BRITAIN. 



210. 



mournful silence reigned in every direction ; and no- 

 thing was to be seen but the burning of houses, to 

 which the natives themselves had set lire in despair. 

 Agricola proceeded no farther northward, but 111:11 di- 

 ed into the country now called Angus, and received 

 hostages from the Horesti. He gave orders to his 

 fleet to sail along the eastern coast to the very north- 

 ern extremity of Caledonia, and turning its extreme 

 peninsula, to come round westward the wholecoum- of 

 the island, into the harbour from which they had sailed 

 in the spring. His orders were p. -rformcd, and even 

 the perilous Orcades were subdued. After seven 

 years service in Britain, of unexampled utility to his 

 country, Agricola was recalled. In estimating his 

 character, we are not to found his merit solely on the 

 victories he obtained over naked barbarians. The 

 ascendant which he gave to the Romans over the Bri- 

 tish mind, was obtained by means more creditable 

 than the sword. He made the provincial Britons 

 emulous of arts and improvements ; and, acquainted 

 with the comforts of civilized life, taught the youth 

 of their nobility the language and the sciences of 

 Rome, encouraged ornamental as well as useful pub- 

 lic works, the splendid temple as well as the power- 

 ful garrison. Thus converting the whole nationalener- 

 gy from warlike to peaceable objects, he was all the 

 benefactor to Britain that a conqueror could be. But 

 unhappily a people, who are helped forward to civi- 

 lization, not by their own strength but by that of 

 others, cannot reap from it its most ennobling effects. 

 Hence, in place of their barbarous energies, was sub- 

 stituted that pliant spirit, which made them cling 

 in supplication round the knees of Rome for protec- 

 tion, when she herself was falling. 



From the entire conquest of Britain to the close 

 of the third century, the island is seldom noticed by 

 Roman historians. It was indeed visited by the Em- 

 peror Adrian in the year 121, who, either from 

 choice or necessity, abandoned the northern extremi 

 ty of the province, and built a new rampart, from 

 the Solway to the Tyne, many miles to the south- 

 ward of that raised by Agricola. In 210, the Em- 

 peror Scverus found it necessary to come to Britain, 

 and repel the incursions of the Calcdonii and the Mea- 

 ts. He succeeded ; and, having cleared the frontier, 

 erected a stone wall, almost parallel with that of 

 Adrian, on a system so permanent, that the founda- 

 tions are to this day to be seen ; abandoning Agricola's 

 rampart, which had been repaired by order of the 

 Emperor Antoninus Pius. Severus died at York in 

 the year 211, leaving his sons, Geta and Caracal la, 

 omt successors in the empire. Caracalla, conclu- 

 ding a peace with the Caledonians, hastened with 

 his brother to Rome, to plunge into all the debauch- 

 eries of his capital ; and. for more than seventy years 

 from the time of his departure, the silence of histo- 

 rians may leave us room to hope that there was peace 

 in the island. 



In the reign of Dioclesian, Carnusius, an active 

 naval officer, having been' entrusted with the com- 

 mand of a powerful armament again&t the swarms of 

 Saxon pirates who infested the coast of Britain, 

 usurp' d the purple, and reigned for eight years in 

 Britain with vgour and success; for he not only 

 defended her shores from invasion, but even enlarged 





Allcet tit 



UtlirfM the 

 lovcrcign 



He i< thin 

 by On- 



v.i iliui, 

 A. U. 29. 



the limits of the Roman province, ami repaired the 

 wall of Agrleola between tli'- I'orth and Clyde. At 

 length Constant .uljntor of Diocltsian, pre- 



paring to attack Carnusius, was assassinated by 1m 

 Itltt friend and general Alleetus, who immediately 

 assumed the purple and the sovereignty of Britain, 

 and, by means of his niuil sup'-riority, maintained it 

 for three years. In '_'!K>, Constantius, and hU pre- 

 fect Asclepiodatu*, put an end to the rebellion, l>y 

 defeating and slaying the usurper, after the imperial 

 fleet had narrowly escaped that of Allectus off the 

 i^lc of Wight by favour of a fog. Constant ius, 

 whose character was respectable, was received in 

 Britain rather as a friend than a conqueror. Ilii 

 army had, indeed, essentially served the islanders, by 

 preventing London from being plundered by the 

 Saxon and Gaulish fugitives from the discomfited 

 army of Ailectus. In the division of the empire be- 

 tween Constantius and Galerius, Britain fell to the 

 former: he resided in the island, and had some con- 

 tests with the Caledonians, of which the particulars 

 are not known. On his return from the north he 

 died at York, leaving Constant me the Great his suc- 

 cessor in the empire. When that prince introduced 

 Christianity into the empire, Britain was not the last 

 to embrace it. Constantine, who had begun his 

 reign at York, staid some time to pay the last ho- 

 nours to his father's ashes, and to finish the war with 

 the Meata: and Caledonians, who at this time began 

 to be called by the new names of Picts and Scots. 



In 354 1 , Britain, which had taken part with Mag- 

 nentius, an unsuccessful usurper, suffered bitter re- 

 tribution from the Emperor Constantius, under his 

 secretary Panlus, a Spaniard, who was sent as an in- 

 quisitor to the island, to discover those who were 

 concerned in the rebellion. This wretch, who was 

 sirnamed Catena, or the chain, from his adroitness in 

 connecting criminal charges, filled the whole w stern 

 empire with tortures, murders, and confiscations. 

 Martinus, the British governor, unable to restrain 

 his cruelties, authorised as they were by supreme au- 

 thority, attempted to slay him, but, missi:ig his aim, 

 he turned his sword against his own bosom. When 

 Julian ascended the imperial throne, one of his acts 

 of justice was to order the inhuman Paulus to be 

 burnt alive. 



The Roman province in South Britain had suffer- A. D. 364. 

 ed but little disturbance from the northern nations 

 for about 150 years ; but, about ten years after their 

 deliverance from Paulus, the Scots and Picts, not- 

 withstanding a temporary check which they had re- 

 ceived from the commanders of Julian, returned with 

 greater force against the legions of Valcntinian and 

 Valens, and ravaged the country for three years with 

 impunity. Theodosius, a British governor, of con- 

 summate abilities, was appointed to repair the disas- 

 ters of the Roman arms. He recovered London 

 from the barbarians, and even extended the province 

 to its utmost ancient limits, the rampart of Agricola. 

 The son of this distinguished commander, inheriting 

 his father's talents, was adopted as partner in the 

 empire by Gratian, the son of Valentinian. Un- 

 wisely for themselves, and forgetful of what they 

 owed to the memory of Theodosius, the Britain 

 took part with the usurper Maximus. Maximus 



Chri*tia- 

 ity intro- 

 duced by 

 Uouttan- 

 tine, 

 A. U. 337. 



A. D. 



Cruel tie* of 



Paului. 



committed 

 by the 

 Scot* .mJ 



