The legions of Cæsar had suffered so severely in this campaign, that he was equally glad with the native princes to enter into negotiations for peace; and, on the conclusion of these, he withdrew his army to Gaul, in little more than two months after his disembarkation at Lymne. As his homeward journey across the Channel lasted but eight hours, he must have had the wind in his favour.
Advantages derived by the Britons from their intercourse with the Romans.
When the magnitude of the preparations which Cæsar made for his second expedition are considered, it can hardly be doubted that his intentions were to subjugate the whole of Britain. Tacitus, however, in his life of Agricola, confesses that Cæsar, in his two campaigns, only made the discovery of Britain; that, though victorious, he was unable to maintain his position;[435][436] that, on leaving the island, not a single Roman was left behind him; and that, for nearly a hundred years afterwards, the Britons were as free as ever, and paid no tribute to the imperial city.[437] Yet the Romans and ancient Britons were alike gainers by their mutual intercourse; for, from this period, their commercial intercourse rapidly increased. The corn and cattle of the Britons rose to a value hitherto unknown, while iron, and pearls of an inferior description, were eagerly sought after by the Romans. A new and vast field was opened up for their tin, lead, wool, and skins. Their slaves,[438] and dogs, of a remarkable breed, were in great demand; and were readily exchanged for the cut ivory, bridles, gold chains, cups of amber, drinking glasses, and trinkets of various kinds which the Romans exported. A considerable trade also arose between the two countries in lime, marl, and chalk, and in the manufacture of baskets, graceful in design, and curious in workmanship, for which the Britons were famous.
Conquest of Britain, A.D. 43.
Its state of civilization.
Beyond these facts, however, nothing is known of what passed in Britain between the time when Julius Cæsar left it, and the period when it first became a Roman province under Claudius. When, however, the armies of Claudius landed upon its soil, the Britons had advanced far beyond the painted savages who first exchanged their tin for the trinkets of Phœnicia; and although, in the remote portions of the island, there were still to be found many barbarous tribes, the inhabitants of the coast and of the commercial cities were then scarcely less civilized than they were a thousand years afterwards at the period of the Norman Conquest. London, or Londinium, is described by Tacitus as a place then of considerable trade, though not dignified with the name of a colony, and as the chief residence of the merchants. Clausentum[439] (old Southampton), and Rutupi (Richborough) were commercial ports of some importance, and were occupied by traders who dealt largely with those of Gaul, and extended their business even to Rome itself.
Traders from the neighbouring coasts, but more especially from that section of the Germans known by the name of Belgæ,[440] who centuries before had settled on the opposite coast between the Rhine and the Seine, were, in many cases, the intermediate dealers between the Britons and the continental tribes. The whole country was then, as had no doubt been the case for some time previous to the invasion, divided into several small states presided over by chiefs, who are dignified by historians with the title of king. Ptolemy, in his geography,[441] mentions various towns in different parts of Britain of sufficient importance in his time to be recorded, all tending to show that a state of civilization then prevailed throughout the island, and that barbarism and savage life were the exception rather than the rule.
Amongst the towns noticed by Ptolemy may be mentioned Isca Damnoniorum (Exeter); Durnium (Dorchester); Venta Belgarum (Winchester), which was a place of great fame in his time; Aquæ-solis (Bath), so called from its hot waters; Ischalis, now Ilchester, and Guildford in Surrey (Noviomagus). Numerous towns and seaports are also noticed by him, as, for instance, in Kent, Rochester, Dover, and Lymne; and in the west and north-west of England, Gleva (Gloucester); Deva (Chester); and near it Uriconium (Wroxeter), the curious remains of which have been quite recently explored;[442] Carlisle and Mona (Anglesey), the great seat of the Druidical worship. In the interior of the country we may record, as among the most famous of the Roman stations or colonies, Eboracum (York); Lindum (Lincoln); Camalodunum (Colchester); Corinium, (Cirencester); and Dorovernia (Canterbury); at or near all of which places extensive Roman remains may still be seen.
The principality of Wales, formerly comprehending the whole country beyond the Severn, was supposed by Tacitus[443] to have been originally peopled by emigrants from Spain, and here too may be still traced the vestiges of several Roman camps, as at Usk and Caerleon. At Stonehenge and Abury, in Wiltshire, are still more ancient remains, monuments of great interest, both for the size and the elegant disposition of the stones of which they are formed; and which, at the same time, denote considerable progress in the mechanical arts at a period antecedent, perhaps, by centuries to the invasion of Cæsar.[444] Wherever we go, we find that the Britons at the commencement of the Christian era occupied a position, which, if far short of the high state of civilization the Romans had reached, was greatly superior to that of most of the northern nations of Europe, or to that of the Goths and Vandals, when, three centuries afterwards, they overran the empire and became masters of the imperial city.[445]
Speech of Caractacus.