Here was the opportunity of the British tribes, more restive than they had seemed beneath the Roman yoke. Our next picture is a terrible one. In 61 A.D., seventy thousand persons, "all Romans or confederates of Rome," were destroyed by the Iceni, under Queen Boudicca, in the Romanized towns of Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulam (Colchester, London and St. Albans).
Paulinus returned hastily to the rescue, and "the fortunes of a single battle restored the country to its ancient submissiveness." So says Tacitus; but it was only a surface submission; the fire was smouldering, not quenched.
A milder governor succeeded Paulinus, and under him and his successors Roman civilization and Roman vices began to spread among the Britons.
Then came two rulers of sterner type, who subdued the Brigantes (of Lancashire and the north-west counties) and the Silures (of South Wales).
Following them came Agricola, in 78 A.D., surely the greatest figure in the history of Roman Britain! He was appointed governor by the Emperor Vespasian, the foundations of whose own career had been laid in Britain. Agricola, also, had served his apprenticeship to war in the island, under Suetonius Paulinus, having passed through the critical period when the Roman towns were burned and the populations butchered.
His character has been very ably drawn for us by his son-in-law, Tacitus, who shows that the ideal of true greatness, in those days of imperial luxury and vice, was as high as our own, and that there were some who came near to attaining to it.
Unassuming, tactful, patient, incorruptible; kind and affectionate; brave and energetic, and yet modest; strictly just, and yet merciful; so great that it would be an insult to dwell upon his probity and self-control—these are some of the qualities with which Tacitus credits his father-in-law; and the ability with which he governed Britain goes a long way towards proving the picture true.
Shortly before his arrival in Britain to take up the reins of government, the tribes of the Ordovices, of North-west Wales, had crushed almost to a man the regiment of cavalry encamped amongst them. Such an incident could not be overlooked by the new Governor. Now was the moment to show what spirit he was of! Supplementing Roman troops with native auxiliaries, he marched to the hills where the Ordovices were hid, and almost exterminated the whole tribe.
"Horrible!" does some one say? Yes; it was horrible. A soldier's devotion to duty always gives him terrible work to do; and we in this so-called Christian country can take no superior attitude, though 1800 years have passed.
Agricola then subdued Mona; and having thus established a reputation for courage and firmness he set himself to the task of making peace more attractive to the Britons than war. His intention was to habituate them to peace and quiet by turning their thoughts to something better than war, and therefore he encouraged them to build temples, houses and market-places.