of Kent ; the Belgec, 

 of Somersetshire, Wilts, and Hants ; the Damnonii, of 

 Devonshire aud Cornwall ; the Bibroci, of parts of Berks 

 and adjacent counties ; the Segontiaci, of ports of Hants 

 and Berks; the Hedui, of Somersetshire and part of 

 Gloucestershire; the Atrebatii, of parts of Berks and 

 Wilts ; the Durotriges, of Dorsetshire aud neighbour- 

 hood. Richard places the Bibroci, whom he seems to 

 confound with the Regni (or, as he terms them, the 

 Ithrmi) in Surrey and East Sussex. He says the Duro- 

 triges were sometimes called Morini. 



Not mentioned by Richard, unless the first are the 

 same as the Rhemi or Bibroci, aud the second as the 

 Atrebatii. The Regni, according to other authorities, 

 were people of Surrey and Sussex. The Ancalitos of 

 Cteear are held to be tic Atrebatii of Ptolemtcus. 



People, oa it seems, of Devonshire and Cornwall, men- 

 tioned by Richard, not by Ptolemaus. 



SECUNDA, the country nepnratcd from the rest of Britain 

 by the Sabrina or Severn, and Deva or Dee ; tlmt i-. W.-ilr-. II. r 

 fordshirc, Monmouthshire, and parts of Shropshire, of the con 

 of Gloucester and Worcester ; including the territories of the 



Silurtt, people of that part of South Wales bordering on England 

 and of those ports of England between South Wales and the 

 Severn. 



Ordorictt, people of that port of North Wales bordering on England. 



IHmeeia; or f People of the west port of South Wales, counties of 

 Ai)/iTrr<u \ Pembroke, Caermarthen, Cardigan. 



Catiyiani, f People of Caernarvonshire, supposed by some to be 

 or Ka>axoi \ the Cangi, attacked by Ostorius. (See above.) 



is, the territory north of the Thames, east of Hi,. 

 Severn, and probably south of the Mersey, the Don which joins the 

 Yorkshire Ouse, and the Humber ; comprehending the territory 

 of the 



Cumabii f People of Cheshire, part of Shropshire, and sorao 

 I adjacent districts. 



' 



Richard of Cirencestor considers the Cassii and the 

 Catyenchlani to be the same people. The some writer 

 ' ,, ! considers that the Cassii and Dobimi made up the king- 

 '/ dom or rather the republic of the Cassii. The situation 

 I of the Cassii is supposed to be in Casslo Hundred, 

 i; . ,,. Hert* ; the Dobuni, in Gloucestershire ; th 



| (supposed to be the Cenomagni of Casear), in Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, and Cambridge ; the Trinobantes, in Essex. 



