April 14, 1887] 



NA TURE 



563 



I now enter upon the national history. 



In the reign of the Emperor Claudius (there is no farther 

 indication of time) Kunobellin reigned at Camalodunum 

 (undoubtedly the modern or Saxon Colchester, " the 

 fortress on the River Colne " : the Latinised original name 

 is literally " Camal-hill " or " Camal-fort " (a name some- 

 what similar to this occurs in Arthurian legends). Kuno- 

 bellin IS mentioned by others as King of the Trinobantes. 

 Dion remarks, "they (the people) were not self-governors, 

 but lived under kings." 



X'ericus (Bf/jiicos), a political exile from Carnal-dun, 

 persuaded the Emperor Claudius to given him military 

 assistance (apparently for restoration) ; and the Roman 

 general Aulus Plautius was sent from Galatia, and I'after 

 a ridiculous mutiny of the soldiers) landed in England. 

 Remarking that he had no motive for entering Kent, and 

 that his object was to reach Camal-dun as soon as 

 possible. 1 think it likely that he rounded the North 

 Foreland, and debarked at Southend on the west side of 

 Shoeburyness ; where there is an excellent beach two or 

 three miles long, sheltered from the open sea, for landing ; 

 and a good plain, for temporary encampment. 



Without detailing all the affairs of Plautius with 

 Kunobellin and Kunobellin's two independent sons, 

 Kataraktos and Togodumnos, I shall only say that, after 

 a very unsuccessful struggle with the Britons, apparently 

 among the woods and marshes of the Crouch (a compli- 

 cated river), Plautius retreated, in veritable flight, towards 

 the west. He had, however, made peaceable terms with 

 the Vothuni (a tribe not otherwise known, I believe) ; and, 

 leaving a guard there, proceeded till he came to a river, 

 deep but fordable. which he passed with some difficulty. 

 This river, I have no doubt, was the Lea, the largest of 

 the Essex rivers, and running in a valley which is in some 

 parts marshy. In crossing this river, he was greatly 

 assisted by the Ke'Xroi. who were accu-tomed to cross 

 rivers in their armour. (It seems not improbable that these 

 Kf'Xroi had been levied in the eastern parts of Galatia and 

 the regions of the Scheldt.) The Roman army, by this 

 real flight, reached the tract opposite London. We have 

 now to consider the state of land and w-ater before them 



So far as we can judge, there had never been any power 

 in the country which could have embanked any of the 

 marshes as we see them now. The sea-water, scarcely 

 salt (much fresh water having entered from the Thames 

 and the smaller rivers) ran up with an insignificant tide, 

 above Rotherhithe and to the borders of Southwark, in a 

 great arm of the sea, never less than two miles wide. This 

 gulf is called by Dion "Qwrn/os. It was shallow, in some 

 places actually bearing trees. (See Mr. Spurrell's " Early 

 Sites and Embankments on the Margin of the Thames 

 Estuary,'' Archaological Journal, vol. xlii.) To the point 

 opposite London applies the sentence of Dion, "eVi tov 

 Td/i((T(Tav noTafihP, Ka6' fs re to>/ 'Q<(amv eK'iiiXKd." And 

 this was Dion's mouth of the Thames, and here was the 

 head of the gulf. There was a bridge at a small distance, 

 which 1 conceive to have been near the site of William 

 the Conqueror's bridge or modern London Bridge. It is 

 remarkable thd there is no mention of a town ; but 

 probably Southend was the real port of Britain, and the 

 march of the Romans was on the harbour-road. 



The sea-water, after the long passage up the shallow 

 gulf, had almost lost its tidal character, and become a 

 mere lake. The Kelts of the army forded the water, and 

 the Romans crossed at the bridge. And now the army, 

 much shattered, was in Kent or Surrey. The Emperor 

 Claudius, on hearing the state of affairs, sailed in person 

 with troops to Marseilles, crossed France to the north 

 coast, and landed in Britain to join Plautius. There can 

 be no doubt that he landed at one of the southern ports 

 of Kent, as Winchelsea or Rye (the whole of Kent being 

 evidently held in perfect quiet) ; and the question arises, 

 Where was Plautius waiting .' and where did Claudius 

 join him .' 



It is possible that Plautius may have waited in the 

 neighbourhood of London Bridge ; but 1 offer a conjecture 

 which 1 think more probable. In the grounds of Holwood 

 (near Farnborough) at the eastern corner of Hayes Com- 

 mon, at an easy day's march from London, and in the 

 direct line from London to the south-eastern ports, are 

 the e.xtensive remains of the earthworks of a large fort, in 

 the best style of Roman permanent encampments. In its 

 straight lines of outline (where circumstances permit), 

 its rounded angles, its lofty inner rampart and its lower 

 second rampart, it admits of comparison with the most 

 complete of those which Agricola established in his 

 marches through the Scotch Highlands, and which are 

 described in General Roy's "Military Antiquities." It is 

 called, in the neighbourhood, Cesar's Camp. The little 

 river Ravensbourne (which ultimately joins the Thames at 

 Deptford Creek) rises in a strong spring close to the 

 entrance. I think it probable that Plautius wintered here, 

 and was joined here by Claudius. 



The united armies marched at once for Camal-dun, and 

 captured it. And it would seem probable that they im- 

 mediately gave it its present form, and a fairer or nobler 

 provincial and military capital (as adapted to ancient 

 warfare) within my knowledge nowhere exists. It is 

 planted on a steep parallelogrammic hill. The slope of the 

 ground at the east gate was eased, within my recollection, 

 in the year 1816. On the south side, a little less steep 

 than the other sides, the ground has been heavily scarped, 

 and faced with a stone wall. The whole town is sur- 

 rounded by a stone wall at the brow of the slope, rounded 

 at the angles ; the little river Colne is on the north side, 

 and there the wall is lower in the valley. The dells on the 

 south and west sides converge to an angle, near which is 

 placed the principal gate of the town. The great streets 

 are in the true Roman form of capital Y, and all the 

 small streets are at right angles. The citadel, I suppose, 

 was in the space on the north side of High Street, in 

 which the castle (i Norman building) now stands. 



It would appear that the Romans, as residing in a 

 country which was likely to be troublesome, took early 

 steps for making a great road across it ; and then was 

 made the great western road by Marks Tey, Coggeshall, 

 Braintree, Dunmow, to Stortford, on the River Stort 

 (which is the largest affluent of the Lea) ; and then was 

 formed the large intrenched camp of Wallbury, about two 

 miles south of Stortford, on the Essex side of the river. 



And after this was made the road to London. The 

 reason for my placing its date subsequent to that of the 

 western road is singular, but certain. The road to London 

 does not start independently from Colchester : the western 

 road is used as far as Marks Tey, and there the London 

 road branches off at an angle of about 40° (roughly esti- 

 mated). I have personally surveyed this, taking views 

 from the neighbouring grounds, and can assert that the 

 road from Colchester to Coggeshall passes straight through 

 Marks Tey, totally unaffected by the London road. The 

 same thing is exhibited clearly on our Ordnance map.' 



All appeared to be peaceably established. And now 

 came the terrible outbreak. 



Dion suddenly states that two cities were destroyed 

 (their names or positions are not mentioned), and So,ooo 

 of the Romans and their allies killed, and that this was 

 done by a woman, to the great shame of the Romans ; 

 that this was foretold by divine inspiration (ro 6('iop) ; that 

 there came from the Senate-house (j3ov'KfvTj)piov), at night, 

 barbarous noises, with laughter ; from the theatre came a 

 sound of tumult with lamentation, when nobody was near ; 

 some houses were seen under water in the Thames ; the 

 ocean between Britain and Galatia was disturbed, and had 

 a bloody colour. The cause of the war was the exaction, 

 by Claudius, of money raised by confiscation (Si/ficno-tf), 

 which Claudius gave to the principal men of the Britons 



' The modern name Marks Tey is an error for Marks Tye, Tye being the 

 cust-imary word in Essex and Suffolk for a bifurcation of roads. 



