THE ROMAN OCCUPATION OF BRITAIN 



form of government upon the inhabitants, and from 

 Tacitus and others we have a fairly complete account of 

 the history of Roman Britain, and also during recent ex- 

 cavations in the great wall of Hadrian more evidences 

 have been brought to light, so that when we put together 

 these various sources of information we should have no 

 great difficulty in reconstructing the history of Roman 

 Britain. We may first trace the events following the con- 

 quest. Let us remember the length of time of the dur- 

 ation of the Roman Empire. Gibbon's book, ** The Decline 

 and Fall of the Roman Empire," which has become so 

 famous, is a little misleading because it gives the impression 

 that great nations soon pass from the period of their great- 

 est glory to their decline. On the contrary the Roman 

 Empire declined very slowly— It will be well if the British 

 Empire lasts as long as the Roman. 



That Britain, which was held for upwards of 350 years, 

 was one of the last provinces to be annexed by the Imperial 

 Roman seems to be apparent. The remains found at Stone- 

 henge were probabl}^ erected about 1000 B.C. by people 

 who were displaced by the Celtic Britains, whom Caesar 

 found on his first invasion. The story of Caius Julius 

 Caesar's invasion commences about 55 B.C. He had been 

 engaged in the work of annexing Gaul to the Roman 

 Empire, and he crossed the Channel possibly because he 

 desired to make new conquests. In this connection it 

 must be remembered that the population of the south- 

 eastern part of Britain was closely akin to that of Gaul, 

 and they were not mere savages^ but had reached an 

 advanced stage of civilization, and there had been an 

 emigration from Gaul to Britain a short time before. It 

 was not, however, until nearly a century later that Rome 

 acted further on Julius Caesar's plan. In 43 A.D. the 

 Emperor Claudius finally decided upon the annexation of 

 of the island. The plan was not a new one, as ever since 

 Julius Caesar's visit to the island it had been under discus- 



