POLITICAL HISTORY 



OF the reduction and colonization by the Romans of that 

 portion of Britain which subsequently became Sussex no 

 record has survived. General Pitt-Rivers considered that the 

 results of his excavations on the Caburn' pointed to the British 

 camp there having undergone a short siege by Roman troops, and sug- 

 gested that it might have been one of the twenty ' oppida ' captured by 

 Vespasian during his expedition. But apart from such surmises, and 

 from the conclusions that may be drawn from the prehistoric and other 

 remains described elsewhere,' the history of what is now Sussex may be 

 said to begin in the last quarter of the fifth century. 



At this period the Romans had lately abandoned their colony of 

 Britain, leaving behind them many long-enduring monuments alike 

 of organization and of architecture. In the district with which we 

 are here dealing the two most important relics of their rule were the 

 city of Regnum, subsequently re-named Chichester, and the strong 

 fortress town of Anderida, the westernmost defence of the ' Litus 

 Saxonicum,' whose massive walls, after forming the outer defences of 

 the medieval castle of Pevensey, still stand imposing even in decay. In 

 477 the Saxon Elle with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa, and 

 probably quite a small band of followers, landed in the extreme west of 

 the present county at a place which was afterwards known as Cymen- 

 esora^ and established themselves there. The exact date at which they 

 gained possession of Regnum, and gave it the name of Cissan-ceaster, 

 is not known ; but they gradually extended their sway eastwards, driving 

 the British into the dense forest of Andred, till in 485 the native 

 chieftains, alarmed at the invaders' progress, assembled a strong force 

 and met them in pitched battle on the banks of the Mercredesburn,* 

 where a desperate struggle took place in which both sides suffered 

 heavy losses and neither could claim the victory.^ But Elle, obtaining 

 fresh forces from his native land, continued his slow but irresistible 

 advance till in 490 he laid siege to the stronghold of Anderida. 



Here he met with vigorous resistance ; the lofty walls and their 

 desperate defenders repelled all attacks, while the neighbouring forest 

 formed a perfect refuge for the Britons who swarmed out like bees to 

 harass the Saxons whenever they attempted the assault of the fortress, 



» Arch. xlvi. 476. 2 See sections on ' Early Man,' ' Earthworks,' and ' Roman Remains.' 



3 Hen. of Huntingdon (Rolls Ser.), 44. ■• Possibly the Ouse, see Suss. Arch. Coll. vii. 75. 



6 Hen. of Huntingdon (Rolls Ser.), 44. " Ibid. 45. 



I 481 61 



