228 THE ROMANS. 



to guard the Wall of Hadrian, or the mound of Antoninus, from 

 the foe they had vainly combated in the Grampian Mountains. 



But it is not with their wars that we are now concerned*. 

 Except along the northern frontier, the sound of battle was rarely 

 heard in the Brigantian province. Traversed by great roads, 

 and guarded by numerous camps, its pastures, rivers, forests, 

 mountains, and mines, gave food, amusement and wealth to the 

 possessors of innumerable villas. 



We may judge of the extent of this Romanization by tracing 

 the military roads and camps, and attending to the situation of 

 the principal towns. 



The geography of the North of England under Roman go- 

 vernment is to be gathered from few sources. The 'Geography' of 

 Ptolemy, the ' Itinera' of Antoninus, the ' Notitia/ and the f Cho- 

 rography' of Ravennas, are the most important. The three first- 

 mentioned are indeed of inestimable value, since they give us 

 information of the state of Britain in the days of Hadrian (say 

 A.D. 120), of Antoninus Caracalla (after A.D. 210), and at the 

 very last moment of the Roman sway, before the eternal farewell 

 of the legions (beginning of 5th century). 



PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY. 



Claudius Ptolemy was born at Pelusium or Alexandria about 

 A.D. 70 one hundred and twenty-five years after the arrival of 

 Julius Caesar. He was eight years old when Agricola began his 

 glorious campaigns (Tacitus being then twenty-two), and fifteen 

 years old when Agricola left the country. The Sixth Legion 

 arrived in Britain (A.D. 117) when Ptolemy was forty-seven 

 years old ; Hadrian's Wall was built when he was above fifty ; 

 and the northern rampart from the Forth to the Clyde built 

 by Lollius Urbicus (in the reign of Antoninus Pius), when he 

 might be seventy years of age. Ptolemy mentions the Sixth 



* The Roman history of the Brigantes is that of Eburacum ; for which 

 see Mr. Wellbeloved's excellent volume. 



