DA 
 
 '45- 
 
 67 
 
 
 1 
 
Book 
 
THE 
 
 INVASION OF BRITAIN 
 BY JULIUS CAESAR. 
 
LOHDOX 
 
 psnrTSD bt spottiswoodk and co. 
 
 N"EW-STRBBT SQl r ARE 
 
/r> 
 
 H-036 
 

 M 
 
 5?: 
 
THE 
 
 INVASION OF BKITAIN 
 
 BY JULIUS CLESAR 
 
 THOMAS LEWIN, ESQ. 
 
 OF TXHN". COLL. OXON. M.A. 
 AUTHOR OF "THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL." 
 
 
 LONDON 
 
 LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS 
 
 1859 
 

 
 bl 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages were commenced with a view to 
 delivering a Lecture before a Literary Society in Sussex, 
 where the subject would have possessed a local interest ; 
 but the discussion was soon found to involve a minute- 
 ness of detail which was little suited to a general audi- 
 ence. The author, therefore, rather than confess that 
 his time had been thrown away (an opinion which will 
 still be entertained by many of his readers), determined 
 on submitting the result of his labour, (or rather of 
 his amusement,) to the judgment of the public. 
 
 It is almost investing a trifle with too great import- 
 ance to thank several friends for their assistance, but 
 the author cannot refrain from acknowledging the 
 kindness of the Eev. C. Merivale, for the tract noticed 
 in the Appendix; Mr. S. Waley, for the loan of 
 Mariette's Memoir on the Portus Itius, from which 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 much valuable information has been derived ; Mr. Bar- 
 ton, of Dover, for inquiries about the Tides ; and the 
 author's relative, Mrs. S. Lewin, for much time and 
 pains bestowed on the preparation of the Illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 Lincoln's Inn : 
 July 13, 1859. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PLATES. 
 
 Head of Caesar Frontispiece. 
 
 Chart of the Channel page 1 
 
 Old Map of the Gallic Coast 20 
 
 Old Map of the eastern end of Romney Marsh ... 44 
 Old French Map illustrative of Portus Itius . . .130 
 
 WOODCUTS. 
 
 Barrington's Sketch of Coway Ford 105 
 
 Crawter's Sketch of ditto 106 
 
 The Coway Stake deposited in the British Museum . . 131 
 
CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page 3, note, for "J. Csesarem " read " C. Csesarem." 
 „ 9, line 1, dele " of Csesar." 
 „ 25, last line, for " Cneius " read " Cnseus." 
 „ 25, for " we have already had occasion to mention " read " we are 
 
 informed." 
 „ 30, line 17, for " had been " read "were." 
 „ 39, line 6, correct thus : " if the wind was in his favour in coming from 
 
 Boulogne to Dover, it must have blown from some j>oint of the south, 
 
 and then if it still continued in that quarter, and Caesar sailed before 
 
 it, he must, have steered up Channel to the east." 
 „ 43, line 5, for " coast " read " west. " 
 
IS 2 T A 2 ] 
 
 Canterbury 
 
 
THE 
 
 CAMPAIGNS OF JULIUS CJ1SAR 
 
 IN BRITAIN. 
 
 FIEST INVASION. 
 
 I pkopose to sketch the first page of British history, 
 the invasion of the island by Caius Julius Cassar, after- 
 wards Eornan emperor. We here look across a gulf 
 of nearly two thousand years ; but, if I mistake not, 
 the picture to be presented of that period will be 
 graphic and distinct. We have an account from the 
 pen of Caesar himself, the principal actor in the drama ; 
 and his Commentaries, though intended for notes only, 
 are so masterly and so full of lifelike impressions that 
 by bestowing a little care we can follow him from 
 place to place, and from day to day, with the most 
 extraordinary minuteness. The Eoman calendar was at 
 that time in such confusion that any references to it 
 would only have tended to mislead, and Cassar, writing 
 for posterity, has measured his campaigns by winter 
 and summer, by equinoxes and moons. In tracing his 
 progress we shall find some very remarkable instances 
 of the precision with which his steps can be traced by 
 means of casual observations upon the phenomena of 
 nature, and it is this singular characteristic of his 
 
 B 
 
Z (LESAR IN GAUL. 
 
 narrative which has tempted our eminent astronomers, 
 Halley and Airy, to devote some portion of their time 
 and labour to the investigation of the subject. 
 
 Historians and antiquarians are all agreed that the 
 first footstep of Caesar upon these shores was planted 
 either in Sussex or in Kent. In which of the two 
 has been warmly contested, and I shall not here by 
 anticipation determine the controversy. I shall lay 
 before you the facts which have left no doubt on my 
 own mind, and will, if the result answer to expectation, 
 bring conviction to yourselves. The palm contended 
 for is no mean one, for the Eoman legions were so 
 warmly received, that, even under Caesar's auspices, 
 they effected their landing with the utmost difficulty. 
 
 It was in B.C. 58 that Caesar took possession, as 
 praetor or governor, of the province of Gaul, then 
 comprising the North of Italy, called Gallia Cisalpina, 
 with part of Ulyricum, and the South of France, called 
 Gallia Transalpina, or Provincia Eomanorum. In the 
 course of four successive years, Caesar, by feats of arms 
 and diplomatic address, extended the limits of his pro- 
 vince as far as the Ehine eastward, and the barrier of 
 the ocean to the north and west. Towards the close 
 of B. c. 55, he looked around in vain for an enemy in 
 Gaul, and cast his eyes in the direction of Britain. He 
 already anticipated the coming conflict between himself 
 and Pompey ; and it was necessary to find some plausible 
 pretext for adding to the number of his legions, and 
 promoting their efficiency by constant employment. Be- 
 sides, what booty was to be expected from a country 
 whither Eoman spoliation had never yet penetrated, and 
 which was said to produce gold and silver and pearls ! * 
 
 1 " Fert Britannia aurum et argentum et alia metalla pretinm 
 victoria?. Gignit et oceanus margaritas." — Tac. Vit. Agric. " Multi 
 
CAESAR IN GAUL. 3 
 
 what glory was to be reaped from the annexation to 
 the Eoman Eepublic of the largest known island, and 
 that so remote as to be deemed, in popular belief, be- 
 yond the limits of the world! * 
 
 A favourable opportunity also now presented itself, 
 for hostilities had lately broken out between Cassive- 
 laun, king of the Catyeuchlani (Middlesex and Hertford- 
 shire), and Imanuent, king of the Trinobantes (the 
 people of Essex), and Imanuent, finding himself worsted 
 in the conflict, had appealed to Caesar for assistance 
 against his too powerful neighbour. 2 
 
 The excuse ostensibly alleged by Caesar for the 
 aggression was the same as that more recently put 
 forward by the Great Napoleon, in justification of a 
 like fruitless attempt, viz. that Britain had subsidised 
 hostile powers in the Continental wars. 3 
 
 The invasion of Britain being resolved upon, the first 
 tiling to be done was to gain information touching the 
 ports of the island, and the resistance to be offered. 4 
 The Gauls in general were wholly ignorant upon these 
 matters, and he could learn nothing. He then sum- 
 
 prodiderunt (J. Caesarem) Britanniam petisse spe margaritarum." 
 — Suet. Cces. 46, 47. 
 
 1 " Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos." Virg. Eclog. i. 67. 
 
 2 In the following year Mandubert, the son of Imanuent, on 
 escaping to Gaul, is said " fidem Caesaris secutus" (B. G. v. 20) ; and 
 he had, therefore, pledged himself to Caesar the year before. 
 
 3 " Quod omnibus fere Gallicis bellis hostibus nostris subministrata 
 auxilia intelligebat." — Cces. B. G. iv. 20. " Auxilia ex Britannia, quaa 
 contra eas regiones posita est, (Veneti) accersunt." — B. G. iii. 9. 
 
 4 The difficulties of Cassar, from his total ignorance when he 
 embarked on the first expedition, were a favourite topic with the 
 orators for practice in speaking. " Haec et in suasoriis aliquando 
 tractari solent ; ut, si Caesar deliberet, An Britanniam impugnet ? 
 Quae sit Oceani natura ? An Britannia insula ? Quanta in ea terra ? 
 Quo numero militum aggredienda ? " — QuinctiL de Orator, vji. 4. 
 
 b 2 
 
4 OESAR IN GAUL. 
 
 moned into his presence the merchants who traded 
 with Britain, and must, therefore, be acquainted with 
 the products of the country and the manners of the 
 inhabitants. But to his surprise, the merchants were 
 equally dull ; so that he could not even satisfy himself 
 whether there existed along the coast a single harbour 
 for the reception of a fleet. 1 One cannot help sur- 
 mising that these merchants could have told a great 
 deal more than was suffered to escape from their lips. 
 The ignorance of the Gauls was probably not affected, 
 for Caesar makes the remark, as true of the past day 
 as of the present, that no one thought of visiting Britain 
 unless he had some substantial reason for it. 2 
 
 Caesar, however, was not to be thus foiled ; and, 
 as he could extract nothing from the Gauls, he deter- 
 mined on despatching one of his own officers to survey 
 the island. Caius Volusenus was selected for the pur- 
 pose. He started on his errand in a long ship 3 , i. e. one 
 built for the utmost speed, and impelled by oars; in 
 short, a Eoman trireme, or war-galley. 
 
 Meanwhile, Caesar, to prepare for the expedition, 
 marched into the country of the Morini. We shall hear 
 something more of these Morini, and we may, there- 
 fore, pause at once to ascertain where their country was 
 
 1 The Veneti of Gaul (the people of Vannes) were those who 
 chiefly traded with Britain, and they did every thing to thwart the 
 expedition : " erotf.iot yap i\aav (01 Oviveroi) KtoXvetr tov elg rrjy 
 UpETTdviKYiv tt\ovv yjpiofXEvoi raj £jU7rop/w." — Strab. iv. p. 271. 
 The Morini also, who occupied the coast opposite Britain, were 
 equally friendly to the islanders : " rdv Nwplvwy <j)l\o)y o<pioiv 
 bvTiov." — Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
 2 " Neque enim temere praeter mercatores illo adit quisquam." 
 — Cces. B. G. iv. 20. In that age also, as in the present, Britain 
 was the asylum of refugees from the Continent : " hujus consilii 
 principes ... in Britanniam profugisse." — Cces. B. G. ii. 14. 
 
 » " Navi longa." — B. G. iv. 21. 
 
CAESAR IN GAUL. 
 
 situate. Csesar tells us that he went thither because 
 thence was the shortest passage into Britain. 1 It was, 
 therefore, unquestionably the part of Gaul opposite to 
 Dover; and the only debatable point is, what were 
 the exact limits of the Morini, east and west \ Ptolemy, 
 the celebrated geographer, in tracing the northern line 
 of the coast of Gaul, from the river Seine eastwards, 
 enumerates the peoples and rivers in the following 
 order: — 1. The Atrebates (of Arras); 2. the Bello- 
 vaci ; 3. the Ambiani (of Amiens, on the Somme) ; 
 4. the Morini; 5. the Eiver Tabula (the Scheldt); 
 and 6. the Meuse. 2 Thus the Morini were eastward 
 of the Ambiani, and as the latter were settled on the 
 Somme, and reached down to the coast, as appears 
 from Pliny 3 , the Morini certainly did not extend be- 
 yond the Somme westward. 4 It is likely that they 
 
 1 " Ipse cum omnibus copiis in Morinos proficiscitur, quod inde 
 erat brevissimus in Britanniam trajectus." — Cces. B.G. iv. 21. How 
 then could Cassar have sailed, as Professor Airy supposes, from the 
 estuary of the Somme, which is double the distance ? But of this 
 more hereafter. 
 
 2 " KaTs-^ovtri de rfjp irapdXiov, £Tri\a[i€,avovT£Q av\vbv icai tyjq 
 fxeffoyeiagy napd fxsv tov UriKoavav 'Arpe^artot," &c. — Ptol. ii. 9. 7. 
 
 3 " A Scaldi [Scheldt] incolunt extera [on the coast] Toxandri 
 pluribus nominibus. Deinde Menapii, Oromansaci juncti pago [dis- 
 trict] qui Gessoriacus vocatur, Britanni, Ambiani, Bellovaci. In- 
 trorsus Castologi, Atrebates, Nervii liberi," &c. — N. H. iv. 31. 
 
 4 The "Ikiov aicpov of Ptolemy is generally taken for Cape Grisnez ; 
 and if so, as Gesoriacus Portus was certainly Boulogne, Ptolemy, in 
 this part of the coast, has fallen into an error in placing Cape Grisnez 
 to the west of Boulogne. Mariette suggests (p. 49) that "Lctov atcpov 
 is Cape Alpreck, about three miles to the west of Boulogne, of great 
 perpendicular height, and formerly projecting further into the 
 sea; and then Gesoria would correspond to Isques or Iccium (at 
 Pont de Briques), and Gesoriacus Portus to the port of Boulogne. 
 If"I<aov aKpov be Cape Grisnez, and rightly placed by Ptolemy, 
 then Gesoriacus Portus would, in Ptolemy's idea, be Calais; 
 
 b 3 
 
6 (LESAR IN GAUL. 
 
 occupied the coast from the river La Canche west, to 
 the Aa, at Gravelines, east. 1 
 
 While Cassar was amongst the Morini collecting ves- 
 sels for the intended invasion, an embassy arrived from 
 some of the British states to tender their submission. 
 Csesar's projects had got wind, and been wafted across 
 the Channel, and the Britons hoped that they might 
 avert hostilities by some complimentary forms ; but 
 Caesar was wide awake, and knew as well as they the 
 value of words, and making large promises proceeded 
 with his armament. He also sent back with the envoys 
 a Gallic partisan of his own : one Comius, king of the 
 Atrebates, of Arras, in Gaul. He was thought to carry 
 some weight in Britain, and was, therefore, ordered to 
 visit the different chieftains of the island, and promote 
 the Eoman interests 2 ; but Comius had no sooner landed 
 than the spirited Britons seized him as a spy and put 
 him in chains. 3 C. Volusenus, who had been sent 
 across the Channel to reconnoitre the coast, returned 
 after an absence of five days only, and made his report, 
 a somewhat meagre one, as we must necessarily con- 
 clude ; for, allowing two days for coming and going, he 
 had only three days at command, and, in so short a 
 space, he could scarcely have done more than take the 
 soundings between Dungeness and the South Foreland. 
 Of the country itself he could render no account what- 
 
 whereas it was certainly Boulogne. Ptolemy, in short, is full of 
 error, and not to be depended upon in detail, though invaluable as a 
 general guide. 
 
 1 Bertrand's Hist, of Boulogne. Richborough is described by an 
 ancient writer as looking, not toward the Morini, but toward the 
 Menapii and Batavi. " Eutubi Portus, unde, haud procul a Morinis 
 in austro positos, Menapos Batavosque prospectant." — JEthicus, cited 
 Monum. Hist. Brit. p. xix. 
 
 2 Ca?s. B. G. iv. 21. 3 b. G. iv. 27. 
 
STATE OF BRITAIN. 7 
 
 ever, for he had not dared even to set foot upon 
 shore. 1 
 
 As Ave are now approaching the time of the actual 
 invasion, I must endeavour to give a slight sketch of 
 Britain, such as C. Volusenus did not see it, but such 
 as Cassar himself afterwards found it. The picture of 
 an ancient Briton, as portrayed in the frontispiece of 
 our school histories, is no doubt familiar to every one. 
 An athletic figure in pur is naturalibus, with the excep- 
 tion of the skin of some wild beast thrown about his 
 loins, a moustache on the upper lip, a smooth chin, 
 long hanging hair behind, a spear in the hand, and the 
 whole body stained after some curious pattern with 
 woad 2 ; in short, a barbarian, such as may still be found 
 in some of the islands of the Pacific. Now Britain at 
 this time was unquestionably occupied by two very dif- 
 ferent races, and the above portrait may have some 
 foundation for it as regards one of them, but is certainly 
 very far from the truth as regards the other. Originally, 
 all the West of Europe, including France, Great Britain, 
 and Ireland, was inhabited by a people called by the 
 
 1 " Volusenus, perspectis regionibus, quantum ei facultatis dari 
 potuit qui navi egredi ac se barbaris committere non auderet, quinto 
 die ad Caesarem revertitur, quaeque ibi perspexisset renuntiat." — 
 Cces.B. G.21. 
 
 2 It must be admitted that, according to Caesar, the Britons 
 generally stained themselves with vitrum or woad. (B. G. v. 14.) 
 Herodian adds that the stains were imitations of animals {to. Ik 
 awfxara ari^ovrat ypa<pa~iQ (wwv iroiKiXioy. — Herod, cited Mon. Hist. 
 Brit. p. lxiv.) ; and I do not suppose that the whole body was 
 stained, but the face only, in order, as Caesar remarks, to give them 
 a fiercer aspect in war. In Egypt the women still stain the chin 
 with some device, and, if I mistake not, there are traces of the same 
 custom on the chin of the Sphinx; yet neither the present nor 
 the ancient Egyptians are called barbarians. 
 
 b 4 
 
8 STATE OF BRITAIN. 
 
 Greeks Galatians, by the Eomans Gauls, and by them- 
 selves Celtse ; all, no doubt, the same word under diffe- 
 rent forms. We have still large traces of the name in 
 our own island. Thus Scotland is the land of the Gael ; 
 the Principality is Wales, Wallia, or Gallia, or in French 
 Pays de Galles ; and Cornwall, one of the last strong- 
 holds of the Celts, is so called as being corner- Wales. 
 I need scarcely mention that Gaelic, Welsh, and Cornish 
 are all essentially the same language. The Celts, then, 
 were the first head-wave of population which, streaming 
 from the East, poured over the broad fields of Gaul. 
 But soon from behind came another mountain-wave, 
 the Germanic race, which soon deluged all the countries 
 up to the Ehine. Here the great breadth of the river 
 for some while presented a check, but at last the pres- 
 sure from behind forced them across the barrier, and 
 they drove the weaker Celtic family before them. In 
 the North of Europe, the Germans eventually occupied 
 all the parts between the Ehine and the Seine, and 
 were known by the name of Belgse, not to be con- 
 founded with the Belgians of the present day, but 
 described by Csesar as the most formidable of all the 
 nations west of the Ehine. 1 As they occupied the 
 coast just opposite Britain, and in clear weather could 
 descry the white cliffs of Albion, they would naturally 
 soon transport themselves across the strait. The up- 
 shot was that they colonised all the south-eastern portion 
 of Britain, compelling the Celtic inhabitants to fall back 
 into the cul-de-sac of Cornwall to the south, the moun- 
 tains of Wales to the west, and the Caledonian hills to 
 the north. 2 We can now understand the statement 
 
 1 " Horam omnium fortissimi sunt Belgse." — Cces. B. G. i. 1. 
 
 2 The description of the barbarous part of Britain exactly tallies 
 
STATE OF BRITAIN. \) 
 
 of Cassar, that the clans in Britain were many of them 
 called after those in Gaul * ; that they had the same 
 customs 2 ; that Divitiacus, king of the Suessones, a tribe 
 of the Belgas, was also (as Canute in after times) the 
 acknowledged sovereign of a wide territory in Britain 3 ; 
 that Cingetorix was the name not only of the king of 
 the Treviri, or Belgse about Treves, on the Moselle 4 , 
 but also of one of the kings of Kent 5 ; that the houses 
 in Britain were the counterparts of those in Gaul 6 ; 
 that the language of the Belgge and the Britons was all 
 but identical 7 ; and that Comius, the chief of Arras in 
 Gaul, was sent for this reason by Cassar into Britain to 
 plead the Eoman cause in their own tongue. 
 
 We must distinguish, then, between the Belgse and 
 
 with that by Xiphilinus of the Britons to the north of the Eoman 
 wall. (Xiphilin. lxxvi. 12 ; Mori. Hist. Brit, lx.) 
 
 1 " Qui omnesfere [the South-Britons] iis nominibus civitatum ap- 
 pellantur quibus orti civitatibus eo pervenerunt." — Cces. B. G. v. 12. 
 
 2 " Neque multum a Gallica differunt consuetudine." — Cces. B. G. 
 v. 14. And so Strabo, iv. 5 : " rd <T rjdt) Sfioia KfXrote." 
 
 3 " Divitiacum totius Galliae potentissimum, qui quum magnse partis 
 harum regionum turn etiam Britannia? imperium obtinuerit." — Cces. 
 B. G. ii. 4. 
 
 4 Cses. B. G. v. 3. 5 Ca3s. B. G. v. 22. 
 
 6 " jEdificia fere Gallicis consimiha." — lb. v. 12. Chiefly of wood 
 and thatched : " tcai rag o\ky]<jeiq euTtXelg iyovaiv Ik tiov Ka\a.p.u)v rj 
 tyXwv Kara, to wXelaTOV avyKeifievag.^ — Diod. Sic. v. 21. 
 
 7 This appears from Tacitus, Agric. c. 11 : " Sermo haud mul- 
 tum diversus : " and this was a dialect of the German ; for Tacitus, 
 speaking of the ^Estui, a German tribe, says, " Lingua Britannicse 
 propior " (Mor. Germ. 45). The iEstui are placed " dextro Suevici 
 maris littore " (lb. 45) ; and amongst the Suevic nations are the 
 Angli, who worshipped " Hertham [Earth], id est, Terram matrem " 
 (lb. 40). Thus Hengist and Horsa, and the Saxons, merely fol- 
 lowed the road which their ancestors had taken centuries before. 
 Indeed the influx of the Germans into Britain was only suspended 
 by Caesar's invasion. 
 
10 STATE OF BRITAIN. 
 
 the Celta3 of Britain, the Southerns and Northerns. 
 The latter were, perhaps, but little elevated above the 
 state of barbarians. Csesar describes thern as clad hi 
 skins, and supporting themselves from their cattle 
 rather than from tillage. 1 But the Belgas, with whom 
 the Eoman legions were engaged, though also called 
 barbarians (by which name all were designated who 
 were not Greeks or Eomans), had attained to a very 
 considerable degree of civilisation. In the first place, 
 there was a crowded population, which is never found 
 in a state of barbarism. 2 Even in literary attainments 
 the Britons were in advance of the Gauls, for the 
 priests are universally the depositaries of learning, and 
 the Gauls were in the habit of sending their youth to 
 Britain to perfect themselves in the knowledge of 
 Druidism. 3 Then there was great commercial inter- 
 course carried on between Britain and Gaul 4 , not to 
 
 1 lb. v. 14. The remains of one of these Celtic chieftains may be 
 seen in the museum at Scarborough. On opening a tumulus in the 
 neighbourhood, a coffin excavated from the solid trunk of an oak 
 was discovered, and in it a skeleton more than six feet in stature, 
 which had been wrapped in the hairy skin of some animal ; and at 
 the side were arrow-heads of flint. A more genuine relic of the 
 earliest inhabitants of our island, and when still in a savage state, is 
 nowhere to be found. 
 
 2 " Hominum est infinita multitudo." — Cces. B. G. v. 12. " E'iVcu 
 £e teal iro\vavBpit)irov ty}v vtj<tov." — Diod. Sic. v. 21. 
 
 3 " Qui diligentius earn rem cognoscere volunt, plerumque illo 
 (in Britanniam) discendi causa pronciscuntur." — B. G. vi. 13. It is 
 remarkable that the Druids, though they taught their religion 
 orally, yet in ordinary matters used the Greek letters. " Quum in 
 reliquis fere rebus, publicis privatisque rationibus, Grsecis utantur 
 litteris." — B. G. vi. 14. 
 
 4 B. G. iv. 20, v. 13. The principal Continental rivers frequented 
 by British merchants were the Rhine, the Seine, the Loire, and Ga- 
 ronne (Strab. lib. iv. 5). Strabo enumerates amongst the exports 
 of Britain, com, cattle, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves, and dogs ; and 
 
STATE OF BRITAIN. 11 
 
 mention that a partial trade existed between Britain 
 and more distant nations, as the Phoenicians. 1 It was 
 only about a century after this that London, by its 
 present name, was a city crowded with merchants and 
 of world-wide celebrity. 2 The country also to the 
 south had been cleared of its forests, and was under 
 the plough. 3 The country, moreover, must have been 
 intersected by good roads 4 , for the chief strength of 
 the British army consisted of their war-chariots, the 
 very construction of which requires no contemptible 
 progress in mechanical skill. 5 When Cassivelaunus 
 had been defeated, and had dispersed the main body 
 of his troops, he still retained about him the enormous 
 number of no less than four thousand war-chariots. 6 
 But I do not know a greater confirmation of British 
 advancement than the circumstance mentioned by Csesar, 
 
 amongst the imports, ivory, bracelets, necklaces, amber, vessels of 
 glass, and small wares (Strabo, iv. 5) ; and he says that the customs 
 levied on the exports and imports between Gaul and Britain were 
 more valuable than any tribute that could have been extorted from 
 Britain if conquered (Strabo, ii. 5, iv. 5). This argues a very- 
 advanced state of commerce, and therefore of civilisation. 
 
 1 Strabo, lib. iii. 5. 
 
 2 " Londinium cognomento quidem colonize non insigne, sed copia 
 negotiatorum et commeatuum maxime celebre." — Tac. Ann. xiv. 33. 
 
 3 Caes. B. G. v. 14. 
 
 4 Caesar (B. G. v. 19) speaks of " omnibus viis notis semitisque." 
 
 5 Every reader of the Bible must recollect the frequent allusion 
 to the use of chariots in the wars of the Jews ; and every classic 
 must recur to the chariots of the Greeks and Trojans on the banks 
 of the Simois and Scamander. The Britons in the time of Caesar 
 were probably not far behind the Jews in the times of their judges 
 and kings, or the Greeks in the days of Homer. " "Apfxaai pev yap 
 /caret tovq iroXifJiovg ^puivTai, KaQairep oi TraXaiol rdv 'EWi'/i'dtc ijpcoeg 
 kv rw TjoauKW ttoXe/jiu) KE^prjrrdaL 7rapac)tcWrcu." — Diod. Sic. v. 21. 
 
 6 Caes. B. G. v. 19. 
 
12 STATE OF BRITAIN. 
 
 that, when he made war upon the Veneti to the west 
 of Gaul, the Britons sent a fleet of ships to their 
 assistance. 1 This could not have taken place unless the 
 Britons had possessed an organised constitution, and 
 formed continental alliances, and maintained a trained 
 and permanent navy. There is one instance of their 
 successful pursuit of the useful arts which I may not 
 omit, as it does honour more particularly to my own 
 county. The iron which was used by the Britons was 
 manufactured by themselves in the maritime parts, i. e. 
 amongst the Eegni, or people of Sussex. 2 It is familiar 
 to all, that a great part of that county is still strewn 
 up and down with the cinders of furnaces worked 
 from the earliest ages until the commencement of the 
 present century, when, as there was no coal in the 
 district, and the wood was exhausted, they were 
 abandoned for want of fuel. 
 
 We now descend to details, and our first inquiry 
 will be from what port the expedition of Csesar 
 started. From the Ehine to the Seine there is scarcely 
 a harbour or roadstead which has not at some time or 
 other had its zealous advocates. 3 Some writers have 
 
 1 B. G. iii. 9. 
 
 2 " Nascitur ibi plumbum album [tin] in mediterraneis regionibus ; 
 in maritimis ferrum, sed ejus exigua est copia: cere utuntur impor- 
 tator — Ib.Y. 12. 
 
 3 Mariette (in his Lettre a M. Bouillet sur V Article de Boulogne, 
 Paris, 1847) enumerates the different publications in favour of the 
 various theories, and classes them as follows : — 
 
 In favour of Boulogne, 11 ; 
 Wissant, 5 ; 
 Calais, 5 ; 
 
 Etaples, 2(13 miles S. of Boulogne on La Canche) ; 
 Mardick, 1 (3 miles S.W. of Dunkirk) ; 
 Authie, 1 (8 miles E. of the Somme, and 7 from 
 La Canche). 
 
PORT OF EMBARCATIOX. 13 
 
 thrown out a bold conjecture at random, and then 
 endeavoured to bend the facts in accordance with their 
 hypothesis. Others have taken only a partial view, 
 and shut their eyes to circumstances which militated 
 against their favourite position. Others have laboured 
 under a misapprehension, from failing to catch the 
 true sense of Caesar's Commentaries. I will mention 
 some of the most plausible theories, and dispose of them 
 in a few words. 
 
 According to some, then, either Dunkirk or Grave- 
 lines was the place of embarcation. One objection lies 
 against both of them, viz. that the passage to Britain, 
 where Caesar crossed, is said to have been only thirty 
 miles 1 ; whereas Dunkirk and Gravelines are both of 
 them much more. Besides, we are told that to the 
 east of Caesar's port of embarcation was another haven, 
 eight miles off 2 , and there is no such haven eight miles 
 to the east of Dunkirk, though Dunkirk itself is only 
 three leagues, or nine miles, from Gravelines. 
 
 The theory of Calais appears, at first sight, more 
 plausible 3 , but we must not judge of Calais as it was 
 by Calais as it is. It was never used, so far as we 
 know, by the Eomans, and accordingly no Eoman re- 
 mains have been discovered there. It was not even a 
 walled town, until just before the capture of it by the 
 English, in the reign of Edward the Third. The coun- 
 
 Thus the great preponderance of opinion is in favour of Boulogne. 
 We have now to add the novel theory of the Astronomer Koyal in 
 favour of the estuary of the Somme. 
 
 1 B. G. v. 2. 2 B. G. iv. 22. 
 
 3 It has been suggested that Calais takes its name from Calicius, 
 thought to have some affinity to Portus Icius, but the proper name 
 of Calais in Latin is not Calicius, but Caletum or Casletum. (See 
 Mariette, p. 22.) 
 
14 PORT OF EMBARCATION. 
 
 try about it, too, is flat and marshy, and consequently 
 unhealthy for an encampment, and the inhabitants 
 suffer severely from want of salubrious water. The 
 port, also, could never have been larger than at pre- 
 sent, and could not, therefore, have contained 560, 
 or if we reckon tenders 800, vessels, on the occasion 
 of the second expedition. When I was at Calais in 
 1857, I walked round the whole port, including the 
 wooden pier, and I could find room only at the utmost 
 for 300 merchantmen. But Calais could not have been 
 the place of embarcation for other reasons. It was not 
 thirty miles from Britain, and had no haven to the east 
 of it at the distance of eight miles. Gravelines, which 
 is the nearest, is fifteen miles off. 
 
 Wissant, between Cape Grrisnez and Cape Blancnez, 
 was fixed upon as Caesar's port, by the learned D'An- 
 ville 1 ; but, great as is the authority of that eminent 
 geographer, his proposition is (under favour) wholly 
 untenable. Wissant is no port at all, but only a sandy 
 beach, four miles long, and the radius of curvature 
 five and a half miles. 2 The chief arguments on which 
 D'Anville relied were these : first, that the name 
 of Wissant (the corruption of the Dutch Wit-sand 
 
 1 Memoire sur le Port Icius, imprime dans le tome xxviii. p. 397, 
 des Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. 
 
 2 Archaeolog. vol. xxxiv. p. 231. Mariette, a native or inhabitant 
 of Boulogne, thus describes Wissant : — " Les caps Blanez et Grinez 
 a peine distant l'un de l'autre de six a sept kilometres, sont joint par 
 une ligne de cotes, dont la courbe reguliere et rentrante forme une 
 petite baie tranquiUe, au fond de laquelle on trouve un village. 
 Wissant n'est plus une ville ; c'est tout au plus un village; c'est 
 plutot un hameau egare dans un desert de sable." — p. 29. Wissant 
 nourished as a port from a. d. 556 to a. d. 938. (lb. p. 30.) There 
 are the remains of a camp there, called Caesar's Camp, but capable 
 at the most of containing 500 men only. (lb. p. 35, 38.) " Wis- 
 
PORT OF EMBARCATION. 15 
 
 or White-sand) has some resemblance to Portus Itius 1 , 
 from which Caesar sailed ; and, secondly, that Caesar, 
 before embarking, marched down to the Morini, whence 
 was the shortest passage into Britain 2 , and that from 
 Wissant to Dover is the directest Hue. But there is 
 little similarity, even in sound, between Itius and Wis- 
 sant or White-sand ; and as for the argument that Caesar 
 took the shortest passage from Portus Itius, he tells us, as 
 I conceive, the very reverse, for he selected Portus Itius, 
 he says, because it was the most convenient, thereby 
 implying that it was not the nearest port. He adds, 
 also, that Portus Itius was thirty Eoman miles from 
 Britain 3 , whereas Wissant is not much above twenty 
 Eoman miles. 
 
 The only other theory which I shall examine is that 
 which has been recently broached by the distinguished 
 astronomer to whom I have already alluded, Professor 
 Airy, who maintains that Caesar set sail from the estuary 
 of the Somme, and landed at Pevensey. Now I confess 
 
 sant n'eut guere de port veritable avant le milieu du x e siecle, et 
 j usque-la il avait du se suffire avec le port naturel forme par 
 1' embouchure du petit (ruisseau) Rien de Sombre, port moins utile 
 que ceux de Sangatte et d'Ambleteuse qui etaient deja florissants." 
 — lb. p. 32. " The bay of Wissant is a solitary expanse, a curve 
 of some seven or eight miles." — H L. L.\ Gent. Mag. vol. xxvi. 
 (1846) p. 254. 
 
 1 There are various readings of the name. It sometimes appears 
 as Itius, sometimes as Icius, and sometimes as Iccius. It is 
 generally thought to be the same word as that applied by Ptolemy 
 to Cape Grisnez, "Ikiov aKpov, and, if so, the true reading would 
 be Portus Icius. On the other hand, Strabo speaks of to "Itlov 
 (ed. Tauchnitz, iv. 5), which implies that the reading in his time 
 was Itius; as this is the more received form, it is adopted in 
 the text. As to the various readings, see Somner's Portus Iccius, 
 p. viii. 
 
 2 B. G. iv. 21. 3 b. G. v. 2. 
 
16 PORT OF EMBARCATIOX. 
 
 myself under no little obligation to the Astronomer 
 Eoyal for much additional light which he has thrown 
 upon the subject, but from the hypothesis that Caesar 
 sailed from the estuary of the Somme I must dissent 
 toto ccelo. It is at variance, as appears to me, with the 
 whole of Caesar's narrative; and, while it commands 
 attention from the high reputation of its advocate, can 
 never make many converts. The error lies, if I may 
 say so, in an unlucky interpretation of some passages 
 in the Commentaries, and I refer more particularly to 
 the three following. The first is this : Caesar, having 
 resolved on the invasion, " goes with all his forces to 
 the Morini, because thence was the shortest transit," 1 
 from which it may be concluded that the port from 
 which he sailed was at least in the country of the 
 Morini ; but as the Somme would not, according to the 
 common notion, be within their borders, the Professor 
 renders the Latin proficiscitur not " goes " but " sets 
 out for," and supposes that Caesar never actually reached 
 the Morini. But a few lines farther, we find these 
 words, " while Caesar tarries in these places in order to 
 get the vessels ready" &c. 2 ; so that, evidently, Caesar 
 had not only set out for, but also arrived in, the 
 country of the Morini. Secondly, on the occasion of 
 the second expedition, Caesar, speaking of himself in 
 the third person, proceeds : " And he commands all 
 to rendezvous at the Portus Itius, from which port 
 he had found the passage into Britain the most 
 convenient, being about thirty miles from the Con- 
 tinent." 3 It is plain from this language that the 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 21. 
 
 2 " Dum in his locis Caesar navium parandarum causa moratur." — 
 B. G. iv. 22. 
 
 3 " Atque omnes ad Portum Itium convenire jubet, quo ex portu 
 
 
 
TORT OF EMBARKATION. 17 
 
 traverse from Portus Itius was tliirty miles, and, if 
 so, it could not be that from the Somme to Peven- 
 sey, which is fifty-two nautical, or sixty statute, miles, 
 not to mention that the estuary of a river cannot in 
 strictness be called a port at all. - How, then, does the 
 Professor deal with this difficulty % Why thus : he 
 says that the thirty miles do not apply to the traverse 
 from Portus Itius, but to the distance of Britain from 
 the Continent generally. Now had Caesar ever made 
 such an assertion, he would have laboured under an 
 evident mistake, as the distance from Britain to the 
 Continent, i. e. from Dover to Cape Grisnez or Cape 
 Blancnez, is only about twenty Eoman miles ; but 
 Cassar does not so state. The words " circiter millium 
 passuum xxx," or about thirty Eoman miles, belong, 
 from, their collocation and grammatical construction, 
 to the traverse from Portus Itius (transjectum), and 
 are not an observation (which would be very mat a 
 propos) as to the distance of Britain from Gaul gene- 
 rally. In the latter case the writer would have said, not 
 " circiter millium passuum xxx," but " circiter millia 
 passuum xxx." 1 Thirdly, on the return from Britain 
 to Gaul, two of the transports (being, I suppose, more 
 heavily laden than the rest, and bad sailers) missed the 
 
 commodissimum in Britanniam transjectum esse eognoverat, circiter 
 millium passuum xxx a continenti." — B. G. v. 2. 
 
 1 Caesar is more accurate than subsequent writers ; for Diodorus 
 Siculus makes the distance of Gaul from Britain twelve and a half 
 miles only (lib. v. c. 21) ; Strabo, on the contrary, estimates the 
 distance from Portus Itius of the Morini to Britain 320 stades, or 
 forty miles (Strab. iv. c. 5.) ; and Pliny reckons the distance from 
 Boulogne to Britain as much as fifty miles (Plin. N. H. lib. iv. s. 
 30) ; and Dion also states the distance of Gaul from Britain to be 
 fifty miles (Dion, xxxix. 50). 
 
 C 
 
18 POET OF EMBARCATIOK 
 
 Portus Itius for which they were bound, and, "paullo 
 infra delatse sunt," were borne away a little to the 
 south 1 , and the troops on landing were surrounded 
 by the Morini, who attempted to cut them off. It is 
 plain, therefore, that the coast to the south of Portus 
 Itius was still in the country of the Morini, whereas 
 the coast to the south of the estuary of the Somme 
 would not be so, as the settlements of the Morini ex- 
 tended westward as far only as La Canche. What is 
 the Astronomer Eoyal's answer to this objection % He 
 is driven to the necessity of saying that " paullo infra 
 delatse sunt" means only that the ships were " carried 
 down the wind !" Such an interpretation is, I venture 
 to say, wholly inadmissible. Csesar invariably uses the 
 words "inferior" (v. 13), "superior" (iv. 28), " ulterior" 
 (iv. 23), with reference to the points of the compass ; 
 and, considering himself as located at Eome, regards 
 any departure from it towards the north as an ascent. 
 There are other grave reasons against Airy's theory, 
 but I pass them over for the present, as the force of 
 them will be better appreciated hereafter, as we trace 
 the progress of the invasion. 
 
 1 have canvassed the opinions of the Astronomer 
 Eoyal with the utmost freedom, and the only reparation I 
 can make is to give him his revenge by bringing forward 
 my own hypothesis. The port then from which Ceesar 
 sailed was Boulogne. 2 All the arguments which have 
 been urged against the other theories are so many 
 
 > B. G. iv. 36. 
 
 2 Strabo says that Caesar made the Seine his dockyard, " ivravda 
 de /cat to vavrrrj-yiov avveffrriffaro Kdiffap 6 deoe, 7r\iti)v etc Trjv Bper- 
 ravto/v" (lib. iv. 5), but Itium his sailing port, which he places 
 amongst the Morini, "Mopivu>i> irap olg kan /cat to "Ytlov w expy'ivaro 
 vavaradjjiu Kalaap 6 deog dialpwv elg rrjaov" (lib. iv. 5). 
 
PORT OF EMBARCATION. 19 
 
 confirmations of this. For instance, we have seen that 
 Cassar, in order to prepare for the expedition by col- 
 lecting transports, marched into the country of the 
 Morini, and Boulogne was not only a port, but was the 
 port of the Morini 1 ; and, when Florus tells us that Cassar 
 sailed from the 'port of the Morini, he can only mean 
 Boulogne, which was universally stamped with that 
 character. 2 Calais, no doubt, was also on the coast of 
 the Morini, but was comparatively unknown and insig- 
 nificant, as is evident from the Eoman military roads 
 all converging, not to Calais, but to Gesoriacum or 
 Boulogne. 3 It was at the latter port that Claudius 
 embarked for the invasion of Britain 4 , and here also it 
 is generally understood that Caligula had intended to 
 embark for a similar object, and did actually construct 
 a pharos for the benefit of voyagers to and fro between 
 Boulogne and Britain. 5 Hence Lupicinus sailed by 
 
 1 " Ultimos Gallicarum gentium Morinos, nee portu quern 
 Gesoriacum vocant quicquam notius habet." — Pomp. Mela, iii. 2; 
 " Mopivtiv Triaopiaicov ETrlveiov.' n — Ptolem. ii. 9. 3. " Haec [Britain] 
 abest a Gessoriaco Morinorum gentis litore proximo trajectu quin- 
 quaginta m." — Plin. N. H. iv. 30. 
 
 2 " Quum tertia vigilia Morino solvisset e Portu minus quam 
 medio die insulam ingressus est. " — Flor. iii. 10. 
 
 3 The line of road is given in Antonin. Itin., viz. from Bagacum 
 (Bavay) to Castellum (Cassel), and thence to Taruenna (Terou- 
 enne), and thence to Gesoriacum or Bononia (now Boulogne). 
 It is stated by Mariette, that, from coins found upon the road, it 
 appears to have been made by Agrippa in B.C. 27; and, if so, 
 Boulogne must have been the usual port of that coast at least very 
 soon after Cassar's time. See Mariette, p. 47. 
 
 4 " A Massilia Gesoriacum usque pedestri itinere confecto inde 
 transmisit." — Suet. Claud. 17. That Claudius also took large 
 supplies with him, see Dion, ix. 21. 
 
 5 Suet. Calig. 46. It is certain that until about 100 years ago 
 
 c 2 
 
20 PORT OF EMBARCATION. 
 
 command of the Emperor Julian 1 , and Theodosius by 
 command of Valentinian 2 ; hence also Constantius Chlo- 
 rus 3 ; and hence, in A. D. 893, the Danes crossed to 
 the mouth of the Lymen. 4 But further, I have 
 already called attention to the distinguishing mark 
 of the Portus Itius, that it was thirty Eoman miles, 
 or twenty-seven and a half English miles, from the 
 shores of Britain, and that is just the distance of 
 Boulogne from Folkestone. Certainly the advertise- 
 ments of the South-Eastern Eailway Company state 
 Boulogne to be only twenty-six miles from Folkstone, 
 but measurement is one thing and railway advertise- 
 ment another. I asked one of the Company's own 
 officials at Folkestone whether twenty-six miles was the 
 actual distance, and he candidly confessed that it was 
 considerably more. But there is another remarkable 
 feature which identifies Boulogne as the Portus Itius. 
 When Csesar sailed on his first expedition eighteen 
 transports were detained by contrary winds at a haven 
 eight miles 5 higher up, or more to the north. 6 When 
 I turned my attention to this subject I was soon satisfied, 
 on numerous independent grounds, that Boulogne must 
 be the port from which Cassar sailed, but I was not 
 then aware how far it would answer to the requisite 
 
 there stood at Boulogne a Roman pharos which would exactly 
 answer to that of Caligula. See a description of it in Dr. Ber- 
 trand's History of Boulogne. It will be seen depicted in the old 
 map inserted in this work. 
 
 1 Ammian. Marc, cited Mon. Hist. Brit. p. lxxiii. 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 Eumenius in Paneg. in Constant. Cses. c. 14. 
 
 * Anglo-Saxon Chron. a.d. 893. 
 
 5 " xviii onerariae naves, quae ex eo loco millibus passuum 
 viii vento tenebantur, quo minus in eundem portum pervenire 
 possent." — B. G. iv. 22. 
 
 6 " Ulteriorem portum." — iv. 22. 
 
Copy of an ancient Map in the Cottoniarv 
 Collection, at theBrMshMuseiun, without 
 a date hut supposed to be of the 76 ^Century. 
 
 E l/Oer Lithog. 
 
TORT OF EMBARCATIOff. 21 
 
 of having another port eight miles to the north. I was 
 walking one morning, on my return from the Continent, 
 along the long wooden pier of Calais, when I fell into 
 conversation with two French cures, and I broached 
 the subject of Csesar's invasion. I found them the 
 most unprejudiced witnesses, for they had no acquaint- 
 ance with the classics, and took no interest in the 
 matter ! I asked them if there were any haven some 
 eight miles from Calais, and they told me that Gravelines 
 was the nearest, which I understood to be about fifteen 
 miles. I then repeated the same inquiry with refer- 
 ence to Boulogne, when they told me that Ambleteuse, 
 though now only used for small craft, had formerly 
 been a port of much greater consequence, as was 
 attested by the remains of ancient works there. On 
 returning to the hotel I questioned the landlord about 
 the distance of Ambleteuse from Boulogne, and he 
 said two leagues and a half, which would make eight 
 Eoman miles. 1 From subsequent investigation I find 
 that Louis XIV. had proposed to make Ambleteuse a 
 port of first-rate excellence, and that Napoleon after- 
 wards entertained a similar project, but that both 
 undertakings were eventually abandoned. 2 It is almost 
 
 1 " Ambleteuse est a 8000 pas [8 miles] environ de Boulogne, et 
 la rade d' Ambleteuse est encore a 8000 pas." — Mariette, p. 63. The 
 same writer thus speaks of the port : " La Canche a Quantavicus, la 
 Liane a Gesoriacum, la Slacq a Ambleteuse, formaient deja des ports 
 plus grands " {lb. 33) ; and a writer in the Gent. Mag. speaks of it 
 as follows : " The embouchure of a little channel for draining the 
 valley forms at present the little harbour of Ambleteuse." — H. L. 
 L.: Gent. Mag. vol. xxvi. (1846) p. 252. 
 
 2 In the sixth century, Ambleteuse was noted for its trade and 
 fortifications. In 1209 (when it was rebuilt after its destruction 
 by the northern barbarians) excavations were made to form a 
 port. In 1544, Henry the Eighth used it as a general depot for 
 
 c 3 
 
22 PORT OF EMBARCATION. 
 
 unnecessary to mention that James II., on abdicating 
 the English throne, landed at Ambleteuse. 
 
 It may be thought a slight circumstance, but is not 
 to be passed unnoticed, that Csesar more than once 
 speaks of Ports in the plural number 1 , and this is exactly 
 the case if we assume Caesar's rendezvous to have been 
 at Boulogne ; for then, not only was there the little 
 port of Ambleteuse eight miles off, but also a still 
 smaller one at Wimereux 2 , lying between Ambleteuse 
 and Boulogne. Thus while the body of the fleet was 
 assembled at Boulogne, some supernumeraries, particu- 
 larly the smaller craft, would be lying at the two 
 subordinate havens. 
 
 Another argument in favour of Boulogne, which 
 has considerable weight, arises from the name itself 
 of Portus Itius. It is true that the identical word 
 nowhere else occurs in history ; but Ptolemy, the 
 famous geographer, in describing this part of the coast, 
 calls Cape Grisnez, Cape Icius. 3 Even if the true 
 
 warlike stores, when it became one of the safest and finest ports 
 in the channel. A few years after it was taken by the French, 
 and the fortifications rased. In 1680 Louis XIV. determined on 
 restoring the port, and intrusted the work to the celebrated Vauban, 
 when the sluice of the Slacq was made, and a basin dug and a pier 
 added, but the full plan was never completed. In 1803 the right 
 wing of Napoleon's grand army was stationed here, and the port 
 and basin were cleared out. At present the village has a ruinous 
 aspect, wearing only the tattered remnant of pristine splendour." — 
 BertrancPs Hist, of Boulogne. 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 36. v. 8. 
 
 2 " At a short distance from Boulogne, on the coast, is the Port of 
 Wimereux, formed by the mouth of the river bearing the same name. 
 Half a league up the river is the village of Wimille." — BertranoVs 
 History of Boulogne. The relative positions of Boulogne, Amble- 
 teuse, and Wimereux will be seen upon the old map. 
 
 3 " Merd rag tov *Lr\Koava Trora/jLov [Seine] EK^oXdg <f>pov$iog -Kora- 
 jiov £»c€o\cu "Ituov ciitpoy" — ii. 9 3 1. 
 
 
PORT OF EMBARCATION. 23 
 
 reading of the port in Caesar be Itius, the two names 
 are very near to each other, and I believe all writers 
 are agreed that they must be taken to be the same 
 word. If this be so, how strong is the presumption 
 that Boulogne must be the Portus Icius, for, with 
 the exception of the comparatively small havens of 
 Ambleteuse and Wimereux, it is the nearest port to 
 Cape Icius. Assuming Cape Grisnez to be Cape Icius, 
 it can hardly be supposed that the estuary of the 
 Somme, as Airy suggests, can be the Portus Icius, 
 when Boulogne, which is, and always has been, a port 
 of much greater celebrity, intervenes between the 
 Somme and the Cape. The very name also of Itius, 
 Icius, or Iccius, may still be traced in the vicinity of 
 Boulogne. A little above the town is the village of 
 Isques, at Pont de Briques. 1 This bridge is of great 
 antiquity, and till recently was the only one connecting 
 the two banks of the Liane, and stood 2 in ancient times 
 
 1 " Un petit village, assis agreablement sur la rive gauche de la 
 Liane, a quelques pas de Boulogne et de l'enibouchure de cette ri- 
 viere, annonce meme des pretensions a porter encore le nom de 
 l'lcius de Cesar : c'est le village d'Isques, nom moderne qui 
 parait etre un derive assez naturel du substantif latin. Interrogez 
 les habitans de ce village, et ils vous diront que la tradition du 
 passage de Cesar est encore vivante parmi eux, que la mer montait 
 autrefois jusque a Isques, comme elle y monterait encore inaintenant 
 sous les moulins a eau du Pont de Briques et le Pont de l'Ecluse de 
 Boulogne, et que le lit de la Liane, bien plus large et plus profond 
 qu'aujourd'hui formait un port d'un abord facile, et d'autant plus 
 sur qu'il etait protege duvent par des coteaux voisins." — Mariette, p. 
 24. This writer, who as a Boulognese seems a little jealous of Isques, 
 yet admits that the name may have been derived from Portus Icius. 
 The town was at all events known in the 9th century; for he adds 
 in a note, " Isques, sous le nom dTska, existait avant les invasions 
 des Normands au ix e siecle." — Harbaville, Memorial Hist, et Ar- 
 chceol.t. ii. p. 80. 
 
 2 It is so placed in the old map ; and in Bertrand's Hist. 
 
 c 4 
 
24 PORT OF EMBARCATION. 
 
 at the head of the estuary. Thus Isques would naturally 
 give its name to the port below. Napoleon, when at 
 Boulogne superintending the preparations for the inva- 
 sion of England, is said to have fixed his head-quarters 
 at Pont de Briques 1 , and as great commanders would 
 be acted upon by similar influences, what more probable 
 than that Caesar also should have pitched the praetorian 
 tent at Isques, and then have spoken of the port below 
 as Portus Icius 1 
 
 I cannot help adding that the very circumstance of 
 Napoleon's selection of Boulogne for his port of em- 
 barcation is a strong argument for referring Caesar's 
 expedition to the same spot. Both generals had the 
 same object in view, and were at the head of pow- 
 erful armies, and had collected a numerous flotilla. 
 If Caesar had 800 vessels 2 , Napoleon had 1300 at 
 Boulogne alone. 3 If Caesar made use of a port ' eight 
 miles to the north of Portus Itius, and another yet 
 nearer 4 , Napoleon quartered one division of his army, 
 with a squadron of vessels, at Ambleteuse, and another 
 at Wimereux. 5 If Caesar's ships were all flat-bottomed, 
 in order that they might float in shallow water, and 
 be more expeditiously freighted 6 , Napoleon adopted 
 the very same principle for the very same reason, 
 so that his vast fleet, even exceeding that of Caesar, 
 was accommodated in the harbour and river of 
 Boulogne, and yet was so conveniently stowed, that, 
 
 of Boulogne, it is said anciently to have stood at the head of the 
 estuary. 
 
 1 Bertrand's Hist, of Boulogne. 
 
 2 B. G. v. 8. 
 
 3 Bertrand's Hist, of Boulogne. 
 
 4 B. G. iv. 22. 5 See Bertrand's Hist, of Boulogne. 
 6 " Ad celeritatem onerandi subductionesque." — B. G. v. 1. 
 
PORT OF EMBARCATION. 25 
 
 on a rehearsal of the embarcation, by way of experi- 
 ment, the whole army was put on board in the course 
 of one hour and a half. l Had we the details of Caesar's 
 armament, as of Napoleon's, the resemblance might, no 
 doubt, be traced further, but this will suffice for our 
 purpose. 
 
 The Astronomer Eoyal observes, as an objection to 
 Boulogne, that 5000 men could not have been shipped 
 from it at a single tide ; but, if the whole of Napoleon's 
 army could be put on board in an hour and a half, it 
 was surely not beyond the reach of Caesar's genius to 
 clear one half of that number from the port during the 
 interval between one low water and another. I do not 
 know that there would have been any difficulty about 
 it 2 ; however, it is unnecessary to pursue the subject 
 further, as Caesar nowhere says that he did ship off his 
 whole fleet in a single tide. No doubt they all started 
 at once from their anchorage at the mouth of the port, 
 but they might have quitted the port itself before 
 anchoring outside, in as many tides as their number 
 required. 
 
 Time and place are said to be the two eyes of 
 history ; and, now that we have fixed the place of em- 
 barcation, we proceed to determine the time ; and, if 
 I am not mistaken, you will be surprised to find with 
 what accuracy this point can be settled. 
 
 The expedition was in the consulship of Cneius 
 
 1 See Bertrand's Hist, of Boulogne. 
 
 2 In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a.d. 893, is the following pas- 
 sage : — "In this year the great army about which we formerly spoke 
 came again from the Eastern kingdom westward to Boulogne, and 
 there was shipped ; so that they came over in one passage (a?nne 
 ptS), horses and all, and they came to land at Limene mouth with 
 250 ships." 
 
26 TIME OF SAILING. 
 
 Ponrpey and M. Crassus 1 , and was, therefore, certainly 
 in B.C. 55. The season of the year is expressly men- 
 tioned to have been when little of summer remained 2 , 
 and we are, therefore, at once prepared to place it 
 somewhere about August. But we can advance a step 
 further; for repeated allusions, on Csesar's arrival in 
 Britain, are made to the harvest as still continuing 3 , 
 but drawing towards its conclusion 4 ; and we all know 
 that in Kent and Sussex the harvest month is August. 
 But again, Caesar returned from Britain a little before 
 the equinox 5 , which the ancients reckoned to be 24th 
 September, and his stay in Britain was, as we shall see 
 hereafter, little more than three weeks, and this con- 
 firms the deduction from other data, that the voyage 
 was in August. But we can tell the very day of his 
 embarcation, for Caesar informs us that on the fourth 
 day of his arrival in Britain (the day of arrival included) 
 occurred the full moon 6 ; and, as the harvest was nearly 
 over, it must have been the full moon (if there was one) 
 late in August. We turn to De Morgan's Booh of 
 Almanacks, which gives us the full moons from 2000 
 years B.C. to 2000 a.d., and we find that in B.C. 55, the 
 year in question, the full moon was on the night of 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 1. 
 
 2 " Exigua parte aestatis reliqua." — B. G. iv. 20. 
 
 3 " Frunientum ex aquis in castra quotidie (Caesar) conferebat." 
 — 5. G. iv. 31. 
 
 4 " Omni ex reliquis partibus demesso fruniento, una pars erat 
 reliqua." — B. G. iv. 32. 
 
 5 " Propinqua die aequinoctii." — B. G. iv. 36. 
 
 6 "Post diem quartam quani est in Britanniam ventum, naves 
 
 xvin . . . leni vento solverunt Eadem nocte accidit, ut 
 
 esset luna plena." — B. G. iv. 28, 29. "Post diem quartam" 
 means the fourth day current, including the day of the arrival as 
 the first. Thus, " Neque te illo die, neque postero vidi, . . . post 
 diem tertiam veni," &c. — Cic. Philip, ii. 35. 
 
TIME OF SAILING. 27 
 
 Wednesday the 30th August, or, to speak strictly, at 
 3 a.m. in the morning of Thursday the 31st August. 
 This may be received as a fact capable of mathematical 
 demonstration, and has, therefore, been assumed by all 
 commentators as a fixed point. The fourth day before 
 the full moon was, therefore, Sunday .the 27th August, 
 on which day, consequently, Caesar reached Britain ; and, 
 as he had set sail the night before, he of course started 
 on Saturday the 26 th August. 
 
 I need scarcely mention that Boulogne is a tidal 
 harbour, in other words, that it can only be entered or 
 quitted at high water, or at least not at low water. 
 Now, to ascertain the state of the tide, we have only to 
 determine the moon's age. At Boulogne it is high 
 water at full moon at 11.20, and, as the tide is 48 
 minutes earlier every preceding day, it follows that 
 on 26th August, B.C. 55, being the fifth day before the 
 full moon (the day of full moon included), it was high 
 water about 8 p.m. At this time then, or an hour or 
 two previously, the ships would be rapidly dropping 
 down from the harbour and anchoring outside, ready 
 to sail at the word of command. 1 Many hours would 
 be consumed in emptying the port of its crowd of 
 transports, and the fleet would scarcely be under weigh 
 before midnight. But we are not left to conjecture on 
 this head, as Caesar tells us that he started about the 
 third watch, i.e. about twelve o'clock at night 2 ; and the 
 
 1 It seems to be a general notion that Caesar sailed at high water 
 or at the ebbing of the flood, and this would be true if it be meant 
 that his ships then dropped down from the harbour : but it would 
 not be true in the sense of actually weighing anchor on his voyage 
 across the channel ; for, as he did not set sail until midnight, high 
 water would by that time have been long past. "'ETripcuTe £e Kara tov 
 Kaipov rfjg au7rwr£wc" — Appian, cited Monum. Hist. Brit. p. 
 50. "Tate afX7rojT£(TL rov 7re\dyovg ffv/iOejOoaei'oi." — lb. 
 
 2 " Tertia fere vigilia." — B. G. iv. 23. 
 
28 CESAR'S ARMY. 
 
 moon, which had been long up, was nearly at the 
 full, and would thus facilitate both the embarcation 
 and passage. 
 
 While Caesar is crossing the channel let us form an 
 estimate of the invader's force. He tells us that he took 
 with him two legions, the 7th and the celebrated 10th, 
 in eighty transports. 1 A legion, in theory, consisted of 
 ten cohorts, and each cohort of three maniples, and 
 each maniple of two centuries, so that, if a century 
 contained, as it was supposed to do, 100 men, the total 
 number in a legion would be 6000. But, in fact, a legion 
 had seldom if ever its full strength, and usually con- 
 sisted of about 4,200 men, so that Cassar's two legions on 
 this occasion would probably not exceed 8,400. We 
 may arrive at much the same result by another process. 
 Of his eighty transports, Csesar lost twelve in Britain, 
 which would reduce them to sixty-eight. Two of them, 
 on their return to Gaul, were drifted beyond the port 
 for which they were bound, and the troops on board 
 were obliged to land some way off to the south, and it 
 is incidentally mentioned that these two transports 
 carried together 300 men, or 150 each. 2 Now, if every 
 one of the sixty-eight vessels was freighted with the 
 same number, the total amount would be 10,200 ; but 
 the two unlucky transports may have been thrown 
 out of their course from being the most heavily laden, 
 and if so it may well be supposed that the whole army 
 was not much above 8,400. Professor Airy assumes 
 8000, and this calculation cannot be very wide of the 
 truth. 3 
 
 1 " Navibus circiter lxxx onerariis coactis, contractisque, quod 
 satis esse ad duas legiones transportandas existimabat." — B. G. 
 iv. 22. 2 B. G. iv. 37. 
 
 3 A writer of the fourth century observes : " C. Caesar cum decern 
 
CESAR'S ARMY. 29 
 
 As to the cavalry we are much more at a loss for 
 data. Caesar had altogether in Gaul eight legions and 
 4000 horse 1 , which would give 500 horse for each 
 legion. This calculation would yield for the two legions 
 which passed into Britain a complement of 1000 
 cavalry. This inference, however, would be unjust, as 
 in any expedition the relative ratios of infantry and 
 cavalry were extremely variable, and depended alto- 
 gether on circumstances. Thus in the following year 
 Caesar left three legions only in Gaul and 2000 horse, 
 and took with him to Britain five legions and yet only 
 2000 horse. 2 If indeed we might judge of the number 
 of cavalry in the first invasion from that employed in 
 the second, then as five legions were accompanied with 
 2000 horse, two legions would require 800 horse. 
 All that we can say with certainty is that the cavalry 
 did not exceed the number, whatever it was, which 
 could be conveyed in eighteen vessels ; for we have 
 already had occasion to mention that eighteen trans- 
 ports were wind-bound at Ambleteuse, and so unable 
 to reach Boulogne, and that Caesar ordered the cavalry, 
 as the more movable body, to ride over to Amble- 
 teuse, and, embarking there, to follow him with all 
 speed. 3 If these eighteen transports were of equal 
 burden with the rest, then as we know that two 
 ships carried 300 men, or 150 each, and a vessel 
 which could be freighted with 150 men would take 
 from forty to fifty horses, say forty-five 4 , we may infer 
 that the eighteen ships conveyed about 800 cavalry, so 
 
 legionibus quas quaterna millia Italorum habuerant, per annos octo 
 ab alpibus ad Rhenum usque Gallias subegit, ... in Britanniam 
 transivit." — Rufus Sextus, cited Mon. Hist. Brit. p. lxxi. 
 
 1 B. G. v. 5. 2 B. G. v. 8. 
 
 3 B. G. iv. 23. 4 Horsley's Britain. 
 
dO PLACE OF LANDING^ 
 
 tliat tlie force which accompanied the expedition 
 may be reckoned at about that amount. 
 
 It may appear a step of singular boldness that 
 Caesar should have attempted the conquest of the 
 island with such inadequate means ; but it must be re- 
 membered that Caesar, with all his exertions, had been 
 unable to obtain any reliable information, and that he 
 could not tell whether the approaching struggle was to 
 be with a nation of heroes or a hive of drones. 
 
 We left Caesar and his fleet under sail from Boulogne. 
 The transports for the soldiers were eighty in number ; 
 but besides these there were a few fast-sailing war- 
 galleys, or triremes, Caesar himself embarking in one 
 of them, and distributing the rest amongst the officers 
 of his army, the Quaestor, the Legates, and the Prefects. 1 
 The wind must have been favourable, for as the ships 
 at Ambleteuse had been prevented by it from sailing to 
 Boulogne it was blowing from the S. W., and was, 
 therefore, just what was desirable for a passage from 
 Boulogne to Britain. 
 
 The object of Caesar's starting at twelve o'clock at 
 night was, apparently, that he might land by morning, 
 and so have the whole day before him for military 
 operations. Accordingly, at 10 A. M. (or the fourth 
 hour, as the Bomans always reckoned from 6 A. m.) on 
 27th August, Caesar was off the coast of Britain. 
 What part of the coast was it 1 Caesar had embarked 
 from the country of the Morini because they were 
 nearest to Britain 2 , and he tells us in another place that 
 Kent, the eastern corner of the island, was the place 
 for which ships from Gaul were commonly bound. 3 
 
 1 " QuEestori legatis praefectisque distribuit." — B. G. iv. 22. 
 
 2 B. G. v. 2. 
 
 3 " Hujus lateris [the south] alter angulus qui est ad Cantium, 
 
PLACE OF LANDING. 31 
 
 We should suppose, therefore, that Csesar followed the 
 usual track, and made for one of the ports which then 
 as now were the most frequented, viz. Dover or Folke- 
 stone. Indeed we are told as much by Dion, who says 
 that Cassar sailed from the usual port to the usual port, 
 but that he could not land at the latter because it had 
 been preoccupied by the enemy. 1 And it may be 
 added, that, unless he pursued the usual track, how 
 could the Britons have known where to encounter 
 the debarcation'? But let us hear Caesar himself, who 
 has drawn a sketch of the coast such as it presented 
 itself on his first approach. "The nature of the 
 place," he says, " was on this wise : the sea was so hem- 
 med in by confined mountains that a javelin could 
 be thrown from the higher ground upon the shore." 2 
 Quintus Cicero, the brother of Mark Tully, and one 
 of the generals in Caesar's army on the second expe- 
 dition, describes, in his letters home, the outposts of 
 Britain as defended by stupendous masses of natural 
 bulwarks. 3 To what part of Albion can this descrip- 
 tion answer, but to the high chalk cliffs frowning 
 between Sandgate and the South Foreland, which do 
 indeed so hem in the sea that the idea of a hostile 
 
 quo fere ex Gallia naves appelluntur, ad orientem solem spectat." — 
 B. G. v. 13. 
 
 1 " Kai tov jjlev SiEKirXovv »ca0' 6 juaXiora ixpfjv jietcl riov tte£uv 
 £7rotr)aaTO' oh fievTOL Kal r) e$ei rcpoaiayEV, oi yap BpErravot, tov 
 ettittXovv avrov TrpoTrvdo/jiEvoi, Tag KarapaEig cnraaag rag wpb 
 rrjg tiTTEipov ovffag 7rpo(,arf\a€ov." — Dion, xxxix. 51. How 
 accurately the words describe Dover and Folkestone ! 
 
 2 " Cujus loci haec erat natura : adeo montibus angustis mare 
 continebatur, ut ex locis superioribus in littus telum adjici posset." 
 
 — B. G. iv. 23. 
 
 3 " Constat enim aditus insulse esse munitos mirificis molibus." 
 
 — Cic. Ep. Att. iv. 16. 
 
OZ PLACE OF LANDING. 
 
 descent there, in the face of an enemy, would be mili- 
 tary madness. Airy would have us believe that these 
 " mountains " and " stupendous masses " are to be found 
 near Hastings ; but as the Astronomer Eoyal bases his 
 supposition on the assumption that Csesar sailed from 
 the Somme, which we have shown to be untenable, we 
 need not here discuss the matter with him further. 
 
 If Csesar was disappointed at seeing the natural fea- 
 tures of the country, he was probably much more so 
 at another sight which riveted his gaze ; the landing- 
 places at the ports were bristling with hostile spears 1 , 
 and the heights above, also, were covered with troops, 
 not rude savages, but in good martial array. 2 The 
 merchants had studiously kept back from the Eo- 
 mans all information of British affairs ; but every 
 movement of the invaders had been instantly trans- 
 mitted from Gaul to Britain, and the consequence 
 was, that, rapidly as the Eoman legions had been col- 
 lected and transports provided, the islanders, or at 
 least the inhabitants of Kent, with no doubt their 
 compatriots of Sussex, had assembled en masse to 
 oppose the descent. Csesar, with his officers, had 
 preceded the rest of the fleet for the very purpose 
 of preparing for the debarcation, of examining the 
 coast, and taking measures accordingly while the 
 transports were coming up. To effect a landing then 
 and there would, of course, be giving an immense and 
 unnecessary advantage to the enemy, and he would not 
 run the risk. He, therefore, lay at anchor until all the 
 transports had arrived, and spent the interval in sum- 
 
 1 Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
 2 " Atque ibi in omnibus collibus expositas hostium copias firmatas 
 conspexit." — B. G. iv. 23. 
 
TLACE OF DEBAKCATIOX. 33 
 
 moning his officers together, and explaining his views. 
 It would seem that Caesar, like Wellington and all great 
 commanders, kept his counsels to liimself until the mo- 
 ment of action ; it was only now, for the first time, that 
 he produced the survey made by Volusenus, pointed 
 out the mode of attack, and assigned to every one his 
 allotted post. 1 
 
 By 3 o'clock in the afternoon (called by the Eomans 
 the ninth hour) the whole fleet was assembled ; 
 and we may here observe, by the way, that, as from 
 Boulogne to Dover is in round numbers twenty-eight 
 miles, and Caesar liimself, in a war-galley, had been ten 
 hours on the way, viz. from twelve at night to ten 
 in the morning, the average speed would be nearly 
 three miles an hour. The transports, on the other hand, 
 had consumed fifteen hours on the passage, viz. from 
 twelve at night to three in the afternoon, which yields 
 an average of only about two miles an hour. 2 
 
 It was at 3 o'clock, then, in the afternoon, on Sun- 
 day, the 27th August, a.d. 55, that Caesar weighed 
 anchor from before Dover, preparatory to disembarking; 
 and now comes the important and much-agitated ques- 
 tion : Which way did he sail ; to the left or right, to 
 the west or east ? Let us first consider, a priori, what 
 a prudent commander might be expected to do under 
 similar circumstances. The usual ports in front of Mm 
 were preoccupied and impracticable. To the right he 
 would see the precipitous chalk cliffs stretching away to 
 the east till they terminated at the South Foreland, 
 when he would lose sight of land altogether, and on ] y 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 23. 
 
 2 According to Appian, the voyage from Gaul to Britain was half 
 a day, or twelve hours : u "Eort £' avrolg 6 SicnrXovg ij/Jiiav yfiepag^ 
 — Appian, cited Monum. Hist. Brit. 50. 
 
 D 
 
34 PLACE OF DEBARCATIOX. 
 
 the broad expanse of ocean would meet his eye. The 
 lowlands about Warmer or Deal would not be visible ; 
 and it is at least doubtful whether Yolusenus had 
 included them in his survey. On his left was a very 
 different prospect ; for, tracing the line of cliffs west- 
 ward, he could not fail to observe that they terminated 
 at Sandgate, and that a broad level plain there suc- 
 ceeded. I need not produce arguments to show how 
 peculiarly favourable to a hostile descent is the great 
 marsh lying between Sandgate and Eye. The bones 
 that are piled in the crypt of Hythe church (a mass 
 twenty-eight feet long, six broad, and eight high) bear 
 witness of the fierce encounters which have there taken 
 place between the Britons and their invaders on the 
 British Armageddon ; and the martello towers that still 
 line the shore, and the defensive military canal carried 
 along the edge of the marsh, attest the well-founded 
 apprehension in our own day, that here, if ever, the Con- 
 tinental hosts will attempt a burglarious entry into the 
 islanders' home. It was also late in the day with 
 Cassar, and, as the sun would set at seven, he had only 
 four hours to choose his ground and effect a landing. 
 But there is another consideration arising out of the 
 plan of operations which he had just unfolded to his 
 officers. The enemy were in such numbers that to 
 force a descent with only 8,000 men in their presence 
 was, if not a desperate, yet a dangerous, undertaking. 
 His object, therefore, was, by the rapidity of his move- 
 ments, to outstrip his foes, and disembark a sufficient 
 number of troops before they could come up. 1 It was 
 
 1 u Ad nutum et ad tempus omnes res ab iis administrarentur." — 
 B. G. iv. 23. " "E00/7 tt}q yfjg KparrjcraQ Trplv ty^v TrXeiio (TVfi€oi']deiav 
 eXdeiy." — Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
TLACE OF DEBARCATIOX. 35 
 
 absolutely necessary, therefore, that he should take 
 advantage of the tide, or, at all events, that he should 
 not mar his designs by stemming a strong current. 
 
 But we need not theorise upon the subject, as Cassar 
 gives us incidentally a piece of information which is 
 conclusive. " Having got," he says, " the wind and the 
 tide at the same time in his favour, he gave the signal 
 and hoisted anchor, and, advancing about eight miles 
 from that place, he brought his ships to at an open and 
 level shore." 1 Thus he certainly sailed with the tide, 
 and, if we can only discover the direction of the tide, 
 we shall know which way Csesar turned the head of his 
 vessel. Now it may seem at first sight a somewhat 
 difficult problem to calculate the current of the Channel 
 at 3 o'clock on a particular day nearly 2,000 years 
 ago; but the phenomena of nature are unchangeable, and 
 I shall satisfy you that the question can be solved with 
 little trouble and with the greatest exactness. The 
 tides, it is well known, occur twice in the twenty-four 
 hours, and each time about twenty-four minutes later, 
 so that the corresponding tide on each successive day is 
 forty-eight minutes later 2 : thus, if it be high water at 
 Dover to-day at 12 o'clock at noon, it will be high 
 water there to-morrow at twelve minutes before 1 p. m. 
 After a cycle of fourteen days, these tides recur in the 
 same order of succession. The reason is that the new 
 moon and full moon both act upon the ocean in a 
 similar manner ; and, during the interval between the 
 
 1 " Et ventum et aestum uno tempore nactus secundum, dato signo 
 et sublatis anchoris, circiter millia passuum viii ab eo loco pro < 
 gressus, aperto ac piano littore naves constituit." — B. G. iv. 2£. 
 
 2 The Tidal Tables say fifty minutes per day. " The mean 
 interval of time between two consecutive high waters is about 
 12h. 25m." — Tidal Tables for 1859, p. 99. 
 
 d 2 
 
36 PLACE OF DEBARCATION. 
 
 new moon and full moon, and, of course, equally be- 
 tween the full moon and new moon, the tide runs the 
 whole round of ebb and flow until it returns back to 
 the same hour. The period of one lunation, or one 
 revolution of the moon round the earth, is twenty-nine 
 days and a half, so that from new moon to full, and 
 again from full moon to new, is, in strictness, not four- 
 teen days, but fourteen days and three quarters. It is 
 evident from this that, in order to find the time of high 
 water for any particular day, we need only determine 
 the time of it at new or full moon, and the intervening 
 periods of ebb and flow can then be ascertained by 
 allowing forty-eight minutes per diem from the last 
 new or full moon. Accordingly, the tables of the tides 
 are usually calculated for the new and full moons only. 
 However, there are slight disturbing influences which 
 in some degree vary the general rule, and, to enable 
 the mariner to follow them without difficulty, there are 
 published annually, under the direction of the Admi- 
 ralty, "The Tidal Tables for the English and Irish 
 Ports," 1 which show at a glance when it is high water 
 at the principal places round the coasts of England and 
 Ireland for every day in the year. 
 
 In speaking of the tides we must distinguish between 
 the landsman's tide and the seaman's tide. The lands- 
 man standing on the shore, beholds the water rise and 
 fall, and thinks of the tide with reference to its height 
 and depression only, whereas the seaman cares little for 
 the rise or fall, which he does not see, but is very atten- 
 tive to the current caused by the tide, which aids or 
 impedes the progress of his vessel. The direction of 
 
 1 Published by J. 0. Potter, 31, Poultry, Loudon ; and 11, King 
 Street, Tower Hill, London. 
 
PLACE OF DEBARCATIOX. 37 
 
 the current is as regular as the rise and fall of the tide, 
 but both are subject to occasional disturbances from 
 the action of the wind or the state of the atmosphere. 
 These variations, however, it is believed, seldom if ever 
 exceed an hour either in the time of high or low 
 water, or of the turn of the current. As the British 
 Channel is so constantly covered by the mercantile 
 navy of England, great pains have been taken to ascer- 
 tain the turn of the tide in this part. We are here 
 concerned only with that in the Straits of Dover, and 
 I shall, therefore, content myself with stating the rule 
 laid down for the guidance of mariners in the annual 
 referred to. The Admiralty direction then is, that the 
 stream off Dover sets westward at four hours after 
 high water, and runs west for the next seven hours, 
 and then turns eastward and runs so for the next 
 five hours. 1 Thus, to ascertain the current or direction 
 of the tide at Dover, we find first the time of high 
 water there, and four hours after that the stream begins 
 to run west, and will so continue for seven hours, 
 when it will again turn east, and run so for the next five 
 hours. We have now to apply this principle to the year 
 B. c. 55. The full moon was on the 31st of August 
 at 3 A. M. I turn to the Tide Tables published by au- 
 thority for the month of August of the present year, 
 
 1 " About one mile S.S.E. of the South Foreland Lighthouse, the 
 stream begins to set to the eastward about lh. 30m. before high- 
 water on the shore at Dover, and runs from N.E. by E. to E. N.E. 
 about five and a half hours, or till four hours after high water. It 
 then turns and sets W.S.W. quarter W. about seven hours. At 
 Dover the flowing stream very seldom continues more than five 
 hours, and sometimes scarcely so much. It is nearly the same at 
 Eamsgate. To the northward of the South Foreland the streams 
 change their direction to N.E. half N., and S.W. half S. " — Potter's 
 Tide Tables, 1859, p. 110. 
 
 d 3 
 
38 PLACE OF DEBARCATIOK 
 
 1859, and I find that the moon will be at the full on 
 the 13th of August. As regards the moon, therefore, 
 the 31st of August, B.C. 55, and 13th of August, 1859, 
 are corresponding days. To find, then, the time of high 
 water at Dover on the 27th of August, B.C. 55, when 
 Cassar arrived (being the fourth day before the 31st of 
 August, when was the full), we have only to look for 
 the time of high water at Dover on the 9th of August, 
 1859, being the fourth day before the 13th of August, 
 when will be the full. High water at Dover on the 
 9th of August, 1859, will, according to the Tables, be 
 at 7.31 a.m. It was, therefore, high water at 7.31 
 a.m. at Dover on the 27th of August, B.C. 55. But 
 at four hours after high water the tide runs west, and 
 so continues for seven hours; therefore, at 11.31 
 A.M., on the 27th of August, B.C. 55, the stream began 
 to run west, and held on in the same direction until 
 6.31 p.m. 1 At 3 o'clock, therefore, on the 27th of 
 August, B.C. 55, the current was flowing westward at 
 its maximum velocity, and consequently, as Caesar sailed 
 at 3 o'clock on the 27th of August, B.C. 55, in the 
 same direction as the tide, he must have steered west- 
 ward toward Eomney Marsh, and could not possibly 
 have made for Deal. 2 
 
 1 Lieutenant Burstal does not differ much, for he computes " that 
 during the interval between 12.40 and 6.50 p.m. of Aug. 27th 
 (b. c. 55), the stream was setting to the westward, and therefore if 
 Caesar weighed anchor at 3.30 p.m. the stream was setting to the 
 W.S.W."— DunhirCs Hist, of Kent, vol. ii. 73. 
 
 2 As the place of debarcation depends altogether on the direction 
 of the tide at 3 o'clock p.m. on 27th of August, b. c. 55, — that 
 is, the fourth day before the full moon, which was on August 31st at 
 o a.m., — it may be as well to see the range of the tide for every day 
 before full moon throughout the current year 1859. From the 
 
PLACE OF DEBARCATION. 39 
 
 But Caesar tells us in the passage I have quoted, that 
 he had not only the tide, but also the wind in his 
 favour, and this may possibly suggest an apparent 
 objection — viz., that if the wind was in his favour in 
 coming from Boulogne to Dover, it must have been in 
 the south or west ; and then, if it still continued in that 
 quarter, and Caesar sailed before it, he must have 
 steered to the east. But, in the first place, supposing 
 the wind to have blown from the south, it would have 
 been favourable to a movement, from a point opposite 
 Dover, either to the east or west. However, I would 
 rather offer an explanation, which will convert the objec- 
 tion into an argument the other way ; viz. that the wind 
 had, in fact, veered round since the passage from Bou- 
 logne. Thus, Csesar says that he started from his an- 
 chorage off Dover, having got the wind in his favour, and 
 the Latin word nactus implies that the wind had under- 
 
 Tide Tables it will be seen that on January 14th, being the fourth day 
 before the full moon, high water at Dover is at 5.31 A. m. 
 
 February 13 6.13 
 
 March 14 6. 8 
 
 April 13 7.13 
 
 May 12 6.55 
 
 June 11 7.20 
 
 July 11 7.55 
 
 August 9 7.31 
 
 September 8 8.27 
 
 October 7 7.47 
 
 November 6 . . . .7.44 
 
 December 6 7.31 
 
 Thus the earliest high water at Dover is at 5.31 a. m., and the 
 latest at 8.27 a.m., and as the stream turns west at four hours after 
 high water and continues for seven hours, it turns at the earliest at 
 9.31 a. m. and runs till 4.31 p.m. and turns at the latest at 12.27 p.m. 
 and runs till 7.27 p.m. In no case, therefore, would the tide be 
 running east at 3 p. m. 
 
 d 4 
 
40 PLACE OF DEBARCATION. 
 
 gone a change. And this conclusion is strongly evi- 
 denced by another circumstance, which, except on this 
 supposition, is inexplicable. When he embarked at 
 Boulogne he despatched the cavalry to Ambleteuse, eight 
 miles off, with orders to follow him with all haste 1 ; but, 
 much to Csesar's disappointment, they did not leave that 
 haven for Britain until the fourth day after 2 , and no 
 plausible reason can be given for this except that, for 
 the whole of this interval, the wind was contrary ; that 
 is, the wind had shifted. 
 
 At 3 o'clock p.m., on Sunday 27th August, B.C. 55, 
 Caesar quitted his moorings before Dover, and sailed 
 to the west. For six or seven miles he had on his 
 right the beetling bulwarks of the island, the pre- 
 cipitous "cliffs. The cavalry and charioteers of the 
 Britons, followed by the infantry, might be seen at 
 the same time moving along the heights and keeping 
 pace with the fleet, and ready to encounter the enemy 
 in any attempt at debarcation. On nearing Sandgate, 
 and between that place and Hythe, Caesar would see 
 the cliffs retiring inland, and leaving a narrow triangu- 
 lar strip of level ground between themselves and the 
 sea. Here it may be thought, perhaps, that Caesar 
 landed, but a little reflection will lead to a different 
 conclusion. As you stand on the high cliffs and look 
 down upon this triangular plain, the extent of it appears 
 sufficient to accommodate a small army, but not so as 
 you sail along the coast. On reaching it, as I rowed from 
 Dover to Hythe, I immediately concluded in my own 
 
 1 " Equitesque in ulteriorem portum progredi, et naves conscen- 
 dere, ac se sequi jussit : ab quibus cum paullo tardius esset admini- 
 stratum," &c. — B. G. iv. 23. 
 
 2 " Post diem quartum quam est in Britanniam ventum." — B. G. 
 iv. 28. 
 
PLACE OF DEBARCATIOX. 41 
 
 mind that the Eoman eagles could never have alighted 
 here from want of space. The cliffs, too, in the back- 
 ground are so near as to give an enemy an immense 
 advantage, and the seashore could scarcely be called 
 apertum littus. The only temptation to place the landing 
 on this spot is, that at the eastern corner rises the brow 
 of ShornclhTe, a high platform (which has ever been, 
 and is still, a favourite military station) ; and, at the 
 south-western corner of Shorncliffe, and therefore over- 
 looking the triangular plain, is an ancient Eoman camp, 
 which, of course, passes for Caesar's camp. I cannot 
 think, however, that it has in reality any connection 
 with Caesar. His camp on this occasion was apparently 
 on the sea-beach, so as to give protection to the war- 
 galleys drawn up on land. We know also that the 
 Britons had a full view of it, as they despised its narrow 
 dimensions ; but, if perched on the edge of Shorncliffe, 
 it could scarcely have been made the subject of minute 
 examination. The shore also just beneath Shornchffe 
 is any tiring but rnolle or soft 1 , as the rocks here rise 
 abruptly out of the waves. Caesar then sailed by this 
 triangular strip, and rounding the precipitous cliffs 
 which had so long defied him 2 , came to the creek of 
 Limne. 
 
 But here, to make myself intelligible, I must notice 
 the extraordinary changes which have occurred in this 
 part of the coast. I am not at all disposed to be- 
 lieve in general the large and loose statements fre- 
 quently broached as to the alterations of the earth's 
 surface within the memory of man. I was, therefore, 
 at first very incredulous as to the assertions respecting 
 
 1 B. G. v. 9. 
 
 2 " " Aicpav TLva Trepnr\eu(ja.Q." — Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
42 PLACE OF DEBAKCATIOtf. 
 
 the growth of terra Jirma in this quarter, but I am 
 satisfied from personal observation that the sea here 
 has to a great extent retired, and that what is related 
 upon the subject may not improbably be the truth. 
 Possibly the whole of Eomney Marsh may in antedi- 
 luvian times have been covered by the sea, and have 
 been gradually formed by the accumulation of shingle 
 through countless ages; at least, wherever I visited 
 the military canal which laves the foot of the ele- 
 vated border round the marsh, the soil, which has 
 been excavated, is decidedly the same shingle as is still 
 cast up by the tide. It is said that Dungeness Point 
 advances from this accretion about seven feet annu- 
 ally. But to pass from the period of the Ichthyosauri 
 to that of the first century before Christ, of which 
 we are speaking, the marsh, though its general confi- 
 guration must have been the same then as at present, 
 yet presented in some respects very different features. 
 Instead of one regular curvilinear line from Sandgate 
 to Dungeness, there were two inlets which have since 
 been silted up. The first was at Eomney, where 
 originally was the mouth of the river Eother, and by 
 which the Danes on one occasion ascended as far as 
 Appledore. The port was first at Old Eomney, and 
 then, as the sea retreated, at New Eomney, and then, 
 when the Eother (from the effect, it is said, of inunda- 
 tions during a fearful storm) was diverted from its 
 channel, and entered the sea at Eye, the port of Eomney 
 ceased altogether; and, at the present day, no one who did 
 not examine the ground very curiously, would dream 
 that such a haven had ever existed. The other inlet, 
 with which we are more immediately concerned, was 
 that between Dymchurch and Hythe, and extended 
 inland as far Lympne or Limne. Indeed, the name 
 
PLACE OF DEBARCATION. 43 
 
 of Linme signifies in the old British a haven 1 , and corre- 
 sponds to the Greek word Ai^'v, a port ; and Ptolemy's 
 xaivog Xipji/, is commonly thought to mean Limne. 2 
 The strong south-easterly winds (for Dungeness Point 
 is a shelter from the coast) gradually choked up the 
 port of Limne, and the haven then shifted more to the 
 east, where West Hythe now stands. But the same 
 causes still operated, and West Hythe in its turn be- 
 came deserted by the sea, and then the haven was 
 transferred to Hythe. This was in the time of the 
 Saxons, for Hythe in Saxon is the same as Limne in 
 British and Greek, and signifies a harbour. The histo- 
 rical testimony that Limne and West Hythe and Hythe 
 have been successively havens at the end of the bay 
 or inlet is unexceptionable, and indeed skeletons of 
 vessels have been dug up at Limne where now is a 
 rich pasture. But Non vedo non credo, " Seeing is be- 
 lieving ; " and if any one doubt of this metamorphosis 
 from sea to terra fir ma, let him walk from Hythe, as I 
 have done, to the heights overlooking the marsh, and 
 he will observe the plain below him lying in ridges or 
 waves, as if the ocean had only just quitted its embrace. 
 Even in the eighth century Leland speaks of Hythe in 
 the following terms : — " The haven is a pretty road and 
 lyeth meetly straight out of Boulogne. It crooketh so 
 by the shore along, and is so backed from the main sea 
 by shingle, that small ships may come up a large mile 
 as in a sure gut." 3 On looking at the old maps 4 of 
 
 1 Lambarde's Perambul. 184. 
 
 2 Ptolemy, ii. 3, 4. The state of this part of the marsh about 
 a. d. 1600 will be seen from the annexed map, copied from one 
 in the Cottonian Collection at the British Museum. 
 
 3 See Hasted' s Kent. 
 
 4 A copy of an old map in the Cottonian Collection at the British 
 
44 THE LANDING. 
 
 this part of the coast, I find what I have not seen 
 noticed elsewhere, viz. that the bay of Linine contahied 
 within it two islands. An anecdote related of one of 
 Csesar's soldiers refers to an island in connection with 
 the camp, and I had always supposed, until I met with 
 these ancient charts, that the story was an idle inven- 
 tion ; but the circumstance, so apocryphal before, be- 
 comes thus no inconsiderable argument for placing the 
 descent in this locality. 
 
 Csesar had reached the creek of Limne, and on the 
 western side of it was the shore where the debarcation 
 was to be made. It was planum or flat as he describes 
 it, for there was not a single elevation throughout the 
 whole marsh, and it was also apertum or open, for the 
 heights to the north were at least a mile distant. The 
 sea-beach was also molle, or soft, not with mud or ooze, 
 which would be a very inconvenient landing-ground, 
 and ill adapted for a conflict, but soft in a sailor's sense, 
 i. e. it consisted of shingle, than which nothing can be 
 more favourable to the security of vessels. The pebbles 
 being rounded do not cut the ships' timbers, and being 
 also loose offer no resistance. Sand, on the contrary, 
 which a landsman might consider soft, is, in naval 
 phraseology, of the hardest kind, as it has no " give," 
 and a ship beating against it would soon be shattered 
 to pieces. I am glad to find, even in the Astrono- 
 mer Eoyal's dissertation, the admission that " this beach 
 
 Museum is inserted in this work. Harris's History of Kent gives 
 an old map from Dugdale, which represents two islands before 
 Hythe, and a long gut (that alluded to by Leland) running eastward. 
 So also does the map in Speed's History. The map of Eichard of 
 Cirencester points out nothing remarkable as to Eomney Marsh, but 
 the scale is too small to furnish an argument either way. The 
 oldest maps of England will be found in Gough's British Topo- 
 graphy. 
 

ntannicus 
 
THE LANDING. 45 
 
 is very favourable for landing." The spot also offered 
 other advantages. The interposition of the creek 
 obliged the enemy to make a circuit, and if expedition 
 were used, Caesar might land before the British foot 
 could come up. As for the cavalry and charioteers, 
 they were already there and lined the shore. It may 
 also have entered into his calculations that the harbour 
 of Limne, though not capable of containing his fleet, and 
 now probably occupied by the enemy, and commanded 
 by the heights on the north, would, so soon as he was 
 in possession of the country, be a useful medium of 
 communication with Boulogne, the corresponding port 
 on the opposite coast. On his left, too, was the bay of 
 Dungeness, where, except the wind blew from one 
 particular quarter, the east, any number of vessels might 
 ride at anchor in safety. 
 
 It was now between five and six o'clock in the 
 afternoon, and the tide still rising 1 ; a very favourable 
 circumstance for the debarcation, and which had no 
 doubt been counted upon. The wind was from the 
 east, and the waves were tumbling in, but not with 
 sufficient violence to offer any serious obstacle to the 
 descent. Caesar, therefore, gave the word of command, 
 and the ships, so far as the shelving shore permitted, 
 were run upon th e beach. The horsemen and charioteers 
 of the Britons which clouded the strand now poured 
 such a shower of javelins upon the Eoman galleys that 
 even Caesar's hardy veterans dared not face the storm 
 and spring from their ships. 2 Besides the weight of their 
 own arms they had also to buffet the waves, and in 
 ignorance themselves of the localities were engaged 
 
 1 High water at Hythe on that day (27th Aug.) at 8 r. m. 
 
 2 " Nostros navibus egredi prohibebant." — B. G. iv. 24. 
 
46 THE LANDING. 
 
 with a foe to whom the shallows were familiar. Csesar 
 confesses that his men shrank from the conflict. The eye 
 of the commander looked anxiously round, and in 
 order to check the fierce onset of the natives, and give 
 space for the debarcation, he ordered the triremes, 
 armed with slings, and arrows, and cross-bows, to dis- 
 charge a volley on the enemies' front. This produced 
 the desired effect ; for, galled by the sudden flight of 
 missiles from an unexpected quarter against their half- 
 naked bodies, the Britons retreated a few paces, when 
 the standard-bearer of the renowned tenth legion seized 
 the opportune moment, and shouting to his men, " Sol- 
 diers, follow me ! For Caesar and the Kepublic ! " 
 threw himself into the sea, and struggled to land. His 
 comrades followed by military instinct the example of 
 their leader ; and, dashing after the ensign, rushed to 
 close quarters. Now came the tug of war. The Eomans 
 were not in rank, and their heavy armour impeded their 
 movements. The Britons, on the other hand, with 
 their small bucklers, short spears, and light swords, 
 were here, there, and everywhere 1 , and before the 
 Eomans could form, many a knot of them was cut 
 in pieces. Victory trembled in the balance, when 
 again the great captain displayed his military coolness. 
 Wherever along the lines the enemy pressed hardest 
 upon the legionaries, Caesar despatched the long-boats 
 with succours to their relief. The Eomans recovered 
 more and more from their disorder, and soon the tide 
 
 1 " Ta £f o?rXa avrwv aa-rrlg kcli S6pv*ppaxv, fjifjXov xciXkovv kir 
 
 CLKOOV TOV (TTVpCLKOQ «X 0, '> & ff T£ <T£l6fi£VOV KTVTTeIv TTpOQ KCLT ' aifkrfelV TlOV 
 
 EvavriotV eh 2' avroig kcli iy^eipidia." — Xiphilin, cited Mon. Hist. 
 Brit. p. lx. " 'Ao-rlla \iovr\v oTtvr\v irtp&E&krifxivoL kcli lopv ' £,i<pog tie 
 irapvprriixivoi, yvjivov cwjAaTog' SiopaKog M Tj Kpavovg ovk 'iffaat 
 Xprjaiv." — Herodian, cited Mon. Hist. Brit. bay. 
 
 
THE LANDING. 47 
 
 began to turn, and the Britons to experience how little 
 undisciplined valour can prevail against a compact 
 body animated by one soul, and directed by an expe- 
 rienced tactician. No sooner were Caesar's troops in 
 battle-array than their wonted vigour and confidence 
 returned, and the Britons were discomfited and re- 
 treated. Caesar, however, had no cavalry with him, 
 and this it was, according to his own account, that 
 saved the enemy from a total defeat. 1 
 
 Now, for the first time, a Eoman planted his foot on 
 British soil. It was a memorable event ; and, if I mis- 
 take not, the tradition of it has been preserved in the 
 name of the spot where the descent was made. In the 
 most ancient records, as Domesday Book, Eomney 
 Marsh is written Eomanel 2 , and the natural inference is 
 that it was so called from the Eomans. The whole marsh 
 is subdivided into Guildford and Walland Marshes, to 
 the west; Denge Marsh, to the south; and Eomney 
 Marsh proper, to the east. The latter was the portion 
 where the Eomans landed, and the town of Eomney, 
 called after them, stood at the extremity of it on the 
 eastern bank of 'the now scarcely traceable channel of 
 the Eother. 
 
 If our hypothesis that Caesar landed at Eomney 
 Marsh be well founded, of course the theories which 
 assign other localities for the landing are erroneous. 
 There are, however, two opinions which have received 
 the sanction of very distinguished men, and therefore 
 deserve a passing notice. Caesar, says Halley, sailed to 
 the east, and disembarked at Deal. Caesar, says Airy, 
 sailed to the west, and disembarked at Pevensey. Let 
 us first take the case of Deal. 
 
 1 "Hoc unum ad pristinam fortunam Cajsari defuit." — B. G. 
 iv. 26. 2 Hasted. 
 
48 H ALLEY'S THEORY. 
 
 Halley, by calling attention to the turn of the tide as 
 an important element in Caesar's narrative, led the way 
 to the determination of the true place of Caesar's land- 
 ing, though he failed to discover it himself. As his 
 argument cannot fail to be interesting, I will read you 
 an extract from it. Those who wish to peruse the 
 whole paper, will find it in the third vol. of the Philo- 
 sophical Transactions, p. 440 : — 
 
 " As to the place," he says, " the high land and cliffs 
 described could be no other than those of Dover, and 
 are allowed to have been so by all. It remains only to 
 consider whether the descent was made to the north- 
 ward or southward of the place where he anchored. 
 The data. to determine this are: — 1. That it was four 
 days before the full moon; 2. That that day, by three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, the tide ran the same way 
 that he sailed ; 3. That a S. by E. moon makes high 
 water on all that coast, the flood coming from the 
 southward. Hence it will follow, that that day it 
 was high water about eight in the morning, and conse- 
 quently low water about two ; therefore, by three 
 the tide of flood was well made up,* and it is plain 
 that Caesar went with it ; and the flood setting to the 
 northward, shows that the open plain shore where he 
 landed was to the northward of the cliffs, and must be 
 in the Downs; and this I take to he little less than 
 demonstration.'" 
 
 Here the astronomer is correct enough in the time of 
 high and low water on the day mentioned ; but he falls 
 into error in therefore concluding that the current was 
 at 3 p.m. in full flow to the north. The theory that 
 when the tide rises it runs to the north, and that in 
 ebbing it returns to the south, may be true generally ; 
 but the mistake made was, that he did not allow for 
 
BALLET'S THEORY. L§ 
 
 the disturbances created by the obstruction which the 
 tide encounters in forcing its way amongst islands 
 and through narrow channels. It is one thing to 
 calculate forces in the abstract, and another to 
 apply them, taking into account the resistance from 
 friction. The present Astronomer Eoyal, in order to set 
 the matter at rest, applied for information to Captain 
 F. W. Beechey, who had recently made a survey of the 
 Channel, under the directions of the Admiralty, and the 
 answer was substantially in accordance with the tidal 
 tables. " At full and change of the moon," he says, 
 " the stream makes to the westward off Dover, at one 
 and a half mile distance from the shore, about 3 h 10 m , 
 and there does not appear to be much difference in this 
 part of the Channel between the turn of the stream in 
 shore and in the centre. . . . Winds greatly affect 
 the time of turn of the stream. The stream runs to the 
 west about six and a half hours, after which there is 
 slack water for about a quarter of an hour." * Now, if 
 at full moon the tide runs west at 3 P. M., it follows that 
 on the fourth day before the tide would begm to run 
 west about noon, and at 3 P. M. would have acquired 
 its maximum velocity in that direction. Thus the very 
 argument which Halley made use of triumphantly to 
 show that Caesar sailed to Deal, is a demonstrative 
 proof that he sailed towards Eomney Marsh. Another 
 objection to the debarcation at Deal may be drawn 
 
 1 Archgeolog. vol. xxxiv. To test the accuracy of this account. I 
 requested my friend Mr. Barton, of Dover, to observe for me on 
 18th January, 1859 (the day of the full moon), at what time the 
 tide turned west, and he returned the following answer: — " 18th 
 January, 1859. Sir F. W. Beechey is quite correct in his statement, 
 as the tide turned, and commenced running west, a few minutes 
 before three o'clock this afternoon." 
 
 E 
 
50 H ALLEY'S THEORY. 
 
 from a circumstance attending Caesar's expedition in 
 the following year. Caesar again started from Boulogne 
 at night, and steered for the same place where he had 
 landed before ; but during the night his fleet was drifted 
 by the current, and in the morning he found Britain, 
 i. e. the South Foreland, on his left hand. Had he been 
 making for Deal, this was just in the line for it ; but 
 what did Caesar do 1 He took advantage of the turn of 
 the tide back again toward the west, and then followed 
 it till, by dint of rowing and the aid of the stream, he 
 arrived about noon at his former landing-place. 1 Neither 
 do the features of Deal at all correspond to the face of 
 the country such as Caesar depicts it. Where are the 
 woods and the corn lands, to which repeated reference 
 is made in the Commentaries % I will not say that 
 there is not a tree or a corn field near Deal, but the 
 character of the district is pastoral. From Deal to 
 Canterbury is one great grazing plain, undiversified by 
 a single coppice. Where, again, are the marshes, which 
 are put prominently forward in every writer's account 1 
 Caesar speaks of the vada or shoals (B. G. v. 26) ; Dion 
 of the Tsvayr} or lagoons (xxxix. 51) ; Plutarch of the 
 T07rov s^w^rj xa\ TsAjaartt)^, the marshy and swampy 
 ground (Plut Cces. 16); and Valerius Maximus of an 
 island formed by the ebb and flow of the tide ( Vol. 
 Max. hi. 2). But, as to the part about Deal, I may use 
 the very words of Halley himself, that "it is known to 
 be a firm champaign country, without fens and mo- 
 rasses." 2 Halley, indeed, thinks the difficulty removed 
 
 1 " Longius delatus gestu, orta luce, sub sinistra Britauuiam relic- 
 tarn conspexit. Turn rursus cestus conimutationem secutus remis 
 contendit, ut earn partem insutae caperet qua optimum esse egressum 
 superiore agstate cognoverat." — B. G. v. 8. 
 
 2 Philos. Trans, vol. iii. p. 422. 
 
II ALLEY'S THEORY. 51 
 
 by translating rsvay^ which most staggers him, by the 
 ooze of the sea ; but if he supposed that there was a 
 wet and muddy border from the wash of the waves 
 along that coast, he was altogether mistaken, as the 
 beach is a fine dry shingle. Where, again, is the river 
 backed by a commanding height, on which the Britons 
 were posted at the distance of twelve miles from 
 Caesar's camp'? The Stour at Canterbury is eighteen 
 mile's from Deal, and if it approaches nearer on its way 
 to Sandwich, it flows through a low, marshy ground, 
 where we shall look in vain for any strong military 
 fastness, of a forestal character, such as the Britons are 
 said to have occupied. 1 
 
 Those to whom faith furnishes a strong imagination, 
 are said to have seen the remains of fortifications about 
 Deal, which, of course, are ascribed to Caesar. But I 
 can only say that, in walking from Deal by Walmer to 
 the commencement of the chalk clhTs, I endeavoured 
 in vain to find anything of the kind. If there be such 
 remains, they belong probably to the Eomans of later 
 times, or to the Saxons or Danes. But I cannot help 
 thinking that they never had any existence, as Camden 
 himself suggests that what are supposed to be military 
 works may be merely heaps of sand and accumulations 
 of shingle. 2 
 
 The only argument I can hit upon in favour of Deal, 
 is one of very apocryphal authority, for it is drawn from 
 Dion Cassius, who wrote more than two hundred years 
 after the event. He tells us incidentally that Caesar 
 being repulsed from the usual landing-place, "sailed 
 
 1 " Locum nacti egregie et natura et opere munition ; 
 
 nam crebris arboribus succisis omnes introitus erant praeclusi." — 
 B.G.v.9. 
 
 2 Camd. Brit. 
 
 e 2 
 
52 HALLEY'S THEORY. 
 
 round a certain headland, and so coasted along to 
 another part." 1 This, certainly, if taken literally, looks 
 as if he went round the South Foreland, but I am 
 satisfied that if he had done so, Caesar would have men- 
 tioned so remarkable a promontory. If the descriptive 
 words of so late a writer as Dion are to have any weight, 
 I should interpret them as meaning only that Caesar 
 sailed round the bend of the precipitous shore between 
 Folkestone and Sandgate, at which latter place the high 
 clhTs turn inland, and where, at that time, the sea flowed 
 up to the harbour of Limpne or Limne ; or else that 
 Caesar arrived at first off Eastweir Bay, which lies be- 
 tween Folkestone and Dover, and then sailed round the 
 cliff which shuts in the bay on the west, to the coast off 
 Lymne which, by the ordnance map, is just about eight 
 miles to the west of Eastweir Bay. 
 
 Next for the hypothesis lately advanced by the Astro- 
 nomer Eoyal, that Caesar landed at Pevensey. In the first 
 place, the selection of this spot for the debarcation is 
 simply a consequence flowing from another assumption 
 of the same writer, viz. that Caesar set sail from the 
 estuary of the Somme ; and as I have shown the latter 
 position to be untenable, the former must fall with it. 
 But there are some special objections to Airy's theory of 
 Pevensey, which I cannot pass over. Caesar describes 
 Portus Itius as thirty miles only from Britain ; whereas 
 Pevensey is fifty-two nautical, or sixty English miles, 
 from the Somme, i. e. double the distance, and is, I 
 presume, at least forty miles from any other point of 
 the Continent. How, then, can Pevensey be the coast 
 for which Caesar steered 1 Again, consider the bearing 
 
 1 u "AKpav ovv Tira Trpoe-^ovaav 7repnr\ev(raQ Eripioae TrapeKOjiiadn. 
 Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
airy's theory. 53 
 
 of this distance with reference to Caesar's return from his 
 second expedition. We shall see that Caesar, on the latter 
 occasion, was about eight hours only in crossing, viz. from 
 nine in the evening to five in the morning, and if he 
 made for the Somme, sixty miles distant, his fleet (over- 
 crowded as it certainly was) must, nevertheless, have 
 progressed at the rate of seven and a half miles an 
 hour, which, as there was no wind, but they trusted to 
 their oars only, may surely be pronounced impossible. 1 
 I would also venture to ask the question, How it hap- 
 pened, if Caesar landed at Pevensey, that the Britons 
 were seen upon the heights in expectation of his arrival] 
 Can it be supposed that Caesar, one of the greatest 
 generals of any age, had made the plan of his debarca- 
 tion so public that common rumour had transmitted it 
 across the water % On the contrary, Caesar did not 
 even inform his own officers what were his designs 
 until the very last moment. The only conceivable ex- 
 planation is, that the Britons had assembled their forces 
 at the havens universally frequented by continental 
 voyagers, and it remains to be shown that Hastings was 
 such a port, more particularly as Caesar tells us that 
 Kent, and not Sussex, was the coast for which vessels 
 from Gaul were ordinarily bound. 2 Is it not also 
 strange and unaccountable that Caesar should have 
 landed in the heart of the dense forest of Anderida ! 
 No doubt, the Astronomer Eoyal contends that the forest 
 ended at Eobertsbridge toward the east. But what 
 proof of this is offered \ Will not every one who ex- 
 amines the geological map of England be convinced 
 
 1 " Summam tranquillitatem consecutus." — B. G. v. 23. All 
 the vessels were roAv-boats or actuarial. (B. G. v. 1.) 
 
 2 u Cantium, quo fere ex Gallia naves appelluntur." — B. G. 
 v.13. 
 
 e 3 
 
54 AIRV'S THEORY. 
 
 that it extended as far as the wealden, i. e. the wooded 
 formation; and, therefore, as far as Hythe? Why 
 else have we so many Hursts (the Saxon for woods) to 
 the east of Bobertsbridge \ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 
 is decisive that even in A. D. 891, the wood Anderida 
 extended, at all events, as far as fonr miles from the 
 month of the Bother ; for, " On this river (the Limene) 
 they towed up their ships as far as the wood, four miles 
 from the mouth, and erected a fortress at Appledore." 1 
 That the debarcation must have been not at Pevensey 
 but in Kent, is also evinced by a circumstance which 
 the Astronomer Eoyal, I think, has not adverted to, 
 viz. that Cassivelaun, when he had drawn Caesar beyond 
 the Thames, sent orders to the princes of Kent to 
 make an attack on Caesar's naval camp. 2 Does not 
 this show incontestibly that the camp was in Kent and 
 not in Sussex 1 Or will it be said that Kent at that 
 time comprised Sussex] I have never seen it sur- 
 mised that the ancient borders of Kent were different 
 from the present. Sussex was from time immemorial 
 known as the kingdom of the Eegni. 
 
 Again, when Caesar sailed to Britain on the second 
 expedition, he was so drifted out of his right course by 
 the current, that in the morning he found the coast of 
 Britain on his left hand. This evidently means that the 
 tide had carried him through the Straits of Dover beyond 
 
 1 Anglos. Chron. a. d. 891. Here by the Limene is clearly meant 
 the Eother, but usually by the Limene was meant the creek of 
 Limne, as in Anon. Haven, who, amongst the rivers of Britain, enu- 
 merates successively, Durbis (Dover), Lemana (Lynme), Eovia 
 (Bother). 
 
 2 " Cassivelaunus ad Cantium . . . nuntios mittit, atque his iru- 
 perat, ut coactis omnibus copiis castra navalia de improviso adori- 
 antur atque oppugnent." — B. G. v. 22. 
 
AIRY'S THEORY. 55 
 
 or up to the South Foreland, and then, with the ship's 
 head as at starting, he would have the chalk cliffs be- 
 tween Folkestone and the South Foreland on his left. 
 But I ask, how could this have occurred had the 
 voyage been from the Somme to Pevensey] In that 
 case, the distances were such that the tide, which ne- 
 ver drifts a vessel more than eighteen miles as the 
 maximum 1 , could not possibly have caused such a 
 deviation from the right line between the Somme and 
 Pevensey. 
 
 We return to Cassar, whom we left on the seashore 
 at Eomney Marsh. It was now growing dark, the 
 struggle was over, and the first thing to be done was to 
 entrench a camp. This was customary with the Eomans 
 on ordinary occasions, but here it was more especially 
 needed, for it could not be disguised that the position 
 of the victor was a somewhat delicate one. Cgesar, 
 with 8,000 men, was in a strange land, with a hardy 
 and warlike race before him. To attempt the subju- 
 gation of the island with so small a band, or even to 
 force his way across the Thames in the direction of the 
 Trinobantes (Essex), where Imanuent and Mandubert 
 were expecting his approach, was palpably hopeless, 
 for his two legions would soon be destroyed in piece- 
 meal. His policy, therefore, was to make the most of 
 his dearly bought victory, and, on the first plausible 
 occasion, to effect a return to the Continent, and, if 
 Britain were worth the time and outlay, then to repeat 
 the experiment the following year with an army equal 
 to the enterprise. In the meantime, the communication 
 with the sea must be kept open, and, consequently, no 
 advance could be made into the interior. 
 
 1 See post. 
 
 E 4 
 
56 CESAR'S CAMP. 
 
 The precise point where the earliest Eonian camp 
 was pitched must be matter of conjecture. Some may, 
 perhaps, be inclined to place it on ShornclhTe, where 
 is the ancient camp already alluded to, wliich is deci- 
 dedly Eoman ; but, on second consideration, the site is 
 inadmissible. Caesar's camp was evidently a temporary 
 one, for its dimensions were narrower than usual, from 
 the legions having crossed the Channel without their 
 baggage 1 , and, besides, the triremes were drawn up 
 on shore in juxtaposition to the camp, which could 
 scarcely have been at ShornclhTe, as the seabeach 
 below is at some distance from the cast rum, and is 
 also dotted with rocks, the last spurs to the west of 
 this iron-bound coast. Others may be disposed to 
 locate the camp at Stuttfall, the Eoman quadrangular 
 fortress standing half-way up the hill of Lhnne, and 
 overlooking the old port ; but, had the triremes been 
 drawn on shore at Stuttfall, they could scarcely have 
 been swamped by the tide, a mishap which afterwards 
 overtook them. The building of Stuttfall itself was 
 certainly not erected on this occasion, as it is of much 
 too massive a character. We should say, upon the 
 whole, that the camp of Caesar was probably on the 
 seaside opposite Linme, and perhaps where the fort 
 now stands. This agrees best with the various features 
 of the description. It would then be a protection to 
 the triremes drawn up under the ramparts, and, again, 
 it would afford credibihty to the anecdote of Valerius 
 Maxim us, that the camp was not far from an island, 
 and would correspond, also, in two circumstances, appa- 
 
 1 " Quum paucitatern militum ex castrorura exiguitate cogno- 
 scerent, qua? hoc erant etiam angustiora, quod sine imperii mentis 
 Caesar legiones transportaYerat." — B. G. iv. 30. 
 
CVESAR'S CAMP. 57 
 
 rently not easily combined, viz. that on the one hand 
 there were marshes round about, and on the other there 
 were corn fields and woods in the immediate vicinity. 
 The latter fact, which so exactly tallies with a site off 
 Limne, would exclude the notion of placing the camp 
 more to the west, in the neighbourhood of Eomney, 
 for, in that quarter, though the fens abound, there are 
 few corn fields and no woods. 
 
 The Britons, on their side, had felt the weight of 
 Caesar's legions, and, after a defeat with every advan- 
 tage in their favour, could not hope to succeed in a 
 conflict upon equal terms. Besides, the troops of Kent 
 and Eegnum or Sussex only were now opposed to the 
 invader. The most powerful of the British princes, Cas- 
 sivelaun, king of the Catyeuchlani (Hertfordshire and 
 Middlesex), was fully employed elsewhere, for he was 
 engaged in an internecine war with Imanuent, king of 
 the Trinobantes. 1 The forces, also, which had been 
 collected on the coast were hastily drawn together, and 
 many of them were beardless youths ; at least, the 
 author of the Dialog, de Oratoribus, who wrote a.d. 75, 
 introduces Aper as saying that he had conversed in Britain 
 with one who had taken part in the battle at Cassar's 
 landing 2 ; and, as the anecdote is related 130 years after 
 the event, the Briton in question must have been a 
 
 1 Caesar, in the second expedition, observes that : " Huic (Cassi- 
 velauno) superiori tempore [viz. on the first expedition] cum reli- 
 quis civitatibus continentia bella intercesserant." — B. G. v. 11, 
 compare v. 20. 
 
 2 " Ipse ego in Britannia vidi senem qui se fatebatur ei pugnae 
 interfuisse, qua Caesarem inferentem arma Britannis arcere litoribus 
 et pellere aggressi sunt. Ita si eum qui armatus Caesari restitit, vel 
 captivitas vel voluntas vel fatum aliquod in urbem protraxisset, idem 
 Caesarem ipsum et Ciceronem audire potuit, et nostris quoque 
 actionibus interesse." — Dial, de Orat. c. 17. 
 
58 THE STORM. 
 
 mere stripling in B.C. 55. According to Caesar, no 
 sooner had the Eomans made good their debarcation 
 than the Britons sued for peace, and delivered up Comius 
 of Arras, whom Caesar, before his passage across the 
 Channel, had sent into Britain, and who, as soon as he 
 landed, had been seized and put in bonds as a spy. 
 We have no other account, and must, therefore, acquiesce 
 in this statement, inconsistent as it appears with the re- 
 solute and determined character of the Britons on other 
 occasions. Caesar 1 , who was ready to accept any terms, 
 made a feint of commanding hostages, and hostages were 
 given by some states, by those perhaps which were 
 friendly to the Eomans, and were promised by others, 
 but never delivered. Thus a peace, or rather a hollow 
 truce, was concluded, and for a few days there was a 
 calm ; the Eomans quietly occupying their camp, and 
 the natives pursuing, at least ostensibly, their usual 
 agricultural occupations. 
 
 The fourth day of Caesar's arrival (the day of arrival 
 included), i. e. on the 30 th of August, great events oc- 
 curred. We have seen that eighteen ships, assembled 
 at Ambleteuse, had been unable to make the port of 
 Boulogne, and, in consequence, the cavalry had been 
 ordered from Boulogne to Ambleteuse, to embark there 
 with all expedition. Caesar complains of a little want 
 of alacrity on the part of the cavalry 2 , and the delay 
 was so fatal that any peevishness on the part of the 
 commander may be excused. The day after the trans- 
 
 1 Dion seems to insinuate that negotiations only were pending, 
 and that no treaty had been concluded when the Britons renewed 
 the contest: " tote jjev bfjtipovg uiTriaavTi avTw hovvai i)d£\i] aav." 
 — Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
 2 " Ab quibus cum paullo tardius esset administratum." — B G. 
 iv. 23. 
 
THE STORM. 59 
 
 port of the infantry, the wind had shifted from the 
 south-west to the north-east, and the vessels at Amble- 
 teuse could not quit the harbour. At length, on the 
 30 th August, the wind moderated, and a gentle breeze 
 sprang up from the south, when the cavalry hurried on 
 board, and set sail for Britain. The elements had de- 
 luded them, for, when in mid-channel, and already in 
 sight from Caesar's camp, the wind suddenly veered 
 round to the old quarter of the north-east, and blew 
 such a hurricane that the vessels were beaten out of 
 their course. Some were driven back to the Continent, 
 and others borne away to the western parts of the island, 
 where they cast anchor, and endeavoured to ride out 
 the storm ; but the violence of the waves was such that, 
 being afraid of running into any British harbour, for 
 fear of assassination, they were obliged to put to sea 
 again and steer for the Continent, so that, eventually, 
 not a single trooper ever reached the Eoman camp. 1 
 The eighty vessels by which Caesar had transported his 
 legions, and which had been anchored off the shore in 
 the Bay of Dungeness, were also victims to the tempest. 
 I have heard an old weather-beaten sailor remark that 
 there is no finer bay than this along the southern coast, 
 and that ships may ride there in safety at all times, pro- 
 vided the wind do not come from the east. Unluckily, 
 this was partly the quarter from which the wind now 
 blew, and the consequence was that the transports 
 became unmanageable ; many of them foundered, and 
 the rest lost their sails and anchors, and were rendered 
 unfit for service. Even the triremes, which had been 
 drawn up on the beach, did not escape, for at night 
 was the full moon, when was the spring tide. In gene- 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 28. 
 
60 BRITISH STRATEGY. 
 
 ral, no doubt, the highest tide is a day and a half after 
 the full ; but, to use the language of the old sailor with 
 whom I conversed, " It is the wind as rules the tides." 
 In Dungeness Bay, for instance, when the wind is in the 
 north, the tide rises to an unusual height ; and, when 
 the wind is hi the south, it falls proportionally low. 
 The hurricane which now swept the ocean was from 
 the north-east ; and the combined effect of the spring 
 tide and of the wind was to pour a deluge over a great 
 part of Eomney Marsh ; and, as the Eomans, in igno- 
 rance of these natural phenomena, had drawn up then: 
 galleys on the very margin of the sea, the foaming bil- 
 lows burst over them, and caused incredible damage. 1 
 It is a singular confirmation of our hypothesis of the 
 debarcation at Eomney Marsh that the range of high 
 water at the springs is greater here than at any other 
 point of the southern coast. At Dungeness, for example, 
 the mean range is twenty-one feet three quarters, while 
 at Deal it is only sixteen feet, so that Csesar's vessels at 
 Eomney Marsh were exposed to a rise of nearly six feet 
 more than they would have been at Deal. 2 
 
 Csesar now brings a charge of perfidy against the 
 Britons, viz. that seeing the small amount of his infan- 
 try, without any cavalry or supplies of corn or service- 
 able transports, they, in spite of the treaty which had 
 been solemnly concluded, entered into a conspiracy for 
 the extermination of the Eomans by an assault upon 
 their camp. But we must remember that the Com- 
 mentaries are an ex parte statement, and written with a 
 strong bias towards the glorification of the writer and 
 
 1 " Eadem nocte accidit lit esset luna plena, qui dies maritimos 
 oestus maximos in oceano efficere consuevit, nostrisque id erat incog- 
 nitum." — B. G. iv. 29. " Kara T)jv Travai\r]vovy — Strabo, iv. 5. 
 
 2 Potter's Tide Tables for 1859, p. 147. 
 
BRITISH STRATEGY. Gl 
 
 the disparagement of the Britons. But I think it wiD 
 appear, even on Caesar's own showing, that the Britons 
 were as much the aggrieved as the aggressive party. 
 We read that Ca3sar, before he knew the designs of the 
 Britons — before, I say, he knew the designs of the 
 Britons 1 , — drew a conjectural conclusion from the cir- 
 cumstances in which he was placed that they would 
 play him false, and proceeded to make preparation 
 against it by cutting all the standing corn within his 
 reach and carrying it into his camp. JSTow, was it not 
 a casus belli that a general with .whom they had just 
 struck a treaty of peace should march his troops into 
 their fields and annihilate the labours of the year by 
 taking forcible possession of the crops 1 Appian, indeed, 
 expressly states that the Eomans had agreed by the 
 treaty to withdraw from the island, and that the 
 Britons advanced a charge of perfidy against the 
 Eomans for still remaining upon their shores. 2 
 
 The events which occurred were these. Caesar 
 day after day continued cutting and carrying the corn 
 from the vicinity 3 ; the Britons at last could endure 
 this no longer, and concerted the following stratagem. 
 The only corn left was contiguous to a wood, and 
 concluding that the Eomans would next extend their 
 depredation in this direction, they concealed there a 
 strong body of horse and foot and charioteers, ready to 
 sally forth at a given signal. The ambush succeeded. 
 About a week after the storm, i.e. about the 7th 
 
 1 " Etsi nondum eorum consilia cognoverat." — B. G. iv. 31. 
 
 2 " Evdvq r/pidi£ov (ol 'Pojjjaioi) tovq Bperravovg TrapopKrjaaiy 
 EyicXrifxa e\ovrag on cnrovSiov crtyiat yevofxivioy en Traprjv to aTparo- 
 tt£<W." — Appian, cited Monum. Historica Britannica, 50. 
 
 3 " Frumentum ex agris in castra quotidie comparabat." — B. G. 
 iv. 31. 
 
62 THE SEVENTH LEGION. 
 
 of September, one of the two legions, viz. the seventh, 
 was sent to forage as usual, and they turned their 
 steps towards the field where the snare had been laid. 
 No sooner had they piled their arms, and were engaged 
 with their sickles, than the Britons rushed upon them 
 unawares, slew some 1 , and with their horse and chariots 
 hemmed in the rest. 2 A desperate struggle now ensued, 
 as the legion was surrounded and no quarter was asked 
 on either side. By good luck the cohorts, which were on 
 duty before the camp, and were looking idly in the 
 direction which the legion had taken, saw a whirlwind 
 of dust flying in the air, and immediately gave the 
 alarm. 3 Caesar hastened off, himself, with the cohorts 
 already under arms, and commanded the rest to follow 
 with all expedition. He arrived just in time to save the 
 legion. The enemy, taken in flank, at once gave ground, 
 and the legionaries at sight of the succours took heart, 
 and redoubled their efforts. It was a narrow escape, 
 however ; and Caesar, by his own confession, could only 
 bring off his men without daring to run the risk of a 
 general engagement. 
 
 Consider here, for a moment, how apparently irre- 
 concilable and incapable of answering to any locality 
 are the features attending this skirmish. The camp 
 itself was in the marsh, as is evident from its cover- 
 ing the triremes drawn up on shore, and from the 
 repeated references by Caesar and all writers to the 
 
 1 " Paucis interfectis." — Cces. B. G. iv. 32. Dion says that the 
 Britons slew nearly the whole : " rovg re TrXijy oXiyiov dUcpdaipav." — 
 Dion, xxxix. 52. 
 
 2 " Simul equitatu atque essedis circumdederant." — B. G. 
 iv. 32. 
 
 3 " Ii, qui pro portis castrorum in statione erant, Caesari renun- 
 tiaverunt pulverem majorem quam consuetudo ferret in ea parte 
 videri, quam in partem legio iter fecisset." — B. G. iv. 32. 
 
 
LIMNE. 63 
 
 shoals and shallows. On the other hand, a corn field 
 adjoining a wood could not have existed on the 
 marsh, where the corn fields are few and woods are none. 
 Yet the scene of the combat was not far from the 
 camp or the dust would not have been observed, and 
 Caesar could not have brought such ready assistance. 
 At the same time also that the two points were little 
 removed from each other, the dust only was seen, and 
 not the combatants themselves. I confess that, as I 
 passed in a boat along the coast opposite Limne, and 
 saw no woods and no corn fields in the marsh, and a hill 
 shutting in the plain on the north, my reflection was, 
 How could Caesar's camp have been here, for the ambush 
 against the seventh legion could not have been laid in the 
 marsh, and if on the other side of the hill, how could 
 the dust of the fight have been visible % But on another 
 day, when I visited Hythe by land, and walked from it 
 to the old port of Limne and then mounted the hill, I 
 discovered the explanation. On reaching the top I 
 stepped at once into a corn field, dry and dusty from 
 the lightness of the soil, and on my right was Park 
 Wood, covering some fifty acres, besides another wood, 
 called Fowke Wood, in the immediate neighbourhood. 
 What I had taken from the sea for a hill was not a 
 hill, i. e. it had no descent on the north side, but was a 
 platform of land, and was under the plough, and corn 
 growing so near to the edge that even the reapers, if 
 labouring in that part of the field, might have been 
 seen from the camp. The whole narrative was now 
 realised to the mind's eye in the most graphic manner. 
 The legion had marched up to the standing fields of 
 corn on the high ground, and the Britons starting from 
 their lurking-place at the side had intercepted their 
 retreat, and surrounded them at just such an interval 
 
64 EXPLOIT OF SCiEVA. 
 
 from the edge that the combatants themselves were out 
 of sight and hearing, but the dust flying in the air 
 had attracted the attention of the guard standing under 
 arms at a mile's distance below. 
 
 But to proceed. Caesar, not feeling himself strong 
 enough to avenge the blow which had been struck at the 
 seventh legion, withdrew his forces behind the entrench- 
 ments of his camp, and this confession of weakness on 
 his part gave proportional confidence to his antagonist. 
 For many days consecutively the weather was so un- 
 propitious that neither party ventured on any hostile 
 movement. About the 15th September, however, the 
 Britons, having by that time assembled a numerous 
 body of infantry and cavalry, determined on assaulting 
 the very camp of the Eomans. Caesar deemed it the 
 wisest course to anticipate the conflict which he could 
 not avoid ; and, therefore, trusting to the valour and 
 discipline of his legions in a general engagement, drew 
 out his army in front of the camp, and awaited the 
 approach of the enemy. 
 
 Now, perhaps, occurred the incident related by Va- 
 lerius Maximus. One Scaeva, and four others, had 
 been posted by Caesar as piquets on a solitary ait 1 , 
 which rose above the waves, and was separated from a 
 larger island, occupied by the enemy, by a narrow 
 strait formed by the tide at high water. The islands 
 represented in the old maps as studding the inlet which 
 ran up to Linme, may possibly have been the identical 
 islands here referred to by the historian ; but, of course, 
 all is conjecture, when the configuration of this part of 
 the coast has undergone such material changes. The 
 
 1 Valerius Maximus calls it a scojndus, which probably means 
 nothing more than an eminence. Plutarch is very emphatic in 
 saying that the adventure was in a marsh. (Plut. Cas. c. 16.) 
 
EXPLOIT OF SCLEVA. 65 
 
 Britons being familiar with the coast, knew exactly 
 when, by the subsidence of the flood, the intervening 
 channel could become fordable, and as soon as it was 
 so, they dashed into the sea and made toward the Bo- 
 man guard. Four out of the five sprang into their 
 boat and rowed to the camp ; but Scceva, whether pur- 
 posely or by accident, was left behind, when he hurled 
 among the enemy his own javelins and those flung 
 away by his comrades, and then, drawing his sword, 
 fought hand to hand, and finally cast himself into the 
 water and swam across to the camp. 1 Plutarch tells 
 the same story, and lays the scene in sight of Caesar 
 himself, and therefore close to the camp 2 ; and in a 
 marsh or swamp, which, with the light afforded by the 
 account of Valerius Maximus, must be taken to mean 
 a lagoon subject to the alternations of the high and 
 low tide. 3 
 
 On the mainland the hostile forces met, and 
 again the compact onset of the veteran legions pre- 
 vailed. Cassar had no cavalry, except thirty horse- 
 men which Comius of Arras had just brought over 
 from the Continent, and few therefore of the Britons 
 could be slain or captured. The only revenge in the 
 power of the Eomans was to set fire to the buildings 
 which came in their way, and many a merchant's 
 house at Limne, and in the vicinity, was burnt to the 
 ground. 4 
 
 1 Valer. Max. iii. 2, 23. The vada described by Val. Max. as 
 caused by the flux and reflux of the tide are evidently the vada 
 referred to by Caesar (iv. 26). 
 
 2 " Kataapog avrov ti)i> ixayrjv l<popiovTOQ.' n — Pint. Cces. S. 16. 
 
 3 " T07rov iXiodr] rcu fieffTov vdarog . . pevfxaTa reKfiaTLoDr] . . 
 Tu pep vrj^ofxevog rd 3e /3a<)t£W." — Plut. Cces. 16. 
 
 4 B. G. iv. 35. The camp, therefore, was not in the heart of the 
 marsh, where frequent houses would not be found. 
 
 F 
 
66 PEACE CONCLUDED. 
 
 The position of the two parties at the present moment 
 was this : — The Britons had once more felt the irresist- 
 ible weight of a disciplined army confident in its ge- 
 neral, and, after a defeat in the open field, they could 
 not hope to carry the camp by assault. Caesar, on the 
 other hand, was in a hostile country, with a force 
 wholly inadequate to any advance into the interior, and 
 the season was so late, and his ships so shattered, that 
 unless he returned shortly he might even experience 
 some difficulty in effecting a retreat. Thus both sides 
 were predisposed to peace, and, according to Caesar, the 
 Britons, on the very day of the last conflict, tendered their 
 submission. 1 From Dion, however, we learn that negoti- 
 ations were opened by the intervention of some Morini 
 who were friends of the Britons. 2 Caesar would have 
 us believe that he carried it with a high hand, and that 
 he required the delivery of twice the number of hos- 
 tages which he had previously exacted ; but it is easy 
 to see, notwithstanding the veil attempted to be thrown 
 over the transaction, that he wanted only a plausible 
 pretext for transporting himself and his army back 
 again to Gaul. He admits himself that the hostages 
 were merely promised and not delivered at the time, 
 and that two states only ever kept their engagement. 3 
 There was no cession of territory, no imposition of 
 tribute, and there is no mention of even any booty. 
 The conclusion of a peace upon terms like these does 
 not suggest a triumphant campaign, but rather wears 
 
 1 " Eodem die legati ab hostibus missi ad Csesarem de pace vene- 
 runt." — B. G. iv. 36. 
 
 2 " irefXTrovoi yap irpbg rbv Kai&apa rwV MwptVwv Tivdg, <J>i\ioy 
 acpiffiv oitwj'." — Dion, xxxix. 51. 
 
 3 " Eo duae omnino civitates ex Britannia obsides miserunt ; 
 reliquae neglexerunt." — B. G. iv. 38. 
 
CAESAR'S RETURN. G7 
 
 the aspect of a fortunate escape from anticipated disas- 
 ter. 
 
 A few days after this was a favorable wind from 
 the north-east 1 , when Cagsar set sail from Britain, a 
 little after midnight, on his return to Gaul. 2 He might 
 have chosen this otherwise unpropitious hour for two 
 reasons. In the first place, he would be less likely to 
 meet with any molestation from an active foe, in whose 
 good faith he placed no great confidence ; and, secondly, 
 as Boulogne was a tidal harbour, it would be necessary 
 to arrive there at or a little before high water. If the 
 state of the tide was thus taken into calculation, we 
 may form some conjecture as to the day of depar- 
 ture. The passage from Boulogne to Britain had 
 occupied the ordinary transports about fifteen hours ; 
 and as Caesar had lost twelve ships, which would render 
 the others more crowded, the same time, if not more, 
 would be required for the return. Weighing anchor, 
 therefore, at twelve at night, he would reach Boulogne 
 at 3 P. M. next day. If it was high tide at 4 p. m. the 
 fleet at 3 p. m. would not only be able to enter the 
 port, but also have the stream in their favour. Now, 
 high water at Boulogne at 4 p. M. would be about 
 19th September, for new moon was on 14th Septem- 
 ber, when high tide at Boulogne is at 11.25 ; and this 
 agrees very well with the statement of the Commen- 
 taries, that the conclusion of the armistice, which led to 
 his departure, was a little before the equinox, computed 
 at that time to fall on 24th September. 3 
 
 The fleet crossed the Channel in safety, but two 
 transports, missing the mouth of the port for which 
 
 Ipse idoneam tempestatem nactus." — B. G. iv. 36. 
 
 ipse luuueam lempesiciieiii nauius. — x>. vr. iv. ov. 
 " Paullo post mediam noctem naves solvit." — B. G. iv. 
 " Propinqua die eequinoctii." — B. G. iv. 36. 
 
 f 2 
 
G8 THE RETUHX. 
 
 they were bound 1 , were carried to a point a little to the 
 south-west. 2 The soldiers (in number 600) disembarked, 
 and commenced their march to the camp, when they 
 were beset by the Morini for the sake of plunder. 
 They sent off immediately for succour, and meanwhile 
 bravely defended themselves for the space of four hours 
 and upwards, when they were rescued by the cavalry 
 dispatched from the camp to their assistance. 3 The 
 next day Caesar ordered the seventh and tenth legions, 
 under the command of Labienus, to inflict punishment 
 on the aggressors; and as the marshes, their usual 
 asylum, were dried up from the excessive heat, ample 
 vengeance was taken. 4 These incidents are unimpor- 
 tant in "themselves, but not so the inferences to be 
 deduced. 
 
 In the first place, how was it that the two vessels 
 missed the port of Boulogne at all? The explana- 
 tion is a singular instance of the correspondence of 
 the most minute circumstances when a theory is cor- 
 rect. The fleet were, of course, ajiproaching Bou- 
 logne when the tide was rising, for at low water they 
 
 1 " Eosdem portus quos reliquae capere non potuerunt." — B. G. 
 iv. 36. It will be observed that here, as elsewhere (v. 8), portus is 
 in the plural, from which it may be inferred that Caesar made use, 
 not only of Boulogne, but also of Ambleteuse and Wimereux, in the 
 same neighbourhood. Caesar himself, however, must have sailed 
 to Boulogne ; for which port also the two vessels in question, as 
 Caesar himself sent relief to their crews, must have been bound. 
 
 2 " Paullo infra delatae sunt." — B. G. iv. 36. There cannot be 
 a doubt that infra means south-west. Thus : " ad inferior em partem 
 insulae quae est proprius solis occasumP — B. G. iv. 28. So Amble- 
 teuse, with reference to Boulogne, is called " portus superior T (lb.) 
 
 3 " Interim nostri milites impetum hostium sustinuerunt, atque 
 amplius horis quatuor fortissime pugnaverunt." — B. G. iv. 37. 
 
 4 " Propter siccitates pallidum." — B. G. iv. 38. 
 
THE RETURN. 69 
 
 could not enter it. Now what says the Admiralty- 
 Directory \ " On approaching Boulogne at the begin- 
 ning of a rising tide, great attention should be paid to 
 the direction in the tables, as the streams (from the 
 Channel to the North Sea) hereabout meet, and are 
 turned down upon the French coast, so that a ship, 
 which, at the English side, would at this time have a 
 stream setting straight up the Channel, here encounters 
 one upon her beam, sweeping her down towards the 
 Somme, and hence, probably, the cause of the many 
 disastrous losses which have occurred in this part of 
 the Channel." 1 Here then, at once, is the solution of 
 the difficulty which would otherwise have presented 
 itself, viz. that, if it was high water at 4 p.m., the 
 stream at 2.30 p.m. would begin to run east, so 
 that a vessel at that time would be drifted, not 
 lower down towards the Somme, but higher up to- 
 wards Calais. But we here learn upon authority, 
 that, at the very same time that on the English side 
 the current is running east, it sets in just the oppo- 
 site direction in the neighbourhood of Boulogne. The 
 captains of the two ships in question were evidently not 
 aware of this peculiarity, and hence their inability to 
 reach the general rendezvous. 
 
 Again, as the legionaries fought their way through 
 the Morini, it follows, as observed in a former page, 
 that the Morini were settled to the south-west of the 
 port of Itius, and, consequently, that Portus Itius could 
 not be the estuary of the Somme, as the Morini did 
 not reach so far probably as the Somme, but certainly 
 did not extend to the west beyond it. 
 
 Further, it is not expressly said, but may fairly 
 
 1 Potter's Tide Tables, p. 132. 
 f 3 
 
70 THE RETUKK 
 
 be inferred from the narrative, that there was also a 
 port into which the two vessels ran to the south-west 
 of Portus Itius; and, as the legionaries, while on 
 their road to the camp, fought for more than four 
 hours before assistance arrived, this port must have 
 been at some considerable distance. Accordingly, at 
 thirteen miles to the south-west of Boulogne, we find 
 the port of Etaples at the mouth of La Canche, a situ- 
 ation which answers to the circumstances. But should 
 it be thought more probable that the two ships made 
 land at some nearer point, there are also the fishing 
 refuges of Hardelot and Canriers. 1 
 
 Again, reference is made in the narrative to exten- 
 sive marshes, in which the Morini the year before had 
 eluded pursuit, but which were now accessible from 
 the excessive drought. I have not visited this part, 
 and cannot speak of the nature of the country from 
 personal observation; but I find it stated, on cre- 
 dible authority, that these marshes formerly extended 
 the whole way from JSTeufchatel near Boulogne to 
 Etaples. 2 
 
 In concluding the account of the first invasion, I shall 
 add but one or two general remarks, and these so ob- 
 vious that they must already have occurred to your- 
 
 1 " Un pen plus bas de Boulogne se trouvent Hardelot, Camiers, 
 Etaples ; il j a du choix, surtout si ce port un peu plus bas etait 
 tout simplement la place sur laquelle les vaisseaux furent portes et 
 echouerent." — Mariette, p. 65. 
 
 2 " Des marais, situes paulo infra comnie le port de debarque- 
 ment, s'etendaient autrefois depuis Neufcliatel jusqu'a Etaples et 
 Montreuil. Ces marais etaient situes a quatre ou cinq lieues de 
 Gesoriacum, et les soldats debarques pouvaient combattre quatre 
 heures avant qu'un des leurs se fut detache pour aller porter la 
 nouvelle a Cesar, et que la cavalerie ait eu le temps d'arriver." — 
 Mariette.) p. 66. 
 
CAESAR'S SUCCESS. 71 
 
 selves. It is impossible to suppose that, when Caesar 
 sailed from Boulogne with 8,000 legionaries, he had the 
 intention of merely landing in Britain and cooping up 
 his troops within the intrenchments of his camp on the 
 seashore. He had, no doubt, imagined that, with a 
 well-trained army of that amount, he could subdue 
 Britain with ease, and, in fact, had only to take posses- 
 sion of it. Instead of that, he found the usual ports 
 occupied by infantry and cavalry in martial array, and 
 was obliged to seek a place of debarcation eight miles 
 off, and was then so resolutely opposed as to effect a 
 landing at a great sacrifice of life. Not only did he 
 want the courage to march into the interior, but the 
 Britons, taking the initiative, nearly cut off the seventh 
 legion on one occasion, and compelled Caesar on another 
 to give battle with all his forces, without the chance of 
 gaining anything more by his victory than a peaceful 
 retreat across the Channel. Caesar, of course, tells his 
 own story in his own favour; and we have not the 
 British account to put in the opposite scale. But even 
 Caesar's excuses and apologies lead to a disclosure of 
 the truth. " He had passed into Britain," he says, " for 
 the purpose of collecting information as to the people, 
 the country, the ports, and the approaches." x But how 
 was even this object accomplished ; for, as he never 
 quitted his camp except for a mile or so, for the rescue 
 of his army or to check the insolence of the enemy, he 
 could scarcely have obtained more intelligence on the 
 one side of the water than on the other \ It must be 
 admitted that he gained some experience as to the 
 mettle of the inhabitants ; and found, to his cost, that 
 
 1 " Tamen magno sibi usui fore arbitrabatur, si modo insulam 
 adisset; genus hominum perspexisset ; loca, portus, aditus cogno- 
 visset." — &. G. iv. 20. 
 
72 (LESAR'S SUCCESS. 
 
 they were not lightly to be provoked. Unquestionably, 
 he would not have been so much at the enemy's mercy 
 had his cavalry not disappointed hirn ; but a squadron 
 of 800 horse could not have turned the scale so much 
 in his favour as to give him possession of the country. 
 Caesar informs us that thirty days' thanksgiving was 
 decreed at Eome for his exploits in Britain ; but this 
 was from the representation contained in his own de- 
 spatches 1 , and we are expressly told by Dion that Caesar 
 made the most of it. 2 Besides, Britain was so little 
 known at Eome, that to have carried the Eoman army 
 thither beyond the civilised world was, in itself, re- 
 garded as no contemptible feat, not to mention that, 
 from the state of parties at Eome, any honour in favour 
 of Caesar immediately became a political question. 
 The other Eoman historians are candid enough as to 
 the failure of Caesar's first expedition. Livy writes that 
 Caesar, in his first campaign, was unfortunate 3 ; Dion 
 remarks that he got nothing by the campaign but the 
 barren honour of having landed in the island 4 ; and it 
 is certain that Caesar acquired none of the usual fruits 
 of victory, — no territory, no tribute, no booty. One 
 fact speaks very loudly, viz. that when he returned to 
 Gaul he left no garrison, not even a single soldier, 
 behind him. He had been so roughly handled, that, as 
 we should surmise, he had even no intention at this 
 time of renewing the attempt. It was only from the 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 38. 
 
 2 " Tovra) yap Kai avrog la^vputg eaEfivvvsTO." — Dion, xxxix. 53. 
 
 3 " Jn Britanniam priino parum prospere tempestatibus adversis 
 trajecit." — Liv. Epit. lib. 105. 
 
 4 " Mrjdep ek rrjg TSpeTTaviag fiifre Eavrio fifjTE rfj ttoXei irpoaKrii- 
 oajJievoQ, 7t\t)v tov karpaTEVKEvai W avrovg Sofai" — Dion, xxxix. bo. 
 " diaK£vi]Q tots avE-xwpnaE." — Dion, xl. 1. 
 
CESAR'S SUCCESS. 73 
 
 taunts by which he was assailed in Gaul that he was 
 afterwards induced to undertake a second invasion, 
 with thrice the number of forces. It is clear that, for 
 the rest of the year, though three months remained, he 
 gave no orders for any preparations for the renewal of 
 hostilities. 
 
74 
 
 SECOKD INVASION. 
 
 In the following year, B. c. 54, being the consulship of 
 L. Domitius and Ap. Claudius, Csesar resolved on a 
 second invasion of Britain. The excuse was that the 
 Britons, with the exception of two states, had not sent 
 the hostages which had been promised the year before. 1 
 The real motive was to retrieve the discredit of the pre- 
 vious failure, and to give incessant employment to his 
 army. He was also stimulated to the enterprise by the 
 earnest solicitations of an exiled British prince. During 
 the first expedition a fierce war had been raging 
 between Cassivelaun, king of the Catyeuchlani 2 and 
 
 B. G. iv. 38. Dion, xl. 1. 
 2 It is generally believed that the capital of Cassivelaun was 
 Verulamium, and, if so, his subjects were the Catyeuchlani : " dra 
 KaTvevxXavoi, oi ical KcnreXavoi [qu. KamXavoi^ iv TtoXeig 2aA.7j/at 
 [qu. Sulloniacse of Anton. Itin.] OvpoXaviov" — Ptol. ii. 3, 21. Indeed 
 Cassivelaun and Catyeuchlan are the same name, and he was so called 
 as being the chief of the clan, as we say the Macgregor, the Chis- 
 holm, &c. This will account for there being no coins of Cassivelaun, 
 though there are so many of Cunobelin. Most of the Belgian tribes 
 in Britain were called after those in Gaul (B. G. v. 12), and the 
 KarvevxXavoi as Ptolemy calls them(ii. 3, 21), or the KaroveXXavoL 
 as Dion calls them (lx. 20), were probably derived from the Cata- 
 launi, or Catelauni (Eutrop. ix. 13., and the Notitia), now known as 
 the people of Chalons-sur-Marne, a corruption of the original name. 
 The true designation of the clan appears to be that given by Dion, 
 for an ancient inscription has been found in Britain CIVITATE 
 CATWELLANORUM T OIS DIO. (Monum. Hist. Brit, cxix.) 
 They occupied Hertfordshire and Middlesex, for Caesar says ex- 
 pressly that " Cassivelauni fines" were bounded on the south by the 
 Thames (B. G. v. 11) ; and it is more natural to suppose that Caesar 
 means the borders of the Catyeuchlani Proper, than of the Trino- 
 
 
PREPARATIONS. 75 
 
 Imanuent, king of the Trinobantes 1 ; and Csesar, kept 
 at bay on the seashore by the men of Kent and Sus- 
 sex, had attempted in vain to carry assistance to Ima- 
 nuent, his ally. The consequence was that the latter, 
 unable by his own strength to withstand the furi- 
 ous onset of his powerful antagonist, had been de- 
 feated and slain; and his son Mandubert, seeking 
 safety in flight, had taken refuge with Csesar, and 
 
 bantes whom Cassivelaun had conquered. In the reign of Claudius, 
 Caractacus and Togodumnus are called KaroveXXaroi, and their domi- 
 nions comprised the Trinobantes eastward, and part of the Bodouni 
 or Dobuni (Gloucestershire) westward. " Mepog rwv Bodovviov wv 
 k-nrjpxpv [Caractacus and Togodumnus] KaroveXXavol ovreg." — Dion, 
 lx. 20. The best map of Britannia Eomana will be found in Monum. 
 Hist. Brit. 
 
 1 The Trinobantes were the people of Essex, and Camulodunum, or 
 Colchester, was their capital : "Tpivoavreg kv oig iroXig Ka/xov^oXai'oi'." 
 — Ptol. ii. 3, 22. They appear not to have reached westward beyond 
 the river Lea, for Ptolemy places London (ascribed, as regards 
 Southwark, to the Cantii) in longitude 20, and the North Foreland 
 in longitude 22 ; and between these two points Colchester, the ca- 
 pital of the Trinobantes, in longitude 21, and Venta (Norwich), the 
 capital of the Simeni or Iceni, as well as the opening of the estuary 
 of the Thames, in longitude 20J ; and he then speaks of the Trino- 
 bantes as to the east of the Simeni, and along the estuary of the 
 Thames, having the Isles of Sheppey and Thanet opposite. 
 
 Aovlivov . . . . . . .20 
 
 'lajjcriaa eiax v(TL ^ [Thames estuary] . . . 20£ 
 
 Sifievot nap* dig noXig Ovevra [Norwich] . . • 20i 
 
 Kcu avaToXtuwrepoi itapa tt]V 'Iaju^tra eia^yatv, Tpi- 
 
 voavreg kv oig ttuXiq KafiovhoXavov [Colchester] . .21 
 
 Kavnov uKpov [North Foreland] . . . .22 
 
 Kara £e tovq Tpivoavrag vr\aoi t\a\v aids 
 
 ToXiamg [Sheppey] . . . . .23 
 
 Kwovvvog vfjaog [Thanet] . . . .24: 
 
 It will be observed that Ptolemy, by mistake, places the islands of 
 Sheppey and Thanet a little to the east, instead of the west, of the 
 North Foreland. 
 
1 PREPARATIONS. 
 
 now implored his intervention to restore him to the 
 throne. The astute Eoman at once discerned the use 
 to be made of Mandubert's presence, and retained him 
 in his camp with large promises of redress. The British 
 refugee would accompany the expedition, and knowing 
 the country would be an invaluable guide. Besides, to 
 succour the unfortunate would be a plausible pretext 
 for interference in British politics ; and it might rea- 
 sonably be expected that, when the victorious gene- 
 ral appeared in the neighbourhood, the Trinobantes, 
 smarting under the yoke of Cassivelaun, would break 
 out into open rebellion in favour of their deliverer. 
 
 In the spring of the year therefore, Csesar, the better 
 to insure success against a most determined foe, gave 
 directions for extensive preparations, particularly for 
 the construction of a fleet upon a new principle. The 
 ships were all to be flat-bottomed, and to be propelled 
 by oars as well as sails. 1 The advantage anticipated 
 from these deviations from the ordinary model were, 
 that the vessels could he in shallow water and ap- 
 proach closer to shore, and be easily hauled up, and 
 the rowage would make them independent of wind 
 and tide, which had before so much baffled liim. The 
 equipment of this armament would occupy a consider- 
 able time, especially as some of the materials were 
 to be fetched from Spain 2 , and the interval was to 
 be employed in the discharge of a prefect's duty in 
 making the circuit of the different countries within his 
 jurisdiction, for the purpose of composing nascent 
 
 1 "Panllo humiliores . . paullo latiores . . actuariae" — B. G.v.l. 
 <{ 'Ev /ue'ffw tuv te ff(p£TEp(ov ruiv Ta^EiuJy,KalTU)y clvtoOev twv (popradioy, 
 
 3TT10Q WQ fiaXl(TTa KCli KOVfl^iOffl, KCti TTpOQ TO KVfJia CIVTE^CJCTIV, ETTl TE 
 
 fypov IffTajjiEvai jutt) XvfxaivwvTai." — Dion, xl. 1. 
 
 2 "Ea qua? sunt usui ad arniandas naves ex Hispania apportari 
 jubet." — B. G.v.l. 
 
CESAR IN ITALY. 77 
 
 disorders, and for the adininistration of justice. He 
 first visited Cisalpine Gaul, and held the assizes there 
 in the principal towns. 1 These may have been con- 
 cluded about the end. of February. He then proceeded 
 to Ulyricurn, where he compelled the submission of the 
 Procrusta3 (who, taking advantage of his absence, had 
 invaded the province), and then held the assizes for Uly- 
 ricurn. 2 The latter may have lasted till the end of April. 
 Caesar usually returned from Ulyricurn to Gaul at 
 the beginning of summer or about May 3 , and we know 
 that he did so this year, as he tells us that on his way 
 back he passed through Cisalpine Gaul 4 ; and we learn 
 from one of Ca3sar's letters that Quintus Cicero, the 
 brother of the orator, was with Caesar at Laude 
 (twenty-four miles from Placentia and sixteen from 
 Milan) on 7th May. 5 It was of great importance 
 to Caesar at this time to keep Mark Tully his friend, 
 and with this view he offered Quintus Cicero the 
 command of one of his legions. 6 Both Caesar and 
 Quintus wrote to Cicero from Laude, and it is amus- 
 ing to see how the ambitious and politic general 
 humours the innocent vanity of the simple-minded 
 orator. Caesar even went so far as to commend Cice- 
 ro's verses, and complimentary language could not be 
 carried further. 7 Both Caesar and Quintus were at this 
 
 1 " Conventibus Gallia? citerioris peractus." — B. G. v. 1. 
 
 2 " Conventibus peractis." — B. G. v. 2. 
 
 3 " Quas legationes Caesar, quod in Italiam Illyricumque properabat, 
 inita proximo, cestate ad se reverti jubet." — B. G. iii. 35. 
 
 4 " In citeriorem Galliam revertitur." — B. G. v. 2. 
 
 5 " A. d. iv. non. Jun., quo die Romam veni, accepi tuas litteras 
 datas Placentiag ; deinde alteras postridie, datas Laude nonis, cum 
 Caesaris litteris. . . . Litterse vero ejus una datas cum tuis." — Cic. 
 Ep. ad Q. Fr. ii. 15. 
 
 6 Caas. B. G. v. 24. 
 
 7 "Scribis poema ab eo nostrum probari." — Cic. ad Q. Fr. ii. 15. 
 
78 CESAR'S RETURN TO GAUL. 
 
 time full of the intended expedition against Britain ; 
 and Quintus, at the instance of Caesar, suggests that 
 Tully should employ his pen in describing the approach- 
 ing triumphs. " Give me only Britain," says Tully, in 
 an ecstasy, " and I will paint it in your colours, but 
 with my brush. But what am I saying 1 What leisure 
 can I have, especially if, as Caesar wishes, I remain 
 at Eome ! — but we shall see." 1 As we hear nothing of 
 any panegyric by Cicero upon Caesar's British campaign, 
 we may conclude that the result did not exactly answer 
 to the nattering picture which hope had foreshadowed. 
 Caesar reached the northern coast of Gaul in the 
 latter part of May, and on arriving found, to his infinite 
 satisfaction, that his orders for preparations had been 
 punctually obeyed. About 600 transports and 28 war 
 galleys had been constructed in the different ports along 
 the coast, and all of them either ready or capable of 
 being launched within a few days. 2 Caesar directed the 
 vessels to rendezvous at Portus Itius, i. e. the port of 
 Boulogne 3 , and in the meantime proceeded himself with 
 the light troops and 800 cavalry against the Treviri, 
 or people of Treves (the town on the Moselle at the 
 junction of the Saar), who had lately shown some signs 
 of disaffection. Caesar was not long in quelling the 
 disturbances in that quarter, and about midsummer, or 
 24th June 4 , returned to Boulogne, where he found his 
 
 1 "Modo mini date Britanniara ; quani pingam coloribus tuis, pe- 
 nicillo meo. Sed quid ago ? quod mihi tempus, Romae prsesertim, 
 ut ipse me rogat, manenti, vacuum ostenditur ? sed videro." — Cic. 
 Ep. ad Q. Fr. ii. 15. 
 
 2 " Neque multum abesse ab eo, quin paucis diebus deduci 
 possent." — B. G. v. 2. 
 
 3 B. G. v. 2. 
 
 4 "Ne sestatem in Treviris consumere cogeretur." — B. G. v. 4. 
 
 
(LESAR AT BOULOGNE. 70 
 
 army and fleet assembled, viz. 8 legions of foot, 4000 
 horse, 560 transports, and 28 war galleys ; 40 ships, 
 which had been built on the Seine, had, from the pre- 
 valence of the north-western gales, been prevented from 
 reaching the port. 1 The continuance of the adverse 
 wind from the north-west detained Caesar at Boulogne 
 for the next twenty-five days, or until 18th July. 2 At 
 length on that day, when was the full moon, the wind 
 shifted to the south-west 3 , the quarter most favourable 
 for a passage to Britain 4 ; and Cassar gave the word for 
 embarcation. 5 At full moon it is high tide at Boulogne 
 at 11.20, and we may suppose that the ships then, or 
 a little before, began to drop down the harbour, and 
 anchor outside, to be ready for sailing. An unexpected 
 
 1 The motley group now collected on the banks of the Liane has 
 been graphically described by an anonymous contributor to a popular 
 periodical : " The legions of Caesar, and all their various auxiliaries 
 and attendants ; the Gaulish and German cavalry, the Numidian light 
 horsemen, the Spanish infantry, the Cretan archers, and the 
 slingers from the Balearic Isles ; besides the crowds of sutlers and 
 followers, the calones and mercatores, and all the various costumes 
 and callings connected with the naval portion of the expedition." — 
 II. L. L. : Gent. Mag. vol. xxvi. (1846) p. 251. See Cses. B. G. ii. 7. 
 
 2 " Itaque dies circiter xxv, in eo loco commoratus, quod Corus 
 ventus navigationem impediebat, qui magnam partem omnis tem- 
 poris in his locis flare consuevit." — B. G. v. 7. That corus or the 
 north-west, prevents all egress from Boulogne, we have the testi- 
 mony of Mariette. " Le vent Corus (N.O.) empecherait, et a toujours 
 empeche, de sortir du port de Gesoriacum [Boulogne]." — Mariette, 
 p. 68. 
 
 3 " Leni Africo provectus." — B. G. v. 8. 
 
 4 " Le vent Africus encore aujourd'hui est le plus favorable a la 
 traversee de Boulogne a Douvres." — Mariette, p. 34. 
 
 5 Orosius says that Caesar sailed, " primo vere " (Orosius, cited Mo- 
 num. Hist. Brit. p. lxxix.); and Dion, " eiteiS)) 7rXw7/ia iyeVero" (Dion, 
 xl. 1) : but the precise time as stated in the text cannot be ques- 
 tioned. 
 
80 DEATH OF DUMNORIX. 
 
 occurrence occasioned a little delay. Dumnorix, the 
 disaffected prince of the iEdui, brother of Divitiacus, 
 the friend of Cicero 1 , and whom Caesar had insisted on 
 taking with him to Britain, in order to prevent his 
 mischievous meddling at home, availed himself of the 
 confusion of embarcation to ride fairly off with his 
 iEduan troopers. No sooner was Caesar apprised of it 
 than he stopped the embarcation of his own cavalry, 
 and despatched them in pursuit, with directions to 
 bring back Dumnorix dead or alive. Dumnorix was 
 overtaken, and on his resistance was slain. The ca- 
 valry of Caesar returned to the camp, and at sunset, 
 which would be at 8.6 p. m., Caesar set sail for Britain, 
 with a moderate breeze from the south-west. 2 
 
 The expedition consisted of five legions (which, allow- 
 ing 4,200 men to each, would give a total of 21,000 
 foot), and a body of 2000 cavalry; and a fleet of 28 
 triremes and 560 transports, besides numerous tenders, 
 which, added to the rest, made the formidable figure of 
 800 sail. The transports, however, were small ; for if 
 560 vessels carried only 21,000 troops, each of them 
 must have been freighted with about 37 only. One of 
 the reasons which Caesar assigns for this substitution 
 of small row-boats for the heavier class of vessels, which 
 had before carried 150 each, appears not to be so well 
 founded as most of Caesar's conclusions. He had learnt, 
 he says, by experience, that, from the frequent changes 
 of the tide in the channel, there was not the same vio- 
 lence of the waves. 3 It will be seen in the sequel that 
 
 1 B. G. i. 19. Cic. de Divin. i. 41. 
 
 2 " Solis occasu naves solvit, leni Africo provectus." — B. G. v. 8. 
 
 3 " Quod propter crebras commutationes Eestuum minus magnos 
 ibi nuctus fieri cognoverat." — B. G. v. 1 
 
PASSAGE TO BRITAIN. 81 
 
 the Straits of Dover were, at all events, an overmatch 
 for the small craft thus studiously prepared. 
 
 The light breeze from the south-west, which had wafted 
 the fleet from Boulogne, died away as they stretched out 
 to sea, and by midnight there was a dead calm. When the 
 morning broke, which, as the sun rose at 4 A. M., would 
 be about half-past three, the high cliffs between Folke- 
 stone and Dover were visible on their left. 1 The tide had 
 been running eastward for the last six hours, and had 
 carried them so far out of their course as to drift them 
 beyond, or at least up to, the South Foreland. Caesar 
 had intended to effect his debarcation, as before, on 
 Eomney marsh, off Limne, and he was therefore quite 
 out of the line. The tide, however, now again turned 
 westward, and by dint of rowing, with the current in 
 their favour, the whole fleet, transports as well as 
 triremes, gained by 12 o'clock at noon, the familiar 
 level shore just opposite Limne. 2 
 
 So much controversy has been raised as to the place 
 of debarcation, that I must call attention, in passing, to 
 some material points- in this account, which, if I mistake 
 not, will prove incontestably that Caesar must have 
 sailed from Boulogne to Limne, and could not have 
 
 1 " Leni Africo provectus, media circiter nocte vento intermisso, 
 cursum non tenuit, et longius delatus asstu, ortu, luce, sub sinistra 
 Britanniam relictam conspexit." — B. G. v. 8. 
 
 2 " Turn rursus asstus commutationem secutus remis contendit ut 
 earn partem insula? caperet qua optimum esse egressum superiore 
 sestate cognoverat. Accessum est ad Britanniam omnibus navibus 
 meridiano fere tempore." — J3. G: v. 8. It has been suggested by an 
 ingenious savant, that Caesar did not seek the identical place where 
 he had landed before, but another point which he had ascertained by 
 inquiry the previous year to be more convenient. This, however, 
 is not the natural meaning, and Dion did not so understand it. 
 " Kurjjpe re ovv evQa Kai Trportpoi'." — Dion, xl. 1. 
 
 G 
 
82 PASSAGE TO BRITAIN. 
 
 landed at Deal ; still less could have made the passage 
 from the estuary of the Somme to Pevensey. I think 
 no one can doubt that, when Csesar discovered Britain 
 on liis left hand, he must have drifted through the 
 Straits of Dover, or at least have been off the South 
 Foreland, with the head of his vessel toward Deal. 
 Now, this exactly agrees with the hypothesis that Csesar 
 set out from Boulogne, and made for the coast off 
 Limne, but is not to be reconciled with any other 
 theory. The captain of one of the steamers plying 
 between Folkestone and Boulogne informed me, when 
 I inquired some years ago what was the rate at which 
 a vessel drifted in the channel, that the maximum drift 
 for a single tide, i. e. for the six hours that the stream 
 runs in the same direction, is eighteen miles, and the 
 minimum nine miles. 1 The fleet of Csesar was heavily 
 freighted, and therefore, sinking deep into the water, 
 would receive the full shock of the tide. Csesar, too, 
 was steering across the Strait, so that the broadside of 
 
 1 Mr. Barton, of Dover, than whom I could not have a more intel- 
 ligent correspondent, consulted for me an experienced pilot and also 
 the captain of a vessel, and communicated to me the following results : 
 — " The maximum velocity of the tide (that is, a spring tide) is about 
 3^ miles an hour ; the minimum (that is when it is a neap tide) is 
 about lj miles an hour. A loaded vessel would drift about 12 or 14 
 miles in the six hours, when the tide is at its greatest velocity, but 
 when at the minimum not more than 6 or 7. This would also be in- 
 fluenced by the wind and the depth the vessel was in the water — 
 the greater the draught, the greater the velocity." The harbour 
 master of Folkestone, in a letter for which I have to thank him, dated 
 December 16th, 1858, tells me "that an average vessel, broadside 
 on, would drift two miles per hour, or perhaps more ; but that of 
 course presumes a perfect calm, as the action of the wind would 
 materially affect the drift." The greatest velocity of the tide 
 between Dover and Dungeness is stated in the Tidal Tables for 
 1859, p. 135, to be 3.3 knots per hour. 
 
PASSAGE TO BRITAIX. 83 
 
 the vessel would be presented to the current. It is 
 also to be remarked that the expedition was on the 
 very day of the full moon, when, of course, it was a 
 spring tide. The drift therefore, under these circum- 
 stances, would be the maximum, or near it. Now, if 
 we draw a straight line from Boulogne to Limne, and 
 then a line of sixteen miles, or thereabouts, at right 
 angles to it up the Channel, it will take us to a point 
 off the South Foreland 1 ; so that, with the head of the 
 vessel to the north, the cliffs between Folkestone and 
 Dover would be on the left hand. But how could this 
 have happened had Caesar sailed from the Somme to 
 Pevensey — for, allowing even the maximum drift to the 
 fleet through the night, it is quite impossible that Caesar 
 could have swerved so much from a line between the 
 Somme and Pevensey as to have passed the Strait of 
 Dover, or even to have entered it? 
 
 How, again, could he have been sailing to Deal, when, 
 so soon as the deviation from the right course was dis- 
 covered, Caesar took the turn of the tide back, and fol- 
 lowed the current 2 , in order to gain his former landing- 
 place % If he was making for Limne, this is just what 
 he would do, i. e. having been forced by the tide to the 
 east during the night, to a point off the South Foreland, 
 he would in the morning, when the tide turned west, 
 have it in his favour for a passage to Limne. But if 
 he were sailing for Deal, so far from retracing his 
 course, he ought still to have advanced in the same 
 direction, and, at all events, could not be said to follow 
 the tide when he was steering athwart it. Besides, as 
 it must necessarily have been almost low water when 
 
 1 A sea line from Limne to the South Foreland is by the 
 Ordnance maps 16 miles. 
 
 2 " Rursus sestus commutationem secutus" — B. G. v. 8. 
 
84 TIME OF THE INVASION. 
 
 the tide turned, had he held on for Deal he would 
 infallibly have struck on the Goodwin Sands. 
 
 I have mentioned that Csesar sailed at the full moon 
 on 18th July, but I have not stated upon what grounds 
 this conclusion rests, and as it is not directly asserted in 
 the Commentaries, you may fairly ask for the data on 
 which it is based. In the first place, we are informed 
 that when Csesar, on his return from Illyricum, was 
 amongst the Treviri, he was anxious not to consume 
 the summer there 1 , from which it results that it was 
 about midsummer, or 24th June, and as he waited 
 twenty-five days at Boulogne before he set sail, this 
 would bring us to the latter half of July. But we have 
 more direct testimony to the same effect from the letters 
 of Cicero. I have already remarked that Q. Cicero, 
 the orator's brother, was with Caesar in this expedition, 
 and as, during the whole time, a continual correspond- 
 ence was maintained between Quintus and Mark, the 
 latter would be well apprised of every movement of 
 the expedition. Accordingly, M. Cicero, in a letter to 
 Atticus, dated 28th July, writes thus: — "From the 
 letters of my brother Quintus, I conjecture that he is, 
 by this time, in Britain." 2 We are, therefore, prepared 
 to find that the fleet, according to Cicero's expectation, 
 sailed in the latter half of July. M. Cicero, in another 
 letter to Quintus, acknowledges the receipt of actual 
 intelligence of his brother's arrival in Britain 3 ; and, as 
 the transmission of a letter from Britain to Eome occu- 
 pied about a month, the debarcation must have been 
 
 1 " Ne aestatem in Treviris consumere cogeretur." — B. G. v. 4. 
 
 2 "Ex Quinti fratris Uteris suspicor jam eum esse in Britannia." 
 — Ep. Att. iv. 15, 8. 
 
 3 " O jucnndas mihi tuas de Britannia literas ! Timebam oceanum, 
 timebam littus insula?," &c. — Cic. Ep. ad Q. Fr. ii. 16. 
 
TIME OF THE INVASION. 85 
 
 about a month before the despatch of Cicero's letter to 
 Quintus. I should fatigue you too much by going into 
 the minutiae by which the date of the letter can be 
 ascertained ; but, suffice it to say that there are certain 
 allusions in it to the trials of Drusus and Scaurus, which 
 prove it to have been written in the latter half of 
 August. The landing in Britain, therefore, must have 
 occurred in the latter half of July. So far we ascertain 
 the month only, but we can make a nearer approach 
 from another circumstance incidentally mentioned. 
 We have seen that on the morning after the embarca- 
 tion at Boulogne, and soon after daylight (which in the 
 month of July would be about 3.30 A.M.), Caesar took the 
 turn of the tide westward. Now the tide begins to run 
 westward in the Channel at 3.30 A. M. on the day after 
 the full moon, and at the same hour on the day after 
 the new moon : the day of embarcation, therefore, was 
 one of two days — viz. either the 3d July, when it was 
 new moon ; or 18th July, when it was full moon. The 
 latter was certainly the day in question, for on the very 
 night after the debarcation in Britain, Caesar marched 
 his army twelve miles into the interior 1 , and he could 
 not have done this when there was no moon, that is, 
 in total darkness, but by the aid of the full moon no 
 difficulty would be experienced. We may therefore 
 infer, with the highest probability, that Caesar sailed 
 from Boulogne either on the very 18th July, b. c. 54, or, 
 at all events, within a day or two either before or 
 after it. 
 
 On reaching the shore off Limne, Caesar expected, as 
 in the previous year, to see the beach lined with the 
 enemy in hostile attitude. Instead of that, not a living 
 
 1 B. G. v. 9. 
 
 G 3 
 
86 DEBARCATION. 
 
 soul was to be seen. It was marvellous, but so it was. 
 It appears that the Britons had intended to dispute the 
 landing, and had swarmed along the coast for the pur- 
 pose ; but that, on descrying in the horizon 800 ships, 
 they had despaired of success, and retired up the 
 country. If, the year before, they had been unable to 
 encounter eighty ships, how could they now withstand 
 800 % The debarcation would be so extended that 
 the Britons could not possibly cope with it at every 
 point. 1 Cotta, indeed, who served under Csesar in this 
 campaign, affirms that the fleet consisted of even 1000 
 ships. 2 Besides it is certain that all the army of the 
 Britons had not yet been collected, and the forces now 
 in the field were chiefly, if not exclusively, the men 
 of Kent and Sussex. 
 
 The debarcation was thus effected without obstruc- 
 tion, and the vessels, after having discharged their 
 freights, were anchored in Dungeness Bay. The next 
 thing was to fortify a camp. On the last occasion, it 
 had been pitched on the shore, that the communication 
 with the sea might not be cut off, and in order to afford 
 protection to the triremes which had been hauled on the 
 beach ; but now Cassar was at the- head of an army 
 which defied opposition, and, accordingly, he tells us 
 that he selected for his camp an appropriate place. 3 I 
 should imagine, therefore, that the ground chosen was 
 not, as before, on the marsh, but on the high platform 
 overlooking it at Limne, perhaps on the site of Limne 
 castle. Some may be of opinion that it was the camp 
 at Shorncliffe, but this was at some distance from the 
 place of landing, and was separated from it by an arm 
 
 1 u 'Yit6 tov 7ro\\a^6(7e ajuo avrovc Karacr^elv." — Dion, xl. 1. 
 
 2 Athen. vi. 105. 
 
 3 "Loco castris idoneo capto." — B. G. v. 9. 
 
MARCH TO THE STOUR. 87 
 
 of the sea. The actual camp, too, was afterwards con- 
 nected with the ships, which were drawn up within its 
 defences ; but, at Shorncliffe, there are no traces of any 
 ramparts from the camp to the sea, and, indeed, the 
 shore below the camp is not soft and open, as Caesar 
 describes, but is rocky and precipitous, so as to preclude 
 the possibility of there drawing up the vessels. 
 
 Caesar now elicited from some captives who fell into 
 his hands by what road the enemy had retired. Can- 
 terbury was then, as at present, the capital of Kent, 
 and the British troops had retreated in that direction. 
 Caesar, with his wonted activity, determined on follow- 
 ing them at once, before their army was swelled by any 
 accession of numbers. He, therefore, gave his troops a 
 few hours' respite, and then, leaving Quintus Atrius, 
 with ten cohorts and 300 horse, in command of the 
 camp, commenced, at twelve o'clock at night, his 
 march into the interior in quest of the enemy. 
 
 It was full moon 1 , and between Limne the port, 
 and Canterbury the capital, there was a good road; 
 and Caesar had Mandubert, the exiled prince of the 
 Trinobantes, for his guide ; and a night march, there- 
 fore, was easily effected. When they had accomplished 
 twelve miles, and, therefore (as the sun rose about four), 
 at break of day on the 20th July, the Britons were in 
 sight. If we measure twelve miles from Limne along 
 the road to Canterbury, it will bring us to Wye, on the 
 southern bank of the river Stour. The Britons were 
 posted in Challock Wood, an eminence about a mile off 
 on the other, or north, side of the river. As many of 
 you may not be acquainted with the locality, I will 
 
 The moon rose between 7 and 8 p. m. and would set between 
 a 4 
 
 4 and 5 in the morning. 
 
88 POSITION OF THE BRITONS. 
 
 attempt a brief sketch of it. As you pass by the rail- 
 way from Eeigate to Dover, a line of chalk hills rims 
 parallel on the left hand. At Ashford they are inter- 
 sected by the valley of the Stour. The termination of 
 the chalk range on the north of the Stour is the highest 
 point in that part, and is, and no doubt always was, 
 covered by a dense wood. I walked up to it from 
 Wye, and never beheld such a sylvan rampart. No 
 position could be more suitable to the tactics of the 
 Britons. By felling trees and laying them lengthwise 
 they had formed a stockade, and, as the wood was tra- 
 versed in all directions by alleys or lanes, the cavalry 
 and charioteers could issue from their covert at any 
 moment. Besides, the eminence presented a most ex- 
 tensive view of tile adjacent country, on the north as 
 far as the Thames, and on the south as far as Limne, so 
 that the Britons could watch the Eoman line of march 
 all the way from their camp. On the southern side of 
 the Stour, the chalk hills again rise up to their former 
 height, and the intervening valley, a little Thermopylae, 
 was the only practicable road for the tram of an army 
 towards Canterbury. The Britons, by thus seizing on 
 Challock Wood, obliged the enemy either to attack 
 them at a disadvantage, or, by passing through the 
 gorge, to endanger the communication with their camp 
 supplies. 
 
 Caesar tells us that the fastness of the Britons was 
 strong by nature and stronger by art, and suggests 
 that the defences had been prepared long before 
 against some domestic foe. 1 If so, we must imagine 
 (and we can scarcely do so without a smile) that war 
 
 1 " Locum nacti egregie et natura et opere miinitmn, quem do- 
 mestici belli, ut videbatur, causa jam ante prseparaverant." — 
 B. G. v. 9. 
 
T0S1TI0N OF THE BRITONS. 89 
 
 had been declared by the four kings of Kent, of whom 
 we shall speak presently, against as many kings of the 
 Eegni, or people of Sussex. Challock Wood, then, was 
 the great military post of the Britons ; but, should you 
 look there for the remains of walls and ditches, you will 
 probably search in vain, for the Commentaries speak not 
 of fortifications composed of bricks and stone, but only 
 of a continuous sylvan barricade. 1 Dion Cassius goes 
 more into detail, and clearly implies that there was no 
 wall, or vallum, in the Eoman fashion, but that trees 
 had been cut and piled one upon another, so as in a 
 certain sense only to claim the character of a rampart. 2 
 As Cassar with his legions approached the Stour, the 
 Britons, who from the heights had been observing his 
 advance, sent down their cavalry and charioteers to 
 dispute the passage of the river, not that they could 
 hope to prevent his crossing, but with the view of in- 
 flicting as much loss as possible. Now a river as a 
 military defence has a double aspect. Either it is full, 
 when the depth of water is a serious obstacle to the 
 free movement of the troops, more particularly when 
 encumbered with arms ; or the stream is low, when the 
 channel of the river forms a fosse, or ditch, which 
 gives the enemy on the opposite bank the advantage of 
 higher ground. In the month of July the beds of 
 rivers have usually but little water, but this might not 
 have been so here ; for, when I was at Wye even later 
 in the year, viz. in August, the Stour for some distance 
 had the appearance of a considerable river, and was full 
 to the brim, which was owing simply to the circum- 
 
 1 " Crebris arboribus succisis omnes introitus erant praBclusi." — 
 B. G. v. 9. 
 
 2 " Ta te yap iripii, £v\a ekq^clv, kcu erepa iir avrolg <JTOiyj]l!>bv ettl- 
 ffvi'Evrjcrav, wore iv ^apa/ccu'/jan Tpoirov riva ttj/cu." — Dion, xl. 2. 
 
90 DEFEAT OF THE BRITONS. 
 
 stance that at Wye is a mill-dam by which the water 
 is penned back. I should rather imagine, however, 
 that, at the time of which we are speaking, the Stour 
 was such as I saw it below the mill-dam, viz. a broad 
 and nearly empty channel ; for it is stated in the Com- 
 mentaries that, when the legions attempted the passage, 
 the Britons encountered them from the higher ground, 
 which I take to mean from the elevation of the bank. 1 
 At length the river was forced, though not with impu- 
 nity 2 , and the Britons withdrew into their defences. 
 Cassar now advanced upon the wood ; and desultory 
 assaults on the one side, and sallies on the other, were 
 frequent along the line. Eventually, Cassar's seventh 
 legion, covering themselves with the testudo formed by 
 holding the shield over the head, so as to present an im- 
 penetrable roof, threw up a mound against the barri- 
 cade, and so scaled it 3 , and thus retrieved the disgrace 
 which the Britons had inflicted upon them the preceding 
 year in the corn field at Limne. Ca3sar, however, did 
 not follow up his victory, partly from fear of an am- 
 bush, and partly from the lateness of the hour. The 
 next day, 21st July, the army was ordered to advance 
 in pursuit, in three divisions. However, they had not 
 proceeded far, and the rear-guard was still in sight, 
 when suddenly they were recalled, from disastrous in- 
 telligence brought in hot haste from the camp. 
 
 It seems that a violent hurricane from the east had 
 swept the sea the preceding night, and the eight hundred 
 
 1 "Illi equitatu atque essedisad flumen progressi, ex loco superi- 
 or e nostros prohibere et prselium committere coeperunt." — B. G. v. 9. 
 So, " ut ex locis superioribus in littus telum adjici posset." — B. G. 
 v. 9. 
 
 2 si 1tvy\'ovQ avTaniKTEtr av '." — Dion, xl. 2. 
 
 3 " Testudine facta et aggere ad munitiones adjecto." — B. G. v. 9. 
 
THE STORM. 91 
 
 vessels lying at anchor in Dungeness Bay had broken 
 away from their moorings, and been dashed against each 
 other, and most of them had been thrown upon the shore. 
 In short, very serious damage had been sustained, and 
 mounted messengers had been immediately sent off with 
 the intelligence. Caesar returned at once, and found 
 the sad reality nothing short of the description. Forty 
 ships were utterly lost ; the rest were miserably shat- 
 tered, but capable of repair. The pioneers and car- 
 penters of the army were now set to work, and other 
 artisans were sent for from the Continent ; and Labienus, 
 who had been left in Gaul, was ordered to employ the 
 legions which were with him in laying down and com- 
 pleting as many new vessels as possible. 
 
 To prevent the recurrence of such another disaster, 
 Caesar determined, though it was an undertaking of 
 Herculean labour, to haul up the whole of his fleet 
 on dry land, and secure them against any assault from 
 the enemy, by placing them within the defences of the 
 camp. The legionaries, 21,000 in number, were en- 
 gaged upon this arduous task for ten days and ten 
 nights, i. e. until the 31st July, without intermission. 1 
 
 If Caesar's camp was pitched, as is likely, on the 
 table-land overlooking the marsh near Limne, in short, 
 on the site where Limne castle now stands, we should 
 look for the naval defences immediately contiguous; 
 and if we walk down the slope from the castle to the 
 marsh, we come upon a very remarkable ruin called 
 Stuttfall, a name said to be composed of the two Saxon 
 words stoute wall, or strong fort. Others derive it from 
 
 1 " Ipse, etsi res erat multas opera* ac laboris, tarn en commodissi- 
 mum esse statuit omnes naves subduci, et cum castris una niunitione 
 conjungi. In his rebus circiter dies x consumit, ne nocturnis qui- 
 dem temporibus ad laborem militum intermissis." — B. G. v. 11. 
 
92 STUTTFALL. 
 
 two Saxon words signifying a " fallen place ;" and others 
 from stced-weall, sea shore. That Stuttfall was erected 
 by Csesar I will not take upon myself to affirm, but in 
 many respects it answers most singularly to the charac- 
 ter of the naval castrum now constructed. Stuttfall is 
 certainly a Eoman work, as is evident from the layers 
 of Eoman tiles. The walls are of amazing thickness, 
 and enclose, it is said, no less a space than ten or twelve 1 
 acres of ground. Caesar might, therefore, well describe 
 it as castra egregie munita, & camp wonderfully strong. 2 
 I have examined it very closely, and the first observa- 
 tion that occurs to one is, How could a military fortress 
 have been pitched on the side of the hill, and not on 
 the smnmit] There must certainly have been some 
 other than a mere military object in view. The castle 
 above shows that the builders knew where a fortress 
 should be placed. The wonder is increased when we 
 remark the broken ramparts on the north, and east, 
 and west sides of the square, and look in vain on the 
 south, at the foot of the descent, for any trace of a for- 
 tification. Indeed, in this direction, the area is per- 
 fectly open. The explanation of this is as follows : — 
 In ancient times the sea, as is proved incontestably by 
 the fragments of ships and anchors which have been 
 dug up, flowed up to the very base of the lull, and 
 formed there the port of Limne. Stuttfall, therefore, 
 was built for the protection of the shipping ; so that, 
 naturally enough, the site was not like the castle on the 
 summit, but on the slope toward the foot. The fourth 
 or southern side of the square, being washed by the 
 waves, needed no artificial defence. Caesar then might 
 
 1 10 acres {Lambcuxles Peramb. 18-4) ; 12 acres (Stukeleys 
 Itin. 123). 
 
 2 B. G. v. 11. 
 
STUTTFALL. 93 
 
 have brought his vessels up the creek of Limne, and 
 have drawn them on shore beneath his camp, and then 
 have surrounded them by this strong massive rampart. 
 It is also observable that the wall is built in many 
 places as if in a hurry, from materials supplied by other 
 more ancient buildings. 
 
 It will be objected, perhaps, that a wall of such pro- 
 digious strength, round a space of ten or twelve acres, 
 could not possibly have been completed in ten days ; 
 but we must remember that 21,000 legionaries and 
 2000 cavalry were employed upon it day and night, 
 and not only so, but workmen also were brought over 
 from Gaul. Besides, it is not said that it was completed 
 in ten days, but only that it was in such a state of for- 
 wardness by that time that Caesar could with safety 
 leave ten cohorts and 300 horse there, and return him- 
 self in search of the enemy. The work may have been 
 brought to perfection in a much longer period by the 
 troops which remained in garrison. 
 
 If it be thought a difficulty that a numerous fleet 
 should have been dragged up an ascent like that at 
 Stuttfall, let it be remembered that the year before, 
 their fleet, when resting on the sea beach, had been 
 swamped by the spring tide; and Cassar, anxious to 
 prevent any similar accident, had since constructed 
 his ships of so little bulk (carrying each a freight 
 of 37 men only), that they could all be drawn on 
 land with the greatest ease. Stuttfall, from its gentle 
 elevation above the sea level, would therefore be exactly 
 the place where we might expect that the fleet would 
 be secured. 
 
 If it be said that even ten or twelve acres of ground, 
 though a large space, would not suffice for 560 ships, to 
 say nothing of the 240 tenders, we reply that the rest 
 
94 STUTTFALL. 
 
 might have been drawn up on the marsh immediately 
 below, for mounds of earth like remains of fortifications 
 are still to be seen there ; and, as on the marsh advantage 
 would be taken of wet ditches, the same strength of 
 walls would not be required as on the slope, where the 
 ramparts themselves were the only protection. 
 
 It must be confessed that the coins found at Stuttfall 
 are those only of the Eoman emperors from Antoninus 
 Pius to Valens 1 ; but this does not prove that Stuttfall 
 was not a Eoman station in the time of Csesar, for his 
 sojourn in Britain was very brief, about two months 
 only, and for a hundred years after him the Eomans 
 never set foot upon the island. Even if the identical 
 walls which remain were not reared by Caesar, it is still 
 open to conjecture that his naval camp was on this 
 spot, and that the Eomans of an after-age adopted his 
 plan, and built the present gigantic rampart in the 
 place of a more hasty circumvallation thrown up by 
 the great captain. 
 
 It was while Caesar and his army were detained by 
 the seaside that Q. Cicero took the opportunity of 
 announcing his arrival in Britain to M. Tully. The 
 feelings which the letter excited in the breast of the 
 accomplished orator are as full of nature as they are 
 replete with vanity. " Now," he says, in his answer to 
 Quintus, " I come last to that which should, perhaps, 
 have stood first ! that dehghtful letter of yours from 
 Britain ! I had been so fearful of the ocean, so fearful 
 of the coasts of the island ! I do not speak slightingly of 
 all the rest, but the rest carries more of hope than of 
 fear, and I am rather upon the tiptoe of expectation 
 than under serious alarm. But I see that you have a 
 
 1 Roach Smith's Antiq. of Kichbor and Limne. 
 
KETURN TO THE STOUR. 95 
 
 brave subject for composition. What sites ! what 
 descriptions of places and tilings ! what manners ! what 
 nations ! what battles ! and, above all, what a com- 
 mander-in-chief ! ! I will gladly assist you, as you asked 
 me, in what you wish. I will forward ycu the verses you 
 desire, y7^otix el$ 'A6r t vag. But, I say, you seem to have 
 forgotten me ! For, tell me, my brother, what thought 
 Caesar of my verses ? for he wrote me word before, that 
 he had read the first book, and that, taking the com- 
 mencement as a sample, he had never read anything 
 finer, not even of the Greeks. The rest he had reserved 
 till he was more at leisure (paSufxarspa) : for I use his 
 very word. But tell me candidly whether either the 
 subject or the style fails to please. No need to fear, for 
 I shall not think a whit the worse of myself. Out with 
 it, and write like a true brother as you are." l 
 
 Caesar now (about August) put himself again at the 
 head of Iris legions, to recover the position which such 
 unwelcome tidings from the fleet had constrained him 
 to abandon. During the interval which had elapsed 
 the British cause had prospered, and now assumed a 
 very different aspect. We have seen that Cassivelaun, 
 king of the Catyeuchlani (Hertfordsliire and Middlesex), 
 had triumphed in the war against Imanuent, king of 
 the Trinobantes (Essex), had slain Imanuent, driven 
 out his son Mandubert, and possessed himself of the 
 
 1 Cic. Ep. ad Q. Fr. ii. 16. 
 
 2 B. G. v. 20. The name of Mandubert appears to be derived 
 from " Man " in its modern sense, for it is translated by the word 
 Andro-gorius (Oros. cited Mon. Hist. Brit. p. lxxix.), or Andro- 
 gius (Bede, cited ib. 110), evidently derived from avi)p, a man. The 
 same word also entered into the name of his father I-man-uent. One 
 is almost tempted to interpret Imanuentius, the man of Venta or 
 Norwich ; and Mandubratius, the man of Dover (i. e. Dover Court) 
 or Harwich. 
 
96 CASSIVELAUN. 
 
 kingdom of the vanquished. Cassivelami's territory 
 was now bounded by the Thames to the sonth, and by 
 the ocean to the east^ According to Caesar, it was di- 
 vided from the maritime states by the Thames, at 
 the distance of abont eighty miles from the sea. 1 
 This is interpreted by some to mean that Cassive- 
 lami's borders began at the distance of eighty miles 
 from the mouth of the Thames, but surely the more 
 natural signification is simply that the Thames, which 
 was the boundary line to the south, was eighty miles 
 from the Kentish coast; and, if we measure from 
 Limne, where Caesar landed, to the point where he is 
 said to have forded the river, the distance would be 
 about eighty Eoman miles. 
 
 This aggrandisement of Cassivelaun was, of course, 
 regarded by the states to the south of the Thames with 
 no little jealousy; and it was only on hearing of the 
 enormous preparations which the Romans were making 
 in Gaul, that, feeling themselves utterly incapable of 
 meeting the storm alone, they had dropped under the 
 pressure of the moment all minor considerations, and 
 required the aid of Cassivelaun, and constituted him 
 the generalissimo of their united forces. The rapidity 
 of Caesar's movements had taken the troops of the south- 
 erns by surprise, and Caesar, but for the necessity of 
 returning to the fleet, might, by following up the blow 
 struck at Challock Wood, have prevented the junction 
 of the reinforcements from the north. But, during the 
 ten days which were spent at the seaside, Cassivelaun 
 with his auxiliaries had arrived at the British camp, 
 
 1 " Cujus fines a maritiniis ciritatibus fhunen dividit, quod appel- 
 latur Tamesis, a mari circiter millia passuum lxxx." — B. G. x. 
 11. Eighty miles Roman would be seventy-three miles and a 
 fraction English. 
 
CESAR'S ADVANCE. 97 
 
 and the assembled troops were now at least double the 
 former number. The charioteers alone amounted to 
 upwards of ^OOO. 1 
 
 As Csesar advanced from Limne, the British cavalry 
 and charioteers were sent forward to harass the enemy 
 during their march. 2 From the naval camp to Wye 
 was one continual skirmish between the mounted troops 
 of the two armies. Many fell on both sides, without 
 any material advantage. The Eomans could always 
 retire upon their legions ; and the Britons could always 
 take refuge in their woods. The flight of the latter, 
 however, was not uncommonly a feint to draw away 
 the Eoman cavalry to a distance from the legionaries, 
 when the Britons would suddenly wheel about, and 
 seldom failed to give proofs of their superiority. 
 
 Notwithstanding these desperate encounters, Caesar's 
 legions continued steadily to press forward in the direc- 
 tion of Wye. At the close of the day they halted, and 
 proceeded to mark out the camp for the night. Two 
 cohorts kept guard while the camp was being intrenched, 
 when the Britons all at once issued from their woods, and 
 drove the two cohorts before them. Csesar immediately 
 ordered up two other cohorts to their support, but such 
 was the impetuosity of the British charge that the two 
 auxiliary cohorts were broken, and the Britons cut their 
 way through, and then brought themselves off in safety, 
 in defiance of every obstacle. Q. Laberius Durus, a 
 military tribune, was one of their victims. 3 The matter 
 was now growing serious, and Caesar, to prevent further 
 loss, was obliged to bring up the best part of his army, 
 when the Britons were repulsed. On the southern 
 
 1 B. G. v. 19. 
 
 2 " 'Ee avrb to vEdjptov (T(j)u>v wp/.tr/0-a^." — Dion, xl. 2. 
 
 3 B. G. v. 15. 
 
 II 
 
98 SEVERE CONFLICT. 
 
 bank of the Stour, a little to the east of Wye, and op- 
 posite Chilham, is a tumulus called " Julliber's Grave," 
 and tradition says that it takes its name from Julius's 
 tribune Laberius, who fell on this day, and was here 
 buried. The locality agrees well, and, had the name 
 of the tribune been Julius Laberius, the similarity of 
 sound in Julliber, as an abbreviation of Julius Laberius, 
 would have been at least a curious coincidence. Un- 
 fortunately the prsenomen was Quintus, so that the 
 antiquary is obliged to borrow the name of Julius from 
 Caesar himself. Of course I attach no importance to 
 the popular belief, though there is nothing unreasonable 
 or absurd on the face of it. 
 
 The next day (which would be about 2nd Au- 
 gust) the Britons showed themselves at intervals on 
 the hills, but neither Britons nor Eomans seemed dis- 
 posed to renew the conflict. At length, about noon 1 , 
 Cassar was under the necessity of dispatching a foraging 
 expedition ; and he showed his respect for the foe by 
 the force which he employed. He had brought from 
 Gaul five legions and 2,000 horse. One legion and 
 300 horse had been left in charge of the naval camp 2 , 
 and he had with him four legions and 1,700 horse. 
 He now retained a single legion within the intrench- 
 ments, and ordered C. Trebonius, one of his ablest 
 officers, with three legions, more than 12,000 men, and 
 the whole of the cavalry, to search the country for 
 plunder. While the foragers were engaged upon their 
 nefarious occupation, the Britons suddenly started from 
 their hiding places and commenced a desperate attack, 
 even grasping at the standards. C. Trebonius answered 
 well to the high trust reposed in him, for his troops were 
 
 1 " Meridie." — B. G. v. 17. 2 B. G. v. 9, 11. 
 
CASSIVELAUN CHANGES HIS TACTICS. 99 
 
 instantly under arms and in order, and not only sus- 
 tained the onset, but drove the enemy back ; and the 
 cavalry so well followed up the blow that the Britons 
 could not recover themselves, and a decisive victory 
 was gained. This fatal encounter may have taken place 
 at Chilham, which lies a little to the east of Wye, but 
 on the opposite side of the river, and is said to 
 be a corruption of Julham, or Julius's (i. e. Caesar's) 
 Town. 1 I should add that Cossar's veracity as to 
 his success has been questioned by the Eomans them- 
 selves ; for Dion states explicitly that the battle was a 
 drawn one. 2 
 
 Cassivelaun was convinced that his troops, most of 
 them probably raw recruits, however obstinate their 
 valour, could not resist the serried legions of Eome in a 
 pitched battle. From this time, therefore, his tactics 
 were changed. The army was broken up into different 
 bodies, so as to distract the attention of the enemy and 
 cut off stragglers and harass his movements, but never 
 to offer a general engagement. 3 
 
 It was about this period that Q. Cicero again wrote 
 to his brother, and it would seem that the tone of it 
 was not very encouraging, for M. Tully, in answer, 
 writes merely, " Concerning affairs in Britain, I collect 
 
 1 Many places have been similarly derived, as Julium, Julii 
 Forum, and the Julian Alps; but Chilham from Julham seems 
 somewhat apocryphal. If Chilham be derived from Julius, pro- 
 bably Challock Wood is also, for Chilham and Challock evidently 
 contain the same element. 
 
 2 " Kara x w V av afi^orejooi ejiEtvay.^ — Dion, xl. 3. As to Cesar's 
 veracity generally, see Suet. Jul. 56. 
 
 3 " Ex hac fuga protinus, quse undique convenerant auxilia dis- 
 cesserunt ; neque post id tempus imquam summis nobiscum copiis 
 hostes contenderunt." — B. G. v. 17. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 RETREAT OF THE BRITONS. 
 
 from your letter that there is no ground for fear and 
 none for congratulation." 1 
 
 Cassivelaun, in execution of his well-concerted plan, 
 now withdrew, at the head of his own proper army, in 
 the direction of his hereditary dominions on the north 
 of the Thames. The active Eoman commander would 
 not be far behind him, and we may imagine that on 
 each day the post which Cassivelaun quitted in the 
 morning was occupied by his pursuer in the evening. 
 If, as is likely, there was at that time no bridge over 
 the Thames in the neighbourhood of London, it would 
 be necessary to seek the first ford higher up the stream. 2 
 All is conjecture, but it may be suggested that Cassive- 
 laun retired, followed by his antagonist, from the banks 
 of the Stour along the southern side of the chalk hills 
 running from Wye to Dorking, and then down the left 
 bank of the Mole to the nearest point of the Thames, 
 which would be at Walton. 3 The common opinion is 
 that the armies crossed the Thames at Coway Stakes, a 
 little above Walton and below Weybridge, at Shepper- 
 ton, where is the village of Halliford, so named from 
 the ford. 
 
 Cassivelaun had no sooner placed the river be- 
 
 1 " De Britannicis rebus cognovi ex tuis litteris nihil esse, nee 
 quod metuamus, nee quod gaudeamus." — Ep. ad Q. Fr. iii. 1. 
 
 2 About a hundred years afterwards there was a bridge, apparently 
 not far from London. Dion, lx. 20. 
 
 3 Others think that he marched by the most frequented road in 
 the direction of London. It appears from Anton. Itin. that there were 
 afterwards two roads from Limne to London, one direct, thus : — 
 
 Londinio 
 
 Durobrivis (Rochester) .... xxvn 
 
 Duroverno (Canterbury) .... xxv 
 
 Ad Portum Lemanis (Limne) . . . xvi 
 
 68: 
 
CO WAY STAKES. 101 
 
 tween himself and his pursuer than he fenced the 
 northern bank with chevaux-de-frise of sharp stakes, 
 some of them in the bed of the river 1 , for the pur- 
 pose of checking, if not of preventing, the advance of 
 the enemy. At the distance of a mile and a half to 
 the south of Coway Stakes is an eminence overlook- 
 ing the ford, called St. George's Hill, and here Ceesar 
 may have pitched his camp, for there are still the re- 
 mains of a Eoman castrum on the crown, double- 
 trenched, and containing more than thirteen acres 2 , 
 and called traditionally Caesar's camp. The very name, 
 also, of Walton is said to be derived from the vallum, 
 or wall, here constructed. The two hostile armies had 
 not long confronted one another on the opposite banks 
 when Csesar gave orders, notwithstanding the obstacles, 
 to force the ford. The horse took the lead, closely fol- 
 lowed by the foot, and both horse and foot dashed into 
 the stream and advanced upon the enemy with such im- 
 petuosity, though the legions were up to their necks in 
 water 3 , that the Britons, who were rightly armed, could 
 not sustain the weight of the charge, and fled in confu- 
 
 the other circuitous — 
 
 
 Londinio 
 
 
 Noviomago (Croydon) .... 
 
 X 
 
 Vagniacis (Maidstone) 
 
 XVIII 
 
 Durobrivis (Rochester) 
 
 IX 
 
 Durolevo (Milton or Faversham) . 
 
 XIII 
 
 Duroverno (Canterbury) 
 
 XII 
 
 Ad Portum Lemanis (Limne) 
 
 XVI 
 
 78. 
 
 1 " Ripa autem erat acutis sudibus prasfixis munita; ejusdemque 
 generis sub aqua defixse fliimine tegebantur." — B. G. v. 18. 
 
 2 " 13 a. 3r." — Manning's Surrey, vol. ii. 
 
 3 " Cum capite solo ex aqua extarent." — B. G. v. 18. 
 
 n 3 
 
102 THE PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 sion. Such, at least, is the narrative of Caesar, though 
 it does not very well accord with the resolute front 
 shown by the Britons on other occasions. Polyamus 
 would attribute Caesar's success to the presence of an 
 elephant, an animal wholly unknown to the natives, 
 and presenting, from its stupendous size, a supernatural 
 appearance. 1 It is scarcely credible, however, that 
 Caesar should have possessed an elephant in Gaul, and 
 still less so, if he did, that he should not have men- 
 tioned it. 
 
 The passage of the Thames, so little disputed at the 
 time between the two hosts, has since been most warmly 
 contested amongst historians and antiquarians. Some 
 will have it that Caesar crossed the river at West- 
 minster, where, in a dry summer, the river is fordable 2 ; 
 others, as Maitland, at Chelsea 3 ; others, as Lemon, at 
 
 1 " Kaicrap kv Bperraviq. iroTa^xov fiiyav kire^eipEL TTEpcuoixrQai. 
 BaaiXevQ ~Bp£Travu>v KaaoXavvog avelpye fiErd 7roXX<ov Itcttewv kui 
 apjxaTb)V. Kalcrapi \iiyiO70g kXityag eiTrero, ^woy 'BpETTavoig ov% ewpa- 
 [xevov. Tovtov ffidrjpaic (poXiviv o-^vpioaag kcu izvpyov k-x avTOv 
 fxiyav v\pio(rag, Kal ro^orag Kal acpeydovfjrag E7riffTr}(rag, ekeXev(TEV knl 
 to pevfxa kfi^aivEiv' HpErravol dk k^ETrXaynffav aoparov Kal v7TEp<pvkg 
 Srjplov IdovTEg. Bperravoi jjlei' £?) at/rote %-rnroig Kal ap/jKuriv ttiEvyov, 
 'Poj/jloioi dk aKtvdvviog rbv TTOTayLOV $ii€r}<rav epI %ioa> rovg iroXEfxlovg 
 $o€//o-avr££." — Poly am. Stratag. vi. It is said that Claudius also, 
 in a. d. 43, took elephants with him to Britain. Dion, lx. 21. 
 
 2 " Even now, in similar seasons (two dry summers consecutively), 
 the river is fordable at Westminster, as it was on the 19th of this 
 very month, July, 1846." — H.L. L.: Gent. Mag. vol. xxvi. (1846) 
 p. 256. 
 
 3 " Sounding the river at several neap tides, from Wandsworth 
 to London Bridge, I discovered a ford (on Sept. 18, 1732) about 
 90 feet west of the S.W. angle of Chelsea College garden, whose 
 channel, in a right line from N.E. to S.W., was no more than 4 feet 
 7 inches deep, where the day before (it blowing hard from the west) 
 my waterman informed me that the water there was above a foot 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 103 
 
 the Earl of Dysart's grounds at Petersham, opposite 
 Twickenham * ; others, as Horsley, at Kingston 2 ; others, 
 as Bishop Kennett, at Wallingforcl 3 ; and others, as 
 Daines Barrington 4 , are certain that Caesar never passed 
 the Thames at all, but only the Medway, called by 
 Caesar the Thames by mistake. It may not, perhaps, 
 be uninteresting if I trace this learned controversy from 
 the commencement. 
 
 The tradition that Caesar forded the Thames at Coway 
 Stakes is as old as Bede, for he says, " The footsteps 
 thereof are seen to this day, and it appears upon the 
 view that each of them (i. e. the stakes) is as thick as a 
 man's thigh, and that, being wrapped in lead, they are 
 fastened in the bed of the river immovably." 5 No 
 place is here mentioned by name, but, as it has never 
 been suggested that stakes were to be found elsewhere 
 in the Thames, no doubt Coway Stakes is the spot 
 alluded to. 
 
 The learned Camden is very positive upon the sub- 
 ject, not to say a little egotistical : " It is impossible (he 
 writes in 1607) I should be mistaken in the places, be- 
 cause here the river is scarce six feet deep, and the 
 place at this day from those stakes is called Coway 
 Stakes. To which we may add that Caesar makes the 
 bounds of Cassivelaun, where he fixes his passage, to 
 
 lower ; and it is probable that at such tides, before the course of the 
 river was obstructed either by banks or bridge, it must have been 
 considerably shallower." — MaitlancTs London, p. 8. 
 
 1 Manning's Surrey, vol. ii. p. 760. 
 
 2 Horsley's Britain. 3 Archseolog. ii. 145. 4 lb. ii. 
 
 5 " Quarum vestigia sudium ibidem usque hodie visuntur, et 
 videtur inspectantibus quod singula? earum, ad modum humani 
 femoris grossae et circumfusge plumbo, immobiliter erant in pro- 
 fundum fluminis infixce." — Bed. Ecc. Hist. i. 2. 
 
 B 4 
 
104 THE PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 be about eighty miles distant from the sea which 
 washes the east part of Kent, where he landed. Now 
 this ford we speak of is at the same distance from the 
 sea, and I am the first that I know of who has men- 
 tioned and settled it in its proper place." 1 
 
 Samuel Gale, in 1734, read a paper before the 
 Society of Antiquaries 2 , in which he subscribed to 
 Camden's opinion, and gives us some description of 
 the stakes at that time — that the stakes, from their 
 antiquity, resembled ebony, and would admit a polish, 
 and were not the least rotted ; that they were young 
 oak trees 3 , and no mark of any tool, and the thickness 
 of a man's thigh ; " but whether," he says, " they were 
 covered "with lead at the ends fixed in the bottom of 
 the river is a particular I could not learn." And he 
 adds in a note, " Since writing of this, one of these 
 stakes entire was actually weighed up between two 
 loaded barges at the time of a great flood by the late 
 Eev. — Clark, jun., of Long Ditton." 
 
 However, in 1769, the Hon. Daines Barrington ap- 
 peared in opposition before the same Society 4 , and 
 asserted that the Coway Stakes were nothing more 
 than the remains of a fishing-weir, for that a fisherman 
 of Shepperton, who had been employed by some gen- 
 tlemen to take up the stakes, had conducted him 
 (Daines Barrington), at his desire, to the place, when 
 he found, from the explanation of the said fisherman, 
 
 1 Camd. Brit. vol. i. p. 183. 
 
 2 Archaeolog. i. p. 184. 
 
 3 " I have been informed that the stakes at Coway were very 
 thick pieces of yew tree." — W. StuTceley : Gent. Mag. vol. Ixvii. 
 (1797) p. 198. " The piles," according to another account, " were 
 of chestnut wood." — Gent. Mag. vol. lix. (1787) p. 222. 
 
 4 Archeeolog. ii. p. 141. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 105 
 
 that the stakes were not along the northern bank of 
 the river, but athwart the stream, thus : — 
 
 MIDDLESEX 
 
 THE STAKES 
 
 SURREY 
 
 Whereas, to prevent the passage of an army, the 
 stakes should have been planted longitudinally, from 
 c to D. He also draws an argument from Camden's 
 own statement, that the river there was scarce six feet 
 deep, for, says he, " to permit infantry to cross by 
 fording with their heads above water, the depth should 
 not be more than four and a half feet." 
 
 On the other hand, a writer under the name of Clio, 
 in the " Gentleman's Magazine " (vol. lix. a.d. 1787, p. 
 222), would cut the matter short by positive testimony 
 that the passage was at Coway Stakes, for, " upon the 
 rebuilding of Walton Bridge," he says, " two years ago, 
 they found several very valuable articles, among the 
 rest a perfect spear with the name of Julius Caesar in- 
 dented legibly in Eoman characters ! " The maker's 
 name is not mentioned, but Birmingham is a very 
 ancient town, and the Birmingham trade-mark might, 
 no doubt, upon minute inspection, have been dis- 
 covered ! ! 
 
 In the second volume of Manning's " Surrey," published 
 
106 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 in 1809 1 , and edited by Mr. Bray, the canse of Co way 
 Stakes finds another zealous defender. As to the posi- 
 tion of Barrington that the stakes were a fishing- weir, 
 it is there asked by the writer (and, I must say, not 
 without reason), why a weir of such strength should 
 be found only hi this part of the river, and nothing 
 similar elsewhere % Then, as to the objection urged by 
 Barrington, that the stakes stretched across the river, 
 and so would not prevent a passage, a Mr. Crawter, 
 who knew well the neighbourhood of Walton and the 
 river, is called as a witness, and deposes that the ford 
 was in a curve, and that the stakes cut the curve in 
 two places, so that no one, as the stakes were fixed, 
 could use the ford, as may be seen by the following 
 sketch : — 
 
 It is added, in confirmation of this being the ford 
 in question, that spurs and fragments of spears, &c., 
 had been dug up at different times in a field called 
 Warclose 2 , in the parish of Shepperton ; but, before we 
 
 1 Page 759. 
 
 2 D. Barrington would probably suggest that 
 corruption of " weir-close." 
 
 war-close" is a 
 
THE PASSAGE OP THE THAMES. 107 
 
 admit the argument from the spurs, it must be proved, 
 which may be a matter of difficulty, that the Romans 
 ware spurs ! 
 
 We have in this history the best account of the 
 stakes themselves ; and the nature of them may lead us 
 farther on the road to truth. It is said that " one 
 Simmons, a fisherman, who had lived there, and known 
 the river all his life, told the editor (Mr. Bray) in 1807, 
 that at the place called Coway Stakes he had weighed 
 up several stakes of the size of his thigh, about six feet 
 long, shod with iron, the wood very black, and so hard 
 as to turn an axe. Their boats sometimes ran against 
 them. The late Earl of Sandwich used to come to 
 Shepperton to fish, and gave him half a guinea a-piece 
 for some of them. There were none in any other part 
 of the river that he ever heard of. One now remained 
 in the river, which they were not able to weigh. It 
 was visible when the water was clear. His net had 
 been caught and torn by it. His tradition was that 
 they formed part of a bridge built by Julius Cossar, and 
 he described them to have stood in two rows, as if 
 going across the river, about nine feet asunder as the 
 water runs, and about four feet asunder as crossing the 
 river.'" 
 
 I believe that this poor fisherman of Shepperton has 
 shown more good sense than all the antiquaries, and 
 that he has hit upon the right solution of the stakes, 
 viz. that they were the piles of an ancient bridge. How 
 could stakes in two rows nine feet asunder one way, viz. 
 in the course of the stream, and four feet another, viz. 
 across the stream, be intended as a barricade against 
 an enemy, when a foot soldier, not to say a trooper, 
 could pass through them in every direction'? How, 
 again, is it credible that the stakes, which must have 
 
108 THE PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 been prepared in a hurry, should have been shod with 
 iron in a systematic way, as in times of peace, for the 
 foundations of a bridge 1 It does not follow, however, 
 that, because there had been a bridge, Caesar did not 
 here ford the river ; on the contrary, the circumstance 
 rather favours the supposition that he did. Assuming 
 a bridge to have existed there in the time of Caesar, 
 Cassivelaun would naturally retreat over it with his 
 army, and then break it down and saw off the tops of 
 the piles. The stakes which were driven by Cassive- 
 laun himself must have been along the side of the north- 
 ern bank. Caesar nowhere hints that they were across 
 the river. Who can say that Caesar did not him- 
 self construct the bridge 1 for he was proud of his 
 mechanical skill, as is evident from his detailed account 
 of the bridge thrown by him over the Khine the prece- 
 ding year. 1 This, also, would account for the strong 
 camp on St. George's Hill, viz. to protect the bridge, 
 for the purpose of covering his retreat, should he find 
 the enemy too strong for his daily-dhnmishing force. 
 As for Daines Barrington's argument that because the 
 water here was nearly six feet, it was, therefore, too 
 deep to allow the Eoman infantry to ford, the an- 
 swer is that the depth of the stream depends upon 
 the season ; and we know from the Commentaries that, 
 hi fact, the year B. C. 54 was an extraordinarily dry one 2 , 
 so that the river in the month of August, when Caesar 
 was there, may easily be conceived to have been a foot 
 and a half lower than it usually is at the same period 
 under ordinary circumstances. 3 
 
 1 B. G. iv. 17. 
 
 2 " Propter siccitates." — B. G. v. 24. 
 
 3 Stow mentions a curious fact : " The river," he says, " has 
 several times been blown almost dry, so that one on shore could not 
 see any water in it from London Bridge to Westminster, particularly 
 
PASSAGE OF THE THAMES. 109 
 
 It is not to be forgotten that Coway Stakes agrees 
 with Ca3sar's description in several curious particulars. 
 In the first place, as the Thames is a tidal river up 
 to Teddington (Tide-end-town), and as Caesar, who 
 is a most accurate observer of natural phenomena, 
 makes no allusion to high or low water 1 when he 
 was almost necessarily led to it in speaking of the 
 depth of the stream and the stakes driven into its 
 bed, we may reasonably infer that the passage of 
 the river was at least above the point to which the 
 ebb and flow of the tide extends. Again, at the point 
 of passage the river was fordable, uno omnino loco, in 
 only one place ; and, further, it was at the distance of 
 eighty Eoman miles from Limne, the place of debar- 
 cation, — both which circumstances concur at Coway 
 Stakes. We may also add that, while the river has in 
 many places shifted its channel, we may be sure that 
 there has been a shallow here for more than eleven 
 centuries at least, as the stakes are referred to by the 
 Venerable Bede. 
 
 We may close the discussion with an extract from 
 Brayley's "History of Surrey," who gives the latest 
 account of the ford. "Between Walton Bridge," he 
 says, " and Halliford, in Shepperton parish, the river 
 flows in a semicircular course of great extent, and in- 
 cludes a large tract of low meadows within the bend. 
 It was here that Coway Ford crossed the stream in a 
 
 on Sept. 5, 1592, and again on Sept. 14, 1716 ; of the last I was an 
 eyewitness. Thousands of people passed over it on foot." — Stow's 
 London, p. 16. 
 
 1 The phenomenon of a tidal river would be particularly striking 
 to an Italian, and accordingly Pomponius Mela remarks: " Flumina 
 alternis motibus modo in pelagus modo retro fluentia." — Mela, 
 iii. 6. 
 
110 THE COUNTRY WASTED. 
 
 circuitous direction downward, and, within memory, it 
 has been traced by persons wading through the current 
 when the waters were low. Witliin the last thirty or 
 forty years, however, the bed, or channel, of the river 
 has been much deepened in this part, under the super- 
 intendence of the City authorities, in order to improve 
 the navigation, in consequence of which all remains of 
 the ford have been destroyed, and every trace of Coway 
 Stakes obliterated." 1 
 
 Should any one happen to be at Walton or Wey- 
 bridge, and desire to see the exact spot where these 
 famous stakes formerly stood, he will find it at the dis- 
 tance of a furlong to the west of the northern end of 
 Walton Bridge. 2 
 
 Caesar was now on the northern bank of the Thames, 
 and, as the British army had been dispersed, with the 
 exception of 4000 charioteers, Caesar, with Mandubert, 
 the exiled king of the Trinobantes, who was still in his 
 camp, marched in the direction of the Trinobantes. It 
 was hoped that, on the Eoman approach, they would at 
 once throw off their forced allegiance to Cassivelaun, 
 and welcome back Mandubert as their king, and 
 Caesar as his ally. Cassivelaun meanwhile, at the 
 head of his 4000 charioteers, watched from day to day 
 the Eoman line of march, and, when he was least 
 expected, sallied forth from the woods and fell upon their 
 rear or intercepted their stragglers. Cassivelaun also 
 showed his generalship by the adoption of the course 
 which was to have been practised had Napoleon the 
 Great ever thrown himself upon the British shore. By 
 whatever route Caesar moved the country was depopu- 
 
 1 Brayley's Hist, of Suit. vol. ii. p. 344. 
 
 2 Lyson's Environs of London, article " Shepperton." 
 
NO ADVANTAGE GAINED. Ill 
 
 lated; stores were carried off, and the cattle driven 
 into the woods. 1 The Eoman cavalry were therefore 
 obliged in foraging to range to a great distance, 
 but no sooner did they part from the legions than the 
 charioteers, who were superior in number, started from 
 their hiding-places, and seldom failed to cut some of them 
 off. The upshot was, that, if the cavalry went out to 
 forage, they returned in diminished numbers, and if 
 they remained with the legions the army wanted sup- 
 plies. The latter alternative was thought the less 
 evil, and Caesar issued a peremptory order that the 
 cavalry should on no pretence quit the protection of 
 the legions. 2 Caesar is reluctant to confess it, but it is 
 evident from this that his cavalry were beaten by the 
 British charioteers. Indeed, the very name of essedum 
 or war-car now became a bugbear to the Eoman troops ; 
 and Cicero, in writing about this time to Trebatius, 
 a young jurisconsult, who, having failed at the bar, 
 had been recommended by the orator to Caesar's 
 notice (but without much effect), playfully alludes 
 to it by saying : " I hear that in Britain is neither 
 silver nor gold, and if so, let me advise you to cap- 
 ture one of the esseda, and return as fast as you 
 can." 3 And again: "You, whose profession is to 
 cater for others, see that in Britain you be not 
 caught yourself by the essedarii"* These letters 
 assumed that Trebatius was in Britain, whither he had 
 
 1 " Pecora atque homines ex agris in sylvas compellebat." — B. G. 
 v. 19. 
 
 2 " Kelinquebatur ut neque longius ab agmine legionum discedi 
 Caesar pateretur," &c. — B. G. v. 19. 
 
 3 " Id si ita est, essedum aliquod suadco capias, et ad nos qnam 
 primum recurras." — Cic. Ep. Div. vii. 7. 
 
 4 " Tu qui ceteris cavere didicisti, in Britannia ne ab Essedariis 
 decipiaris caveto." — Ep. Div. vii. G. 
 
112 THE TMNOBANTES AND OTHER STATES. 
 
 intended going ; but, in fact, on nearing the ocean, he 
 had lost heart and remained in Gaul ; and Cicero, when 
 he heard of it, again banters him good-humouredly 
 about the essedariL " Had you gone to Britain," he 
 says, " you would have been the best lawyer in all the 
 island ! But (to have my joke, as you invite me) you 
 seem in the camp to be much less forward than in 
 the forum. You, who were so fond of swimming, 
 had you no stomach for swimming on the ocean 1 You 
 who were so cunning of fence, could you not face the 
 essedarii V' 1 Cassar himself also about this time wrote 
 to Cicero, but could not boast of any decisive advantage, 
 observing merely in general terms that matters in Britain 
 went on favourably enough. The letter was dated the 
 1st of September, b. c. 54. 2 
 
 The wise policy of Cassivelaun was now beginning to 
 bear its fruits, and Caasar was already reduced to great 
 straits in his commissariat, when the Trinobantes, now 
 that Cassar with his legions was in the vicinity, broke 
 out, as had been anticipated, in open rebellion against Cas- 
 sivelaun, and sent an embassy to Cassar with an offer of 
 submission, if he would place Mandubert on the throne 
 and guarantee them security against the arms of their op- 
 pressor. Csesar snatched at the opportunity of rescuing 
 his army from their present distress, and stipulated only 
 that hostages should be given to secure good faith, and, 
 what was of primary importance, that they should im- 
 
 1 Cic. Ep. Div. vii. 10. So : " Sin sestivorum timor te debilitat 
 aliquod excogita, ut fecisti de Britannia." — vii. 14. "Quod in 
 Britannia non nimis <f)i\odio)pov te praebuisti plane non repre- 
 hendo." — vii. 16. " In Britanniam te profectum non esse gaudeo, 
 quod et labore caruisti, et ego te de rebus illis non audiam." 
 —vii. 17. 
 
 2 Cic. Ep. ad Quint. Fr. iii. 1. 
 
SUBMIT TO CAESAR. 113 
 
 mediately furnish hiin with a supply of corn. 1 Man- 
 dubert returned with the Trinobantian envoys, and the 
 hostages and supplies were despatched to the camp with 
 all haste. 
 
 The Eoman general turned this incident to the very 
 best account. The Trinobantes were now his friends, 
 and their houses and crops were spared, and the 
 soldiery were strictly prohibited from offering the least 
 violence within the dominions of Mandubert. 2 As a con- 
 trast to this, all the adjacent parts, where the population 
 was still hostile, were a smoking desert. First, Cassive- 
 laun, in the execution of his well-laid plan, devastated 
 the country in the line of the enemy's march, and 
 then what little was left by Cassivelaun was sacked 
 or destroyed by the legions of Csesar. The comparison 
 was soon drawn, that the Trinobantes, who had ac- 
 cepted terms, were living under the king of their 
 choice safe and unmolested, while the clans that still 
 adhered to Cassivelaun saw their houses burnt, their 
 fields pillaged, and their cattle driven off. 3 The 
 murmurs increased until eventually the Cenimagni 4 , 
 
 1 " His Cassar imperat obsides xl frumentumque exercitui." — * 
 B. G. v. 20. 
 
 2 " Trinobantibus defensis atque ab omni militum injuria prohi- 
 bitis." — B. G. v. 21. Cs&sar, therefore, was in the country of the 
 Trinobantes. 
 
 3 The devastation of Britain must have been appalling, for Caesar 
 is represented as saying : " Tec & ovk av op&v olvpatto ri)v 'ItciXiclv 
 bfxoiujg Tr\ Bjoerrrm'p iropdovfiivriv" — Dion, xli. 30. 
 
 4 Or Cenimani, the same as the Iceni (Norfolk and Suffolk). 
 They are called by Ptolemy the Sifxevol, and are placed by him next to 
 the Trinobantes on the north-west. Ptol. ii. 3, 21. Probably also 
 the same as Tevovvia fioTpa, placed in Pausanias next the Brigantes. 
 Pans. viii. 43. 
 
 I 
 
114 SIEGE OF VERULAMIUM. 
 
 Segontiaci 1 , Ancalites 2 , Bibroci 3 , and Cassi 4 , the clans 
 round about the Catyeuehlani, sent envoys to Caesar 
 and tendered their submission. The states which thus 
 revolted from Cassivelaun had probably been not long 
 before brought under his rule or subjugated by one of 
 his ancestors, and were now, like the Trinobantes, en- 
 deavouring to throw off the galling yoke. 
 
 As Cassivelaun with his 4000 charioteers still kept 
 the field, Caesar resolved on striking a blow, which at 
 all events must shake the prestige still attaching to the 
 name of the British patriot. The Cassi, who had turned 
 traitors and were the nearest neighbours of Cassivelaun, 
 offered to conduct the enemy to the capital of the 
 
 1 Not known ; but on one of the coins of Cunobelin, successor to 
 Cassivelaun as king of the Catyeuehlani, is the half word sego., no 
 doubt indicating the Segontiaci, subjects of Cunobelin. (See Monum. 
 Hist. Brit.) Caernarvon bore the name of Segontium, but this 
 seems too distant. 
 
 2 Not known ; but perhaps Oxfordshire, as the Dobuni were the 
 subjects of the Catyeuehlani (Dion, lx. 20) ; and the name of 
 Ancalites has been thought to be still traceable in the town of Henley 
 on Thames. 
 
 3 Not known; but perhaps Buckinghamshire. In the map of 
 Richard of Cirencester (a. d. 1340) the Bibroci are placed in Berk- 
 shire ; but they appear to have been subjects of Cassivelaun, and he 
 had no territory to the south of the Thames. 
 
 4 The hundred of Cassio, in Hertfordshire. Some think that 
 Cassivelaunus is Belinus, or king, of the Cassi, as Cunobelinus is 
 conjectured to be Belinus, or king, of the Iceni; but if the Cassi 
 were the immediate and proper subjects of Cassivelaunus, it is hardly 
 credible that they should have revolted from him, and afterwards 
 have urged the capture of Verulamium, their own capital. In the 
 Monument. Ancyran. are the following words : " Ad me (Augustus) 
 supplices confugerunt . . . Reges Britannorum Damno Bel- 
 launusque." (See Mon. Hist. Brit, cvi.) It is singular that as Bel- 
 launus enters into the composition of Cassivelaunus and Cunobelinus, 
 so Damno may be traced in the names of Cogidumnus and Togo- 
 dumnus, kings in the time of Claudius. 
 
SIEGE OF VERULAMIUM. 115 
 
 Catyeuchlani, Verulamium, or St. Albans ; and, as the 
 place was at no great distance, Ca3sar led his legions 
 thither, hoping that the loss of the chief city might 
 bring his antagonist to reason. The town is described 
 by Caesar as fortified by a rampart and a ditch, and as 
 deriving additional strength from woods and marshes. 1 
 The woods have long since been cleared, but the river 
 Ver (from which the name .of Verulamium) still runs 
 to the north of the old site, and formerly stagnated 
 in marshes. 2 The inclosure within the rampart was 
 very different from one of the continental cities, 
 which usually consisted of narrow streets and many- 
 storied houses. In the capital of Cassivelaun, on the 
 contrary, was a freedom of space, and there were trees 
 and pastures, or as we should call them parks. 3 
 
 The place was indefensible against a regular and well- 
 disciplined army like that of Cassar, and Cassivelaun 
 dared not risk his fortunes upon the forlorn hope of 
 withstanding an assault or sustaining a siege. The 
 only possibility of averting the blow was by creating 
 a diversion to the south of the Thames, and he there- 
 fore sent orders to the four princes of Kent — Cin- 
 getorix, Carnilius, Taximagulus, and Segonax — who 
 still remained faithful to the British cause, to collect 
 with dispatch the Kentish forces and make a dash at 
 the Eoman camp. It was hoped that if the attempt 
 did not succeed it might still distract the invader's at- 
 tention. Quintus Atrius, who had been left in com- 
 
 1 " Silvis paludibusque munitum . . . silvas impeditas vallo 
 atqne fossa munierunt . . . locum reperit egregie natiira atque 
 opere munitum." — B. G. v. 21. 
 
 2 See Clutterbuck's History of Hertfordshire. 
 
 3 " Oppidum autem Britanni vocant, quum silvas impeditas vallo 
 atque fossa, munierunt, quo incursionis vitandce causa convenire 
 consuerunt." — B. G. v. 21. 
 
 i 2 
 
116 THE ROMAN CAMP ATTACHED. 
 
 mand of the camp, proved himself equal to the emer- 
 gency. Following the example set him by Csesar 
 himself in the former campaign, he did not await the 
 enemy's attack, but making a sudden sally threw the 
 Britons into confusion, and even captured Lugotorix, an 
 officer of high rank. This damped the courage of the 
 allies, and any further attempt was abandoned as hope- 
 less. 1 
 
 We may here mention by the way, how improbable 
 and untenable is the hypothesis that the camp of Csesar 
 was at Pevensey. There is not the least reason to sup- 
 pose that the boundaries of Kent were ever different 
 from the present, and to the west of the Cantii were the 
 Eegni, or people of Sussex and Surrey. 2 The injunction 
 laid by Cassivelaun upon the kings of Kent to assault 
 the camp of Csesar was evidently because the locality 
 of it was in Kent. Had it been at Pevensey, the order 
 would have been sent to the Eegni, or at least to the 
 Eegni and Cantii conjointly, but not to the Cantii ex- 
 clusively. But on the assumption that Csesar landed at 
 Eomney Marsh, and entrenched his camp at Limne, 
 the circumstance is just what would be expected. 
 
 Caesar, meanwhile, undiverted by the hostilities in 
 Kent, closed around the doomed capital of Cassivelaun, 
 and, dividing his army into two bodies, delivered 
 the assault at two different points. Cassivelaun him- 
 
 1 B. G.v. 22. 
 
 2 The capital of the Eegni was Eegnuin, or Chichester; and, 
 about a century after this time, Cogidunus, a feudatory of the 
 Eomans, was king of the Eegni. Tac. Agric. 14. Some years 
 ago, a most interesting tablet was discovered at Chichester, bearing 
 the name of Cogidubnus (no doubt the same as Cogidunus), and in- 
 dicating that under his auspices a temple, dedicated to Minerva and 
 Neptune, had been erected in the reign of Claudius at the expense 
 of the ironmasters of Sussex. See Horslei/s Britain, and Montim. 
 Hist. Brit. 
 
VERULAMIUM TAKEN. 117 
 
 self was not present, and probably the garrison was 
 not numerous. On the other hand, the legionaries 
 were now engaged on an enterprise which was familiar 
 to them, and advanced to the assault with their wonted 
 alacrity. The Britons could not long bear the brunt of 
 the disciplined valour of the Eomans, and were driven 
 from the city with no great loss of life, but leaving as a 
 spoil to the enemy the numerous flocks and herds which 
 had been here collected from the adjacent country. 1 
 
 The fortunes of Cassivelaun were now at their lowest 
 ebb. With occasional glimpses of success, he had been 
 beaten in every general engagement. He had seen his 
 
 1 I have adopted the common notion that Verulamium was Cas- 
 sivelaun's town ; but there are objections to it, for it was probably 
 the capital of the Cassi, and, if so, it is very unlikely that they 
 should have stimulated Caesar to march against it (B. G. v. 21); 
 and, besides, it does not very well answer to the description given by 
 Caesar, viz. a place defended by woods and marshes, though both 
 woods and marshes may at that time have existed. 
 
 On the other hand, there are many plausible arguments in favour 
 of London. The latter was unquestionably a British settlement, as 
 the name implies, and about 100 years after this was one of the 
 first, if not the first, city in Britain. Tac. Ann. xiv, 33. The situation 
 also exactly agrees, for Caesar says the place was " sylvis paludibusque 
 munitum" (B. G. v. 21); which Orosius expounds as follows: 
 " oppidum inter duas paludes si turn, obtentu insuper sylvar-um 
 munitum" (Oro. vi. 9): and just such is London as painted by 
 the old chroniclers. " An immense forest originally extended to 
 the river side, and, even as late as the reign of Henry II., covered 
 the northern neighbourhood of the city. It was defended naturally 
 by fosses ; one formed by the creek which ran along Fleet Ditch 
 (west), and the other afterwards known by that of Walbrook (east). 
 The south side was guarded by the Thames ; the north they might 
 think sufficiently guarded by the forest." — Encyc. Londin. art. 
 "London." 
 
 If London was the place attacked, we can understand why the Cassi 
 should have prompted it ; for their chief city, Verulam, was the old 
 capital of the Catyeuchlani, and they were naturally jealous of the 
 rising importance of the great commercial mart. 
 
 i 3 
 
118 CRITICAL POSITION OF CAESAR. 
 
 capital taken and sacked; many of the states which 
 owed him allegiance had revolted. On the other hand, 
 Caesar also felt himself in a critical situation. True, 
 he was master of the ground on which he stood, but so 
 long as Cassivelaun was at the head of his 4000 cha- 
 rioteers, the victor could not subdivide his army, and 
 could not even detach his cavalry on any expedition, 
 either for the annoyance of the enemy or defence of his 
 allies. The subsistence of his troops depended alto- 
 gether on the Trinobantes, and should the party opposed 
 to Mandubert gain the ascendency, even their, fidelity 
 could not be reckoned upon. He was also uneasy about 
 the camp, which was too far distant to be under his own 
 keeping, and where again the Britons might assemble 
 in force and with better success. But above all, it was 
 now the month of September, and as it was quite im- 
 possible that he should remain in Britain during the 
 winter (for the Gauls would rise in his absence), it was 
 necessary to take measures for his immediate return. 
 If the equinoctial gales set in, some serious loss might 
 occur. It was thus evidently Caesar's policy to patch 
 up a peace and retire from the contest, if he could do 
 so with credit, or at least without dishonour. In addi- 
 tion to the chagrin arising from the want of his usual 
 military triumphs, Caesar had also a heavy heart from 
 the news which now reached him of the death of 
 his beloved daughter Julia, the wife of Pompey, the 
 disruption of the last frail tie which held the two ambi- 
 tious chiefs together. 1 
 
 It was about this time, when Caesar saw the neces- 
 sity of coming to terms, that he wrote to Cicero 
 to prepare the Eoman public for the abandonment 
 of Britain. " I learn from my brother's letter," writes 
 
 1 " C. Caesar quum Britanniam peragraret, nee oceano felicitatem 
 suam continere posset, audivit decessisse filiam, pnblica secum fata 
 ducentem." — Senec. cle Consolat. ad Marciam, 14. 
 
OVERTURES FOR PEACE. 
 
 119 
 
 Cicero to Atticus, "some extraordinary instances of 
 Cajsar's regard for me, and this is confirmed by a 
 very full letter from Ca3sar himself. They are now- 
 looking forward to a termination of the war in 
 Britain, for it is plain that the approaches to the island 
 are defended by stupendous masses (the cliffs). They 
 have also found that there is not a scrap of gold in the 
 whole island ! nor any prospect of booty except from 
 slaves, amongst whom, methinks, you may look in vain 
 for any skill in letters or music." l 
 
 According to Caesar, the first overtures for peace 
 came from Cassivelaun ; but one circumstance is men- 
 tioned incidentally which leads us to conjecture that 
 though ostensibly the ground was broken by Cassive- 
 laun, yet in fact the movement proceeded from Cgesar 
 himself. It is said that the proposition reached Cgesar 
 through Comius of Arras. Now Comius was the 
 creature of Csesar and followed his camp, and it is not 
 unlikely that the politic Eoman conveyed an intimation 
 through Comius that if terms of peace were offered 
 they would be favourably received. At all events, an 
 arrangement was come to by which Cassivelaun was to 
 give hostages for his good faith, and Britain was nomin- 
 ally to pay a fixed annual tribute. 2 The hostages were 
 given, but no tribute was ever paid, and it was probably 
 understood at the time by both parties that the tribute 
 was not to be exacted. Any one might foresee that it 
 would not be forthcoming except on compulsion, and 
 as Cassar did not propose to leave any garrison in the 
 island, he of course knew that the tribute would never 
 
 1 Epist. Attic, iv. 16. The letter to Atticus was written in the 
 latter half of October ; and the letter of Caesar must therefore have 
 been written in the latter half of September. 
 
 2 Caesar speaks of Britain generally; but Livy writes " cUiquqm 
 partem insulae in potestatcm rcdogit." — Liv. Epit. lib. 105. 
 
 i 4 
 
120 THE FATE OF MANDUBERT. 
 
 reach liis exchequer. Mandubert and his partisans 
 amongst the Trinobantes had betrayed their country's 
 cause, and attached themselves to the fortunes of Cassar, 
 and the Eoman ought not to have negotiated a peace 
 without providing for the safety of Mandubert and his 
 friends. It would appear, however, that Cassar did not 
 make it one of the articles of the treaty that Mandubert 
 should be seated on the throne of the Trinobantes, but 
 contented himself only with an idle threat if Cassivelaun 
 should ever disturb him. 1 Cassar must have felt that 
 if he withdrew his army into Gaul, as was his fixed 
 intention, it was impossible to secure to Mandubert the 
 possession of his kingdom. Such, at all events, was the 
 result, for a century afterwards we find the kings of the 
 Catyeuchlani, the descendants of Cassivelaun, ruling 
 over the Trinobantes. 2 To what immediate successor 
 was transmitted the crown which Cassivelaun had so 
 manfully maintained, history has not informed us ; but 
 there must have been but little space between him and 
 Tasciovanus, who was the father of Cunobelin, or Cym- 
 beline, who was the father of Caractacus, the British 
 hero in the reign of Claudius. 3 The coins of Tascio- 
 
 1 " Interdicit atque imperat Cassivelauno ne Mandubratio neu 
 Trinobantibus bellum faciat." — B. G. v. 22. 
 
 2 (t Hpwrov jxkv KarapctTaicov, eVtira Toyofiovfivov KvvoIdsWivov 
 Tralfiag evinrjiTEV, avrog yap eredviiKSf (pvyovrioy £e eKeii'Ojv irpoo- 
 E7roo](raro ajJioXoyia. fxipog tl t&v ISodovwov, u>v kTrr]p\ov KaroveWavoi 
 ovrtc-" — Dion, lx. 20. 
 
 3 The pedigree of the kings of the Catyeuchlani would therefore 
 stand as follows : — 
 
 Cassivelaun. 
 
 Tasciovanus. 
 
 I 
 
 Cunobelin. 
 
 Caractacus. Togodumnus. Adrainius. 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE ROMANS. 121 
 
 vanus are stamped with the name of Verulamium, the 
 capital of the Catyeuchlani, and the coins of Cunobelin 
 with the names of Verulamium and Camulodunum, the 
 capital of the Trinobantes \ and at the latter Cunobelin 
 seems eventually to have fixed his palace. 2 
 
 Crcsar now retraced his steps to the sea, and one 
 is curious to know what was his route ; where he crossed 
 the Thames, and through what towns he passed. But 
 his narrative gives no details, and we may therefore 
 conclude that the march was an ordinary one, and that 
 no misadventure occurred. The Britons no doubt 
 watched with satisfaction the retrograde movement of 
 their powerful adversary, and were well enough content 
 to let him depart in peace. 
 
 How far northward Caesar had advanced before the 
 conclusion of hostilities it is impossible to say. Strabo, on 
 the one hand, affirms that it was no great way 3 ; Florus, 
 on the other, speaks of his having penetrated even to 
 the Caledonian woods. 4 We collect from the Commen- 
 taries that Caesar, with his army, was amongst the Trino- 
 bantes, and subsequently at Verulam ; but we should 
 imagine, from the short time spent in Britain, that he 
 did not proceed much further — not probably beyond 
 Hertfordshire. 
 
 Caesar on reaching Limne was under some anxiety 
 how to transport his troops. A large proportion of his 
 vessels had utterly perished in the storm shortly after 
 his arrival ; but he had left orders for the refitting of 
 
 1 See the coins in Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 153. 
 
 2 "To Kafj.ov\6^ovvoy to tov Kvvoj3e\\ivov /Sac/Xfiov." — Dion, 
 lx. 21. 
 
 3 " Ovle irooekdiov £7ri ttoXv ttjq vriaov." — Strcib. lib. iv. c. 5. 
 
 4 " Caledonias secutus in sylvas unum quoqtie e regibus Cave- 
 lianis (q. Cantianis, or Cassivelaunianis, see Cces. B. G. v. 22) in 
 vincula dedit." — Floi-us Epit. iii. 10. 
 
122 CAESAR'S LETTER TO CICERO. 
 
 such as had been damaged only, and had instructed 
 Labienus, who had remained in Gaul, to build others 
 with the greatest dispatch. The repairs of the old fleet 
 had been completed, but no additional ships from La- 
 bienus had arrived. As, therefore, the whole army 
 could not be conveyed at once in the vessels at com- 
 mand, Caesar determined on making two successive 
 shipments. The first part of the army was em- 
 barked at once, and Caesar himself, like a prudent 
 general, remained in Britain in charge of the second 
 division. 
 
 It was during this interval, while he was waiting for 
 the return of his ships with the addition of those newly 
 built by Labienus, that he wrote another letter to Cicero 
 at Eome. It appears to have communicated no striking 
 intelligence, but was a mere summary. Every word, 
 however, written by Caesar, and from Britain, possesses 
 a high degree of interest, and it needs no apology to 
 give Cicero's notice of it in an epistle to his friend 
 Atticus. " On the 24th October," he says, " I received 
 a letter from my brother Quintus, and another from 
 Caesar, dated from the shores of Britain, the 26th 
 September. Britain was disposed of, and hostages 
 received ; no booty, but a tribute imposed. They were 
 bringing back their troops from Britain." x 
 
 The date of 26th September must not mislead us. 
 The calendar had not been reformed, and the reckoning 
 of time was extremely erroneous, and we shall see pre- 
 sently that in reality the letter must have been written 
 
 1 " Ab Quinto fratre et a Caesare accepi a. d. ix. Kalend. Novemb. 
 litteras ; confecta Britannia, obsidibus aeceptis, nulla praeda, imperata 
 tamen pecunia; datas a littoribus Britannise, proximo a. d.vi. Kalend. 
 Octob. Exercitum Britannia reportabant." — Cic. Ep. Attic, iv. 17. 
 
WRECK OF THE TRANSPORTS. 123 
 
 at least some days previously, viz. before 24th Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 In maritime matters Caesar throughout was most un- 
 fortunate. As the return transports and the newly built 
 vessels from Labienus were crossing the channel, they 
 encountered such a storm that few of them only reached 
 Britain, and the rest were driven back to the port which 
 they had quitted. Nothing could be more mortifying. 
 In a short time heavy gales were to be expected, and 
 the navigation of the seas would become dangerous. 
 As one division only of the army was in Britain, the 
 islanders, encouraged by the enemy's weakness, might, 
 as they had done the previous year, again commence 
 hostilities, when who could foresee the result % Several 
 days passed, and either from stress of weather or want 
 of repairs, the expected vessels from Gaul did not 
 arrive. The equinox was just at hand 1 , and Cassar was 
 afraid of any longer delay, and therefore determined on 
 embarking the remaining forces at once in the stinted 
 number of vessels which had reached him. The decks 
 would of course be inconveniently crowded, but depar- 
 ture from Britain was to be effected at any cost. At 
 nine o'clock at night, in calm weather, Csesar hoisted 
 anchor from the shores of Britain, leaving not a soldier 
 behind 2 , and never more to return. Boulogne was 
 reached at break of morn ; and the day may be fixed 
 with some degree of precision as follows : — The equinox 
 was not over but was close at hand, and it must there- 
 fore have been before, and not long before, the 24th 
 September, which was then reckoned the day of the 
 
 1 " Quod eqiiinoctium suberat." — B. G. v. 23. 
 
 2 " Kcu ovlev iytcaTeXure cparcv/ia iv avrp." — Dion, xl. 4. 
 
 3 " Summa tranquillitate consecuta, secunda inita quum solvisset 
 vigilia, prima luce terram attigit." — B. G. v. 23. 
 
124 CESAR'S RETURN TO GAUL. 
 
 equinox. As the sun rises about that time a little 
 before 6 a.m., he must have gained Boulogne about 
 5 A.M., when daylight would begin. But as Boulogne 
 was a tidal harbour, it was necessary that he should 
 enter it at, or a little before, high water. On what day, 
 therefore, would it be high water at Boulogne at 5 A. M. 
 just before the 24th September ] The full moon for 
 September, B. c. 54, was on the 15th of the month, 
 when it would be high water at Boulogne at 11*20 A. M. 
 Consequently, if we reckon forward, we shall find that 
 it was high tide at Boulogne at 5 a.m. on the 22nd 
 September. It was thus on the evening of the preced- 
 ing day, or the 21st September, that Cassar quitted 
 Britain for ever. 
 
 We must here draw an inference from the time occu- 
 pied hi crossing the Channel. As Cassar sailed at nine at 
 night, and gained the coast of Gaul at 5 A. M., he was 
 just eight hours on the passage. Now, if he steered for 
 Boulogne, which is twenty- eight miles, the rate of 
 sailing was three and a half miles an hour, which is 
 what might be expected from row boats in calm 
 weather. 1 But if he embarked, as the Astronomer 
 Eoyal supposes, at Pevensey, and sailed to the estuary 
 of the Somme, a distance of sixty miles, it would yield 
 an average speed of seven and a half miles an hour, 
 which for row boats, and in a calm, is inconceivable. 
 The Professor urges, as an argument in his favour, that 
 Cassar, on arriving in Gaul, held a council at Samaro- 
 briva, or Amiens, which is on the Somme 2 ; but I can- 
 not attach any importance to this, as it is expressly 
 
 1 They were all " actuariae " (B. G.v.-l), and it was " snmma 
 tranquillitas" (B. G. v. 23). 
 
 2 " Subductis navibus, concilioque Gallorum Samarobriva? peracto." 
 — B. G. v. 24. 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 125 
 
 mentioned that he had previously laid up his vessels in 
 ordinary at the port of his arrival, and might of course 
 after that have departed for Amiens or any other town 
 of Gaul. The very fact also of laying up the vessels in 
 ordinary implies the presence of naval docks and yards 
 on an extensive scale, which would be found in the 
 great port of the Morini, but not in a mere estuary. 1 
 
 I have now sketched the two Invasions of Britain by 
 Cassar, and the little success of them is matter of sur- 
 prise. In the first year, Caesar scarcely ventured a mile 
 from the sea-shore. He had wholly miscalculated the 
 strength of the enemy, and being destitute also of 
 cavalry, he acted throughout, after his first landing, on 
 the defensive. On the second occasion he attempted, 
 at the head of three times the force, and a numerous 
 body of cavalry, to retrieve his credit ; but such was 
 the obstinacy with which the Britons encountered him, 
 that until the rebellion in his favour of the Trinobantes' 
 he was reduced by the tactics of the enemy to the 
 utmost straits. Even after the civil dissension which 
 threw the Trinobantes and the clans which followed 
 them into the arms of Caesar, Cassivelaun, with his 
 charioteers, was master of the country, except in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the legions. The Britons 
 were no doubt far behind the Eomans in discipline, 
 and Cassivelaun may not have been a match for Caesar 
 in strategy ; yet the islanders displayed, such an indomi- 
 
 1 " Un fait me parait tranclier la question : c'est la mise a 
 sec des vaisseaux apres le retour a Icius (B. G. iv. 21). Or ceci ne 
 peut s' entendre que d'un veritable camp naval construit selon toutes 
 les regies, c'est a dire, divise par quartiers, flanque de palissades, 
 entoure d'un large fosse ( Tit. Liv. xxxvi. 45, xxiii. 28), protege 
 enfin, defendu avec toutes les ressources qu'ofFrait a Cesar sa longue 
 pratique de castrametation." — Mariette, o4. 
 
126 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 table spirit, and Cassivelaun so much natural military 
 genius, that Caesar was content to retire from the con- 
 test without any sensible advantage. The British gen- 
 eral, instead of being led a captive to Eome, treated for 
 peace on a footing of equality. Even the terms agreed 
 upon in favour of Eome were probably never meant to 
 be, and certainly never were, fulfilled. One thing is 
 clear, that when Caesar quitted the island he left not a 
 soul behind, and that for about 100 years afterwards 
 the Britons were as free as if a Eoman legion had never 
 trod the soil. Caesar of course represents his exploits 
 in the most favourable light, and would have us suppose 
 that he succeeded in extorting hostages and imposing a 
 tribute ; but had the British Annals descended to us by 
 the side of the Eoman Commentaries, we might then 
 have heard of the destruction of Caesar's cavalry by the 
 Essedarii, the weakening of the legions by successful 
 sallies against their rearguard, and the tliinning of their 
 ranks from exposure and privation, until at length the 
 conqueror of Gaul was under the necessity of submitting 
 to an ignominious peace. Even his own countrymen 
 have done the Britons some justice, for Tacitus confesses 
 that Caesar by Iris two campaigns made only the dis- 
 covery of Britain, not the conquest of it * ; that although 
 victorious in more than one fight, he had eventually 
 been worsted and obliged to abandon the enterprise 2 ; 
 that the Britons, in short, retained their freedom, 
 
 1 " Primus omnium Romanorum Divus Julius cum exercitu 
 Britanniam ingressus, quanquam prospera pugna terruerit incolas, 
 ac littore potitus sit, potest videri ostendisse posteris, non tradidisse." 
 — Vit. Agric. 13. 
 
 2 " Recessuros [Romanos], ut Divus Julius recessisset, modo 
 virtutes majorum suorum [Britanni] aeniularentur, neve proelii 
 unius aut alterius eventu pavescerent." — Tac. Agric. c. 15. 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 127 
 
 and were never tributaries to Home. 1 Lucan even 
 goes so far as to say that Caesar and his army had fairly 
 shown their backs to the Britons ; and Horace 2 and 
 Tibullus 3 both treat the Britons as still un vanquished 
 in their time. Strabo observes that Caesar made no 
 great progress ; 4 and Dion Cassius tells us that Caesar 
 was repulsed 5 , and that he brought the war in Britain 
 to a conclusion very little to his liking. 6 This we can 
 readily conceive, for the expense of constructing 800 
 vessels, and freighting them with a numerous army, 
 must have been enormous ; and what was there to show 
 for it 1 — Caesar in Gaul, and Britain without a Roman ! 
 
 1 " Vacui a securibns et tributis." — Tac. Ann. xii. 34. 
 
 2 " Intactus Britannus ut descenderet 
 
 Sacra catenatus via." Epoch Lib. vii. 7. 
 
 3 " Te manet invictus Romano Marte Britannus." — Lib.iv.v. 149. 
 
 4 " OvSev fikya £ia7rpa£a^£voc." — Strabo, iv. 5. 
 
 5 " Tov Kaiaapa tov 'IovXlov Zkeivov et,rj\acrafj£v [the Britons]." — 
 Xiphilinus, cited Mon. Hist. Brit. p. lvi. 
 
 6 "01% oiov IGovXzto rw Tro\£fiu> ri\og tiriOr]Ktv" — Vit. Jul. Cces. 
 23. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Since the preceding pages were written, the Eev. C. Merivale 
 (author of the "Eoman History") has kindly placed in my 
 hands a tract by Christopher Grodmond, Esq., published in 
 1836, intituled "A Memoir of Therrouane and a Discourse 
 on the Portus Itius of Caesar." It is there contended that 
 the port from which Caesar sailed was Wissant, and the 
 portus superior Sangatte, and that the debarcation was 
 at Deal. The arguments by which these views are sup- 
 ported contain little novelty, and do not shake the author's 
 confidence in the theory submitted to the reader in the fore- 
 going Essay. The only remarkable feature in the publication 
 is, the copy of an old map, of which the following account is 
 given : — 
 
 " M. Deneufville, in an autograph MS. of the date 1724 and 
 1725, intituled ' Annales de la Ville de St. Omer,' shows an 
 ancient chart of the country of the Morini and of the Portus 
 Itius, where Malbrancq places it, at Sangatte, including 
 Therrouanne, as the country was in the 8th century. The 
 original chart, however, is not now amongst other MSS. of the 
 8th century in that library." And Mr. Grodmond continues : 
 " The author of this Memoir has seen the copy of M. Deneuf- 
 
 K 
 
130 APPENDIX. 
 
 ville attached to the MS. in the library of St. Omer, but on 
 inquiry for the original amongst the MSS. of the 8th cen- 
 tury, he was informed it had been lost." 
 
 That the reader may judge for himself as to the genuine- 
 ness of the map, a copy of it is annexed; but the author 
 cannot regard it otherwise than as a fanciful sketch, illustra- 
 tive of the draftsman's idea that the sea once flowed up to St. 
 Omer. For this purpose the geography of Ptolemy has been 
 ingeniously applied. It will be seen on inspecting the map 
 that the "lxiov "Axgov of Ptolemy is placed at Cape Blancnez 
 instead of Cape Grisnez, and the Trjo-ogtuxov knlvsiov of 
 Ptolemy at St. Omer. In aid of the latter view the three last 
 syllables of Gresoriac are identified with the site of an old 
 chapel near St. Omer called Soriack. That changes in this 
 part of the coast may have taken place is not improbable, 
 but it would require strong evidence to prove that the face of 
 the country has undergone so total a transformation as here 
 represented, not to mention that a map of the 8th century, 
 existing in 1724, would be a topographical curiosity. 
 
CARTE 
 
 cUo .Port Jtisios 
 
 de Cesar dans les JWbrins ei 
 des lieuce ei environs oil Ida voit. 
 1 . le I'ronwrvtvir&Jtius de Ptolemy 
 
 2 lelfcwre cCe Sangatte 
 
 3 le 6t>i/e Jttus jrtsquervSitieu. 
 4. leHfiivrt. GeffcrLac oic de Souruw 
 S leTais lessor iar de FCcne. 
 
 
i 
 
 t 
 
131 
 
 No. n. 
 
 Should the discussion in the foregoing pages 
 upon the subject of the Coway Stakes have 
 excited any interest in the reader, some fur- 
 ther particulars may not be unacceptable. A 
 so-called Coway Stake has been deposited in 
 the British Museum, and may be seen there 
 amongst the British Roman Antiquities. A 
 sketch of it is annexed. That it may have 
 been brought from Coway ford is not impos- 
 sible, but it can scarcely have been one of 
 those described by Bede, as cased with lead 
 and about the size of a man's thigh, or one of 
 those which were taken by the fisherman Sim- 
 mons to have served for the piles of an ancient 
 bridge. The Museum stake is about four feet 
 long, has no trace of either iron or lead, and is 
 not bigger than a man's arm. The lower half 
 apparently has been buried in the ground, 
 and the upper half only exposed to the action 
 of water. The wood is thought to be oak. 
 If the relic be genuine, it must have been one 
 of the stakes planted near the river's edge. 
 
 However, Caesar speaks of acutce sudes, while 
 the head of the one in question has been flat- 
 tened by the mallet or driver.* Indeed it has 
 all the appearance of an ordinary stake used 
 for a weir, or for some fishing apparatus. 
 
 * A friend, who has examined the stake with some 
 minuteness, observes that the fibres of the wood at the 
 head lie all in one direction, and that this is the re- 
 sult, not of mechanical force, but of the constant action 
 of the stream. 
 
 THE END. 
 
LONDOJf 
 PK11TTED BY SrOTTlSWOODE 
 SEW -STREET SQUABE 
 
 IK 
 
 r3: 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Afj 
 
 020 946 802 5 
 
 ■tm 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ . I 
 
 ■ -i